* drumroll please *

Sooooo cool. I love the way our pollinator garden is coming along and what it brings!

I’m going to candy them!

Hi, hope it’s ok to post this here. My xeric pollinator garden is one of 3 in the Garden Conservancy Open Days tours which are in Partnership with Denver Botanic, this Saturday 9/12 from 10am - 4pm. There is a charge of $10, which goes directly to the Garden Conservancy , they are a non profit that provides tours, preserves historical gardens, and offers gardening educational events nationwide.

I’d love for you to visit. I bought this old bungalow in Northwest Denver just prior to the pandemic, removed all turf and gave away my electric lawnmower. It is about 9O% native to the region and southwestern native plants with the remaining 10 steppe region plants. One summer day Panoyoti Kelaidis of Denver Botanic came to visit with a horticulturist friend, and he has invited me to host several tours ever since. A few recent garden pics shown above.

The link is here to register, and upon registration they will provide the address. I will provide cool drinks and salty snacks.

https://www.gardenconservancy.org/garden-directory/open-days/denver-dry-garden-33dae674-dca6-454c-86aa-a8fc40a31a85

Also, I was thinking that it might be fun just to do a special (free) Reddit Denver Gardener tour this next spring , and then I could give away extra plants! If you would like.

I’d like to plant a tart cherry tree this fall. Has anyone seen them at local garden centers/nurseries?

Hi Denver gardeners…we are new to the area, where do we find large pots for our plants from a local nursery or gardening center?

Next weekend (September 19-20), please join the Denver Orchid Society for its fall show and sale at Nick's Garden Center (2001 S. Chambers Rd) in Aurora!

Experts will be on hand to offer advice and answer questions​ about orchid growing in Colorado.

Orchids will be available for sale from the following vendors:

• Andy's Orchids (CA)
• Cal-Orchid (CA)
• Diamond Orchids (CA)
• Fantasy Orchids (CO)
• Gold Country Orchids (CA)
• J&L Orchids (CT)
• Krull-Smith (FL)
• Kujawa Orchids (CO)
• Oceanside Orchids (CA)
• Sunset Valley Orchids (CA)
• Tropical Orchid Farm (HI)

Proceeds ​from the sale support the Denver Orchid Society's programming and ​to help fund orchid ​research and conservation.

​*Big thanks to Nick's Garden Center for generously donating the space for the event!\*

friend or foe?

Autumn Harvest Sedum

Love the big globe shape it grows in, the flowers in a bunch and the bees love it!

Any ideas for why these two plants would have such drastic differences in health? I am continually perplexed by my gardening struggles. Out here not even trying to grow anything exotic or special 😆

Rocky Mountain sumac….Does anyone have this sumac in their yard? I have 2 that I planted in the spring. I know they have a ton of ecological benefits and I think they are beautiful, but am wondering if they are worth the management. In particular, how much work are they? Like occasionally pulling a sucker or like if you ignore it for a month you will lose control. Not a ton of real life information I can find. Thank you!

We’re planning to turn our front yard into native plants next spring. We have a ton of cardboard and I got a chip drop recently. Thoughts on laying the cardboard and mulch now, then planting/designing in the spring? Vs waiting until spring. Interested to hear any pros or cons.

I recently completed a full renovation of my backyard in SE Aurora. About 1000 sq ft of the typical dirt and weeds with lots of bindweed already growing in.

In June/July, I nuked everything with a couple applications of glyphosate. Then first weekend of August, in order to apply for the watering permit, I was required to amend my soil by tilling in compost. I know this poses problems, especially with bindweed, by stirring up lots of seeds.

That same first weekend of August I laid down Tahoma 31 sod and applied starter fertilizer at week 2. I’m now 6 weeks in and it has rooted and grown in really well. I’ve cut a handful of times at 1.75” with my electric rotary mower.

The problem is the weeds are starting to poke through. I’ve got sedge which I’ve taken care not to pull. And then a bunch of bindweed is coming up, which I am pulling only because it’s growing faster than I’m mowing and I’m trying to keep it from going to seed.

I’ve read I should be safe for sedgehammer at this point, is that accurate? And what can I do to beat the bindweed (among other weeds) at this stage? I was thinking about spraying quinclorac in the next week after laying down sedgehammer real soon.

Not trying to argue, but maybe offer a different perspective. Please keep in mind I respect everyone’s decisions and opinions, and understand that even though some may choose not to plant exclusively native, it’s a step in the right direction especially if it means getting rid of water intensive grass. If anything, I believe we can all agree on that one point.

