Why to Grow Your Own Bitters by Sandy Swegel One doesn’t often go to a plant lecture and find oneself roaring with laughter, but that’s what happened this month when I went to see Amy Stewart at the Denver Botanic Gardens. She is a gifted and entertaining writer and her stories about her latest book, […]
Season Extenders – Protection for the Garden Here in October in zone 5, we have had a couple of snows now so it’s hard to pretend the garden season isn’t over for most of us. The daytime temperatures are still well above freezing and downright balmy in the 60s at times. But nighttime temps […]
Wildflower Seeds by Sandy Swegel And the nominees are: Asters, Asters and Asters. I am always entranced by asters. They offer intense color at summer’s end and an alternative to the perfect rounded chrysanthemums you see for sale everywhere. I don’t have many asters because sometimes they just dry up in late summer heat or […]
How to Prepare the Garden For Winter by Sandy Swegel As Fall proceeds at full speed, our tasks in the garden take a new direction as we start primping for winter interest. There’s no longer time for flowers to set new buds to bloom before frost. There won’t be any tomatoes that aren’t already on […]
Love For the Hornworm by Sandy Swegel Yesterday was a bright sunny day and pollinators were out gorging on the nectar of asters. It’s been a good year for asters, those vigorous re-seeders. Besides honey bees and some native bees, there were at least seven hummingbird sphinx moths in a small garden area. Their very […]
How to Help Our Gardens Survive by Sandy Swegel I went out into the garden yesterday for the first time since September 10th. I’m sure you heard of our flooding in Boulder and the Front Range area of Colorado. Back on September 11th, it started to rain here. That Wednesday started as a welcome rain […]
Spotting these Unique Looking Viruses by Sandy Swegel Nature is so darn weird some days. My friend Lara found four watermelons with this a design in them growing in her farm field. Her neighbors are, um, quirky enough that one of them might have spent the night carving the design. But a quick google for […]
Preparing Your Garden For Fall by Sandy Swegel What a great time of year this is. And not just because the harvest is upon us and tomatoes are ripening and winter squash are filling out. It’s a great time because school is starting again and school supplies are in the stores bringing up great memories […]
DIY Gardening Tools by Sandy Swegel My beautiful orange apple picker came to a sad end last year under the wheels of a pick-up truck that smooshed it beyond recognition. We sadly have very few apples this year because of late frosts so more than ever I need a picker to reach the apples that […]
Try These Two Tomato Growing Tips by Sandy Swegel The harvest season is going strong and it’s a good time to look around and notice what garden “tweaks” might have worked this year. By tweaks I mean the new techniques I might have tried, or tips my neighbors gave me or even changes in location, […]