Loveland Public Library will host the 2024 Colorado State University Extension Master Gardener spring lecture series, which runs from April 15 to April 29. The lectures, which are free and open to the public, will last from 11am to noon. Location is 300 N. Adams Street, Loveland, Colorado. No registration is required.
If you’re in the neighborhood, please drop in and introduce yourselves. Here’s the schedule:
Monday, April 1–Gear Up for Gardening with Bev Shaw
Monday, April 22—Tubs of Tomatoes and Crocks of Carrots: Container Gardening with Deb Courtner
Monday, April 29—Waterwise Landscapes: Create Beautiful Gardens that Use Less Water with Susan Bonsall
Sunlight graces the leaves of this spectacular coleus in the Colorado State University Annual Flower Trial Garden.
Happy Autumn, Readers.
It has been a little over 10 years since I started this blog, and I’ve appreciated having readers from all over the world.
The fact is, I’ve lost my passion for writing blog posts. I can write about fall color, favorite perennials, and other topics for only so long before it feels like déjà vu at my computer.
I don’t rule out the possibility of writing again in the future. But for now, I’m taking a break.
I wish you the greenest of thumbs as you pursue your gardening.
Allium schubertii puts on a show even after the growing season is over with its Star-Wars-inspired growth habit.
September and October are prime months for planting spring-blooming bulbs and summer-blooming poppy seeds in Colorado. With this in mind, you may want to consider installing bulbs and poppies that produce not only stunning flowers, but also decorative seedheads. That way, you can bring the seedheads inside and enjoy them during fall and winter.
Some of my favorite plants for their showy dried seedheads:
Ornamental onions, including Allium schubertii, A. ‘Globemaster,’ and A. aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation.’ All of these varieties are sun-loving and drought-tolerant. Globemaster is sterile, whereas schubertii and purple sensation are spreaders.
Allium schubertii is a rose-purple show-stopper with dramatic spikes, resembling a Star Wars character. This easy-to-grow plant blooms in late spring and reaches about two feet high, which includes its 14-inch-wide seedhead. I wonder what it would look like with holiday lights on it. Too much? Maybe.
Allium ‘Globemaster’ is a lavender beauty that grows about 18 to 30 inches high and 12 to 18 inches wide, and will tolerate part shade.
Purple sensation allium’s airy eight-inch seed head adds a nice touch to a fireplace mantel or other site in your home.
Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’ generates bright purple blooms and grows about two feet high by eight inches wide. Its seedhead is particularly attractive right after blooming because the ripening seeds are deep green.
Certain varieties of Papaver somniferum, such as Hungarian breadseed poppies and Lauren’s grape breadseed poppy.
Hungarian breadseed poppies come in a variety of remarkable colors, including pink, purple, blue, and white. The seeds can be used for breads, cakes, muffins and other baked goods.
Their large rounded seedheads display an attractive flat rosette at the top.
Lauren’s grape breadseed poppy, name for Fort Collins garden designer Lauren Springer Ogden, produces four-inch velvety, deep purple blooms and grows about three feet high.
Poppies bloom in the summer and self-sow freely if you let them, so be prepared for an influx.
After you’ve enjoyed all these plants during the growing season, display the seed heads around your house, such as on a fireplace mantel, table, or dresser.
A plethora of cucumber vines, plus a couple of pepper plants, have taken over my compost pile.
In late May/early June (prime planting time), I took a vacation. I returned June 12 and, a day later, came down with a nasty case of stomach flu whose effects lingered for a couple of weeks.
Needless to say, all this activity destroyed my summer vegetable planting timetable. So I decided to forego planting seeds, went out to buy a tomato plant, and hoped for the best.
Before long, I noticed small cucumber vines growing in my compost pile. Then a few pepper plants.
So I watched the pile to see what would happen. As of late July, I have three small round cucumbers—not a lot, given all the vine activity, but it’s something, nonetheless. These babies likely came from seeds of the round cucumbers that I planted three or four years ago.
A small round cucumber peeks out beneath the mass of vines.
