by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Mar 7, 2025 | Gardening Tips and Tricks, Western Container Gardening With Flowers
I’ve been feeling conflicted about sharing this week’s gardening tip.
I firmly believe that you do not need a lot of stuff to be a successful gardener.
When I moved into my home, I was fortunate to inherit a few, basic gardening supplies from the previous owner. She was downsizing to a townhouse and was ready to say goodbye to her small collection of shears and shovels. I still happily use most of her tools and supplies today.
But every now and then, I’ll reach a point during the gardening season when I think:
“It sure would be nice to have…” a cute (but affordable) flowerpot, hail netting, etc.
What I’ve discovered is:
Some garden supplies can be surprisingly hard to find when you need them during the garden season.
Others are time-sensitive.
So, in this week’s tip, I want to share a few items that are helpful to track down NOW, rather than waiting until summer.
Do you prefer to find used garden supplies rather than new ones? Awesome! I’ve included “reuse” ideas too.
Packets of flower seeds
If you’ve played with the idea of planting flower seeds this year, now’s a good time to shop for them. For just a few bucks, you can grow really pretty flowers in your garden from a packet of seeds. And there are many flower seeds that you can spread directly in the ground — like the colorful Cosmos flowers below.
No fancy growing equipment needed!
What’s the catch?
Your timing matters. Your flowers are more likely to bloom when you want them to bloom — like in July and August instead of October! — when you follow the recommended timing for planting your seeds.
Often times, these seeds need to be planted 2 to 4 weeks before your “average last frost date.”
What’s an “average last frost date?” What does that mean? It means this is the point when there’s now less than 50% of a chance of getting a frost. You can search online to find the average last frost date for your area.
In Denver, our average last frost date is in early May. If we need to plant 2 to 4 weeks before this date, it’s best to plant these seeds in early- to mid-April.
Other seeds need to be planted even earlier.
You can find flower seed packets at local, independent garden centers. You also can buy seeds directly from seed companies like Botanical Interests. They’re a Colorado company. (This is not an affiliate link. I’m just sharing it for your convenience.)
Look at the back of the seed packets — or read the online descriptions — to find out when you should plant your seeds for the best results.
Affordable flowerpots
I’ve come to appreciate that flowerpots are like a nice pair of shoes or a stylish piece of jewelry. They can really elevate the look of a container garden.
They also can be surprisingly expensive.
If you’d like pretty flowerpots without the shock-inducing price, now’s a great time to look for flowerpots at stores like HomeGoods (TJ Maxx) and even Costco.
If you prefer to re-use rather than buying new:
- Look for used flowerpots on Next Door, OfferUp and Craig’s List.
- Check out estate sales. They’re another good place to find outdoor treasures like flowerpots and garden tools.
Pro tip! When choosing a flowerpot, look for pots that have hole(s) in the bottom. A flowerpot without a hole is like a bathtub without a drain. You’ll save yourself extra steps later when you buy a pot that already has a hole in it.
Hail netting
I know this is a weird one for March. But while we’ve been shoveling snow, scrappy gardeners have been proactively searching the Internet or visiting local garden centers for supplies like hail netting (also called, “anti-hail netting”).
This is one of those items that when we roll into thunderstorm season, the demand is so high, it’s usually sold out.
Translation: When you need it, you can’t get it.
By the way, there are plenty of things you can use in your home to protect your flowers from hail. I have a friend who uses shower curtain liners to help protect her flowers from hail. You can get creative.
So please know, you do not need to buy hail netting.
With that said, now’s the time to look for hail netting if a hailstorm trashed your flowers last year and you want to up your hail protection game. Sometimes, you can find hail netting at your local, independent garden centers. You also can find it online from garden supply companies and Amazon.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Jan 28, 2026 | Gardening Tips and Tricks, Western Container Gardening With Flowers
So, you walk into your local garden center …
You’re all ready to pick 3-5 flowers for your planters, but suddenly, you see HUNDREDS of flower choices.
You’re looking at row, after row, after row of flowers.
How are you supposed to know which flowers to pick??
No worries, you’ve got this!
In this tip, you’ll discover 4 proven questions to help you start narrowing down your choices, so you can pick flowers for your planters that are more likely to last — particularly in our tough western growing conditions.
