By Deborah Lebow Aal, with help from Robert Greer, Jan Midgley and Jonathan Sciarcon This is a revised version of our most popular toolkit entry. Gardening in the shade with native plants requires quite a bit of creativity on the Front Range of Colorado. We did not have many native trees here on the plains, […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plants that Tolerate Shade"
By Paul Alaback and Kristine Johnson Why Use Multi-Stemmed Trees? When we think of creating a native garden or landscape in the semi-arid West, we often conjure up an image of a dry prairie with many wildflowers and grasses, all adapted to hot dry conditions. While some places were historically prairie, all around Colorado we […] Continue reading "Multi-Stem Native Trees and Large Shrubs for Colorado Landscapes"
By Karen Vanderwall This month we are featuring the Colorado native: New Mexican Privet. Upon first learning of this shrub, I envisioned a privet – a dense, tough shrub trimmed into a hedge for a privacy screen. Well as in many cases, and this one is a good example, a plant’s common name can be […] Continue reading "Plant Spotlight: New Mexican Privet, Forestiera pubescens"
By Kristine Johnson This year, Boulder County members will have the privilege of visiting the garden of Jean Morgan in Louisville not once, but twice, in April and again in September. We are so fortunate that she is being so generous with her time and her space so that more of us will be able […] Continue reading "Visiting the Garden of Living Legend: Jean Morgan"
By Kristine Johnson While many members of Wild Ones Front Range are totally on the DIY (do it yourself) bandwagon–for various reasons or for various portions of our space–we may also reach out for help from professionals. Native plant landscaping can feel daunting. So how do you find someone who is a good fit for […] Continue reading "Questions to Ask a Native Plant Landscaper"
Many Colorado Native Plants boast similar attributes to common landscape plants but with better ecological benefits. Continue reading "Toolkit Highlight: Plant this, Not That"
Three-Leaf Sumac is a Colorado native plant with exceptional fall color. Continue reading "Three-Leaf Sumac, Rhus trilobata"
Review by Kristine Johnson I had the privilege of hearing a conversation between beloved author and Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer and renowned Colorado poet Camille Dungy about Kimmerer’s new book, The Serviceberry, at a reading in Boulder in December. I have been thinking about the book ever since, thrusting my copy onto others to […] Continue reading "Book Review: The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World"
By Karen Vanderwall and Kristine Johnson I know, just the thought of planting a juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) on purpose in or near your garden of all places seems unlikely–or at least way down on the list of interesting plants you’re “pining” for. But you may want to give the humble native juniper some consideration. Juniperus […] Continue reading "Plant Spotlight: Rocky Mountain Juniper"
By Kristine Johnson What is compost? Compost is the “managed, aerobic (oxygen-requiring) biological decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms.” While we know that everything living eventually breaks down and returns nutrients to the earth, the process of composting can speed up decomposition, benefit certain decomposers, conserve nutrients, and yield a uniform product useful in gardening. […] Continue reading "Compost and the Native Plant Garden"