As for the pepper plants, they probably sprouted from seeds of peppers that I bought at the store in past years. They currently have little bitty buds on them.
The tomatoes, planted intentionally, aren’t as mature as some of my neighbors’, but that’s to be expected.
Then in my strawberry patch, some Swiss chard popped up from previous plantings.
Swiss chard has reseeded from previous years’ plantings.
The Swiss chard tastes fine as long as I don’t let it grow too large. As for the cucumbers, they’re too small and hard to harvest yet. And the pepper plants still have a long way to go. Given Colorado’s short growing season, I’m not holding out much hope for the peppers.
So if you ever want an easy science experiment, just let some of those little seedlings stay in your compost pile and other garden areas to see what happens.
8/10/2022 Update: Last week, I tasted one of the cucumbers. It wasn’t bitter, but it wasn’t very tasty either. So I didn’t add it to my salad.
Fall 2022 Update: I ended getting several nice green peppers, as well as one fairly decent cantaloupe from my volunteers.
A carpet of blue Veronica pectinata (upper left) appears in early spring to provide a backdrop for bulbs and serviceberries.
I love brightly colored plants in the garden, such as red fire Meidiland rose, yellow Genista lydia bangle, and neon orange carpet hummingbird mint.
If my garden consisted entirely of these gob-smacking colors, though, the effect would be overwhelming.
That’s why blues are so important. Unlike bright colors which advance toward you, cool blues recede. This receding quality creates depth and provides a calming effect in the landscape.
Blues also add interest because blue plants are much rarer in the garden than other colors of plants. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for them.
Some of my favorite blue flora include:
Veronica pectinata. This low-growing groundcover transforms into a carpet of cornflower blue blossoms the size of a pencil eraser in early spring. The carpet offers the perfect backdrop for vividly colored tulips and white serviceberry trees and shrubs. Other favorite veronicas are V. prostrata (another groundcover) and V. austriaca ‘Crater Lake Blue.’ Crater Lake Blue, which grows about a foot high and wide, produces electric blue blooms. It’s more of a show-stopper than a backdrop.
Siberian squill (Scilla siberica). If you live in places like Wisconsin or Minnesota, avoid this plant because it’s considered invasive. In Colorado, however, Siberian squill behaves itself. It’s a beautiful, delicate-looking bulbous perennial that grows three to six inches high in early spring. Sprinkle it among your miniature daffodil and iris bulbs.
Hardy plumbago offers gorgeous blue blooms complemented by copper-colored seedheads. This easy-to-grow groundcover handles root competition well from shade trees.
Hardy plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides). This stalwart groundcover produces stunning azure blue blooms with contrasting copper-colored seedheads in July. The first time I saw a photo of this plant, I thought the blooms couldn’t possibly be this gorgeous in person. But they are. It’ll grow in both sun and shade, but prefers shade from afternoon sun. Plumbago grows six to eight inches high and 18 inches or more wide.
Blue avena grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens). Also called blue oat grass, this graceful, arching grass grows two to three feet high and wide. With its steel blue leaves, this grass blends well with just about anything in the garden. In June, it sends up tawny flowering spikes. In the fall, the grass becomes wheat-colored, providing interest throughout the fall and winter. Cut blue avena down to the ground in early spring so new growth can emerge.
Electric blue penstemon wows passers-by with its outpouring of intensely colored blooms.
Electric blue penstemon (Penstemon heterphyllus ‘Electric Blue’). Electric blue describes this bloomer perfectly. The plant produces a profusion of intensely blue blooms in June, and it lasts several weeks. Electric blue grows about 15 to 18 inches high and 12 inches wide. Deadhead it when it’s done blooming.
Narbonne blue flax (Linum narbonense). There are several species of blue flax. Narbonne, introduced by Plant Select in 2013, performs pretty well in my amended clay soil even though it’s supposed to prefer sandy or loam soil. Photos often make the blooms look purple, but mine are intensely blue. Narbonne grows 16 to 18 inches high and wide.
