Posted on in Gardening, Surviving Winter

January Blooming

viola-in-snow_dbg_10200118_lah_6906xBlooming? In January?

I spent a day last week at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The weather was sunny and warm, with highs in the 50s, and I just couldn’t stay indoors. I figured I’d walk around and take pictures of the dormant plants—some look better than others at this time of year—and hardscape features. Well-designed gardens have appeal in January as well as July, and these certainly qualify as well-designed.

As I expected, the conifers and evergreens (such as Mahonia) dominated the landscape, along with the warm golds and coppers of the ornamental grasses. I was happily snapping photo after photo, enjoying the beautiful day, when I saw something peeking out from under some melting snow—several somethings—yellow and purple somethings.

(more…)

Posted on in Gardening, Nature, Veggies

Gardening Advice You Can Trust

Growing one’s own food is back in vogue. Community gardens are springing up in cities, suburbanites are trading lawns for lettuce, and even the White House is cultivating everything from arugula to heirloom tomatoes.

If you’ve never grown vegetables before, the task may seem daunting, but it really isn’t that hard. For one thing, there’s plenty of advice available. However, not every suggestion deserves a place in your yard; some sources are more reliable than others. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of plain hogwash being circulated as garden advice.

If you are planning on growing vegetables—or fruit, or any kind of garden, really—I highly recommend you do some research before beginning. It’s a good idea to look for local sources of information, as growing conditions vary so much from place to place. Generalized gardening books and magazines are helpful, but most tend to be slanted toward the eastern part of the country. Growing anything in Colorado is a much different challenge.

(more…)

Posted on in Gardening, Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter

Tropical Flowers in January?

lah_6081

What plant thrives indoors, shrugs off low humidity, and blooms all winter in bold shades of white to pink to red? Surprise! It’s wax begonias!

Also called fibrous begonias, these familiar bedding plants have large, round succulent leaves in either lime green or a beautiful burgundy- or bronze-red. Flowers have fleshy petals surrounding a bright yellow cluster of stamens. Plants grow to a height of about six to twelve inches. They tend to flop, creating a solid mass of color, and even trailing over walls and container edges.

(more…)

Posted on in Birds, Books, Media Reviews

Armchair Birding: “Brushed by Feathers,” by Frances L. Wood

brushed_feathers_book_better-229x345It’s 15 degrees outside, the snow is not so much falling as being hurled against the windowpane, and the highway patrol has just closed the interstate. You are itching to go birding. What’s a snowed-in birder to do? One solution is to grab a fuzzy blanket, a nice cup of  hot tea, and hunker down with a copy of Brushed by Feathers, by Frances L. Wood.

Starting in January, Wood chronicles a year of birdwatching from her perspective as a naturalist, artist, speaker and writer. While the material is factual and informative, the true worth of this book is the way in which it is presented. The author comes across as an old friend sharing her birding journal with you.

(more…)

Posted on in Birds, Nature

Winter Birding in Colorado

kettlecreeklakes_2008-11-22_lah_361rOur recent warm spell is lovely, but it’s still January. Temperatures swing back and forth between cool and freezing. Trails are icy, and sometimes blocked by snow. This is traditionally a time to hole up and hunker down. We are attracted to warm firesides, hot chocolate, and snugly quilts. But if you, like me, are passionate about nature, and birds in particular, can we be content to sit by the fire? Just because the temperature outside is in the single digits, are we to ignore our obsession and hibernate like bears?

Of course, some birds have opted for tropical vacations, and I’m sure we would love to do likewise. But if the schedule and budget don’t allow for a trip to Central America, be encouraged. There are plenty of birds to be enjoyed right here. A surprising number of species hang around for the season.

(more…)

Posted on in Birding Tips, Birds

Snowy Owl Sighting

snowy-owl_peytonco_20100110_lah_6250-1We got the call yesterday afternoon. “Come quick! I’m staring at a Snowy Owl!” Of course, we dropped everything, grabbed the scope and camera, and went running. Amazing—a Snowy Owl turning up just 20 minutes from our home near Colorado Springs. That doesn’t happen every day.

It’s a good thing Pete was driving—I probably would have had a hard time keeping to the speed limit. We pulled up behind the line of vehicles, and half a dozen people glanced up from their spotting scopes. I jumped out of the car while Pete helpfully assembled camera and scope. I had just gotten the adapter last week—a late birthday present—and barely knew how it all went together.

(more…)

Posted on in Bird Profiles, Birds, Conservation

The Ubiquitous Canada Goose

canada-goose-fcnc-2009-01-21-lah-649Canada Geese are everywhere. They blanket golf courses, leave droppings on city park lawns, and foul ponds. They are a significant agricultural pest, especially of winter wheat. They’re even implicated in plane crashes, such as US Airways Flight 1549’s emergency “splash down” in the Hudson River last January.

You can find them on any body of water, even transient wetlands devoid of food. You hear honking and look up to see them flying east or west as well as north and south, arranged in their ragged v-formations. They seem so abundant that it’s hard to imagine they were ever endangered, but at one time the “Giant” subspecies (Branta canadensis maxima) was thought to be extinct!

(more…)

Posted on in Gardening, Landscaping, Nature, Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter, Veggies, Xeriscape

Winter Color

Do weeks of staring at snowy white landscapes have your eyes screaming for color? Winter gardens don’t have to be drab, lifeless affairs. Flowers may not be in bloom, but many plants have leaves, stems, or berries in shades of bright red, golden orange, or silver-blue and plum. Put them together and your winter garden springs to life.

Mahonia repens (also known as Oregon Grape Holly)  is an attractive groundcover year-round, but it really shines in winter. While other plants shed their leaves, Mahonia’s foliage turns a stunning bright red.

Yellow flowers in spring and showy blue berries in early fall add to this native’s year-round interest. Mahonia repens is drought tolerant, and handles full sun to part shade.

Juniper horizontalis ‘Blue Chip’ is another groundcover that remains attractive all year. While many junipers grow much too large for our small yards, Blue Chip stays under a foot high. Its feathery foliage is a beautiful steel-blue all year, with the addition of silver-plum tips in winter. Plant it in full sun, where it will quickly spread up to ten feet in diameter. Junipers are very xeric once established.

(more…)

Posted on in Birds, Humor

A Birder’s New Year’s Resolutions

Once again it’s January, time for making a list of all the things you would like to do differently in the new year. If you’re at all like me, you’ll resolve to finally lose that extra weight, walk at least two miles a day, and empty the accumulation of credit card receipts out of your wallet at least once a week.  You promise to, in general, exhibit more self control over all those accumulated habits that stand between you and perfection.

But we’re not just ordinary people. We’re Birders. So it seems appropriate that we make some New Year’s resolutions specific to our particular passions. How about if we resolve to…

(more…)

Posted on in Gardening, Humor, Seed Starting

A Gardener’s New Year’s Resolutions

plants-for-sale-lowes-cs_2008aug02_lah_5106-1Lots of people like to make New Year’s resolutions. Gardeners are no exception. A quick web search turned up plenty of lists, with gardeners around the country vowing to stay ahead of the weeds, thin their carrots, and learn the Latin names of all their favorite plants. If you like to garden, you probably have your own list of good intentions. And if you’re like me, you’ll struggle to keep even one of them.

This year, I’d like to propose a list of gardening resolutions that any enthusiastic gardener can keep. Your garden may not be perfect, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you achieved your New Year’s goals.

(more…)