10th Annual Cheyenne Habitat Hero Workshop Feb. 3, 2024

10th Annual Cheyenne Habitat Hero Workshop

Feb. 3, 2024, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Laramie County Community College:

 “Ways to Make and Keep a Garden for the Birds and Bees Plus Advice on Trees”

          This year we look at how different people approached making a Habitat Hero-style garden and how they maintain it.
 We will introduce the makers of six local gardens who will be panelists for discussion on what works and doesn’t work:
Gary Kayser has created a meadow at the corner of 3rd and Carey avenues that drew the attention of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle photographer.
Eric Dalton has made Habitat Hero gardens at his home and his business, Bella Fuoco Wood Fired Pizza on Warren Avenue.
Nancy Loomis keeps the weeds at bay in the garden at the Laramie County Library.
Isaiah Smith, horticulture and operations supervisor at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens installed gravel garden beds in the parking lot last year.
Isaiah Smith and Jacob Mares prepared the Habitat Hero garden site at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and Barb Gorges keeps it weeded.
Rex Lockman, wildlife and range specialist for the Laramie County Conservation District, will report on the Native Prairie Island project, sowing seeds over new septic fields.

Lunch – Included in registration
Jacob Mares, Community Forestry coordinator for the Wyoming State Forestry Division, will introduce trees appropriate for water-wise Habitat Hero gardens.
Scott Aker, director of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, formerly in charge of horticulture and education at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., will show how to prune young trees to help protect them from wind, snow and ice damage. 
          To bring us an update on the size and scope of the Habitat Hero program, we will hear from Audubon Rockies staff.
         Finally, everyone’s favorite part–Michelle Bohanan has selected native seed for everyone to take home for winter sowing.

Registration for in-person attendance will be $25 and will include lunch. Registration for Zoom only will be $5. Registration information at: www.CheyenneAudubon.org/habitat-hero/

Or register directly at: https://act.audubon.org/a/make-keep-garden-birds-bees

Gardeners busy in February

Amaryllis flower begins to open. Photo by Barb Gorges.

“Gardeners are busy in February” was published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle Feb. 6, 2021.

By Barb Gorges

            February is a busy time for those of us who enjoy a plant-filled life.

            The first half of the month is overshadowed by Valentine’s Day. Did you know that 80 percent of American-sold cut flowers are grown in Columbia and flown here? Those growing conditions are often toxic to the environment and workers. Read about how that happened at www.BrownPoliticalReview.org, by searching for “Veriflora.”

            Veriflora, a program offered through SCS Global Services, is an attempt to encourage sustainable ornamental horticulture. You are most likely to find certified plants and flowers somewhere like Whole Foods, but try The Home Depot too.

            If your beloved is a gardener, try a gift certificate to a nearby or online nursery instead. Or one of the myriad garden books from Timber Press.

            Winter is when gardeners gather for lectures and conferences—virtually this year. Here in Cheyenne the 7^th Annual Habitat Hero Workshop in mid-January featuring Douglas Tallamy and two other speakers had more than 300 people register. You can watch the recordings by using the links at www.CheyenneAudubon.wordpress.com, on the Habitat Hero tab.

            Feb. 27 is the Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants Conference, with a day’s worth of speakers. See https://landscapingwithcoloradonativeplants.wordpress.com/. There you can find the speakers’ handouts from conferences dating back to 2017.

            Fort Collins Nursery has its usual list of Saturday classes, now through early March: https://fortcollinsnursery.com.

Amaryllis flower at its peak. Photo by Barb Gorges.

February is the peak of my amaryllis collection flowering. I don’t put the plants through dormancy to try to get them to bloom at Christmas. Instead, I keep them watered and green year-round and they naturally bloom anytime between January and April.

I now have two Phalaenopsis orchids and their bloom schedule is similar. The new one started blooming shortly after it arrived by mail last April, and a couple flowers never dropped off. At the end of January, as I write this, they are still hanging on, surrounded by fresh blooms.

I might have hyacinth blooming by mid-month. In the fall I buried a pot of bulbs out in the vegetable garden. I marked the calendar for Feb. 2 to dig them up and bring them in.

The geraniums I brought in last fall are also blooming, so I don’t think Mark will be thinking I need more flowers for Valentine’s Day.