Other blue plants worth mentioning are:
Hostas. These broad-leaved plants come in an array of colors. Blue varieties include June, blue Hawaii, fragrant blue, blue heaven, and many more.
Irises. The American Iris Society offers remarkable photos of blue varieties, such as babbling brook, Baltic Sea, cloud ballet, and color me blue.
Rocky Mountain Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea or A. caerulea). This iconic treasure is the state flower of Colorado. It’s a short-lived perennial that reseeds prolifically and grows one to two feet high and wide.
Delphiniums. These upright, architectural plants generate cobalt blue blooms. Be aware, though, that annual dephiniums, or larkspur, reseed like crazy. It’s possible to have too much of a good thing.
Morning glories. Be prepared for aggressive reseeding if you plant morning glories. But if you have room for them, they’ll reward you with heavenly deep blue flowers.
So there you have it—lots of choices for adding blue to your garden. I encourage to try some if you haven’t already.
This simple arrangement of Prince Tut sedge, sweet potato vine, white snapdragons, and purple petunias makes a strong statement and is suitable for strong sunlight. You can pay $70 or more for an arrangement like this. Or you can just plant your own for much less. Use high-quality potting soil and make sure you have holes in the bottom of the pot for good drainage.
Chances are, you’re ready to start potting up your container plants for this growing season. Although it’s too early to stick the plants outside in Colorado, now is a good time to buy plants so you can begin hardening them off before putting them on display in your yard.
Let’s say you have a spot that gets hot, blazing sun all day long. Which container plants will withstand that kind of environment?
Garden magazines and blogs publish articles with all sorts of gorgeous specimens. I’ve learned not to put too much stock in those articles, however. I have, for example, tried growing recommended Lobelia and Angelonia in sunny locations, only to be disappointed.
So I’m here to share what I’ve personally grown in pots that have really stood up to extreme sunlight in Colorado, where we’re closer to the sun than many of you in other parts of the country. The flowering plants mentioned here bloom throughout the growing season and require little, if any, deadheading. As for the grasses and sedges, they always look good.
These stellar performers include:
Blue Avena Grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens). Perennial. This stalwart grows about 2.5 feet high and wide, excluding the feathery plumes which shoot up in late spring. The plumes add another foot or so to height. You won’t likely keep blue avena grass in a pot more than a season or two before it will outgrow the pot. Then you can plant it in the ground.
Peruvian petunias are lined up for sale at Fossil Creek Nursery in Fort Collins. Because they trail nicely, they’re ideal for hanging pots, but work well in upright containers, too. Notice the blooms’ showy colors.
Peruvian Petunia (Calibrachoa, Million Bells). Annual. If I have a container that holds only one plant, Peruvian petunia is my go-to plant because it fluffs up about eight inches and trails over the edge of the pot. The colors are sensational. One of my favorites is purple with a neon yellow throat.
Cordyline (Cordyline australis). Annual. Native to New Zealand, this purplish spike can serve as a thriller (as opposed to filler or spiller) in pots.
Lantana. Annual. This broad-leaved stunner with verbena-like, multi-colored flowers is relatively compact, although there are larger, shrub-like cultivars (some of which are invasive weeds in Hawaii, Florida, Texas and other areas). Photographs generally make lantana look garish; they’re more attractive in person.
Nemesia (Nemesia caerulea). Annual. This hard-working plant is a member of the snapdragon family. It comes in just about any color except green and also includes some two-toned cultivars. I’ve grown the trailing variety. It didn’t turn scraggly on me, but in case it does, just cut it back so it’ll be lush again.
Pentas (Pentas lanceolata). Annual. I discovered this darling at the Colorado State University Trial Gardens. Its bright green leaves and showy star-cluster blooms make it a solid standout. Pentas has a dome-shaped growth habit, which contrasts nicely to the other plants mentioned here.
Prince Tut dwarf Egyptian papyrus (Cyperus papyrus). Annual. What a showpiece this sedge is! It grew about 18 inches high in my pot, towering over fillers and spillers. Prince Tut’s father, King Tut, grows about twice as tall.
Zonal geraniums, with their brilliant blooms and attractive foliage, pop in any floral container arrangement.
Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas). Annual. A long-time favorite, sweet potato vine comes in various shades of purple or chartreuse. I prefer chartreuse because it blends well with so many colors. You usually have to snap them up at garden centers because they sell so quickly. Mine grew about two feet long.
Zonal Geranium (Pelargonium). Annual. Another long-time favorite, zonal geranium features large, flashy blooms against dark green leaves. Blooms can be red, pink, white, orange, purple, or bi-colored.
There are other plants that I think would do well in containers in sunny Colorado, but I haven’t actually tried them. Some of them are:
Tiger eyes sumac grows in full sun to part shade, is drought-tolerant, and reaches six feet high and wide. You can grow it as a tree or shrub. It’s a stunner in the landscape. The one downside is that it suckers. So when you plant it, don’t amend the soil because rich soil will encourage suckers.
If you’re like me, you’re always looking for ways to spiff up the curb appeal of your home. In my case, that often means buying new plants.
A key component of the landscape is shrubbery, and now is a great time for installing these woody additions.
It’s important, however, to select shrubs carefully because they’re expensive, and they frequently constitute a major part of your overall design. So when you need a new shrub, ask yourself several questions before heading to the nursery.
How long, deep, and high is your planting area? If I want to fill a border that’s, say, four feet deep, don’t select large shrubs, such as rose of Sharon, flowering quince or Cheyenne mock orange. Instead, aim for shrubs that are four feet wide or less at maturity, such as small shrub roses (example: Bonica) or dwarf varieties of Japanese barberry. Take shrub height into consideration, too, especially if you have windows that you don’t want obscured by plants.
How much sun/shade does your planting area receive? If your area faces south or west, you’ll need full-sun plants unless the area is shaded by trees, buildings or other structures. If your area faces east, your plants will likely be in sun part of the day and shade the other part unless you also have sun streaming in the side from the south or west. If your area faces north, you’ll likely need shade-loving shrubs unless there are mitigating factors.
Some top-performing shrubs for Colorado include:
Spring bloomers, such as autumn brilliance and regent serviceberry (full sun to part shade), Cheyenne mock orange (full sun), Carol Mackie daphne (part shade), black elder (part shade), viburnum (full sun to part shade), Pawnee Buttes sand cherry (full sun to part shade), and red chokeberry (full sun to part shade).
Summer/fall bloomers, such as hardy hibiscus (full sun to part shade), Annabelle hydrangea (full sun to part shade), tiger eyes sumac (full sun to part shade), dogwood (full sun to part shade), ninebark (full sun to part shade), and roses (full sun to part shade, depending on the cultivar).
When it comes to fall color, hedge cotoneaster is hard to beat. It’s easy to grow, and birds love the berries.
Is fall color important to you? If so, select plants known for their stunning fall foliage, such as autumn brilliance and regent serviceberry, tiger eyes sumac, Pawnee Buttes sand cherry, red chokeberry, hedge cotoneaster, and purple smokebush.
Do you have a working sprinkler system? If you do, you can select shrubs with high, medium or low water needs. Conversely, if you need to water by hand, consider low-water users, such as barberry, cotoneaster, serviceberry, Cheyenne mock orange, Pawnee Buttes sand cherry, Siberian pea shrub, potentilla, and sumac varieties.
Purple smokebush, nestled here in a bed of prairie winecups, can be grown as either a tree or shrub. When backlit by the sun, this plant just glows. Smokebush will produce summer blooms that resemble puffs of pink smoke. For smaller gardens, I recommend the Winecraft Black cultivar, which grows 4 to 6 feet high and wide.
How much maintenance are you willing to do? If you want to do as little maintenance as possible, stick with barberry, serviceberry, cotoneaster, viburnum, Cheyenne mock orange, purple smokebush, and Pawnee Buttes sand cherry. If you’re all right with moderate maintenance, such as occasional deadheading, install hardy hibiscus and Annabelle hydrangea. If, however, you enjoy pruning your shrubs at least once a year, look at roses, dogwoods, and tiger eyes sumac (which requires cutting back suckers).
