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"
We had a great group come out to tour the Greenverein Garden, which was started in 2019 as a collaboration between Denver Turnverein, Uptown on the Hill, and Front Range Wild Ones on a former Denver hell strip located on Clarkson Street! The garden is 100′ long and 11′ wide and uses berms, swales, check […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plant Demonstration Garden | Tour of Denver’s Greenverein “Hell Strip” @ Turnverein"
Laurel brings her energy and passion to the Wild Ones Front Range Chapter as a volunteer on our Programming Committee. She prefers contributing in a variety of ways, including moderating virtual webinars, organizing garden tours, and leading field trips. When asked about her experience volunteering with the Programming Committee, Laurel said, “I was initially worried that I […] Continue reading "Member Spotlight: Laurel Starr"
Photo credits (left to right): W.D. and Dolphia Bransford, Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller, and Thomas Muller, all courtesy of Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center One of the showiest native shrubs on Colorado’s front range is Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa). It has a wild look about it, and can get rather rangy if untended, but that, we […] Continue reading "Plant Spotlight: Apache Plume"
By Jen Smith Seed Swap update. Thanks to everyone who came out to the Seed Swap events in Denver, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins! Swap attendance was double last year’s, and we had more seeds at the end than when we started due to so many of your generous donations. Germination. Now that you have all […] Continue reading "From Seeds to Seedlings"
By Deb Lebow Aal and Danna Liebert In this year’s Member Survey you, our members, asked how we determine whether we are making progress with changing landscapes, “one yard at a time” (that’s the Wild Ones’ tagline). We think it’s a good question. Rather than relying on anecdotes from native plant landscapers (whose phones are ringing […] Continue reading "The State of Native Plant Legislation in Colorado"
We are excited to feature more WOFR member gardens in our upcoming newsletters. If you’re growing Colorado native plants, please consider sharing your garden with us (photos, observations, musings, trials and tribulations) via this submission form. There is also opportunity here for WOFR member submissions to be featured in the Wild Ones National Journal. One of […] Continue reading "Share Your Garden"
Baby blue rabbitbrush across the seasons. Photos courtesy of Plant Select. Rabbitbrush doesn’t get its full due. It is gorgeous when most of your garden has finished inspiring, and it’s bustling with insects looking for late season nectar at this time of year. Some people don’t like how rangy large rabbitbrush can get (see our […] Continue reading "Plant Spotlight: Baby Blue Rabbitbrush"
Editor’s note: The following article is written by WOFR member, Dan Rink, who responded to our request for personal stories of growing native plants, and whose home garden is beginning to flourish with them. Thanks, Dan, for sharing! We look forward to following your journey. All photos by Dan Rink When I first started this […] Continue reading "Member & Garden Spotlight: Dan Rink"
