Hi goatgal,

Glad to have you headin' back out this way---but I hope you're not comming for a couple months! We've been buried under snow out here for almost a month now. I've lived out here since '64, and it's the strangest thing I've ever seen! THREE snow storms in three weeks---and another one possible this weekend. It's gonna be quite a change for you after living in warm climates! You don't want to hear this---but---in a couple days it's supposed to get COLD, and the highs for several days are supposed to be around 10 degrees! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Here are some (cut & paste) links to local information, and you'll get lots of climate-appropriate help here on RMG when you need it.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/menugard.html

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/pubgard.html

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/

http://plantselect.org/

Hope to see you around here,
Skybird

Thanks, Skybird. I have family in CS, so they've been gleefully keeping me informed about the snow! Our move will be sometime this year, as the property in AR has to sell first. May, June, July, that would be ideal, but I'm not holding my breath. Thanks for the links.

I love living here, I live in Manitou Springs, work in Colorado Springs. I used to commute to Denver and I like Denver, it's just not the same as living "here" in the foothills!! The fist snow storm that buried people up North only gave Manitou Springs half an inch! (we made the news for that). What a GREAT place to live and garden! I've been hauling out bath water to keep the rose bushes happy.

WELCOME back to the Springs!!!

Nicole, Manitou is one of my favorite places in the world! I'm especially fond of Adam's Mountain Cafe. We've been looking at all the realtor flyers and there are a couple of places in Manitou in our price-range, but who knows if they'll be available when we are ready to go.

I'm curious, there was a nursery I used to frequent down on Tejon, I think it was Spencer's; is it still there?

Welcome back to CO. I live on the north side of the Springs, and having lived all over the country can say this has been the most challenging spot for gardening. The soils are poor, the intensity of the sun brutal because of the altitude, and the weather changes extreme. However, its not all bad news. There are some things I can grow here I haven't been able to in other places. I have killer Delphiniums. I've discovered the joys of Penstemon. The colors of almost any flower you can get to grow are saturated and brilliant.

My advice is try and go with the climate instead of against it. Give yourself the best chance to suceed by planting things that want to grow here, instead of trying to force something because you liked it somewhere else. The links Skybird gave are a great place to start. And this forum is a great place to ask questions and get good practical answers.

Dan

Hi, goatgal, yes, Spencer's is still around, but moved. Can't recall the address now. And many more to satisfy the the tremendous growth the city has seen over the years.

Here's a website that has garden clubs listed.

Welcome back to Colorado.

Welcome...I live in the South/West part of the Springs. Moved from the Denver area to be near family. Love gardening and this year was the best of the best. I revamped the front yard (all grass) and planted xeriscape due to the water issues here. Gads, this grew 4 times what Denver offered me. Last summer brought a lot of rain, so the plantings got a huge first start.

My location also has herds of deer (city living regardless)and searching for deer proof plants/trees was necessary. They head for lovely new plantings with fresh sprouts. Two red maples planted in front had to be moved behind the fence....looked out the day after planting and it was like I had deer lolly pops for them. Unknown on my part at the time, most xeriscape is of little interest to deer. So I got more than a few dumb luck gardening ideas which worked.

When working in front people would stop and talk forever about plants and give me applauds for updating....I almost didn't get the planting done with ongoing conversations. They invited me to their gardens and even dropped off starter plantings...wonderful surprise gifts. Total strangers who connected quickly to another garden person...had no idea I found the right place to move.

If you get a chance to drive through the Broadmoor area during spring, it is beyond beautiful with trees/flowers in bloom. Could give you one of the best views of what grows well along the base of the mountains as it is an old established neighborhood. I suspect if you saw anything of interest, an owner would welcome your asking about their gardens.

Other areas of the Springs can be desert....many options for decision making regarding plants. I hate to admit that half of my plants were from Lowes/HD, but they didn't fail me. Ricks garden center is probably the most fun and has the best offering of established plants which can get me in big trouble buying beyond what I was after.

This spring I will be taking on the backyard with more of a country garden feel and shade loving plants. A new adventure not experienced before with so many old trees in the yard. The area I live in has so many garden lovers. More than a few were master gardeners with welcomed information. I'll have lots of help when spring arrives.

Skybird...it is the worst winter experienced. I'd rather have 2 feet of snow than this bitter cold/ice. And would love one of those 70 degree winter days...but they sure aren't around this year. Wonder what it will do to our plants? We had great rain and cooler weather during the summer too, but that was a welcomed need after our dry years. I am sad for our ranchers with all of this and so many of the other states too.

"High winds, low temps, very low humidity" - that' s pretty good start. I'll add two tidbits that you may remember and/or want to consider.

(1) The relatively high percentage of sunny days, especially in winter, and the high intensity of the sunlight due to the elevation. Hard on most broad-leaved evergreens, but great for many flowers. In fact most "full sun" flowers can be grown with a half day of sun here, and many times the best place for a garden with traditional, non-xeric, non-western plants is an eastern exposure, with afternoon shade and hopefully a little wind protection. Some shade will allow you to be out there a little more in the midday sun too.

(2) Soil is often clayey and alkaline. When I bought my house our realtor was aware that the one we were looking at was in an area with relatively good sandier soil, and that helped close the deal. So if you haven't bought yet, you might want to choose a realtor that is aware of such things. (Regardless, you'll no doubt want to amend the soil, the question is just how much.) Your realtor may also know what areas are known to be especially windy - I'll bet it varies quite a bit around the Springs.

Welcome back to Colorado!

This past year was my first gardening experience in Colorado and my biggest hardship was HAIL. There have been a few threads on this RMG forum about the hail experiences this past summer. One of em titled "What the Hail". haha.

Good luck with your move and getting settled.

Charlene

Welcome back!

I agree with the previous post - my only issue with living here gardening-wise is the hail! We live up north of CS in the Black Forest area by Monument, where we have beautiful sandy-clay-loam soil (retains water very nicely). But I've had to find plants that can either withstand hail or bounce back quickly after a hailstorm.

I grow vegetables in a "hoophouse" (mini greenhouse) to withstand the hail. My roses hold up pretty well to all except the worst hailstorms. Of course, the natives and xeriscape plants handle the hail OK for the most part too.

Because I'm at 7500 ft here, growing tomatoes, peppers, and other heat-loving plants is pretty much not worth the effort. One of these years we'll move back to the banana belt of Colorado south of the Springs (probably Canon City area) where I can grow whopper tomatoes and peppers again. For now, I just go with the flow and enjoy greens and broccoli :)

Nancy