Growing Points

Under normal growing conditions, perennials live many years in the flower garden, dying back to the ground each winter. They quickly establish themselves within a few growing seasons and create a backbone for the flower garden. Plants vary in flower color, bloom time, height, foliage texture and environmental requirements. Environmental requirements include light exposure, soil conditions and water needs. The foundation for a successful perennial garden is to match the environmental requirements of the plant to the site conditions.

Begin your perennial garden with a site analysis. Categorize the area as a sunny location, a sun to part shade area, or a part shade to shade area. Next look to the soil - it is the key to successful gardening. Generally, about 2 of organic matter thoroughly mixed into the soil by spading or rototilling will improve the existing soil. Then determine the water source available to maintain the planting. Even a xeriscape planting will need regular waterings to become established.

Plant selection is much simpler once the environmental conditions have been determined. Select plants suitable for the site. You will need to take into account when

Perennial gardening is an ongoing project. Most plants need dividing after several seasons and soil amending is always beneficial. Dividing is best done in the spring and early fall when the sun is not as intense. Container grown plants can be added throughout the growing season as long as they are properly watered.

With all the facts in hand, visit a garden for inspiration. The Horticultural Art Society Demonstration Garden on Glen Avenue in Monument Valley Park and the Colorado Springs Utilities Xeriscape Garden at 2855 Mesa Road are local gardens well worth a visit. And for the more serious gardeners who don t mind a drive , our own Colorado State University W. D. Holley Plant Environment Research Center on campus in Fort Collins offers many ideas. They have more than 750 different taxa of herbaceous perennials growing in the demonstration/research garden which was started in 1980. Growth, cultural and landscape characteristics of these plants have been collected annually, resulting in an extensive data base for evaluating their suitability for use in high plains landscapes. Contact our office at 636-8921 for information sheets based on this data before selecting your plants.

To win a ribbon in the Horticulture exhibit, you will need to plan ahead. Pick up an El Paso County Fair Premium List at the Fair Office at 305 South Union or at a local nursery or feed store and look under Horticulture. You will find lists of flowers, potted plants, vegetables and herbs that will be judged. Decide ahead of time what to enter in the fair, fill out a pre-entry form and take it to the Fair Office by July 7, or make sure it is postmarked by 5 pm on that date. If you show up at the fair with an armload of flowers without having done this, your entries will not be accepted.

Read the premium list carefully, and take exactly what it asks for. For flowers, if it says Zinnia - 1 bloom, don't think 2 blooms would be better, it will disqualify the entry. If it says Pansy - 3 blooms, pick 3 blooms that look exactly alike, they should be the same size, color and in the same stage of bloom. Clean off any signs of insects and any dead or ragged leaves. You will be provided with water-filled bottles to display your entries at the fair.

If you pick your flowers the morning of the fair, they will be sad and wilting by the time you get to Calhan. You need to condition your flowers by picking them the day before the fair in the cool of the morning or evening. Plunge the stems into tepid water as soon as they are picked and keep them overnight in a cool, dark place. By morning they will look fresh and perky.

You may also enter freshly cut herbs, which need to be conditioned as described above, as well as potted indoor and outdoor plants and flower arrangements.

Horticulture entries are accepted from 9:00 am until 11:30 am on July 27th in Whittemore Center at the El Paso County Fairgrounds. Be sure to allow plenty of time to get your entries checked in. It's fun and instructive to stay and watch the judging which begins at 1:00 pm and runs until about 5:00. During that time, the exhibit is closed to the public. To see all the entries while they still look fresh, plan on being there late in the afternoon.

One division of horticulture listings is open to adults and another to juniors. (age 5-17) What a great way to get your kids interested in gardening! Give them the incentive of winning a few ribbons and a little pocket money and they may be more interested in starting their own garden.

Try entering something from your garden this year. It's great fun to attend the fair, but even more fun to be a part of it. If you'd like detailed information, call the El Paso County Fair Office at 575-8690.

For a good composition, use groupings of the same variety and then repeat the groupings in several areas of the garden.

Many annual herbs will make themselves at home in your garden and return each year. Leave a few seed-heads of dill to dry and it will reseed. Dill (Anethum graveolens) displays blooms that resemble exploding fireworks. Their chartreuse glow is striking near blue Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) or purple cleome (Cleome hasslerana) in late summer.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) sends up lacy green leaves much like that of dill; bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Purpureum ) has a smoky purple tinge that looks great with orange dahlias or pink cosmos. Ferny chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium) will reseed each year in a shady spot. Enjoy it s anise-like flavor in egg dishes and salads and its smaller Queen Anne's Lace type blossoms in your garden.

