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Pasque Flower – Pulsatilla Vulgaris

May’s Practically Perfect Plant!

The Pasque Flower blooms in early spring. USDA Zones 4-8. Part sun – part shade for high elevations. Read below for more on light preferences. 12”H x 12”W.

Pasque Flower – A unique, early spring blooming perennial!

The Pasque Flower is such a unique and beautiful plant with so many great features, it just had to be picked as a Practically Perfect Plant! Pasque Flowers are one of the first perennials to bloom each spring. The lacy, fuzzy foliage provides a unique and attractive look to combine with the more commonly seen plants that emerge early in the season, such as tulips, daffodils and other bulbs. In Golden, Colorado, they begin blooming in mid-April. I would guess that they may bloom as early as late March down in Denver. The flowers keep coming for at least a month!

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Gardening for Health During COVID-19

These are strange times! With lock downs and stay-at-home orders, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed life quickly and drastically. For those of us in the northern hemisphere (especially gardeners), spring will thankfully make this outbreak much more tolerable. Just being able to go outside, enjoy the sunshine and smell the start of a new gardening season coming to life helps me momentarily forget my fear of what the future might bring. Although I seriously miss meeting with extended family, friends, and coworkers, I have to admit that I am enjoying the extra time I have to spend in my garden. I am so glad to be an avid gardener at a time like this because gardening is the perfect activity for staying mentally and physically healthy through the COVID-19 pandemic. How exactly will gardening keep us healthy, you ask? Well, here are just a few of the ways!

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Korean Spice Viburnum – Viburnum Carlesii

April’s Practically Perfect Plant –

The Korean Spice Viburnum is one of my favorite shrubs, and that says a lot because shrubs are probably my favorite type of garden plant. It is hardy in USDA zones 4 – 8 and handles sun to part shade. This plant is not fussy, and it rewards you every spring with heavenly scented, gorgeous light pink flower clusters that, as the shrub matures, will completely cover the plant. Korean Spice Viburnums bloom well even in part shade! Bloom time is just ahead of lilacs.

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2020 – The Year for Online Nurseries

Adjusting to Spring 2020

With the evolving Covid-19 pandemic and so many states being in lockdown or issuing stay-at-home orders, it leaves many unknowns for all of us. One of the not-so-serious questions we, as gardeners, may have is: will I ever be able to shop at plant nurseries this spring? If you are like me, that is one of the things that I most look forward to each year. Even if all that I really plan to buy are annuals, I just can’t wait to get to the nurseries to buy them, and to see what will temp me to stray from my well laid out plans for the season. I seriously get butterflies in my stomach as we approach this time of the year!

The Online Option

But this season may be very different. As an insatiable gardener, I know that I will still need to get my hands on some new plants to satisfy my addiction. So, this year, more so than most, I have turned to online nurseries. At least for the plants that I am absolutely certain that I MUST have! I can be flexible when it comes to annuals, but for those treasures that I spent all winter anticipating adding to my garden, I will stick to my plans if at all possible.

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Why to Avoid Weed Barrier Fabric

Backyard Border with Weed Barrier Fabric

Benefits of Mulch

If your soil is clayey and poor, with little organic matter, like it is in many areas of Colorado, using weed barrier fabric underneath your wood mulch or bark is a big mistake! Mulch is beneficial in gardens here in Colorado for a number of reasons. It reduces the amount of moisture that evaporates from soil, it helps keep plant roots cool – even in really sunny spots, and it helps control weeds. It can also make gardens look more attractive and well kept! But one of the greatest benefits of using wood mulch in gardens with naturally poor soil is that it gradually improves soil quality. That benefit is hard to beat! However, to enjoy this perk, you need to avoid using weed barrier fabric under your mulch.

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Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay

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One of my favorite and most selfish reasons for attracting wildlife to my yard is because during the winters, when my plants are dormant or have died back, and I am going into gardening withdrawal, I still enjoy my yard and because I have plenty of entertainment just outside my window! My winter visitors are often quite beautiful, but can also be pretty amusing! One of my yard mates that is almost always around is the Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay – also known as the Western Scrub-Jay. They are medium sized birds with blue heads, wings and tails, and gray bellies. Like Blue Jays, these birds are perfectly comfortable hanging out in back yards, dining at bird feeders and drinking from bird baths. They are common on the west side of metro Denver and along the foothills, and are very easy to attract to yards in these areas.

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