What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
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Here are the new and exciting selections for Plant Select this year. Every year Plant Select picks plants from their trial that are proven to withstand our extreme weather conditions. If you are ever interested in purchasing any of the selections, go to plantselect.org and there is a listing of both retail and wholesale growers. Get your requests in early especially with new introductions since supplies may be limited. HALF PINT® Pineleaf Penstemon Penstemon pinifolius ‘Compactum' is a plant that will provide green foliage in the winter if yo...
The holidays are over and winter finally arrived this season. Are you missing your roses about now? Looking ahead to the coming growing season, are you hoping the same thing I am hoping? That your roses make it through these harsh wind chills accompanied by windy dry days. If you were wise to give their roots water before these below freezing temperatures arrived, your roses are off to a good start. If you mulched with leaves or wood mulch, that too would mitigate the amount of damage to the root system. It all starts at the roots. Healthy root...
Little Bluestem is the most widely distributed native grass in the United States according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Now its cultivated varieties have been chosen as the Perennial Plant of 2022. For our western region, Schizachryium scoparium “The Blues” and Schizachyrium scoparium “Standing Ovation” are two great choices for the landscape. What makes it the most widely distributed native grass is its ability to grow on a wide variety of well-drained, moderate to dry, infertile soils. What makes it great for growing...
If you happen to be gifted a beautiful amaryllis, poinsettia or paperwhites, do you know how to care for them? Where to properly place them in your home? Here is some helpful advice for you. Amaryllis are gaining in popularity even over poinsettias. When your amaryllis arrives in bloom place the pot in a room with a temperature around 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. If someone happens to give you an amaryllis bulb to start, then that bulb will need warmer temperatures to get started. This means 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit until you see a flower...
Driving around our small rural towns you will notice a yellow shrub rose. This yellow shrub rose has many names such as Pioneer Rose, Oregon Trail Rose, The Yellow Rose of Texas, Yellow Hogg's Rose and Yellow Sweet Brier. Some of the locals here have called it Traveler's Rose or Settler's rose who have had the rose on their farm or homestead through the decades. And that's just a few of its names, but a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, right? Its real name is Harison’s Yellow rose. This was the first rose of its color in this c...
Northeast Colorado is home to the plains pocket gopher or Geomys bursarius. Prairie voles or Microtus ochrogaster also find their home in our area. But wait there is one more damaging critter, moles or Scalopus aquaticus spp caryi who live along the Lower South Platte which includes Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Morgan, Washington and Yuma counties. Each one of these critters will leave their mark in a different way. First, plains pocket gophers like to leave mounds and dig tunnels. These are usually found more frequently in sandy and silty...
Pumpkins It’s that time of year again. Time to harvest the pumpkins. Each variety has its own date of maturity. Hopefully, you noted that date on your calendar to help give you an idea of when your pumpkins might be ready. When the stems are dry and the rind hardens are the physical clues to knowing your pumpkin is ready to be cut from the vine. Remember that date of maturity includes the germination time when the seedling starts sending up a shoot and a root develops. Here are a few different varieties: Baby Boo — 95 days to maturity. Hyb...
Trees are more valuable to us because they are an integral part of our lives. Without trees we would have less oxygen since they take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Trees cool the atmosphere. Trees give us food and materials to build our homes and so much more. If you have space in your landscape, consider adding another tree. Here are two reasons why: It is good to have a diversity of trees in your landscape. If they are all the same, when one is effected by a disease the other trees are not a host to it. But there are many more benefit...
Grow & Give is returning this growing season. Colorado State University launched Grow & Give in 2020 as a “modern victory garden project” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Together with 600 volunteers we provided over 20 tons of fresh, local produce to people in need. This year Grow & Give continues to provide a platform for Coloradans to fight food insecurity in their communities by growing food and giving it to those in need. Learn more at GrowAndGiveColorado.org. KloverKare is a newly launched organization started by Jeremy Kil...