Watch my video below or scroll down for the article.
Here’s what to think about when picking flowers, so your flowers are more likely to last — particularly in tough western states like Colorado and Utah.
#1: How much sun will my planters get where I place them?
Some plants love the sun. In fact, they need the sun in order to give you colorful blooms.
But other plants?
Not so much.
They actually prefer shadier conditions.
Before you go to the garden center, take a look at where your planter will be and ask yourself:
How much sunlight are my pots getting and what times of day?
That way, when you get to the garden center, you can look for flowers that love sun or flowers that prefer shade.
Look at the plant tags tucked in the flowers. The plant tags should tell you whether the flowers like sun, shade or something in between.
If you’re ever unsure of how much sunlight different flowers need, you can always ask at the garden center. People are usually happy to help you.
In western states like Colorado and Utah, our sunlight is more intense on our plants in than other parts of the country because we’re gardening closer to the sun at elevation.
#2: The next question for you is, do you have wildlife in your area?
And specifically, I mean deer.
Here’s why I ask.
Some plants have developed defense mechanisms, so they’re less likely to be eaten by deer.
For example, they may have a scent or a taste that deer don’t like.
If you know that Bambi and his friends like to stroll through your neighborhood like it’s an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, be sure to ask where the deer resistant flowers are when you go to the garden center.
(Sometimes these flowers are grouped together at the garden center. Sometimes they aren’t.)
The key word here is “deer resistant.”
If an animal is hungry enough, it will eat anything that’s available to it.
Nonetheless, you’ll give yourself a little bit of an advantage if you know that your neighborhood has deer, and you seek out deer-resistant flowers.
Okay, next question:
#3: Do you get really hot summers? Or are you more likely to get summer frosts?
Here’s why I ask.
Some flower plants do really well in the heat. They can handle it like a champ, like the zinnias below.
Other flower plants prefer cooler temperatures and are happier in sweater and jeans weather.
In fact, when temperatures get down around freezing, they’re going to be a lot more forgiving than some other plants (like pansies or violets below).
Seldom are these two the same.
So, if you know you live somewhere hot and you’re putting your flower plants out in the afternoon sun, then you want to ask for “heat tolerant” annuals or “heat resistant” annuals.
But if you know that you live at a higher elevation with a much shorter growing season and you have the chance of much colder temperatures, then you’re more likely to want to ask for “frost tolerant” annuals or “cold hardy” annuals. These are your flowers that are more forgiving at colder temperatures.
Okay, last question to ask yourself to set yourself up for more success with your planters or pots.
And it’s this:
#4: How much energy do you want to put into growing flowers?
All flowers need a little bit of your energy, right?
You need to water your flowers.
You may need to remove the dead blooms.
And you may need to fertilize them from time to time.
But, if you know you’re not-so-great about watering or you’re not-so-great at removing those dead blooms, there are actually flowers you can choose that are almost designed for you.
For example, let’s say that the idea of trimming off dead blooms on a flower sounds like a lot of work to you. (This is known as “dead heading.”)
Well, did you know there are some flowers that lose their petals on their own?
Often times, they’re called “self-cleaning” flowers. They lose their blooms and take care of it all themselves, so you don’t have to do a thing.
When you look at flowers at the garden center, look for words like “self cleaning” or “no deadheading” on their plant tags. (Not every plant tag says it, so it’s okay to ask about self-cleaning flowers too!)
If you know you’re not so great about watering…
You may want to ask about flower plants that need less water.
Or, you may want to invest in planters that contain self-watering reservoirs. You could run mall hoses from your irrigation system (known as “driplines”) straight into your planters or pots.
There are things you can do to pick plants that are much more suited for your lifestyle.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Sep 12, 2025 | Gardening Tips and Tricks, Western Container Gardening With Flowers
I used to think that once you planted your flowerpots, that was it. Your flower babies were in there for the long haul.
But I’ve come to appreciate that you can swap out the flowers in your pots.
It’s like changing your wardrobe for the seasons.
If you want to change the flowers in your flowerpots, you can — especially in the late summer to early fall. You can change just one flower. Or, you can change them all.
Why would you change the flowers in your pots?
There are all kinds of reasons.
