Colorado Newbie

I just wanted to say hi in this forum- I just moved into the Rocky Mountain area, Co Springs to be specific. I'm not new to Dave's although I have been awol for about a year.

I moved from Houston.....so this zone 5 thing is completely new to me and I'm going to need some help!! I'm so excited about being able to grow foxglove and pretty petunias (that's what's in my front bed now) and not scorch all my other container plants! My brugs and plumerias aren't sure what to think yet, but they're surviving.

Here's a picture of the pergola I'm in the process of building. I am hoping to cover it in clematis next year, does that grow well here? And that's Simon and Zoe in front. Can't wait to start learning a whole new garden! Susanne

Welcome - I'm also a warm weather transplant - only been in the high desert a year - still getting used to the idea of seasons! Sorry, I don't have enough experience to comment on clematis, but I did want to say that that is a nice start you have on your pergola.

My mom grew clematis at 6500 ft elevation at Lake Tahoe. It would crawl up the deck railing and bloom in the summer and look like a dead twig in the winter. Our wisteria was also a beautiful summer drape but mom could never get a bloom out of it.

Welcome to the wild, wild, wild, wild west. ( sort of )

I, too, am impressed with the pergola and am a long, long ago transplant from New Orleans and Mississippi but still have a very vested interested in the area, namely a farm 1 1/2 hours north of New Orleans, in Mississippi. So I keep up with both areas. The farm is not a working farm but a retreat to the jungle. I really love it.
You are making a great start with clematis. My grandmother lived in Denver and had a magnificent Jackmani on her front porch. I have about the same climate as Denver so I planted two clematis this year, Nelly Moser and Jackmani Superba. If you haven't already become familiar with this site, check out:
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/index.cfm
Growing things here will be very different from growing things there. Most important is adding organic matter, by the truckload, if possible to the soil. You will have fewer insects but you will have to worry about drought and frost.
Still I rather like it and hope you do too.
Betty

Thanks everyone. So far I love the weather, the view, everything about it here....I'm scared of the coming winter though. With enough layers I think I can make it.

I'm excited about the clematis growing well here! About a week ago I bought a sorry looking thing off Walmarts 'we've all but killed it' table and it's actually starting to look alright. I'm assuming that once it starts looking really good is when I'm going to have to prune probably. I knew I'd remember the name, but now that I've gone to Plantfiles and that website Betty gave.....I had no idea there were so many!

Anyhow, thank you for the welcome and I look forward to your sage advice! :) And the trip to the DBG!

Welcome Art!

I'll give you my free/OT advice for folks who have never lived around snow before: no matter how urban an area you live in (and this is even more applicable the further out of town you are), you need to have enough on-hand for a couple/3 days of being snow-bound. So, dog food, coffee, toilet paper, water, something to read, battery operated flashlight/camp light, radio, medications, some way to heat water (camp stove is good), matches/wood for a fireplace, if you have one, anything you would need that in case the snow is really really bad so that you're housebound for a day or two, or the electricity goes out -- I'm *really* envisioning a worst case scenario here -- you don't freeze or go hungry or have to explain to Simon and Zoe why they have no food. I don't mean to sound like the Prophet of Doom here but my motto of Be Prepared (I was an Honorary Boy Scout, lol!) might help and can't hurt.

I think you'll truly enjoy the four seasons and the changes in weather! jo/nm who also thinks the clematis is a great idea for that killer pagoda!

Welcome Art'n.
I'm from the Rockies and still leanring their secrets.
Gorgeous pergola, dogs, and grass. And Plumeria. I'll be interested how you grow it and what works up here.

Oh, the potential for variety of vines is great... My advice as a vien nut (take it or be wise and ignore me) is that variety is the spice of life- grow annuals of different sorts year to year on one post, then a woody vine, a herbaceous vine, an evergren vine, flowering or just ornamental leaves...

Other bit of advice that we'll all drum into you is "amend." (Betty said it, but well, you know...) It is more crucial here than in other places, namely Houston. And, it may allow you to grow some Huoston plants here if you get truly religious in composting.

Good luck and "keep us posted" in teh Wal-mart Clem. And hope to see you Sep 30.
Kenton

Thank you the for the great advice jio! I honestly don't know if it ever would have crossed my mind, being snowbound. I think I'll go out this weekend and stock up on some supplies. Definitely water, because we dont have any bottled on hand (the tap is so yummy here!)

They were all trying to scare me on the chat last night about how much snow and ice and how hard it can be to drive on....haha- I was freezing and bundled up in layers this weekend when it got down to 40! But that's my warm blood, which hopefully I can cool off eventually!

Thank you for the compliments Kenton. I am getting excited about variety, as you said. I have long been addicted to starting vines from seed. They're generally much easier than other plants to get germinated (for me) and I stick to what I'm good at. Runner beans, hyacinth bean, passiflora, cup and saucer, corkscrew, moonflower, oooh I'm excited. I'll definitely keep you posted.