February isn’t too late to buy or order seeds. Last year, seed sellers ran short trying to keep up with demand—one garden news source says the pandemic encouraged 16 million people to garden for the first time last spring. Everyone should be better prepared this year.

Try regional online seed catalogs:

–High Desert Seed of Montrose, Colorado

–Wild Mountain Seeds of Carbondale, Colorado

–High Ground Gardens of Crestone, Colorado

–Snake River Seeds of Idaho

–Grand Prismatic Seed Company of Salt Lake City, Utah (also carries seeds for dye plants)

February is my last chance to get my winter sowing done. This is the technique well suited to cold-weather vegetables and perennial seeds, especially those that require cold treatment.

In a translucent milk jug that has been sliced horizontally just below the handle, I put wet potting soil about 3 inches deep. Seeds are planted at a depth of twice their width and then the top of the milk jug is forced into the bottom—they are flexible so it works. Leave the jugs on the north or east side of a wall so they don’t get too much sun.

Maybe move them into a sunnier location in late April, early May, when seedlings start popping up. No expensive lights or heat mats required. Just make sure the potting soil doesn’t dry out and that you slashed some slits in the bottoms of the jugs so that melting snow doesn’t cause all the contents to float.

Itching to spend time outside? Have any tree or shrub pruning to do?

With our lack of snow this winter, you have plenty of time to get out a measuring tape and measure your yard and plot its current accoutrements on paper. Make copies so you can sketch in different ideas for next season. I want to enlarge my front native/perennial/pollinator beds using the ergonomic shovel, HERShovel, Mark gave me for Christmas.

Finally, visit the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens conservatory. Walk through the tropical display on the first floor, following the arrows. The humidity will feel wonderful. Across the lobby in the Orangerie, continuing through March 13, is the Annual Glass Art Show, full of all the colors we crave in winter.  

Panayoti Kelaidis to inspire Wyoming gardeners to go native Feb. 29

“Going Native: International plant explorer Panayoti Kelaidis wants to inspire Wyoming gardeners”

Published Feb. 9, 2020, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/outdoors/international-plant-explorer-panayoti-kelaidis-wants-to-inspire-wyoming-gardeners/article_213c7e0a-9bc6-5de5-9130-d5521285bd47.html.

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6^th Annual Cheyenne Habitat Hero Workshop: “Rethinking Wyoming Landscaping – Native Plant Gardening 101”

Feb. 29, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Laramie County Community College

$25 fee includes lunch. Register by Feb. 27 at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4463444, where the complete schedule can be read.

Questions: Mark Gorges, 307-287-4953, mgorges@juno.com.

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By Barb Gorges, with Niki Kottmann

Panayoti Kelaidis stepped out to pour us a couple cups of Ceylonese tea. While I waited, I noticed his office at the Denver Botanic Gardens has floor-to-ceiling shelves full of plant books for parts of the world he’s travelled to.

Numerous plaques and certificates on one wall commemorate his contributions to horticulture over a lengthy career. His latest accolade is to being chosen as a judge at this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show.

The windowsill features a parade of small, unique succulents and cactuses, part of Kelaidis’s extensive personal plant collection at his Denver home. I toured the nearly half-acre garden on the Garden Bloggers Fling last summer.

Kelaidis, senior curator and director of outreach for the Denver Botanic Gardens, will be the keynote speaker at the sixth annual Cheyenne Habitat Hero workshop Feb. 29.

            As part of his job at the gardens, Kelaidis leads plant tours to foreign countries, most recently Tibet. A tour of the Sichuan, China, planned for June will depend on world health concerns. It’s helpful he reads Chinese, having once been a student of the language.

Kelaidis is also enthusiastic about Wyoming, where he visited two favorite aunts as a child. In the 1980s, he also travelled our state for his native seed business. He likes to take people on plant tours to the Cody area. As the president-elect of the North American Rock Garden Society, he’s considering a future convention in Cheyenne—we have natural rock gardens nearby to show off.

Kelaidis’s plant knowledge is extensive, especially grassland and alpine species. He co-authored the 2015 book “Steppes, The Plants and Ecology of the World’s Semi-arid Regions,” about the four major steppe regions in the world, including the Great Plains. He also writes a blog called Prairiebreak, http://prairiebreak.blogspot.com/, and he established the Rock Alpine Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

How does he describe himself? “Plant nerd” and a friend calls him a plant geek. I think he’s both. He’ll tell you he isn’t a garden designer, but I’d say he looks at an even bigger picture. And that is why he’s been invited to be the Habitat Hero workshop’s keynote speaker.

