Is your yard bee-friendly or a bee bomb? Here’s how to help these beneficial pollinators. The world would be strangely quiet without the subtle hum of bees busily foraging the world’s 250,000 or so flowering plant species. Their prolific pollinating abilities have earned bees top billing as a keystone species. In North America alone, bees […]
This landscape endured some hard knocks before a couple revived its pervasive beauty. Just inside the rusted gate, beneath a dying 75-year-old willow, she saw it: A lone framed door standing in the middle of the yard, opening to a tangle of wilted and overgrown flower beds. “I saw that and I knew this place […]
Enjoy colorful, carefree flowers come fall if you plant these natives this summer. It’s easy to get carried away in spring, when plant sales, garden centers, home-improvement stores and supermarkets are replete with floral temptations. Even those of us who know better are drawn to whatever is blooming at the time, predisposing our gardens toward […]
High-altitude gardening requires an attitude adjustment. But with a little knowledge, you can make the most of the short growing season. Many serious diseases afflict plants, but sometimes I think the worst is one most gardeners rarely acknowledge—“zonitis,” which causes many plants to perish before their time. This dread disease has definite symptoms and manifestations. […]
Growing fresh herbs and chiles is easy, and it saves you a bundle at the supermarket. You too could become an herbivore Show of hands. Who wants to pay $3 for a tiny package of fresh herbs when the recipe calls for a small amount and you can’t use the rest before it rots? If […]
Plum, gray and metallic are the top beauty hues this summer. In the fashion epicenters of Paris, London and New York, city sidewalks are a veritable runway of the latest designer clothes and accessories. In Boulder County, however, the sidewalks are full of pub patios and we dress for the outdoors rather than catwalks. So […]
A potting station can be a creative project that pays off in terms of gardening ease. It’s hard not to covet the potting stations we see at nurseries, especially when we drive home with soil and flowers and ponder the project ahead: lugging pots and garden tools from the garage, mixing soil and compost, filling […]
Dear Reader: Summer is such a glorious season, full of growth and promise. But before one can grow, one must sow a seed. I want all of us to sow seeds of kindness and compassion. I’ve noticed a lot of people in not-so-charitable moods lately, and it’s making me wonder why. Could it be the […]
Repurposed K-Cups K-Cups have taken over the home-coffee market because of their convenience and ease of use. Just pop in a plastic cup, press a button and you have a mug of fresh-brewed java. But that cup isn’t recyclable and unless you use refillable off-brand cups (which don’t jive with the Keurig 2.0 brewers), you’re […]
Dear Reader: Spring at last! Every year, we wait for this bountiful season to roll our way. The crocuses and daffodils make us dizzy with delight as they pop through the brown, snow-covered ground we’ve endured all winter long. What are your spring plans and pledges? I need to clean out the garden, clean up […]
The color wheel is a good tool for helping you pick colors for your garden. By Arna Cohen The world is full of spectacular gardens: Pierre du Pont’s sprawling Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Frederick Law Olmsted’s Biltmore Gardens in North Carolina. British Columbia’s magnificent Butchart Gardens. And then there’s Versailles, the crown jewel of gardens. […]
Fracking is a divisive issue, and properly regulating it is difficult until conclusive data are available. By Tanya Ishikawa At least two truths about fracking are indisputable: It’s controversial and the risks to human health and the environment are not clearly known. The fracking process is becoming better understood, but experts agree that more data and […]
A whole host of creatures inhabit leaf litter, helping to keep the soil healthy and the cycle of life intact. By Ruthanne Johnson Illustrations by Patricia J. Wynne, www.patriciawynne.com For those of us who grew up reading Dr. Seuss’ children’s stories, who can forget the lovable elephant Horton, with his gigantic, sonar-like ears that pick […]
It’s easy to grow from seed if you follow these tips. By Carol O’Meara Do seed packets on store shelves have you thinking about planting? Concerns over big agriculture, food safety and the environment, along with an interest in heirloom plants, are driving a robust seed industry. “More people are gardening, and there’s a resurgence […]
As long as you water regularly, most plants can exist on what Mother Nature provides. Some may need a little assist, though, particularly houseplants and flowers. By Diana Maranhao Other than watering, Mother Nature can usually provide for our plants. Healthy green plants with new growth never need fertilizing. Native plants and most trees don’t […]
Got spring fever? Here are a few of Colorado’s more offbeat getaways. By Ruthanne Johnson You’ve been holed up all winter. Now the trees are budding, the birds are twittering and you’ve got a serious case of spring fever. If you’ve got the itch to roam, Colorado has your balm. But why stick to the […]
As improbable as it seems, Boulder County is home to many ferns, some of which could grow in your garden. By Panayoti Kelaidis It would be entirely possible for someone to grow up in Colorado and never notice a wild fern growing anywhere in the state. Unlike maritime climates, where whole hillsides and woodlands are […]
This yard morphed from a pile of ugly mulch to the site of a wedding and a garden tour. By Lisa Truesdale Photos by Kate Zari Roberts and Richard Gillies When Kirsten Gillies first saw her future husband’s home in northeast Longmont, she was amazed. As one of the neighborhood’s former model homes, it had elegant, […]
This couple polished their north Boulder home to brilliance after it fell into utter disrepair. By Lisa Marshall photos by www.weinrauchphotography.com Tiffany Myers and Steffan Knapp were definitely not in the market for a fixer-upper. After remodeling their ’70s-era Wonderland Lake home and plunging headlong into their work, taking on anything else would be overwhelming. […]
From sunny to shady, a spot exists somewhere in your garden for these native plants. Native shrubs often lack appeal when viewed at the nursery. Compared with the fancy flowers of azaleas, hydrangeas and peonies—all tricked out as if they’re heading to a gala—it’s easy to overlook the scraggly vegetation in the native-plants corner. In […]
Darcy Kiefel
