By Deb Lebow Aal As we approach the winter solstice, I am taking time to pull back, pull inside, reorganize, and yes, already think about my landscape for next year. We gardeners don’t only find solace and joy in working in our gardens, but planning them as well, and as a respite from the tumult […] Continue reading "A Colorado Pocket Prairie"
QUESTION: Do I need to keep dead perennial stemsfor three years in order for them to be of benefit topollinators?ANSWER: While it seems like “new” information, the three-year timeline for perennialstems is derived from the life cycle of stem-nesting pollinators. Your first reaction might be,“Three years!,” but it isn’t as dramatic as it would seem—you […] Continue reading "Ask CSU Extension Anything: Keeping Dead Perennial Plant Stems for Insect Nesting"
By Deb Lebow Aal Thanks to Kristine Johnson for her assistance on this article. A few years ago, we published two articles on Colorado native plant gardening myths. They were wildly popular, and the issues discussed in those articles still surface when talking gardening, so, they bear repeating. I am updating the original posts with […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plant Gardening Myths Take 3"
By Deb Lebow Aal The question of how many native plants, or native plant species, a garden should contain to be considered a native plant garden, comes up all the time. The question we should probably be asking ourselves is, “When does my garden become ecologically beneficial?” If you really want to support the ecosystem, […] Continue reading "How Native Should My Garden Be?"
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: I am looking for suggestions for native vines that will […] Continue reading "What native vines could help cover a chain link fence?"
By Kristine Johnson The Front Range is the dry boundary of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. In Boulder, Colorado, where I live, we receive about 20 inches (51 cm) of precipitation per year, peaking in late Spring. One problem with gardening in this relatively arid environment is that many Colorado residents moved here […] Continue reading "Rainwater Harvesting"
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 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? "