Kelaidis’s Feb. 29 talk, “Rethinking Wyoming Landscaping—Native Plant Gardening 101,” will echo Douglas Tallamy’s book “Bringing Nature Home.” Both it and Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring,” mark sea changes in our relationship to nature. Carson’s book, published in 1962, showed the devastation caused by indiscriminate use of pesticides, while Tallamy’s 2007 book showed us our conventional landscaping and gardening practices are detrimental to native insects, birds, other wildlife, and consequently, people. We need to plant native plants to support native insects, including native bees and butterflies. They are the foundation of the healthy ecosystems we enjoy and require.

At first, Kelaidis thought Tallamy was a little too radical, saying all ornamental plants from elsewhere needed to be replaced with natives. For many generations, the goal of landscaping and ornamental gardening has been beauty, Kelaidis said. But now he recognizes the other goal must be “ecological services.”

“We really need to figure out how to create a garden that is part of the natural system, not an obstacle,” said Kelaidis. Can that be beautiful? Can we shift the paradigm completely?

Can we make beautiful gardens with native plants? What we mean by “native” varies. For some American gardeners, it means the species originated on our continent, even if 3000 miles away. Or “native” for Cheyenne could mean any Great Plains species, or even just those from the prairie outside town.

Xeriscaping, gardening with less water, began about 45 years ago in the Denver area, Kelaidis said. With a growing population that could quickly run out of water, smart people realized changing from landscape plants popular in parts of the country with high rainfall to plants that need less water would help. The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities promotes this philosophy as well. Many of the more xeric plants are natives.

Kelaidis worked with the Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado State University to help form Plant Select, https://plantselect.org/. The brand develops plants native to our high plains and intermountain region for the nursery trade. It makes it easy for gardeners to grow beautiful plants by planting those that love to grow here—and use less water. Although, Kelaidis said, there’s still room to grow the occasional prized non-native, water-hungry ornamental.

The water-wise and pollinator-friendly movements were combined a few years ago by Audubon Rockies’ Habitat Hero program. The five previous workshops in Cheyenne have been well-received. I think it’s because people enjoy doing something positive like gardening to support our environment.

After Kelaidis’s keynote address, “Rethinking Wyoming Landscaping – Learning from the Natives,” the workshop’s other presenters will walk attendees through the steps to take to make a Habitat Hero garden.

Talks will include how to protect and maintain natural prairie if you have some already, deciding on a location for a garden, removing unwanted plants whether turf or weeds, choosing plants, proper planting techniques, maintaining plants and gardens, and how to apply to be a certified Habitat Hero. The two hands-on components will be about how to install drip irrigation and how to use the winter sowing technique to grow native plants from seed (seeds, soil and containers included).

Panayoti Kelaidis checks out plants at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area in northern Colorado.

 

Garden gift & New Year’s resolution ideas

Published Dec. 8, 2019, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, “Gift and New Year’s resolution ideas for Cheyenne gardeners.”

By Barb Gorges

Here at the end of the year you may be looking for gardening gift ideas for you or someone else. And are you preparing to make New Year’s resolutions to learn more about gardening? Here are some ideas.

Wardian case – type of terrarium (Wikipedia)

Gardener gifts

From Garden Design magazine:

How about terrariums? You can make them out of large glass jars or fill antique-looking leaded pane structures with small tropical houseplants. Read up on them at https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Terrarium.

Who knew Crocs come in many rubber-boot styles? But we shouldn’t be out digging in our gardens in the mud because it promotes soil compaction.

Wave Hill chairs, Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center

Plans for the famous Wave Hill garden chairs are available from http://www.danbenarcik.com/ for $25-$35. Even I could build one, just straight cuts and screws.

Bib-style garden aprons exist, made of canvas and with bigger pockets than kitchen aprons. Keep tools handy and shirt fronts clean!

Insect house, Gardener’s Supply

Insect house, beehive house, insect hotel, insect habitat—these are all names for assemblages of hollow sticks you can buy. Insects beneficial to your garden can hide their eggs in them.

Anything with flowers on it will probably appeal to the gardener on your gift list—especially a plant.

Shawnee Pottery teapot, circa 1940s, on Etsy.