These four plucky gnomes reduced the stray pine cone population in Larimer County, Colorado, while providing holiday whimsy. My friend’s gnome is on the far left; mine is on the far right. If I had a day job, I wouldn’t quit it to pursue a career in gnome-making.
Are you one of those gardeners who has a pine tree with a gazillion cones? Although those cones are beautiful, they can make a mess and even pose a fire hazard.
So what can you do with them?
The Garbage Garage at the Larimer County, Colorado, Landfill has an answer: Make pine cone gnomes.
Yesterday a friend and I attended a Garbage Garage class facilitated by Cindy Tunney, Larimer County education assistant. Cindy even provided five-inch pine cones from her own yard. We industrious crafters created our gnomes in about an hour.
If you would like to make your own gnome, here’s some information:
What you’ll need. A pine cone; felt for the hat and feet; beads or pom-poms for the nose; pom-poms or other trim for decorating the hat; one 12-inch pipe cleaner for bending the hat; a lid from a frozen juice can for the base; yarn for the beard; cardboard for hat and feet patterns and for winding the beard yarn; scissors; measuring tape; and a glue gun.
Making the hat. The hat is the most complicated part of the project. All 4 One Home provides one of the better hat-making descriptions I’ve seen, but you’ll need to adjust the size of the hat, depending on the circumference of your pine cone. After you’ve made a pattern and cut your hat triangle out of felt, glue the 12-inch pipe cleaner vertically on the inside of the hat triangle before gluing the hat together. The pipe cleaner should start at the pointy end of the hat and run to the bottom. Any extra length can be wrapped around the pine cone at the hat’s base to secure the hat to the pine cone. The pipe cleaner will enable you to bend the hat a funky angles. If you want, you can add a contrasting strip of felt around the base of the hat, a pom-pom at the point, and other baubles for decoration.
Making the beard. After you position the hat on the pine cone, cut a piece of cardboard about six inches wide and as tall as the space between the base of the hat and the bottom of the pine cone. If you have a five-inch pine cone, for example, the distance from the base of the hat to the bottom of the cone will likely be 3.5 to 4 inches. Holding the cardboard so the six-inch side is parallel to the ground, wrap the yarn vertically around the cardboard 20 to 25 times, depending on the thickness of the yarn. Cut the end of the yarn. Then cut a separate piece that’s twice as long as the short side of the cardboard. Insert that piece under the looped yarn at the top edge of the cardboard and tie the yarn together. If possible, the inserted piece should hang evenly from each side of your knot so that the ends can be incorporated into the rest of the beard. Now insert your scissors along the bottom edge of the cardboard and cut through the loops. You should have some semblance of a beard, which you can trim later. Using your glue gun, fasten the beard to the pine cone at the base of the hat.
Making the nose and feet. Glue a pom-pom or bead at the base of the hat and over the center of the beard to make the nose. For the feet, cut a heart-shaped piece of felt. Glue the heart to the juice can lid so the humpy end of the heart extends over the edge of the lid. Then glue the feet and lid to the bottom of the pine cone.
Adding finishing touches. Trim the beard so you can see the gnome’s feet. Fluff it appropriately. Glue on other enhancements as you see fit.
If gnomes aren’t your thing, Craftaholics Anonymous offers 25 other pine cone crafts that you can tackle.
What if you don’t have a pine tree, but want to make gnomes and other treasures? Check around your neighborhood. If you find a pine tree, be sure to ask the owner’s permission before harvesting any cones.
If you live in Fort Collins, Colorado, don’t take cones from the city’s parks and other properties. It’s illegal. If you live in other municipalities, contact the city or county before foraging on their land.
As a last resort, you can buy pine cones on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, as well as at craft stores and other retail outlets.
Thank you for reading my blog over the years. I wish you the happiest of holidays. I’ll write to you again in March 2022.
Lily-flowered Merlot tulips and Alexander’s white candytuft create a striking combination in mid-spring.