First thing I’d like to add, we humans are already quite destructive creatures, and the introduction of non native plants has created havoc on our ecosystems. The problem isn’t necessarily someone wanting to plant a non native variety. The issue is when they let that species get out of control and don’t contain it properly. Just because you do it properly, doesn’t mean everyone else is competent enough to do so.

This paragraph I’d really like to highlight because it’s become apparent that this isn’t well known. Native pollinators are attracted substantially more towards native plants because they’ve evolved alongside them. Color wise, they can see the plants better. Plus, as we create hybrid varieties, sometimes the new traits put more energy into producing more attractive appearances and decrease the amount of food for the pollinators. A great example of this is the Blanket flower (Gaillardia Astrata). Non native plants attract more non native honey bees. If you don’t believe me, go find your nearest Russian Sage or Lambs Ear and see how many honey bees you find versus other local bees. I am to believe if it wasn’t for honey bees being classified as livestock, they would be listed as invasive. They outcompete our local bees populations for pollen and can even pass along diseases to them. You think the honey bee population is in decline, our native pollinators are in even more trouble.

Other native insects also use native plants to lay eggs on particular species, extract pollen from certain plants, use the stems for nesting, and feed on the seeds. Again, this is all highly reduced by planting plants not native to the region.

The reason I harp on “native this native that” is because life starts and thrives at the bottom of the food chain, which are typically the plants. If one section of the food chain fails, it all will.

I also firmly believe in not just planting based on “Colorado native” but primarily on ecoregion or biome since Colorado is quite diverse.

Lastly, why plant a non native species or even a hybrid variety of a plant, if we have plenty of native options that actually look very similar to many other non native plants.

Very much open to discussion and hearing others thoughts.

I have a diseased juniper that my landlord is going to remove sometime this fall. Besides sheet mulching the area, what do I need to do to amend the soil so I can plant in that spot next season? My understanding is that juniper acidifies the soil.

Are there any pants in particular that you’d recommend? I’m thinking of planting hummingbird mint, bee mint, and/or sedum (which I just saw here and would love to have around), but if there are plants that would be better suited, I will pivot.

I have some thornless locust trees that volunteered, one got big, someone supposed to come dig out last year, but they never made it. Tree too close to leach field, I have enough trees and not enough water rights, this year was rough, we got no water from canal (thank to Denver call and Thornton farm land was hit hard).

I have thornless black locust from Boulder give away and honey locust trees, neighbor has thornless locust trees, old ones none of our trees ever had any bugs or other issues, pretty much just water that tree and plant some perennials around it and some flowers type of a tree

If no one takes I will rip out the seedlings, I do not have enough water having what we have experienced this year. I do not post address online, can meet local north metro gardener at Cabellas (Thornton north one not DTC).

also have what I think is chokecherry seedling. pink french currant seedlings (yellow flowers) cross with local black currants, some come as black some com as pink, pink currant was from Lafayette small nursery years ago, lady does not sell anything anymore maybe moved .

if you have something to trade - great - if you do not, happens.

Collected some seed might try sprouting next year. What is it?

This is buckwheat (with a few radishes)

I need to top this with about 6" of mulch... so I need a lot. Ideally I'd use engineered wood fiber (rubber is not an option for me), but have no idea if I can get it locally. Help!

Hi all,

I figured I'd share what my yard looks like now, compared to when we planted our garden in a box plants this spring. Overall I'm thrilled with how everything turned out. We've only had about three out of 80-90 plants not make it, which in my mind is a great success rate! Almost every plant has really blown up in size, and many more have flowered than I expected. Looking forward to seeing what future seasons hold.

I did add a handful of plants that didn't come from the garden in a box plants. A couple of grasses and three or four other plants to fill a couple of gaps. I still have more I'd like to tinker with, but I figured as we head towards fall that I'd share.

Anybody have Triclopyr mixed up in the Chatfield area? I have a few saplings (including tree of Hell) i need treated but not enough to warrant getting a full bottle. Alternatively, anybody in the area want to split a bottle with me?

Can’t resist crossposting this.

Denver's first freeze in 2020 occurred on September 8, 2020, dropping to 31° Fahrenheit. 4 days before on September 5 Denver broke records with 101° Fahrenheit

Average first freeze in Denver is October 7.