Books

There is a cornucopia of beautiful garden books. If you buy a how-to book for you or someone here, just remember to ignore advice to add lime to soil since Cheyenne, unlike many parts of the country, already has alkaline soils. Check out the Timber Press imprint at https://www.workman.com/.

Nature into Art: The Gardens at Wave Hill by Thomas Christopher, Timber Press

Classes/talks/workshops

The 6^th annual Cheyenne Habitat Hero Workshop is all day Feb. 29 at Laramie County Community College. Denver Botanic Gardens’ international plant explorer Panayoti Kelaidis’s topic is “Rethinking Wyoming Landscaping: Learning from the Natives.” His talk is followed by “Native Plant Gardening 101” taught by the Cheyenne Habitat Hero Committee members. Registration is $25 (including lunch) at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/.

Panayoti Kelaidis, keynote speaker, Habitat Hero workshop, Feb. 29, 2020

Register for Master Gardener training taught by Laramie County Extension horticulturist Catherine Wissner. It begins Jan. 6 for 10 weeks, two evenings a week. See https://lccc.coursestorm.com/ (search “Master Gardener”). It’s held at Laramie County Community College. You’ll also find two one-session LCCC non-credit gardening classes taught by Catherine listed at that same website.

The Seed Library will have several events at Laramie County Library. Check details at https://lclsonline.org/events:

–Jan. 25, 2-3:30 p.m., “Pumpkin Growing 101” featuring Andy Corbin, Wyoming’s most recent giant pumpkin growing champ.

–Feb. 27, evening, “Winter Sowing Workshop” and “Give-Take Seed Swap.”

If you are a green industry professional, employed in landscaping, lawn or tree care, attend the free Cheyenne Green Industry Workshop Jan. 24. Register through the City of Cheyenne’s Urban Forestry Division: http://www.cheyennetrees.com/events.

Several organizations schedule lecture series or occasional talks in the spring. Check for updates:

—Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, https://www.botanic.org.

—Laramie County Master Gardeners, http://www.lcmg.org/.

—Laramie County Conservation District, https://www.lccdnet.org/.

—Prairie Garden Club, https://www.prairiegardenclub.com/.

Garden tours

Last year I went on Road Scholar’s “Victoria and Vancouver: Glorious West Coast Gardens” (#2679) tour (I’ll be giving a public talk about it at Laramie County Master Gardeners’ meeting Jan. 16, 409 Pathfinder Bldg., LCCC, 7 p.m.). It runs several times every summer.

Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, photo by Barb Gorges.

Another is “Topiaries, Pleasure Gardens and Botanical Gems in Philadelphia and Beyond” (#21967) which runs several times in spring and fall. You can look up the details at https://www.roadscholar.org/. Pop the course number in the search box.

You can also devise your own tour. Did you know that if you are a Cheyenne Botanic Gardens member, they have agreements with more than 300 U.S. gardens through the American Horticultural Society’s reciprocal admissions program, even though they don’t charge admission themselves?

Cheyenne Botanic Gardens conservatory and gardens dedication ceremony, September 2019. The CBG is located at 710 S. Lions Park Drive. Photo by Barb Gorges.

That means CBG members visit free instead of paying $11 at the Gardens on Spring Creek in Ft. Collins which has recently added five acres of new gardens and a butterfly pavilion, or $12.50 at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I spend my savings at the gift shops!

Master Gardener wish list

“What’s on your wish list?” I asked several Master Gardeners recently:

“Narrow spade,” said Kathryn Lex.  It would be handy for inserting new plants in her established garden. She can read up on spades at https://www.gardentoolcompany.com/pages/garden-spades-choosing-the-right-one.

“More seeds,” said Michelle Bohanan. She’s on the Seed Library committee.

“No frost after Mother’s Day,” said John Heller. I think he needs a greenhouse.

“Tomatoes ripe by July 4^th,” said Catherine Wissner. Wait, she has a high tunnel already. Maybe she wants a traditional glass greenhouse.

“No hail,” they all said. Make that a glass greenhouse with chicken wire over it for protection.

Hartley Botanic greenhouse.

Seed Library of Laramie County

Seed Library of Laramie County offers gardening classes

Published Mar. 24, 2019, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, “Sowing seeds of knowledge: Seed Library of Laramie County offers gardening classes.”