Let’s say:
- You want to spice up your flowerpots for a new season — like transitioning from spring to summer, or summer to fall.
- You have an empty gap in your pots. Some of your flowers didn’t fill in quite like you thought they would.
- You’d like to add in more color.
- You have perennials planted in your flowerpots. They’re done blooming for the season. (Perennials are the flowers that can come back each year, but often bloom for a short amount of time.)
- There’s a flower in your flowerpot that doesn’t look so good or it may have died. (No judgment! It happens.)
Late summer to early fall can be a good time to add in new flowers
As we transition to fall, one of my favorite flowers to add to my flowerpots is Black Eyed Susan.
(This plant goes by many names, including Rudbeckia and Gloriosa Daisy.)
You can find it in a lot of pretty colors, as you can see below.
Black Eyed Susans give flowerpots a bright pop of color. They can bloom for a long time.
Best of all, these flowers feel like fall — like a Sunday drive to go leaf peepin’ or the sweet smell of mulled apple cider after a trip to the pumpkin patch.
Give your flowerpots a fresh look for fall
If you’d like to freshen up your flowerpots for fall, you can pop in flowers like…
- Black-Eyed Susans (aka, Gloriosa Daisies)
- Mums
- Ornamental Cabbage
- Ornamental Kale
- Pansies
- Violas
You can see some examples below.
Helpful tips if you change the flowers in your flowerpots
1) Keep your new flowers well-watered
Flowers tend to like A LOT of water when they’re newly planted in flowerpots, especially in our late-summer heat.
You may need to water your pots more than you have been doing.
Keep your eye on your newly-planted flowers. They can get droopy or crispy quickly.
2) Keep your eye on temperatures
Many fall flowers are “cool season” flowers.
They’re happiest when our days and nights start to cool down.
This means you may want to hold off on planting flowers like Pansies, Violas and Ornamental Cabbage until temperatures start to cool off. For example, Pansies tend to be in their happy place when daytime temps are in the upper 50s and 60s, and nighttime temps are in the 40s.
3) Look for plants that have new buds on them (meaning all the flowers haven’t opened yet)
This is one way to ensure that you’ll get longer-lasting color from your new flowers.
If you’d like to see photos of what I’m talking about, check out these 3 simple tips to pick fall flowers that bloom longer.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Jan 28, 2026 | Gardening Tips and Tricks, Western Container Gardening With Flowers
The seasons are changing. It’s time to figure out what to do with your outdoor pots in the winter.
(Good thinking!)
Before you start getting winter snow and freezing temps, it helps to:
1) Empty the dead flowers and dirt (or “soil” in garden lingo) from your outdoor pots.
2) Move your empty pots someplace dry. Ideally, you’d store them someplace that stays above freezing (like an attached garage). If that isn’t possible, you could put them on a covered porch or in a shed.
If your pots are too heavy to move…
3) Turn them upside down OR cover and wrap them with a thick plastic tarp to help keep the moisture out.
Why does it help to protect your outdoor pots?
If you leave the soil in your containers and moisture gets in the soil, the soil can freeze and expand, damaging your pots.
Even resin (plastic) pots can get freeze damage and crack open. I learned this the hard way when one of my resin flowerpots cracked down the side, like a man splitting his pants. Oops.
Some flowerpot surfaces can hold moisture too, like glazed ceramic and terracotta pots.
Here are examples of winter freeze damage on several of my neighbors’ flowerpots.
Do you have to do anything with your outdoor pots in the winter?
It’s a matter of your risk tolerance for your pots.
I used to leave my pots outside all winter with old soil and dead plants still in them. But after ruining several pots in winter freezes, I’m all for protecting my pots during the winter.
With that said, I have friends who don’t do anything with their outdoor pots in the winter. They’ve NEVER had issues with their pots breaking. And they have glazed ceramic pots that should be vulnerable.
It all depends on how much you want to risk it.
If you have pretty outdoor pots that you don’t want to lose, it’s a good idea to protect them from freezing winter conditions.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Jan 28, 2026 | Flower Garden Basics, Gardening Tips and Tricks
– 20 degrees below zero… -50 degrees below zero… -70 degrees below zero …
Yikes.
Every few years, we see some big wind chill numbers across parts of the Rocky Mountain region and high plains during winter, including in Colorado and Wyoming.