Is there a certain kind of amending the soil needs? Should I start with hummus or peat or something else? Or is it plain organic matter that it lacks? We moved in at the very end of June, so I had pretty much no time to get beds going that could grow and establish enough before the cold....and now I have plenty of time to create beds and ammend the soil for next year.

Speaking of the plumie, I'm a little worried about it and my brugs....neither have bloomed yet this year and I think they just need more heat. They're both growing great leaves.... Maybe I'll keep them awake this winter instead of dormant and see if the extra growing time gets them to bloom next year. Anyhow, thank you for the advice and get ready for all my questions!! :)

art_n, you'll acclimate to the climate eventually. In addtion to jo's list, I will include board games, thermal underwear and good snow boots if you don't already have them. Plenty of yarn for knitting doesn't hurt either if you are so inclined. We lost power in our part of the Tahoe Basin every major snow storm. It was usually only out for a few hours, but if the snow was really heavy, it could be out for 36 hours because the powerline repair folks just couldn't get to the lines. I got out my cross country skis and skiied into work once......of course none of our customers to get there due to the snow, so I may as well have stayed home. You'll eventually find a rhythm with the seasons. We'd start stocking the cupboards and the indoor firewood as we prepared the garden beds for winter. It all fits together.

Peatmoss isnt' very effective, horse manure and your own compost are better for the gardener. Maybe the move or drought effected your brugs/plumeria? Dormancy usually helps them bloom, right?

Your soil probably has less than 2% organic if I had to guess. go for 20% minimum, 50% maximum.
K in haste

Funny you should mention... as the day temps stay in the upper 90's the nights are continuing to creap down towards 40 - triggering my winter hording gene. We are currently using any bottled water from last year and rotating in fresh bottles. Last winter we got away lucky, but I understand the winter before was the worst in 99 years. I'm a suburbanite from the CA Central Valley - even with snow tires and 4WD, driving in snow is always an exciting event for me. But I'm learning to deal with seasons! Hmmm, just where DID I stash the long undies?

Here's another cold weather tip - the three-layer rule -- wear three layers of clothing (and socks) inside *before* you crank up the heat -- saves a lot on the expensive heating bills. jo/nm

Hot pepper flakes in between two layers of socks will keep your feet nice and warm if you need to be outside for any length of time, or are just keeping the thermostat turned down.

Welcome to Colorado ANG!
I love the picture, and the fur kids are too cute.
Let me know if you find a secret to brugs. The heat-wave did in my brugs this year.. only one has bloomed for me, and now its too late to hope for anymore to bloom. Years past have been ok tho. Plumies I tried, but had zero luck with them (I believe I gave up too easily, but the spidermites upset me LOL). I do believe the lack of humidity has alot to do with some things (tropicals) not growing well here.
Were candles mentioned for your survival kit? They saved our rear a couple years back from a storm that actually shut the city down. I know CS gets it worse than we do usually. When we snow mobile, we use 2 very thin layers, and a thick layer on top. This works best for us.
Amend, amend, amend WITHOUT SAND (should be the state moto).
Again, welcome!!

I read a book called "how ot be a Coloradan" that distincly read about layers. It's true, I usuaulyl wear three to four. Don't underestimate a vest, too. That way, when a crow squalks and the weather switches from freezing blizzard to blazing sun, you aren't naked.
The most useful thing I find for survival is a gas stove. I can't live without my morning omelette (electric stove otehrwise!) I tend not to notice the lack of other conveniences... Furnace? What's that? I'll go get another bundle of wood.

True Shelly! ANG, any advice is suspect from anyone who tells you to use sand.

Kenton, who is still figuring Brugs out.

All this advice is great! Thank you all so much for helping me :) I had no idea about the red pepper flakes...interesting. I do love layers....I was a wuss with Houston "winter" too....I'm already wearing 3 layers on top and socks right now and it's only 53 outside. I should be a pretty sad sight for my first couple winters.

Haha Kenton& Shelly.... I'll stay away from the sand, I promise!

I went out today to find a pretty big sized bud on one of my brugs! I had a couple earlier in the summer but they just scorched and fell off....maybe with all this lovely overcast weather we're having, this one could survive! I'll let you know. And that omelette sounds pretty tasty right about now !

I had one of seven brug buds blast like that, I think it's water- they want not to be moist, but WET it seems.
Got rain here, thank God.

My roses think it is spring again... even the Snotty Sterling rose has 5 buds on it, and just put out a 3' cane!

I'm planting irises tomorrow. And weeding in between the stone pavers in my rose garden. And cleaning up the patio so I can set out my mini greenhouse again.

These are the good times to remember in February when it's subzero and so dry your brain cracks when you blink.

Thus horde a thousand or so pictures of one's garden as it grows to its zenith...

