Archive | Gardening in Arvada Colorado | Homes Denver to Boulder

What’s Blooming Along Colorado’s Front Range – Late April to May

Filed under Arvada Living, Between Denver and Boulder, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on May 14, 2012 at 9:36 am {no comments}

I wrote the post below on May 9 of last year (2011). The interesting thing is that most of these blooms are already long gone already this year (May 14, 2012). Our season is very early due to early warm weather.

The fun part of this spring has been that the warm weather keeps giving way to chilly, so all the spring flowers bloomed longer that usual. It’s been a lovely spring. Happy planting!

*****************************************************************************************

In the gardens between Denver and Boulder early spring flowers have faded, yet summer’s glory won’t be in full bloom for a month. I dislike having a lull in the blooming, so I’ve worked hard to incorporate flowers that will bloom now, in the ‘tween season.

Here’s some reliable bloomers for high plains gardens, all perennials that require little work.

Daphne, Carol Macke. Tiny, incredibly sweet-scented blooms.

Sweet William. A spreading ground cover that greens up before the grass does.

Bleeding heart. The favorite of many, she likes the shade.

Raspberry Splash Pulmonaria. Another shade-lover, a short plant but the flowers pack a punch that gets her noticed!

Lilac - beloved by generations, welcome harbinger of late spring.

Phlox. Another reliable small plant that packs a big punch. I like to plant them at the base of my clematis.

Don't forget to incorporate late-season tulips. Isn't this one a beauty?

Windflower Anemone – sorry, I don’t have a photo. I just saw this dancing lady at Timberline Garden Center and bought three, but they only had small starts that weren’t blooming yet. You can bet I’ll be looking forward to them next year. (White flowers, like the shade.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I love gardening, but my ‘real’ job is helping folks buy and sell homes. If you’re in need of assistance with residential real estate between Denver and Boulder, Colorado give me a call. Maybe we could squeeze in some gardening talk too!

See more posts about gardening in Colorado’s front range (Denver to Boulder).

If you’d like to learn more about the Realtor side of me, see my website (DreamHouseHunting.com) or my real estate blog (HomesDenvertoBoulder.com).

Gardening Denver to Boulder – Put Your Tender Plants in on Mother’s Day

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 26, 2012 at 6:53 pm {no comments}

This post is a re-release of one I wrote last year. This spring, we have had a lot more warm weather than usual, and the gardens are about a month ahead of time. I admit, I did put in tomatoes already, and I have some peppers sitting on the porch, ready to plant.

We had temps so warm, I had to shade the transplants from the mid-day heat for their first few days. This week, temps are going to drop into the 30s at night, so I’ll be protecting them from the cold.

Read on, and you’ll see these swings in temperature are nothing unusual. Just something for high plains gardeners to get used to, and deal with!

***************************************

High plains gardeners have many traditions, like gardeners in other parts of the world do. One high plains gardening tradition is that Mother’s Day is the time to put in those tender plants like tomatoes and peppers.

That’s why I figured this weekend would be crazy at the garden center, and I tried to get out to buy my plants before the Mother’s Day weekend arrived. Alas, I didn’t make it out to O’Tooles until Friday evening, and the crowds were already there, hotly pursuing the plants they just had to have. I’m sure many of them were for Mother’s Day gifts, as I saw a lot of hanging baskets going out the door.

Anyway, I got my plants home too late to plant today, but will get them out tomorrow, probably in the evening once

My new plants made it home, but not until it was too dark to get them planted today.

the day cools down, as tomorrow is supposed to be quite warm.

And that brings us to one of the tricky things about high country gardening. We had snow a week ago, now here we are worried that it will be so hot the transplants will wilt.

But we deal with it. I’ll cover those tender plants if I need to. That could mean cover them so they’re shaded from the hot sun, or cover them so they’re protected from snow.

And that’s the beauty of high plains gardening!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver. *Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

Happy Pea Planting on St. Patty’s Day

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 25, 2012 at 9:08 pm {no comments}

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!

Yes – I know St. Patrick’s Day is already over for this year, but remember this high plains gardening tip for next spring -

St. Patrick’s day is green for high country gardeners in a way that doesn’t involve beer – it’s the ‘official’ day to plant peas. There are some high country gardens that are still buried under snow, but for those of us below 6,000 feet the ground should no longer be frozen.

So, soak your peas for a day, and prepare the soil by loosening and adding amendments such as compost. Set up a trellis, and plant peas about one inch deep. One inch apart is recommended, I plant them a lot closer than that – probably more like two per inch.

Be sure to give them a drink if the ground is dry, and add a light mulch of shredded leaves to hold the moisture.

Don’t plant all your peas at once though – plant some every week until it gets too warm, to space out your harvest.

Then, all you have to do is wait for the sweet, crunchy harvest. And that’s the beauty of gardening!

