Hornworms by Brionna McCumber

Gardeners in Colorado may find large green caterpillars with an iconic horn on their plants every summer—these are hornworms! Tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta) feed on common garden crops, often leading to conflict with humans. These very hungry caterpillars are defoliators, damaging plants such as tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant. While the caterpillars use crops as a food source, which could be seen as negative, the moths provide a critical step in reproduction for the plants via pollination.

Carolina Sphinx Moths (Manduca sexta), also called Hummingbird moths, are the adult form of hornworms. They are known for their unique ability to hover mid-flight. Combined with the use of a special elongated proboscis, these moths are especially important for plant species with long tubular flowers that other pollinators cannot access or pollinate.

The Gardens on Spring Creek Butterfly House wants to highlight the importance of these specialized pollinators in our native Colorado ecosystems. We recommend that those who have hornworms in their garden attempt to relocate these creatures instead of bringing them into our facility. These animals eat many more things than just tomatoes! They are not picky and can host on a large variety of plants. Other plants that these caterpillars may find attractive:

Potatoes

Horse nettles

Eggplant (Solanum)

Peppers (Capsicum)

Jimsonweed

Thorn Apples (Datura)

Wild Tomatoes (Lycopersicon)

Tobaccos (Nicotiana)

Cape Gooseberry

Tomatillos

Husk Cherry (Physalis)

Petunias

and many more!

You can help support local wildlife and pollinators by relocating hornworm caterpillars to a space where they can eat and grow without being a nuisance to your crops. Please help us keep wildlife, wild!

Color Theory by Chelsea McLean

By understanding the basics of color theory, gardeners can have a greater impact without more work. Let’s start with a refresher: you may remember that the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. Mix these together in different formulations and you get the secondary colors orange, green, and purple. On the left side of the color wheel are the cool colors, the ones that inspire calm and tranquility. Opposite these are the warm colors that excite and buzz. Mix in your neutral colors – white, black, and grey – and you get tints, tones, and shades. Working with these foundational concepts is where things start to get exciting. The most dramatic color combinations are those that sit opposite one another on the wheel, like my personal favorite of tangerine and violet. Referred to as contrasting colors, be sure to choose highly saturated colors for contrast plantings as muted colors will only reduce the intensity. Perhaps a monochromatic planting is more your style. When I’...

Growing Poinsettias at The Gardens by Kelly Kellow

Did you know The Gardens on Spring Creek grows and sells poinsettias every year? We asked Greenhouse Horticulturist Kelly Kellow about her process of bringing these vibrant and memorable blooms to fruition . Timeline is key! Kelly: From the time of planting to the time they are sold, the poinsettias grown in our greenhouse are on a strict schedule to produce that perfect and beautifully colored plant that everyone is looking for during the holidays. There are three types of poinsettias to choose from: long season (10–12 weeks to develop), medium season (8–9 weeks), and short season (6–7 weeks) . Medium season poinsettias work best for me here at The Gardens. The first thing I do before I buy poinsettia plugs is to pull out the previous year's calendar to remind myself of the prior season's schedule . Then, I begin to make my plan and buy my plants. Working backwards from when I want them ready for selling, I count out the weeks and cr...

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