By Deb Lebow Aal I have written an article on Gambel Oaks, and another article on why all native plants are not equal. This article combines the two, and coins the term super native plants! Oak trees are super native plants, as anyone who listened to Doug Tallamy’s talk on oaks last month knows. Doug’s […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Oaks, Again!"
By Deb Lebow Aal One of the biggest challenges we face as native plant gardeners is how to design a native plant garden. After all, we are challenging the norm. We are not planting an expanse of turf with two trees plopped in somewhere. We are changing the way we landscape on the Front Range […] Continue reading "Designing a Colorado Native Garden"
By Deb Lebow Aal I love being asked to look at people’s yards. I am not a professional landscaper, but I read gardening books like they’re novels, and from many years of gardening I know enough to give some advice. I frequently hear garden myths that I am reluctant to rebut on the spot, but […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plant Gardening Myths"
By Jody Gardiner, Wild Ones Front Range chapter member Join us in saving our bees and the world’s food supply, ONE YARD AT A TIME! Not all bees are alike. Most of us are familiar with honey bees. Less familiar to most of us are the cross-pollinating solitary (hive-less) native bees, like mason and leaf cutter bees, […] Continue reading "More Native Bees Equals More Local Food"
Moving Towards Sustainable Flowers One Bouquet at a Time By Ayn Schmit, Wild Ones Front Range member and flower enthusiast, and Helen Skiba, owner, Farmette Flowers in Longmont Why would Front Rangers passionate about native landscaping care about growing flowers ourselves or supporting our local farmers who grow them? Have you ever wondered where that […] Continue reading "Sustainable Flowers on the Front Range"
By Deb Lebow Aal There are a myriad of reasons to get rid of turf grass such as the ubiquitous Kentucky Blue Grass lawn on the Front Range, not the least of which is the amount of water it takes to keep it looking green. Why we have as much turf grass (I’ll use the term turf grass or […] Continue reading "Using Native Grasses for a Lawn"
by Deborah Lebow Aal You are right. There aren’t many native trees on the Front Range. I wrote an article on Native Trees for the Colorado Front Range a few years ago, but since we have so many new members, and since it is perhaps the most common question I get (What trees do you recommend?), we will […] Continue reading "Gamble on a Gambel Oak and Some Other Colorado Native Trees for the Front Range"
By Jan Midgley In dry lands with few woody plants, grasses are the foundation of the landscape both functionally and aesthetically. But why should we include them in public and private designed landscapes? The small, wind pollinated flowers are not as showy as the flowers of forbs (flowering herbaceous plants that are not a graminoid […] Continue reading "Grasses are the Foundation"
By Deb Lebow Aal If you are reading this, you have some familiarity with, and/or, some interest in, native plants and native insects. You probably have planted some native plants in your landscape, or are intending to do so. This article is to remind you that not all native plants are created equal. Some native […] Continue reading "All Native Plants are NOT Created Equal"
Primary Author: Deb Lebow Aal If you want to attract butterflies (and who doesn’t?), you will need to plant the right native plants to attract them. The challenge is to support all life stages of the butterfly, from the egg, through the larval and pupal stages, and then the adult. Many plants labeled as butterfly […] Continue reading "Attracting Butterflies with Colorado Native Plants"