Boulder gardening

Gardening in Boulder can be tricky. Our weather is unpredictable and often extreme.  Spring freezes can sometimes destroy an entire season of fruit, or, worse, decimate entire populations of plants that are sensitive to early spring freeze-thaw cycles.  It happened in 2013.  By summer, there wasn't a piece of fruit on the trees--no apples, plums, cherries, nectarines, apricots, peaches...nothing. Worse, the long-term damage to some evergreen varieties was catastrophic. Arborvitae, a common evergreen around Boulder, had been awakened out of its dormancy by some warm days in April. Then, when snow and plummeting temperatures hit in April and May, cellular damage to the plants was severe. While losing a season of fruit is disappointing, losing an entire stand of arborvitae is heart breaking.  As a Colorado Master Gardener, I have received many calls at our Longmont office about arborvitae recovery. Sadly, the plant does not regenerate new foliage once it is destroyed. The brown damage that is visible now is here to stay. But that was last year.  So far, we have enjoyed a beautiful spring here in Boulder.  The lilacs are stunning and fragrant; the fruit trees are covered in pillowy blossoms; tulips are colorful and vigorous.  I am watching my garden come alive and appreciating the possibility that this season will be remarkable on account of just how unremarkable the weather has been.  Admittedly, it has taken me 5 seasons of living here to understand (and accept) this critical principle of Colorado gardening.

May 2, 2013

May 2, 2014