Si Pak Tani

Kurt Jones County Extension Director Our cats are always in a big hurry to get outside in the mornings, but have become a bit more hesitant in the past couple of weeks as the nighttime temperatures have been falling.   Probably more important than our cats’ comfort, is protecting the vegetable garden plants during these periods of cooler weather. There are two types of frost that can affect our garden plants.   Advective frosts occur when a cold front comes through an area, causing temperatures to fall significantly below threshold levels.   Typically, our efforts to protect sensitive plants against advective frosts leave the gardener frustrated.   Last Saturday night (in Salida), we suffered from a radiation frost.   These frosts occur during calm, cool nights.   In mountain areas, our temperature inversions (cold air trapped in mountain valleys) can cause radiation frost damage to plants.   Frost protection is warranted in these scenarios, as temper...

Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants Conference Save the Date! February 10, 2018 at the Denver Botanic Gardens A native garden in the mountains Registration for the 3rd Annual LWCNP Conference coming December of 2017: landscapingwithcoloradonativeplants.wordpress.com . Our keynote speaker will be Panayoti Kelaidis.    Topics for the ‘New to natives’ breakout session will include planting for habitat, planting for year-round interest, adding natives to an existing landscape (including replacing your lawn), and “plant this, not that”.   Topics for the ‘Knows the natives’ breakout sessions will include maintenance,   rock/crevice gardening (including bare-root planting), soils for native plants, and water conservation through passive water harvesting. We will also have many wonderful vendors to check out before and after the conference, and during breaks. The Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants Conference promotes the inclusion of native plants in our landscapi...