I'm looking forward to that brain cracking thing....lol

I went and bought lots of new plants this week....I think I am gathering them as my fear of winter grows. Which makes it yall's fault :)

Hi everyone,

Im new to this forum too. I live south of Art n Garden, here in the banana belt of Colorado. I moved here from the Boulder area, about 5 years ago and so far it is not only hotter here but the growing season is longer. We just moved into this house in December of 2004. Ive gotten daylilies and some hostas but I am trying to get a flower bed with spring bulbs started here. I live on sand/gravel. Before in the Boulder area it was clay clay clay. Well I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello (hello)

Lillyz

Welcome to the Rocky Mt. Forum. We have a lot of fun here and learn a lot. We are planning an outing to Denver Botanic Garden on Sept. 29. They will be having a bulb sale from Brent's and Becky's. Consider yourself invited. We will go some where to have a meal together in addition to draining our financial resources on bulbs. Hope you will join us.
As I recall Pueblo is warm and windy, but if you add water, things grow!
Betty

ah yes, include lots of moisturizer and lipbalm on the winter stockpile list to keep the winter dry weather cracking to a minimum.

Don't forget the sunglasses. I wear sunglasses more in the winter than I do in the summer....

Hey people, you're going to scare our newcomer back to where he/she came from! It isn't so bad where you are, art. Don't let 'em fool you. Colorado Springs is very pleasant in the winter. It probably has the most perfect climate for people like me who come from Minnesota (where all the above advice would better apply).

I've grown clematis successfully on my 6th floor balcony in Denver. I've got one in there now that I've had for about five years. You should have no trouble growing them where you are, and your pergola will look great.

Sunglasses and lip balm are the two things I can't do without in this high, dry climate.

Welcome to God's country!

Judith

Actually the scary weather is just a bit N. of CoSpr in Monument. I've driven through snow and ice there in May, and they often have dramatic changes in a matter of hours.

September 29??? I thought it was Saturday, the 30? Did it change?

I had to wait for the bus last winter when it got down to at least 20 below, not counting the wind chill. Layers, as others have mentioned. And wool, polartec, thinsulate. I wore a tee shirt, a shirt, a wool sweater, and a parka from LL Bean rated down to about 30 below. On my head I wore a wool cap, plus polartec hood, plus the parka hood, plus a wool scarf. I wore regular knit gloves underneath ski mittens, which matched the parka and were also rated down to 30 below. I wore flannel-lined blue jeans, wool socks, and hiking boots.

I was cool, but not cold. And if I needed to, I could always take down the hood, loosen the scarf, unzip the parka a little and strip down to one pair of gloves.

Oh, I'm from Chicago originally, so I know all about cold. :-)

But I just bought my first house last spring, and this is my first garden, so I'm a newbie as far as that's concerned. I don't think the philodendron count.

You are right, WH, it is Sept. 30. I was thinking of the day I would have to leave in order to get there on the morning of the 30th. Sorry to confuse you.
Betty

Art'n'Garden,
Please make your RSVP to this thread if you dare to meet our newly-formed group that day.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/644334/

Kenton

Welcome Lillyz! Sorry I've been busy the last couple days and did not get to check in. .. thank you Judith :) - hopefully nothing you can say will scare me back to TX!!
Hydrangea that sounds scary! I will definitely be wearing layers...but if it's 20 below I'm just not going out :)
I will go rsvp right now, thanks for the heads up

Like I said, I'm originally from the Chicago area. One winter it got down to 30-35 below. When you counted in the wind chill they said it was 80 below. And I was working temp admin jobs where the agency wouldn't let you wear pants, so it was skirt, hose, and heels!

I came to Colorado because it was warmer. Properly attired, 20 below is nothing.

That said, I *hate* it when they keep buses and offices air conditioned down to the low to mid 60s. Do employers think that if they refrigerate their employees they won't go bad? Root cellars are warmer!

I seriously thought about moving somewhere where it was 76 degrees all the time, but then a lot of my favorite flowers wouldn't bloom, because they need the frost.

(Useless but interesting fact: Commercial building temperatures are designed as such: People want all sorts of temperatures. Too hot brings on the body odor, and too cold just means another layer, and since there is no such thing as "just right" for everyone, the thermostats are set in the interests of warm-blooded folk.)
And the rest of us (definately including me) just freeze in the AC-comfort of a building.

It also keeps the employees working and motivated to keep moving. No time to internet when the mouse is frozen. Many buildings have to drop into the low 60's in the early am to keep it from getting too hot in the heat of the day. Though I had no problems with the temps last tuesday working at this lake paddling my canoe.

Took my breath,
You idget.

Yes I paddled all the way to the other end and forgot my camera. The mountains rose right off the lake and it was beautiful as the sun set. This is Bowman Lake in Glacier Park. Hardly anybody goes to the end in a boat. They stop photo and leave. What a waste of an incredible beauty. This photo I took standing on the lake and inverted it in the reflection. Looks like I'm falling. Hee hee

You are falling, don't worry.
Is that grey? No, can't be. Not a young man as thee, at only 29, too? Geez.

That mountain scenery is incredible. But where is the camera? Clearly you aren't holding it.
It would be great to be out on the lake in a non-motorized boat, though I prefer a kayak to a canoe.
Betty

Wow that's beautiful!

Probably the most beautiful pic I've seen.

Steve, sounds like you have some admirers.
That old guy and all those young gals...