Spinach

Before the snow begins to fall in late October you can still plant seeds. YES, seeds that will come up in the spring which reap the water from the winter snows.  Try spinach, mustard, radishes and some lettuces. When the temperature is above 40 degrees and the snow begins to melt they will begin to grow. You can also plant snap peas, which will grow when the temperature is above fifty degrees. And, while you are at it try planting some winter squash in October.Amazon has several books about growing seeds and vegetables in the Rocky Mountains which may help you.

Around here one never knows what our winter will be like, I remember last January and the sixty degree days that lasted for quite awhile. Who knows you might have radishes and spinach, maybe lettuce in January.

They can be small dwarf to a giant shrub.

Beautiful Fall Flowering Mums

They do best in the sun and need a well drained soil.

It is a good idea to put peat moss or compost into the soil during the spring planting.

There are early and late season blooming mums.

They may flower late if exposed to high summer temperatures.

They are frost resistant and last long into the fall and hence are a perfect plant for this mountain area.

Several diseases and insects attack mums, so make sure to buy plants that are free of diseases and insects. Typical problems on mums include verticillium wilt, septoria leaf spot, powdery mildew, aphids, leafhoppers, plant bugs, leafminers, and spider mites.

Make sure you mulch these outside in ground plants before winter to a depth of si inches to insure survival.

Rabbits are cute, but not in your garden!

Rabbits do not like chili powder you can sprinkle your prized flowers with it and sprinkle it around where you do not want them. However you would have to reapply it everytime it rained.

You can hang moisy clanging things in your garden and that may also help. Any kind of clanging metal will scare them.

The best method for keeping rabbits from going and living undar a outside shed is to install a wire screen aroun the base and bury it in the dirt.

The only sure way to keep rabbits out of your garden is to make a fence a few feet high – but you would have to bury it down about a foot or so – rabbits like to dig. You could also plant lots of clover along the garden edges and hope they eat that first. Rabbits love clover. Another way is to get a pet – a cat or dog would help with this problem a lot.

a white Delphinium is a beautiful addition to summer

Clematis and Sweet Peas, and delphiniums all like cow manure in the solil and will do well in Evergreen. You have to watch the wind.  Delphiniums do not meed mulch because they don’t like dam crowns and they can take the cold. You can order splendid colors  (in seed form)from England or, get Delphiniums pre potted from a local nursery. If started from seed, keep them in a cool place and use growing lamps to start them. Planted in flats i nJanuary it will take about three weeks for the the plants to sprout. After the second set of leaves pop up , plant them in posts. They can be planted outside in April. They are one of the neediest perennials in the Colorado garden. Plant only in compost-enriched, well-drained soil and fertilize so it’s well and regularly nourished. Put it in an area where it gets some shade in the afternoon. You can also grow them as an annual.

simple but beautiful

One of the problems with mountain homes is that they are often just that. They are mountain homes built on a slope and so you need stairs.

Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of slopes in Evergreen  and a lot of stairs. Obviously they could also be made of wood,

an outside stair, that makes it easy and attractive to go up the slope

One of the interesting things around here is that most of staircases seem to blend into the environment like they were naturally there.  These two pictures are of staircases we recently did this summer. Pretty cool I “think”

I "love" the native wild rose, (Rosa woodsii) which can be seen while hiking in the mountains

A Colorado Native Shrub is one that existed before European settlement. These are shrubs specifically useful in Colorado landscapes because they are naturally adapted to soil and the climate of the region.  Landscaping with native shrubs on anyscale can maintain biodiversity that otherwise could be lost to development. So in affect you are helping your natural environment. Besides these shrubs will require less care, obviously.

Fertilizers, and well, its a little late in the season for this believe it or not. All shrubs should be fertilized before July 4th to avoid a rush of growth that would be killed off by an early frost. Why fertilize at all you might ask? Well, if the evergreens have yellowing of the leafs, its a sign of  low iron or “chlorosis “.  Fertilizers need to be worked into a wet soil at the base of the plant to avoid chemical burn of the foliage or trunks of the plant.