There are both perennial and annual vines that can hide your fence or add to the fence in your landscape. There are some choices that are stunning but not drought tolerant. If you are looking for something pleasing along the fence line Black Eyed Susan is a bright and cheery annual vine. Black Eyed Susan vine, Thunbergia alata does need to be grown in afternoon shade because we live in a hot, dry climate. It needs well-draining soil rich in organic matter with a neutral pH. Color choices are "Alba" offers white flowers with purplish brown cente...
Plant Select Plants are excellent for being able to tolerate drought, extreme climate changes and insect and disease issues. There are a variety that are hardy for our area. These listed below are the new introductions that underwent seven seasons in a trial before being released to the public as good choices. SteppeSuns® Hokubetsi, Helichrysum trilineatum “P021S” is a shrub that grows in the Maloti mountain range of southern Africa. It is a shrub that forms a rounded, dense, silver shrub with clusters of bright yellow strawflowers. Fuzzy stem...
February is upon us and the cold has moved in making winter official. This is the perfect time to be thinking about an opportunity to be given a tree replacement for your property. Be a part of a much larger project which is creating a town tour of trees more diverse than what currently exists such as newer cultivars than your established trees and some native trees. The Colorado Forest Service and Heginbotham Trust awarded funds to help homeowners in Haxtun replace a tree that was damaged or taken down by the storm in June 2020. There are...
There is some funding available to the Town of Haxtun for a limited number of trees destroyed by the derecho earlier this year. As the area Colorado State University Extension Horticulturist, on behalf of the town Linda Langelo investigated the amount of damage and applied for funding from the Colorado Reforest Grant Program which is specifically for towns devastated by natural disasters. Currently, two grants have been awarded. The Colorado Reforest Grant Program awarded $2,234 for trees and Heginbotham Trust matched the amount for a total of...
Dry weather damages even the most established perennials. The roots are what will be damaged. When do you water? And what perennials to cut back this fall and then next spring? Deeply watering your perennials before the ground freezes goes a long way to helping them through the initial transition into fall. After that pay attention to winter precipitation and if it gets dry and warm over an extended period find a way to give your perennials some water. Water when the air and soil temperature are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. A little bit of...
Marigolds make a great annual bedding plant. They are also very popular and a well-used annual for the vegetable garden. There is certainly a large variety to choose from for adding to your landscape. From the tallest, the African marigolds at three feet tall to some of the shorter marigolds, the dwarfs, only six inches tall. There is a variety of color from creamy white to combinations of orange and red and much more. Lucky for us, marigolds like full sun and tolerate the heat. They do need well-drained soil and soil that is moist but not wet....
June gardening tasks The month all gardeners have been waiting for is upon us. Now that nighttime temperatures are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit and staying consistently into the mid-50s, we can plant many more plants in our gardens. It is safe to plant out the geraniums, petunias and any other annual you want to use in your landscape. If you prefer to start some things from seed, now is the time to plant out California poppy seed, morning glory, four o’clock and many more. It is time to start acclimating those indoor plants by moving them o...
For most home lawn grasses mowing at a height of two to three and a half inches is best, according to Colorado State University Turf Specialist Tony Koski. If you have a different grass such as Bermuda or Zoysiagrass then mow to a height of three-quarters of an inch to one and a half inch. Proper mowing heights for different grass species is encouraged. The side effects of mowing too low end up placing more stress on your grass. Why? The lower you mow the less surface area left on the grass blade to produce food for the grass plant. Mowing at...
Gardening tips for April Now that COVID-19 has most all of us working remotely from our homes, here are a list of tips to help you get outside and enjoy the garden. Most of your perennials are putting on new growth. The first ones putting on new growth are the spring flowering shrubs, late spring and early May perennials. When should you remove the dead stalks/stems? If you see new growth starting either on the stem or at the base of the plant, then prune out the dead. If the growth is coming from the base, prune the stem to the ground without...