This year, I planted

Oregon Sugar Pod from Lake Valley Organics (from a 2008 seed packet, yikes!)
Melting Sugar Snow Peas (I don’t know the seed company, because I tore off the top of the pack a couple of years ago. These seeds are two years old, we’ll see how they do.)
Dwarf White Sugar (Parks) (also from a previous-year’s seed packet, but I don’t see a date)
Super Sugar Snap (Parks) (I did buy these this year, but there’s no date on the pack)

So, why do I have such old seeds? I usually get out there late, so I don’t get to plant them all. Finally, this year I was only one day late!

When do you plant peas?

What are your favorites?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

Peas Please – High Plains Garden Trial

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 25, 2012 at 9:01 pm {no comments}

I love fresh garden peas. This year, I got to enjoy picking them and eating them on the spot with Jayden, my 1-1/2 year old grandson. He loves them too!

Early this spring I decided to keep track of which kind of pea I plant where, so I would know for sure which performed the best, and which tasted the best. Hopefully, the best performer and best taster would be the same variety!

The varieties were:

Melting Sugar

Dwarf White Sugar

Super Sugar Snap

Melting Sugar

Oregon Sugar Pod

Taste trials determined that the best-tasting was …. Melting Sugar!! They also produced lavishly, and started when the plants were shorter. They are still blooming today, after several days of 90 degree weather, when Dwarf White Sugar and Oregon Sugar Pod have quit.

Melting Sugar had nice fat pods, without going to seed, like Dwarf White Sugar did. And they were very sweet … I have to admit, not one of them made it inside to the table!

The seeds were planted on March 18 and April 7, in a spot that is partly shaded. I planted more on April 22, in a sunny spot and they are in sad shape, not going to produce anything edible.

(The sun is so intense here in Colorado, that part shade often works for plants that normally like full sun.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

Boulder Iris Farm

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 24, 2012 at 9:20 pm {no comments}

Written on JUNE 5, 2008 AT 5:22 PM by JOETTA FORT
Last weekend I got together with some friends and headed west from Arvada to Boulder to get some beautiful, sweet-scented additions for our gardens. The iris farm was our destination, it was about a 25 minute drive, and we had a great time.

You get to wander the fields, poking your nose into all your favorites, as long as you want to. Then, you grab a digging fork and a bag and go to it. They’ll help you dig if you need it. They have some fields with named varieties and some where you just get whatever happens to be there. They also have catalogs you can order from.

Personally, the only thing I found difficult about the whole experience was choosing. My friends were way ahead of me in their digging before I even got started!

I thought it would be fun next time to choose a couple and have the same varieties delivered to my relatives in Oregon.

The irises have been spectacular here this year. Wherever you are while you’re reading this, I hope I get to see you at the iris farm someday!

www.longsgardens.com

3240 Broadway, Boulder, 80306

Toll Free: 866-442-2353
Phone: 303-442-2353

Open to the public May through June.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

A Glorious Year for Iris

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 24, 2012 at 8:58 pm {no comments}

Everyone’s talking about how early the plants are coming into season this year, with our warm temps and dry weather. I wasn’t convinced until I started looking at last years’ garden posts.

The post below was written in mid June 2011, yet the photo of the white beauty to the upper left was taken yesterday, April 23.

Yes, I have to agree – everything is coming into bloom early this year!

**************************************** June 11, 2011 **************************************

The past couple of years my iris have not bloomed well. I didn’t know what the problem was, none of the common solutions seemed to apply.

Turns out, all I had to do was wait. This year, the iris have put on a glorious display!

The earliest bloomers are fading, but there’s still lots of bloom on other pretty girls.

This year we had a cold and wet spring, but we had the same last year. The cool weather has hung on a bit longer, with night time lows still dropping into the 50s. Maybe that’s what Iris likes?

Whatever it is, the aroma wafting from my iris beds makes me pause from whatever I’m doing and just enjoy!

If you plan to grow iris in your high country garden, you may have heard advice to allow some of the tuber to be exposed above the dirt. But that is not recommended here. Because we are so dry, the top of the tuber should be slightly under the soil.

Personally, I plant them the usual way, but then they get covered by following courses of compost and mulch. I just let them stay covered, and the results speak for themselves!

I got most of my iris from Boulder Iris Farm (click the blue text to read my post on the Boulder Iris Farm.) It’s a fun ‘field trip’, and there’s lots of knowledgeable people to talk to.

So, which one is your favorite?

Can you choose? I can’t!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

Where Once There Was A Garden

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 22, 2012 at 7:52 pm {no comments}

Sad greenhouse.

When I saw this greenhouse at a foreclosed home in Arvada last week, I knew that once upon a time a gardener lived there. The kind of gardener that went beyond digging in the dirt, and invested the time and expense to build this structure. I saw more signs of the kindred spirit who tended this place in the carefully arranged beds, and even an abandoned trowel.