By Barb Gorges

            “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” Cicero

“Seed” + “Library”—one of the first times these words were put together in the modern era was in California in the early 2000s for the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (BASIL). It is a place where people can swap seeds, as has been done historically, before the Burpee age.

A seed is rather like a book. You open it by adding water, soil and sunshine and soon you have the whole story. But for most of us, the concept of the library is the public library and one is expected to return the book. How do you return a seed? Save the seeds from what you grew and return them, if possible, though seed libraries won’t fine you if you don’t.

There is an art to saving seed. You need to know when to harvest it, sometime after it has reached maturity and before the pod shatters and scatters it. You also must be careful that wind or bees haven’t cross-pollinated your seed, making a hybrid.

Saving adaptations

One of the original goals of setting up a seed library was to protect the genetics of seeds that are not from commercial sources. The seeds that are handed down from generation to generation in one place become more and more adapted to those local growing conditions. Some of those may start out as commercially purchased seeds and little by little, become adapted (note: this works best with open-pollinated varieties, not hybrids).

Seeds become culturally important heirlooms, like varieties of beans grown in the Southwest.

Public library connection

There are several hundred seed libraries (http://seedlibraries.weebly.com) across the U.S. and in other countries, mostly located within public libraries. Many libraries find it difficult to get seed returned. Because so many of us have depended on commercial agriculture rather than our own gardens for food, the libraries have found we first need to re-learn how to grow vegetables—and flowers. Flowers are important for attracting insects to pollinate the vegetables.

Public libraries are all about spreading knowledge and so seed libraries have an educational component, like the classes offered by the Seed Library of Laramie County this spring.

The Seed Library of Laramie County got its start at the Laramie County Library in 2017. Librarian Elizabeth Thorsen recruited the Laramie County Master Gardeners and they looked at seed library models like the one in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Richmond Grows in Richmond, Virginia.

The two local organizations have sponsored the cost, Master Gardeners’ part is from its annual plant sale. Costs include keeping up with the demand for seed, printing packets and educational materials, and purchasing what resembles a card catalog for organizing the seed packets. Donations of additional seeds and funds are appreciated.

Michelle Bohanan and Maggie McKenzie are two of the Master Gardeners working with library staff to put on this spring’s two free events:  Vegetable Gardens for Beginners Mar. 30 and the 2019 Seed Library Kickoff April 20.

Michelle, who has an extensive home seed library and takes part in the Seed Savers Exchange, https://www.seedsavers.org/, and other seed swaps, said one of the joys is watching children pick out their own seeds.

The seed library is located on the third floor and is open during library hours, Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; and Sunday 1 – 5 p.m.  Ask the librarian at the Ask Here desk for help.

Seed Library of Laramie County classes:

Vegetable Gardens for Beginners
Saturday, March 30, 3 – 4:30 p.m., Storytime Room, Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. Free. Adults and teens.

Which plants should be started indoors? How much space does a cucumber need? What should be added to the soil? Get answers to these and other questions about vegetable gardens from local gardening experts.

2019 Seed Library Kickoff

Saturday, April 20. Laramie County Library, time and room to be determined. All ages. Free. Contact Kellie, kjohnson@lclsonline.org.

Get seeds for your garden and tips for simple, affordable gardening! We’ve chosen a huge variety of flowers, herbs, and vegetables suitable for beginning gardeners in our climate. Seeds and advice are free; no library card needed. Each person is limited to 12 packets of seeds.

What I’ve learned as a Master Gardener

Outside Ft. Collins, Colorado, one woman, over 20 years, has created a garden refuge. Photo by Barb Gorges.

 

 

Published Aug. 12, 2018, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and at Wyoming Network News, https://www.wyomingnetworknews.com/garden-gossip-what-ive-learned-as-a-master-gardener.

By Barb Gorges

This is my seventh season as a Laramie County Master Gardener (and Wyoming Tribune Eagle garden columnist). I know more now than when I finished the training because there’s always someone to talk to who knows more than me about any aspect of gardening.

I’ve interviewed many people, including other Master Gardeners, for previous columns which are archived at https://cheyennegardengossip.wordpress.com/. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Always evaluate gardening information. Where does that gardener garden? Is it a garden with a similar climate or microclimate, soil and growing season to mine? Will the treatment harm my soil?

There’s a difference between sticking stuff in dirt and growing plants with more mindfulness—and record-keeping.