October is an ideal time to scope out fall color and plan for next spring in your garden. Items you might want to add include:
Spring-flowering bulbs. It’s not too late to order and plant tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, corydalis, and such. October is a great time to plant them, and you can even plant in November as long as the ground isn’t frozen.
Big-headed Darwin hybrid tulips and lily-flowered tulips are my favorites. Just plant them in clumps or drifts around your yard.
If you want to add a complementary ground cover, try woolly speedwell (Veronica pectinata, not the invasive V. repens) or candytuft (Iberis sempervirens). These two stellar plants have evergreen foliage, providing a carpet for both early-blooming and later-blooming bulbs.
For outrageous fall color, tiger eyes sumac is tough to beat.
Plants with vivid fall color. Walk or ride around to check out the fall color displays in parks and gardens. Then you can figure out what to plant now or next spring to increase autumn excitement in your own garden.
I love red/orange fall displays. That’s why I’ve planted tiger eyes sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger Tiger Eyes), autumn brilliance serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’), and Pawnee Buttes sand cherries (Prunus besseyi ‘Pawnee Buttes’). Then there’s always the complementary golden glow of regent serviceberry (A. alnifolia ‘Regent’).
Other plants that provide striking fall color include hedge cotoneaster (Cotoneaster lucidus), hot wings maple (Acer tartaricum ‘Garann), Ginnala maple (Acer tartaricum subsp. ginnala), Washington hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum), purple smokebush (Cotinus coggrygia), burning bush (Euonymus alatus), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), gro-low sumac (Rhus aromatica ‘Low-Gro’), and leadwort (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides).
Plants that add winter interest. Trees, shrubs and ornamental grasses provide structure to your garden to prevent it from looking like a moonscape in the winter.
And of course, evergreens lend color. I’m not just talking about pines, spruces and firs. I’m also talking about “evergreen” groundcovers, such as candytuft (brilliant green all winter), dwarf brooms (such as bangle genista, green all year long), Veronica pectinata (purplish winter foliage), and Angelina sedum (orange/red winter foliage).
In my winter garden, dogwood shrubs transform into a red twig forest, complemented by the white bark of my miniman viburnum and the green branches of the bangle genista. It’s beautiful on a carpet of fresh snow.
It may be too late to snag bargains this fall at garden centers. But in late April every year, Fort Collins Nursery sells its gallon-sized perennials for half price, so sign up for their newsletter to stay informed.
A milk-jug skeleton and fish greet visitors as they enter the Garbage Garage at the Larimer County Landfill.
Gardeners are born recyclers. Some of us toss fruit and vegetable scraps into compost piles. Others start seedlings in egg cartons or use old tires as flower planters. Still others are endlessly creative when using old materials for whimsical garden décor.
So imagine my excitement when I discovered The Garbage Garage at the Larimer County Landfill here in Colorado.
The Garbage Garage, established in 2003, educates consumers about reducing, reusing and recycling waste. Its drop-in hours are 10am to 2pm Tuesday through Friday. The garage also offers free tours and activities.
Earlier this month, I attend a DIY Natural Cleaners workshop, complete with recipes, at the garage. My fellow attendees and I learned how to make non-hazardous household cleaners from vinegar, baking soda, alcohol, castile soap and other everyday solutions. Cleaning’s a lot easier when you have a couple of all-purpose cleansers on hand instead of one cleaner for the bathroom bowl, another for windows, another for countertops, still another for laundry, etc. And think about it—you later have to dispose of all those containers, some of which hold relatively toxic liquids.
Cindy Tunney, Larimer County education assistant, pours Borax for workshop participant Abby Chemers as Cindy teachers Abby how to make laundry detergent pellets.
The garage offers a range of activities for all ages, especially children. Kids can, for example, participate in the Recycling Relay, Where Does it Go Game, Trash Art, and my personal favorite, Making Methane.
An educational display challenges visitors to determine whether certain everyday items are recyclable or disposable.
If you’re in the area and would like to check it out, visit the Garbage Garage at 5887 S Taft Hill Road in Fort Collins. Or take a look at the garage’s Facebook page.
Blossoms & Blueprints 