Fort Collins Nursery

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are a great way to bring some magnificent color indoors during the gray winter months. Although they naturally bloom in the Spring, many are ‘forced’ to bloom around the holidays, making them popular holiday plants with their large, showy, log-lasting blooms.  Their distinctive lily-like blossoms sit, often in clusters of up to four or five, atop the long thick stalks that emerge from the bulb.

These bulbs are easily grown indoors in a container. To grow an amaryllis in a container, plant the bulb in well-drained soil and leave the top one third of the bulb exposed. Place in a bright area with temperatures about 70F. Once foliage emerges, water regularly. Avoid over-watering to avoid root rot. When the bulb begins to bloom, you may find that the flower-heavy stalks need support. Use a slender bamboo stake and a plant-tie to keep the flower stalks upright.

After flowering has ceased, cut off the flower stalk. If the container has drainage, you can leave the bulb in this pot for years to come. If it does not have drainage, transplant it with fresh soil into a pot that allows drainage. Be sure to leave the top third of the bulb exposed. Large strap-like leave will push up out of the bulb. Keep the plant in a warm well-lit location, fertilizing every few weeks with a balanced fertilizer to help the bulb store nutrients for next year’s blooms. Water it often enough to keep the leaves from wilting or turning brown along the edges

In mid-August, stop feeding and cut watering back to significantly. In September, stop watering completely. Once the leaves have wilted and turned yellow, cut them off and move the bulb to a cool dark area, between 40-50 degrees, and forget about it for the next two months.

After two months have passed, water your Amaryllis once and wait for some green to appear. Once signs of life are apparent, move the bulb back into a warm light location and let the magic begin all over again!

As autumn draws in and nights get colder, you may find yourself with loads of green tomatoes left on the vine.

Rather than composting them or letting them go to waste, try this simple trick to ripen them and continue to enjoy homegrown tomatoes just a little longer:

Cut the vines and hang them, intact, in a dark room. Amazingly, most of those tomatoes will actually ripen. The ones that are most likely to ripen well in this environment are those that are a lighter more translucent green color, known as “mature green.”

Fruit that is a darker shade of green may not ripen as well and makes an excellent candidate for fried green tomatoes, green tomato chutney, green tomato pickles, or get creative and invent your own dish!

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One of the most popular additions to any vegetable garden is homegrown tomatoes. Nothing beats the taste of a juicy, sweet tomato that has ripened on the vine.

At Fort Collins Nursery, we offer a huge variety of tomato plants and seeds to satisfy your hankering. Our varieties include: Beefsteak, Cherry, Roma, Brandywine, Lemon Boy, and more! Call us at 970-482-1984 for availability.

Tomatoes are tender plants. We recommend using a Season Extender or Hot Kap to protect against cold temperatures. We also offer frost cloth.

Don’t forget to keep tomatoes off the ground with a sturdy tomato cage, garden stake, tomato tower, or even try a Topsy Turvy, and hang them upside down! Whiskey barrels also make excellent containers for indeterminate tomato plants ­– they’ll just grow and grow!

Did you know tomato plants like salty soils?

Looking for some late-summer, early autumn perennial bloomers? Add a colorful chrysanthemum to your flower bed or fall container garden! In the autumn, Fort Collins Nursery offers hundreds of these prolific, hardy and beautifully bushy perennials.

Mums come in a wide variety of colors, from yellow, pink, magenta, red, lavender, and more. Blooms on mums typically last for weeks providing a late-summer boost when other flowers have given out. And did you know that mum’s flowers are edible?

Fort Collins Nursery also offers a great selection of colorful asters, also a hardy late-summer and autumn bloomer. Small, abundant, star-shaped flowers tower on 2-3 foot plants, providing a nice backdrop in perennial beds.

Both mums and asters appreciate full sun, and a good dose of compost when planted. They also prefer water at their base, not on the leaves, which encourages powdery mildew.

Now that most of the planting has been done, summer blooms call us to linger in the garden a little longer. As you’re relaxing outdoors, it’s a great time to think structure and embellish your landscape.

Have a small, tucked away corner? Add a sturdy garden bench to linger and renew your perspective. Lead the way with our bee, dragonfly and butterfly stepping stones.

How about a hot, dry patio? Imagine the cooling effect of trickling water from a beautiful and unique patio fountain from Al’s Garden Art. The birds will appreciate it, too! You could also encourage more backyard birds with strategically placed bird baths.

Make a statement with your garden’s entryway with a honeysuckle-draped arbor from Austram. Choose from decorative metal, wooden and custom-ordered. Make your own outdoor living room with a pergola or screen from Yardistry, complete with outdoor furniture from our garden accent shop.

Add height anywhere with a freestanding trellis, perfect for climbing clematis, or plant stand, a great way to feature a blooming annual patio pot!

Hardscape features add focal points and year-round interest. Spend some time on our patio and you’ll see!