Leggy borage (Borago officinalis) has blossoms of incredible blue to match our clear Colorado skies. When planted with clear orange calendulas it makes an impact. Purple basil (Ocimum basilicum) can be an exciting container plant when combined with hot pink petunias or ornamental peppers.

Biennials take 2 years to complete their life cycle, with benefits to your garden in each year. Curly parsley (Petroselinum crispum) makes a frilly skirt for leggy roses in its first year and sends up umbels of greenish-yellow flowers the second. Angelica (Angelica archangelica) makes a tall architectural statement at the back of a border in its second year, with huge greenish blossoms unfailingly attractive to bees.

Common culinary sage (Salvia officinalis) is uncommonly beautiful when it blooms, usually in purple-blue, although varieties are available that bloom in white or pink. Look also for purple and gold leaved varieties; although they are not reliably hardy in our climate, they are attractive in the garden or in containers.

Winter savory (Satureja montana) forms a low, shrubby plant with small glossy green leaves and is covered with white blossoms in mid to late summer. Tolerant of dry conditions, winter savory is another favorite of bees.

Tender perennial Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is worth planting as an annual in your garden or as a potted plant to bring inside for the winter. It would be worth growing for its taste when fresh no matter what it looked like, but it fits into a planting of silvery leaved plants with ease and it is charming when covered in bloom.

Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) is another tender perennial, which forms a small shrubby tree after several years. It can grow to 40 tall in its native climate but you can limit its size to several feet by growing it in a pot in our climate. Fresh bay leaves are a treat in the kitchen, and the plant can be grown as a standard for a formal touch in your garden.

Herbs are adaptable and undemanding plants with great potential in your garden, as well as in your kitchen.

Now is a good time to check for pests such as aphids, before they become well established. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has monitoring as the first step. Monitoring involves looking for stunted growth, wrapped up leaves, holes in leaves, wilt, webbing, changes in color or actual bugs themselves. No one knows your landscape as well as you, so you will be the first to spot anything out of the ordinary.

Once you suspect you see a problem you begin step two, determining the injury and deciding what to do about it. Some of us can tolerate certain levels of damage by pests while others will have ZERO tolerance to anything chowing down on their landscape. Taking time to consider the pest and your garden as a whole can help cut down on indiscriminate use of pesticides. One bug does not make an infestation. Aphids provide a meal for cute little lady bugs. A few holes in your radish leaves may help save something else from being eaten! You have to determine when the pest becomes serious enough to require further action.

When you finally reach step four of IPM, evaluation and reevaluation, you get a chance to see the results of your actions and try a new angle if still unsuccessful. Hopefully, you will have succeeded and it won't be necessary to resort to chemical use. IPM acknowledges that some plants are too valuable and some pests too difficult to control to not resort to chemicals. I would recommend you investigate the chemicals available quite thoroughly and choose the least offensive. Chemicals don't always just zap the pests, but also zap beneficial bugs, fish, birds, pets and YOU! So be warned and be careful! Perhaps we can all practice a little more tolerance to our natural world.

The term public market encompasses those markets that feature crafts, entertainment and prepared food as well as locally grown food crops. The term farmer's market is typically reserved for markets limited to direct selling by the producer to the consumer of horticulture crops. Both types of markets help to build local economies using local resources and entrepreneurs. More importantly, they help to build a sense of community.

Stan Crawford, writing for the New Mexico Farmer's Marketing Association, summarized the community value and atmosphere of public markets in this way:
A crowd gathers a crowd and that makes things happen. Smiles are exchanged, conversations begin and information is exchanged.
Markets are great places for kids. They are pedestrian places with lots of mothers and grandmothers watching out for everyone. There are bright colorful things for kids to look at, touch, smell and taste.
Farmer's markets are crowds of happy people who are not in a hurry. If you become a regular customer, the vendors will get to know your face as well as your name.
Farmer's markets are one of the few places left where the economic and cultural classes mingle with ease and the very young and very old find themselves together in a public place.

Frank Schmidt operates four markets in Colorado Springs. The markets offer Colorado-grown farm-fresh produce, jams and salsas, fresh flowers, bedding plants, honey, prepared food and crafts. Produce grown outside Colorado is sold to expand the fresh produce offerings. The markets are open at the following locations and dates from approximately 7:00 am to 1:00 pm
Acacia Park: Mondays from July 3
Memorial Park: Thursdays from July 6
Doherty High School: Saturdays from June 26
Bancroft Park: Saturdays from June 17

During the first week of the market, you can expect to find fresh basil, green beans, lettuce, spinach, onions of all shapes and sizes, and much more.

Jerry Bridgman, long-time supporter of farmer's markets, states that, "A weekly trip to the farmer s market is an absolute necessity to connect with the people, the food, and the culture of Colorado Springs. "