Si Pak Tani

This time of the year, flower gardens throughout the area are in full bloom with all kinds of beautiful foliage.   Some of those flowers are annuals, some perennials.   Some are from seed, others grown from bedding plants, and others gifts from friends or neighbors.   Some are natives, some are introduced, and more importantly, some are actually noxious weeds. A noxious weed is any weed that has been determined by the State of Colorado to negatively impact or threaten our native or agricultural ecosystems.   Typically a plant that was introduced from Europe, Asia, or Africa, these weeds have abilities to out-compete our native plants, meaning they spread unchecked throughout our landscape.   Unfortunately, many of these plants are still being planted in yards and gardens throughout our area, and are sold by nurseries or seed companies and purchased by unsuspecting homeowners who are looking for spreading, low maintenance plants with attractive flowers.   While that’s exactly what they

Bistop's weed 2016 Last summer I researched a cultivated plant, a pretty groundcover that, in my garden, turned shabby and thirsty looking by August.   ( See 2016 photo ) Snow-on-the-mountain or bishop’s weed ( Aegopodium podagraria ) is a nonnative ornamental plant brought by the European settlers to North America that thrives in shady areas, spreads by itself, and inhibits weeds.   Although CSU Extension lists it as a suitable groundcover ( http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/ground-cover-plants-7-400/ ), other garden sites have labeled it one of the “worst” garden weeds in perennial flower gardens.   In a previous article, I determined it was a weed, calling it bishop’s weed.   ( http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/colorado-master-gardeners-decorative-ground-cover-or-weed/ ) My war on bishop’s weed started when I casually dug it up.   Bad idea:   bishop’s weed spreads by underground rhizomes that generate new growth from pieces of root left in the soil.   The

Harison’s Yellow Rose – an Enduring Pioneer by Melissa Baynes Rosa x harisonii Rivers [ foetida × spinosissima ] Men packed tools, provisions and practical provender, the women; Bibles, quilts and their precious roses.     They were the keepers of memory, carrying the stories of their old homes that would become the new traditions of the territory.... With her rose she shared water while crossing the alkali plains.   In the chill Blue Mountains, curled in a common blanket, she kept her rose from freezing.   Finally, on that great day of arrival on her donation land claim, she would plant her rose;   a symbol of determination and endurance.   Some twenty varieties of roses traveled across the trail... to be planted, watered, cherished and shared. - excerpt from the book "Hatchet, Hands and Hoe" by Erika Calkins Although my love of plants leans towards our mountain natives, I love the history and stories behind the Harison Yellow Rose, which can be found growing wild an