By Karen Vanderwall Probably like many of you, I regularly have the desire to identify plants. Sure, I do know how to key out plants. I have a multitude of plant guides and gardening books. But I often enjoy taking a few moments in my own garden to quickly identify a plant. Other times I am […] Continue reading "Plant ID Apps"
By Kate Hogan* I started my home garden native plant conversion back in 2015 – I foolishly decided to attempt to replant my entire front and back garden beds to exclusively Colorado and New Mexico native plants while on maternity leave with my second child, which happened to be September of that year. We had […] Continue reading "Native Plants for Hummingbirds"
By Deb Lebow Aal In July, 2021, we reprinted an article from Harlequin Gardens on tips and tricks to water less. We’d like to highlight some of those tricks, again, add to them, and update some ideas from that article. That article focused on the advantages of xeriscaping your landscape; we’ve moved away from that […] Continue reading "I Know You Want To Water Less"
On June 22, 2024 the Fourth Annual Denver Pollinator/Native Plant Swap & Giveaway Event was held between 10am – 1pm with sunny skies and warm temps reaching 90°F. We appreciate the estimated 700 participants, including volunteers and families, who attended despite construction hassles, lines and heat. 2024 Denver Pollinator/Native Plant Swap & Giveaway at 11:30am […] Continue reading "2024 Denver Pollinator/Native Plant Swap & Giveaway — It’s a Very Successful Wrap!"
By Karen Vanderwall and Deb Lebow Aal Many of you live, or garden, at high elevations, and we’ve heard that sometimes you feel neglected in that we don’t address your specific issues at elevation. Well, here we will. If you live “high,” and we will define that as above 7,500 feet, you have many unique […] Continue reading "High Altitude Gardening in Colorado"
This question and answer are part of our Ask CSU Extension Anything (About Native Plants) series. We appreciate CSU Extension for answering these questions to expand our community’s knowledge of native plant landscaping. Send us your questions to the Ask CSU email account. FULL QUESTION: We heard at the Landscaping with native plants conference that […] Continue reading "Do you recommend adding expanded shale when planting native plants? "
By Karen Vanderwall Many of you are looking at your tired thirsty lawns right now, thinking I should get rid of it! It’s a daunting task, you are also probably thinking. Once you’ve worked through the challenging decision to replace some or all of your lawn to a native garden, the next challenge is how […] Continue reading "NATIVE PLANT GARDEN PREP – THE NITTY-GRITTY OF LAWN REMOVAL"
By Deb Lebow Aal Okay, it’s not the most exciting gardening article, but no doubt you have heard that mulch is important for a healthy garden. Is that true? And, mostly what we see on the Front Range is wood chip mulch. Is that the right mulch for your native plant garden? Well, it depends. […] Continue reading "Mulch for Your Colorado Native Plant Garden (Post)"
Are you delighted when you see a red, round, polka-dotted beetle crawling the stems and leaves of your garden? Not only are they darn cute but they are typically seen as beneficial insects in our native Colorado landscapes. We typically want lots of ladybugs or lady beetles (correctly, ladybird beetles) in our native plant gardens, […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plant Gardening: Should We Buy Ladybugs?"
Pam has recently stepped down from her role as Chair of the Propagation Committeefor other pursuits including travel to exotic places and we thought it a perfect time togive her a shout out of appreciation. For many years we received member comments and survey responses requesting morepropagation training. In 2021, Pam answered the call to […] Continue reading "Volunteer Spotlight – Pam Schulz"