By Melissa Leavenworth April showers bring May flowers, along with plenty of other opportunities for gardens and landscapes. There are plenty of outdoor projects for beginners and veterans alike that the Fort Collins Nursery can help you start this May. While the last freeze typically hits Northern Colorado around Mothers Day, you shouldn’t be deterred […]
Seasonal Tip: Spring
Protect from frost, cold
Even the hardiest of vegetables and flowers need protection from frost and freezing temperatures. In Northern Colorado, the average last frost occurs in mid-May, and in Southern Wyoming it can be as late as the first or second week of June. In Autumn, the first average frost usually occurs within the first week of October […]
Cool season vegetable gardens
- Season: Spring
Late March is a great time to start planting cool season vegetables. Cool season crops prefer cool daytime temperatures of 60 to 80 degrees, and down to 40 degrees at night. Semi-Hardy vegetables such as beets, carrots, cauliflower, parsley, parsnips, potatoes and Swiss chard are less tolerant of a frost, and may need some additional protection. Using […]
Fertilizing Veggies
As vegetables grow in your garden, they remove important nutrients from the soil that are necessary for development. Adding fertilizer will help replace elements like nitrogen and phosphorus to aid in growth and yield. There are many methods of fertilizing and many types of fertilizers out there so you have a number of options to […]
Staking and Supports
Now that you put in the time and effort to plant your garden, don’t forget to give your plants the additional support they need to thrive through the summer. Support structures such as garden stakes, trellises and cages encourage a healthier crop and provide many benefits to the plants like proper air circulation and additional […]
Growing pumpkins
Pumpkins, with their edible flesh and long storage life are a warm season crop. They require a long growing season of nearly 85 days, so it’s best to start them indoors from seed. About a week after the last frost (on average May 15 along the northern Colorado front range), pumpkins can be planted outdoors. […]
Tomatoes: A taste of summer
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, […]
Growing sunflowers
Sunflowers are not only an attractive flower, they also have rich history providing edible seed crops. Sunflowers do best when planted directly in the soil, after night temperatures warm to above 50 degrees. As their name suggests, need plenty of sunlight (minimum of 6 hours per day). They will also turn their flower heads to […]
Test soil before amending
- Season: Spring
Soil tests are one of the most essential keys to a successful landscape. Many people add an all-in-one fertilizer every spring, thinking one application and forget about it. This can actually build up nutrients to levels that lead to plants’ decline. Besides basic at-home test kits available at the nursery, we have the added benefit […]
Native shrubs for low maintenance
Our Colorado environment is home to some amazing native shrubs. Not only are these shrubs disease resistant and perfect for our native soil, they attract birds, butterflies and provide year-round interest. Try adding to your landscape a sumac, Apache plume, serviceberry, rabbitbrush, fernbush, mountain mahogany or buffaloberry. These shrubs have some very unique features, such […]