Don’t move firewood, It Bugs me! It really burns me up.
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Jim Janks, GunnisonCounty Advanced Master Gardener I have a bumper sticker on my truck that says, “Don’t move firewood, it bugs me.”  I really don’t know if those who read it understand what is trying to be said, but if you care about our natural and urban forests, it may be wise to take an interest in the meaning behind the slogan.    So, what do I mean by not moving firewood and why would moving firewood bug me in the first place?  Let me give you a hint.  Did you know that an insect introduced into the United States from Asia has caused the death of an estimated ..read more
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A Helpful Tool for Watering Efficiently
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Kristina Hughes, Clear Creek County Master Gardener  ’Tis the season to start thinking about fall and wintering watering. And in Colorado, it is always the season to think about how to water effectively and efficiently. A few years ago, I was tasked with watering a large planter full of perennials. I directed the hose at the planter for what felt like a good long while. I went back the next day to find that the plants were wilted! I stuck my finger in the soil and it felt moist. I was perplexed.  I thought about it for a while and then dug out a tool I had hardly ever used: a soil ..read more
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Winter Prep Tips for Gardens and Trees
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
Kristina Kasik, Master Gardener, Gunnison, CO We’ve already seen a few cold nights that have us forgetting about gardens and thinking about winter: splitting and stacking wood for the stove, buying better tires, prepping the plow, waxing those skis in anticipation of the slopes.  But the growing season is not exactly over, not just yet! There are things you can do still, before the snow flies and the ground freezes solid.  This is the perfect time to plant.  No, I’m not crazy.  Fall is a great time to plant seeds and bulbs, and it’s sow easy!   ..read more
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Battling with Rodents in My Garden
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Ed Powers, Jefferson County Master Gardener  Like many of you, I have battled pests and varmints in my garden. The last 2 years my vegetable gardens have been very disappointing. The previous 7 years I had gardens that produced very little. My major villains are mice, voles, rabbits, chipmunks and ground squirrels. Many do not eat the plant but wait until the fruit is ripe and feast, including tomatoes, squash, rutabagas and beets. Of course, deer and elk eat the whole plant. So last year I did research to try to solve the challenge of hungry varmints in my garden. I ran across a produ ..read more
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Joe Pye Weed
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Cherie Luke, Jefferson County Master Gardener since 2014  Eupatorium purpureum which has officially been changed to Eutrochium purpureum, aka Joe Pye weed, is a North American native in the Asteraceae family. There are about 40 species in this genus. The plants range in height from 2’-3’ for Little Joe, to up to 10’ tall and 3’-4’ wide, so give them plenty of space in your garden. They can be planted in average soil and grow well in alkaline soils. Blooms are a beautiful rosy/purple color and bloom from late summer to fall. Plant in full sun to part shade.   The common name, Jo ..read more
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The Amazing Monarch Butterfly
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Lisa Mason, Horticulture Agent, Colorado State University Extension, Arapahoe County Monarch butterflies are an iconic species in the United States! These bright orange and black butterflies are known for their migration in North America. How do these small creatures make the 3,000-mile journey every year? Identification While the bright orange butterflies can be hard to miss, Colorado has a variety of orange-colored butterflies. You can identify a monarch butterfly by the black veins on the wings in addition to the bright orange color. They also have white spots on the edges of the wings ..read more
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My Yellow Rose Of Colorado
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Ed Powers, Colorado Master Gardener I have written two previous blogs about my love of cactus in which I included information about Colorado Cactus identification and information on the cactus garden I tried to complete.  I am still working on that garden.  In one of those previous blogs, I called our prickly Pear Cactus the Yellow Rose of Colorado because it has one of the most beautiful yellow flowers I have ever seen.   Potted Prickly Pear Cactus early in summer.  Middle of plant is a columbine that is two years old and grown from seed. The scientifi ..read more
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Time to Take a Walk Through the Wildflowers
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Susan Carter, CSUE Tri River Area Horticulture and Natural Resource Agent With drought through much of Western Colorado, and lower snow amounts in many areas, snow melt was earlier this year than normal.  We start our CSU Extension Native Plant Master courses at lower elevations in the Tri River Area and head higher, beginning in April and typically into August.  This year during the first two classes we noticed the plants were done!  Many shriveling from drought and others already going to seed.  So once we heard and saw that the wildflowers on the Grand Mesa were bloom ..read more
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Homegrown Arugula in January!
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Lindsay Graves, Eagle County CSU Extension Master Gardener Homegrown arugula in January? At 6,700’?  Yep! With some low tech season extension techniques, the hardiest salad greens will overwinter in much of Colorado, so you can enjoy tasty treats in winter and early spring harvests before many gardeners can even plant! Once you become accustomed to the taste and heft of homegrown leaves, you won't want to go back to store bought. Let’s consider the challenges: Space Harvested in fall but planted in summer. Our space is typically filled with summer veggies. Where will the greens ..read more
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Keeping Your Aspen Trees Healthy
Colorado Mountain Gardeners
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2y ago
By Eric McPhail, Gunnison County CSU Extension Everyone enjoys watching the aspen leaves as they glitter in the wind and change colors. But aspens do have enemies. Two of the most common are cankers and Eriophyid mites.   Cankers The term canker describes an area of dead cambium (living cells just beneath the bark) and bark, usually on the tree trunk and usually elliptical in shape. Aspen cankers display great variety.  They can kill individual twigs, branches, and portions of trucks when it succeeds in girdling those parts. They kill many aspen each year in Colorado, and a ..read more
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