By Ayn Schmit If you happen to find yourself on a summer Sunday along East Alameda Avenue in Denver, you might hear the happy hubbub of people working in the gardens at Ekar Farms. Ekar Farms, located on land belonging to the Denver Academy of Torah, is a non-profit organization that fosters community and connection […] Continue reading "Native Plant Demonstration Garden at Ekar Farms: A New Partnership"
You may know that Wild Ones Front Range Chapter has three demonstration projects, and one more we are “adopting.” We have also partnered with Denver Parks and Recreation on another project. They are all different, but worthy of some attention. So, we will be highlighting two of them here this month, and the other three […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plant Demonstration Gardens"
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 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 Deb Lebow Aal I think most people believe that shade gardening with native plants requires quite a bit of creativity, especially on the Front Range of Colorado. We do not have many native trees, so there is not much shade. It’s a given that most plants require light and water to do their thing, […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plants in the Shade"
This article is reprinted, with permission, from Harlequin’s Gardens’ June 15, 2021 newsletter. Harlequin’s Gardens is a family nursery and garden center dedicated to natural and sustainable gardening for our region. We at Wild Ones Front Range Chapter thought the article worthy of wider circulation as we face drought and higher temperatures across the Western United […] Continue reading "Tricks and Tips for Your Xeriscape Garden"
By Deb Lebow Aal Pocket Prairie is not a new term, but if you follow many sustainable gardening websites and blogs, like I do, it is suddenly everywhere. What is the buzz about? Well, as you know, the Front Range, and much of the Midwest was prairie – short and long grass prairie. If we […] Continue reading "Colorado Native Plants in Pocket Prairies"
By Deb Lebow Aal, inspired by a Front Range Wild Ones newsletter reader’s thoughtful response to Deb’s last article Our April 2021 edition of the Wild Ones, Front Range Chapter newsletter contained an article on Climate Change and your yard. Within that article, we discussed assisted migration of plants, given our warming climate. We gave the Chilopsis […] Continue reading "More Thoughts on the Assisted Migration of Native Plants"
By Deb Lebow Aal Are there things you can be doing in your landscape that make a difference – a significant difference – to climate change? Well, yes. I first want to state that I am no scientist. I am just a layperson who wanted to know the answer to this question, and to the next […] Continue reading "Climate Change and Your Colorado Yard"
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"