With these arctic blasts, it’s natural to wonder:
“Will wind chill kill the plants in my garden?”
The short answer is no.
Wind chill affects humans, not plants. The temperatures that affect your plants are the actual lows, not the wind chill temperatures.
Do you have snow in the forecast? That can be a good thing. Snow acts like insulation. It can serve as an insulating blanket on the ground, helping protect your plants’ roots from really cold temperatures.
Mid-winter is a better time for cold blasts than spring or fall. No one wants arctic temperatures, but if we’re going to get them, it’s better for our plants to get them in the heart of winter. Most perennials (and shrubs and trees) are in their hardened winter mode. Extreme lows can be much more destructive to plants in the spring or fall.
Many plants are “cold hardy” and can tolerate frigid dips.
It will be a wait-and-see game when spring and summer come around to find out if and how plants are affected by winter’s arctic blasts. In the spring, I’ll keep my eye on my “marginally hardy” perennials and newer plants that are still developing their root systems.
But if you hear weather forecasters toss around epic wind chill numbers, don’t let the wind chill numbers alarm you for your garden.
To learn more…
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Jan 28, 2026 | Gardening for Pollinators, Gardening Tips and Tricks
The sun is shining its warm rays. Birds are singing. And Costco has started assembling its spring pergola displays. Spring is starting to feel like it’s within reach, even if it’s still a ways off.
It’s enough to make you want to skip through the aisles of Costco.
(Go ahead. We won’t judge.)
So, on these warm winter days…
Should you start cutting back your garden in Colorado and similar states?
It’s tempting to want to start cleaning up your western garden for the new season—you know, raking leaves out of your flower beds, cutting back perennials.
But good news, there’s still time to relax. It’s best to hold off on these tasks for now. Yep, step outside and simply enjoy the sunshine instead.
Why wait on garden clean-up?
1) You’re giving your plants extra protection.
When you leave plant stems standing all winter, you’re giving some plants a better chance of returning in the spring, saving you money and effort.
It makes the plants hardier in the cold. This includes beautiful plants that hummingbirds love like western salvias, hyssops (Agastache) and hummingbird trumpet.
2) You’re helping nesting pollinators.
Some pollinators, like Monarch butterflies, head south for the winter like happy retirees. But many beneficial insects (or their babies) overwinter in your garden and don’t emerge until April or May. Some nestle down in leaf debris. Some lay eggs or create cocoon-like structures on the dormant stems of your perennials and shrubs. Many overwinter in hollow plant stems or in holes in the ground.
Your garden is a lil’ Airbnb!
3) You’re feeding the birds.
Local and migrating birds will feed on dried seeds from your plants. In January, I noticed 15 robins in my backyard (it was a robin convention!), along with juncos, woodpeckers and a few mystery cuties. Hopefully, you’re enjoying birds in your yard too.
Cheers to nature right outside your door!
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Dec 2, 2022 | Gardening Tips and Tricks
Here are the key items you need to sterilize your flowerpots:
Here’s how to sterilize your flowerpots:
- Wear clothes for cleaning. For example, put on rubber gloves. You also may want to put on old clothes.
- Place your pots in a sink or tub (if you can).
- Wash your pots in soapy water. I use dish soap. When you’re done, empty the water.
- Partially fill a bucket with a mixture of 90% water and 10% bleach. (For every 1 gallon of water, you’d add about 1-3/4 cups of bleach.) If you’d like an alternative to bleach, you can use vinegar. Just know it isn’t quite as effective at sterilizing. You also can ask your local garden center whether they carry any organic agricultural products that are good alternatives to bleach.
- Use a sponge to wash the mixture over the inside and outside of your pots. If you can soak your pots in the mixture for a few minutes, great, but I know this can be tough to do with big pots or heavy pots.
- Rinse your pots with clean water. If your pots are terracotta, soak them in clean water. (Terracotta is very absorptive.)
- Let your pots air dry.
If you set up a tub or plastic container outside to wash your pots, you may want to set up in your garage. Keep all of this away from your lawn and plants.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Nov 14, 2022 | Flower Garden Basics
As you learn how to garden, it’s helpful to understand:
“What’s an annual vs a perennial?”
