Colorado has 5 plant hardiness zones: 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3. If you're new to plant hardiness zones, they tell you whether your flower plants are likely to survive the coldest winter temperatures that are expected in your area and come back next year. (For the full scoop...
When I was first learning how to garden... I used to think that 32 degrees was the temperature I needed to keep an eye on for my flower plants. 32 degrees is when water freezes, so that must be the point when my flowers will freeze too, right? But over time, I've...
You know you've entered the "joys of western gardening club" when... It feels like summer one day... and the next day you're bracing yourself for frosts, freezes and snow. (I'm not crying. I have something in my eye.) If you'd like your summer annuals — your...
Have you noticed... ... that some of your plants are overachievers in the spring—eager to emerge from the ground in all their leafy glory? Meanwhile, other plants don't seem to be doing much AT ALL. As plant lovers, it’s natural for us to look at the latter and...
So, you’re dashing into Costco, and what grabs your eye? Colorful, happy flowers just waiting for you to give them a new home, like a litter of fluffy puppies. Eeek! You can’t help but walk over and take a closer look. After a long, drab winter, the flowers look so...
If I could go back in time and tell myself one thing as a new gardener... I would say it's worth finding pretty flower pots. They're like a good pair of shoes or a nice piece of jewelry. They can really elevate the look of your container garden. But how do you choose?...
Spring can be one of the best times to plant perennials — the flowers that come back. "Cool temps are ideal for planting perennials..." wrote David Salman, respected western plantsman of Waterwise Gardening LLC, in 2022. "Perennials thrive in cool weather, putting...
So, you walk into your local western garden center... And you see row after row of flowers. You may find yourself thinking one of two things: "Ahhhh, I'm in my happy place." You feel like a kid in a candy store. Or ... "HOLY. CRAP." There are sooooo many choices. You...
If you've been wondering, "Where can I learn about plants for waterwise flower gardening?", you're in the right place. It's dry in the West, which means we need to be strategic about the flowers we grow in our gardens. Where I live in Colorado, we're lucky if we get...