You can grow many things in Cheyenne, but not all things. Just keep experimenting with the short-season veggies and consider building a greenhouse or high tunnel.

Cheyenne’s blooming season is longer than you think. In my garden some spring bulbs bloom in March. Some years the frost doesn’t finish the asters until the end of October.

Garden beauty is subjective but good garden design is practical:  put short plants in the front of beds, veggies by the kitchen door and don’t plant trees under power lines.

Every growing season is different. Not every year has powdery mildew, black spot or blossom end rot.

Know when to give up. Or try the plant in a different location. Or try a different variety.

Gardeners are generous. They share plant thinnings and seeds because they can’t bear to compost them.

Propagation from root divisions, cuttings and seeds is rewarding, especially when you share.

Never add lime, an alkaline substance, to Cheyenne’s already alkaline soils.

Gardeners like a challenge, even as extreme as planting acid-loving blueberries in buckets full of specially mixed acidic soil.

Soil is every gardener’s most valuable asset. Preserve its structure and microbiome by tilling and hoeing as little as possible and let mulch keep the weeds down.

Composting your discarded plant material in your own bin or pile saves you money on fertilizer and the cost of having the sanitation department haul it away.

Getting watering and mulching right is more important to plants than fertilizer.

Good pruning benefits trees and shrubs by making them look good and grow better.

Right plant in the right place—not all trees are growing in the right place.

Hail is a fact of life here. Protect tomatoes with hardware cloth screen overhead and grow skinny-leaved and skinny-petalled flowers.

Replacing your lawn with gravel is not less work in the future. It gets weedy. And gravel doesn’t shade the ground, which makes your yard hotter. You are better off with a low-growing ground cover.

Chemical pesticides are rarely necessary in the residential garden. You can pick off pests and remove diseased plant parts by hand.

Stressed plants (too much or too little water, too much fertilizer, too much or too little sun) attract disease and pests.

The sooner you pull a weed or cut it off at ground level, the less work it is later.

Always take care of weeds before they set seed.

Tending a garden is stress-reducing. Many of the gardeners I’ve interviewed have high stress jobs: lawyer, judge, law enforcement, social worker, doctor.

Gardening is good exercise. Even if you aren’t vigorously digging a new bed, just walking around pulling the occasional weed and deadheading the roses is better for you than sitting.

Gardeners see more bees, butterflies and birds—just more of nature.

Visiting botanic gardens when you travel makes for beautiful memories.

Reading to prepare for and dreaming about next year’s garden will get you through a long winter.

Want to start gardening or garden more intentionally and with more knowledge? Become a Laramie County Master Gardener. It’s not too early to find out about the next class. Call Catherine Wissner, Laramie County Extension horticulturist, 307-633-4383.

Asters bloom and attract a bee in a natural rock garden July 18, 2018, in the Snowy Range in southeastern Wyoming at an elevation of 9,000 to 10,000 feet. Photo by Barb Gorges.

Apply to be a Habitat Hero

The Habitat Hero program recognizes people who have reduced the size of their water-loving lawns and planted native, water-smart plants that benefit birds, bees, butterflies (and bats) and other wildlife.

Audubon Rockies, the regional office of the National Audubon Society for Colorado and Wyoming, offers information about wildscaping and the application to become a Habitat Hero at   http://rockies.audubon.org/programs/habitat-hero-education.

The Cheyenne – High Plains Audubon Society and Laramie County Master Gardeners are already planning the 5th annual Cheyenne Habitat Hero workshop for spring 2019. To be notified about the details when they are available, sign up for the blog posts at https://cheyenneaudubon.wordpress.com/.

Gardening education opportunities

Several of the 100 participants in the 2015 Habitat Hero workshop fill out surveys while waiting for the next speaker to begin. Photo by Barb Gorges.

 

 

Also published at Wyoming Network News.

By Barb Gorges

Gardening classes, lectures and conferences are being offered in Cheyenne this winter and spring at Laramie County Community College, Laramie County Public Library and the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens.

LCCC Life Enrichment classes

Catherine Wissner, Laramie County Extension horticulturist, is offering four 2-hour classes on Saturdays, 10 a.m. – noon, $10 each. Sign up for one or more. To get details and register, call 307-778-1236 or go to the Life Enrichment website, lccc.wy.edu/workforce/LifeEnrichment.