Why?
Because most flowers in your western garden will be one or the other.
Here are key differences between annuals and perennials, so these types of flowers make more sense.
Keep in mind, Mama Nature makes her own rules, so there are always exceptions.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Sep 12, 2025 | Gardening Tips and Tricks
Looking for a fun fall project that will make your front porch look GOOD?
Use a pumpkin as a planter. You’ll create a cute autumn flowerpot that has your neighbors saying, “Wow!”
I created pumpkin planters with a friend last fall. This project is quick and easy. (Yesss!) And I got great feedback from my neighbors.
Scroll on to get the scoop on how to use a pumpkin as a planter.
What you need to make a pumpkin planter…
The basic things you need are:
- Large pumpkins
- Flowers in pots (you’ll keep your flowers in the nursery pots rather than planting them directly in the pumpkin)
- Pumpkin carving tools
- OPTIONAL: An anti-desiccant spray (this is supposed to help the pumpkin from drying out)
Alright, let’s jump into the steps!
Pick a big pumpkin.
Size matters here. Look for a big pumpkin.
I took an empty flowerpot with me to the store, so I could get a sense for how big of a pumpkin I needed.
I’m not great at spatial planning, so this helped me a lot.
Wash your pumpkin.
Clean the outside of your pumpkin with soap and water.
This will help it look like a shiny, new penny and keep your hands clean.
Create the hole for the flowerpot.
Trace a hole on your pumpkin that’s slightly bigger than the size of your flowerpot.
Clean out the inside of the pumpkin.
Make sure the hole is big enough to easily remove the flowerpot for watering. As you can see in the photo below, I needed to slightly expand the hole.
It’s important to be able to remove the flowerpot.
When you water your flowers, you’re going to pull the flowerpot out of the pumpkin. That way, you don’t have water seeping into the bottom of the pumpkin.
When you’re done watering and the water has stopped dripping, you’ll put the flowerpot back in the pumpkin.
If there’s any chance you’ll have water dripping at the bottom, you may want to carve a drainage hole in the bottom of the pumpkin too.
Get creative with where you carve the flowerpot hole.
You don’t have to cut the hole for the flowerpot where the stem of the pumpkin is.
My friend found a cool pumpkin that looked better on its side, as you can see below.
Optional: Once the pumpkin is cleaned out, spray the interior with an anti-desiccant.
An anti-desiccant spray is supposed to help keep the pumpkin from drying out. I found the spray at a local garden center last fall. You also can order it on Amazon.
Follow the instructions on the bottle for how long to let it dry.
Full disclosure: I didn’t find that the anti-desiccant made much of a difference, so I’m not going to use it this year.
You could stop here, and you’d have a really cute pumpkin planter.
Or, you can go a few steps further…
Turn your pumpkin planter into a Jack O’Planter.
I felt like my pumpkin needed a little “oomph,” so I decided to carve it.
You could carve anything you want into your pumpkin: a funny face, a pretty pattern, the brand logo for your business…
In my case, I started with a leaf.
Here’s how my pumpkin planter turned out.
I was excited with how it came together!
How do you get your flowerpot to sit at the right height in the pumpkin?
You may need to put something inside the pumpkin for the flowerpot to sit on.
In my case, I turned an old plastic cup upside down inside the pumpkin. Then, I set the flowerpot on top of it.
This helped the flowers to sit at the right height.
Plant a pretty mix of fall flowers.
If you want to use a pumpkin as a planter, you also could include a mix of fall flowers.
(Go big, right?)
My friend filled an empty nursery pot with potting soil and packed in several types of fall flowers, like mums and pansies.
Then, she put that flowerpot inside her pumpkin planter.
Here’s a look at both of our pumpkin planters.
Cute, right?
What we may tweak for this autumn…
My friend and I may experiment with adding in other types of pumpkins this year. I have a ceramic Jack O’Lantern pumpkin. My friend has a craft pumpkin from a craft store.
We’re going to see if these options help our fall displays last longer.
At the very least, the squirrels should be less interested in the pumpkins.
But I’m also going to carve real pumpkins again and use them as planters.
It was fun!
If you make a pumpkin planter, share it on Instagram or Facebook and tag @gowestgardener. I’d love to see what you create.
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