The Gardens on Spring Creek

Oxytropis multiceps    (the native Nuttall’s oxytrope) What’s Blooming in The Gardens:  April by Bryan Fischer, Horticulturist, The Gardens on Spring Creek April often represents the beginning of what truly feels like spring here in Northern Colorado. Warming temperatures – especially warming soil temperatures – are allowing many of our early blooming plants to hit their strides. Perhaps first and most dramatic among these, is a diversity of alpine “cushion” plants (plants that grow low to the ground in tight mats) in the Rock Garden that are beginning to open their buds. Unlike most plants, which form buds shortly before bloom, many alpine species actually produce flower buds during summer or fall that are held all winter.   This allows them to bloom much more quickly when warm weather arrives the following spring. Draba zapateri  In the Rock Garden, we have royal purple Phlox kelseyi ‘Lemhi Purple’ or ‘Lemhi Midnight’, the electric-yellow broccoli relati

Snow Mold and Turf by Josh Cornell, Horticulturist, The Gardens on Spring Creek Colorado weather is anything but predictable, which can make lawn care challenging.   With the long-lasting snow cover we experienced in Northern Colorado this year, you may be experiencing some snow mold on your grass. Snow mold is caused by cold-weather fungi that primarily affects grasses.   While we don’t usually see this problem in our arid western climate, it does happen occasionally, especially when the snow lingers.   This provides the perfect conditions for snow mold, which, if allowed to persist, can cause damage and even kill the crowns of grass plants. There are two types of snow mold: gray (Typhula blight) and pink (Microdochium or Fusarium patch).   Signs of both types become noticeable in the spring when the snow melts, leaving circular patches of matted or crusty grass that range in size across the lawn.   With gray snow bold, these patches are generally grayish-w