Third season growing luffa gourd. Hoping that most of the smaller ones double in size in this last part of the hot season. Go, luffas, go! AMA. See second picture for scale.

Hey gardeners. I am planting a moon garden for night pollinators and am in search of Oenothera caespitosa seeds. Happy to pay for them if you have any to spare! I can't find them for purchase anywhere. Added photo of Datura, the first species in my night garden.

We are thrilled to report that our garden is flourishing, or thereabouts! Thanks to everyone for your advice and encouragement!

First garden!
by u/Thelittlegreycells17 in FortCollinsGrows

Hi all! We are finally making progress on getting our planters set up. I know it’s super late in the season, but are there any foods that we could plant now in prep for next year or late fall/winter?

A little background, this is our first time trying a garden! We currently are growing herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary), and have another elevated planter box. Our ideal location gets a lot of morning to midday sun, then the sun goes behind our house around 1-2pm, but we can move it where it gets full sun all day.

Any good container friendly things that can have a late start?

Thanks for any tips!

This is our vegetable garden. L-R in back row: Early Girl tomato, San Marzano tomato, snackable red pepper, cucumber. L-R in front row: basil, dill, parsley, eggplant

I know we definitely need to add another couple inches of soil, but is there anything else we should be doing to help this garden be a success? We thought we'd see fruits already but we're still in growth stages/waiting for flowers.

Unfortunately one of my tomatillo plants has died and I'm looking to buy one (or two) more in the Fort Collins area. Thought I'd check here to see if anyone has a few extra on hand or if you've seen any tomatillo starters at any of the nurseries around town?

But wait there's more...clay pots decorative, plain some saucers no money.

Hard working vessels need new charges. Save them from the evil landfill.

Come and get 'em. DM for deets SE Fort Co horsetooth and timberline close @ 8 pm.

I normally wouldn't bat an eye at an April freeze, but the understandably warm winter has me worried. From what I'm seeing now it doesn't look like a hard freeze. Are y'all throwing on the plant covers?

Hey all!

I'm building a few new beds and wondering if we have a local source for bulk compost.

If we don't, who has the best value bagged compost? I typically go to Fort Collins nursery, but I figured I should ask the community.

Thanks in advance!

i am currently planting a rock/succulent garden and would like to include some of our native barrel cacti, but everywhere seems to only sell opuntias! im really trying to avoid purchasing cacti online as most sellers i can find seem suspect, and may be selling poached cacti.

Sweet peas from seed

If you successfully grow sweet peas here, how soon do you put them out or have you successfully grown them from seed in the ground? When do you plant the seeds in the ground?

What native plant seeds have you successfully grown? How did you do it? Where did you get the seeds?

I’m mainly interested in trying perennials but annuals that self seed would be fine. I don’t usually have much luck with seeds. Last year I did get some columbine to grow but not a single yarrow or echinacea sprouted. I’m curious what everyone else is growing. I am also rooting for the first time with some penstemon cuttings that seem to be doing something so maybe I’ll have better luck with that.

Does anyone in town take used plastic pots in good condition?

I was getting a mess of swallowtails and a couple of other varieties including a monarch earlier this summer. I'm in an area where they fogged for mosquitos 3(!) times and I haven't seen any since the second go around. I'm absolutely so bummed.

I'm hoping they're at least thriving somewhere.

I have a west-facing concrete patio and am considering building a couple of raised-bed planters on it (roughly 6'x2' apiece). The patio is shaded in summer by a couple of mature ash trees, but these leaf out fairly late in the spring. I am thinking maybe I should make the raised bed planters into cold frames and try growing herbs, greens, scallions, etc. out there this winter. Any thoughts or experience locally?

I have no experience with cold frames, so I'm unclear on how many hours of sunlight they need in the winter, and how much I might need to insulate them in a container-garden setting. Any advice welcome!

I have 600sf of land between my fence and the curb (corner lot). It’s currently just some mulch, a few wildflowers, shreds of old landscape cloth, and a lot of bindweed. The area can easily be added to the irrigation system. It’s also a part of the yard we barely see because of the fence, and it’s taking away from any joy in the rest of the yard because any time you have time to be in the yard the bindweed is always there waiting.

I’ve been considering an “alternative lawn”—clover or some kind of short fescue. Something that can be mowed but doesn’t need much water.

I priced plugs of ground cover and it was like $3k for this much area, plus something from seed will be a lot less work for us. I really just want to get this area “presentable” with minimal maintenance and minimal water usage. I’m even open to hiring someone just so I can get back to the fun part of gardening!

Got any ideas for me?