One of the distressing parts of being a real estate agent is showing an abandoned house, and knowing it was once a beloved home. Being a gardener, I feel the same way about seeing what was once a well-tended yard or garden, now a neglected, weedy eyesore.

I always feel bad for houses that have been trashed, but when it comes to abandoned gardens I feel bad for the people that loved them, only to have them trashed by others.

I don’t know why it’s different for gardens than for houses, after all many homes were loved by someone then trashed by someone else. But there’s something about the fact that a garden is alive. It gives so much – beauty, scents, food for our families and for birds and butterflies.

Many of those plants and flowers came back faithfully, year after year with no one to tend them. All they needed was a little water now and then. It’s really not asking a lot.

I always wish I could see the transformation back to loveliness if a gardener buys the home. If it’s my client, I do get to see it some times.

If you buy a house with neglected gardens, don’t be too eager in your cleaning up, unless you’re really familiar with weeds vs flowers. Get rid of the obvious nasty weeds, then let everything you’re unsure about grow and see if it blooms.

You’re probably in for a whole season of pleasant surprises – and that’s the beauty of gardening!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

Iris – Her Beauty Prevails

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 22, 2012 at 7:42 pm {no comments}

bathroom ceiling

I was previewing a house for a client last week, and boy was it a

Roof was badly sunken in several spots.

wreck. Not too bad on the inside, actually. Had rounded doorways and the recessed ceiling popular in the 1940s.

But the outside had been completely neglected for a long, long time. I’d say this was one of the most neglected homes I’ve seen, except for that one missing a large chunk of the front room ceilng, all the way through to the sky.

All siding was rotted.

The yard was trashed too.

Still, as I came around the last corner, I saw this one lovely iris, blooming courageously amongst the weeds and trash that constituted the yard of this house.

It always amazes me – to find a bright spot of beauty in the midst of chaos.

“Bloom Where You’re Planted!”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

To Garden is to Believe in a Beautiful Future

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 22, 2012 at 7:31 pm {no comments}

Gardens don’t always look great right from the start.

Every year, we have to wait.

Still, like these clematis buds, we know they hold the promise of beauty to come.

They’re not gorgeous right now, but in just a few days …

Wow! Time to sit in the glider and enjoy their outrageous perfection!

I think that’s why so many of us love to garden. In good times and not-so-good times, we know something’s coming that’s worth waiting for.

And that’s the beauty of gardening!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

Gardening Soothes the Stress of Life

Filed under Arvada Living, Gardening in Arvada Colorado, Gardening in Colorado's Front Range by Joetta Fort on April 22, 2012 at 7:26 pm {no comments}

The sweet peas were planted too late, the water wasn't hooked up to the pots until way after the hot weather started, and I had given up on them. Then one day there they were. Sweetly growing, twining, and perfuming the air. What a lovely surprise!

I’ve noticed this year my posts and thoughts on gardening have a lot to do with beauty surviving and thriving despite harsh circumstances.

It’s not difficult to understand why this theme is so top-of-mind for me. Tomorrow my grandson, Levi, will be two months old and he has not yet left the hospital. Born with Down Syndrome and some of the associated physical problems, he has endured three surgeries. We don’t yet know when he will be able to come home, but we believe we are past the days of wondering IF he will come home. So that’s progress.

I've never seen such a huge crop of bindweed as what I have growing beside my house.

But of course, all our hearts yearn for the day he can be with his mom, dad, and older brother. The day he can start relating to people he sees every day, instead of a multitude of nurses and doctors. The day he will get to look at things like the sky, the family pets, and beautiful things growing outside.

When I look at plants thriving despite harsh circumstances, it reminds me of the promises my God gave us all in His Word. And that gives me hope.

And yet, honeysuckle manages to thrive in there too, pushing her lovely blooms out of the massive weediness.

So when you read my other posts, you’ll know where I was coming from when I wrote those, too:

To Garden is to Believe in a Beautiful Future

Iris – Her Beauty Prevails

Where Once There Was a Garden

And THAT’S the beauty of gardening!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners might enjoy other posts about gardening in Denver to Boulder’s front range.

Page 1 of 512 3 4 5 »

Homes Denver to Boulder

Joetta Fort's blog about Cities Between Denver and Boulder – Westminster, Broomfield, Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge

What’s Blooming Along Colorado’s Front Range – Late April to May

Gardening Denver to Boulder – Put Your Tender Plants in on Mother’s Day

Happy Pea Planting on St. Patty’s Day

Peas Please – High Plains Garden Trial

Boulder Iris Farm

A Glorious Year for Iris

Where Once There Was A Garden

Iris – Her Beauty Prevails

To Garden is to Believe in a Beautiful Future

Gardening Soothes the Stress of Life

Popular Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Links

Archives

Joetta Fort's blog about Cities Between Denver and Boulder – Westminster, Broomfield, Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge

Subscribe

Popular Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Links

Archives