Jan. 20 – Organic or All Natural: What Does that Mean? How growers become certified organic and how to be a more informed shopper.

Feb. 10 – Extending the Growing Season – Greenhouses, high tunnels and hoop houses and how to grow inside them.

Feb. 17 – Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and Birds – Design a garden that provides nectar and pollen, seasonal color and improves property value.

Feb. 24 – Garden Success in Laramie County – Learn how to grow vegetables, lawns and trees in our soils and growing conditions.

Laramie County Seed Library Winter Sowing – Jan. 20

Laramie County Library and the Laramie County Master Gardeners offer free seeds at the library for flowers and vegetables that grow well here, and free basic gardening classes.

Jan. 20 – Winter Sowing, 2-4 p.m., Storytime Room (2^nd floor), Laramie County Library.

Some plants need cold temperatures, moisture, and natural sunlight cycles to germinate. Laramie County Master Gardener Michelle Bohanan demonstrates starting plants outside, but protected from weather and hungry birds. This method is especially useful for native perennials such as coreopsis, gaillardia, milkweed, and penstemon planted to attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Contact: Maggie McKenzie, 307-632-8410.

High Plains Gardening Lecture Series

The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and the Laramie County Master Gardeners present this lecture series again, but in a new location, the CBGs’ Grand Conservatory, 710 S. Lions Park Dr.

Lectures are at 1 p.m. and are $15 each or $40 for all three. Purchase tickets at the Tilted Tulip, CBG’s new gift shop, Wed.-Sun., 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., or call 307-637-6458.

Jan. 20 – Hummingbird Gardening from Agastache to Zauchneria, Shawn Huddleston.

Feb. 24 – Ruthless Gardening: Tough Love for Better Gardens, Shane Smith, CBG director.

March 24 – Crevice Gardens, Kenton Seth.

High Plains Organic Farming Conference – Feb. 27-28

The 5^th annual conference will be held at Laramie County Community College. Registration is $50 and includes lunches. You can register for just one day. See www.highplainsorganic.org for a complete description. Contact Jay Norton jnorton4@uwyo.edu.

Habitat Hero – Bee Bird Friendly – Mar. 17

For the fourth year of Habitat Hero, the Cheyenne – High Plains Audubon Society is teaming with the Wyoming Bee College conference (See https://2018wybeeuniversitybeecollege.eventbrite.com or contact Catherine Wissner, cwissner@uwyo.edu) at Laramie County Community College.

Separate registration for the Mar. 17 Habitat Hero track includes the Wyoming Bee College keynote speaker at 8 a.m., Sarah Red-Laird, Bee Girl organization, and 6:45 p.m. speaker Dr. Raymond Cloyd, “Hollywood and Entomology: History of the 1950s Big Bug Science Fiction Movies.” The full day of Habitat Hero speakers include:

–Jane Dorn, growing native perennials for native bees,

–Barb Gorges, what birds need in your backyard and how to apply to be a Habitat Hero,

–Dena Egenhoff, the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities’ Habitat Hero garden,

–Jessica Goldstrohm of The Bees Waggle, native bees,

–Wanda Manley, how to manage your piece of prairie.

Registration is $20 and includes snacks and lunch but not dinner. Register at https://www.brownpapertickets.com. Contact Mark Gorges, 307-287-4953, mgorges@juno.com, for more information.

Gardening for Success Conference 2018 – April 14-15

There will be 30 classes to pick from for gardeners of all levels of experience. The conference is put on by Laramie County Master Gardeners, University of Wyoming Extension’s Laramie County office and Laramie County Community College, where the conference will be held.

The $125 registration fee includes meals. See https://gardeningforsuccess2018.eventbrite.com for details and registration or contact Catherine Wissner cwissner@uwyo.edu.

Laramie County Master Gardeners Plant Sale – May 12

Now that the annual plant sale is indoors at the Laramie County Archer Complex, Archer Parkway east of Cheyenne, the plant sale has expanded to include a free series of short gardening lectures.

Garden gifts: books, magazines, classes

Published Dec. 4, 2016, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, “Holiday gifts for the gardener on your list.”

By Barb Gorges

I asked members of the Laramie County Master Gardeners for their top picks for gardening magazines and books to give you ideas for gifts for the gardeners you know.

Gardening conditions in Cheyenne are somewhat unique so advice from these publications must be taken with a bit of local knowledge:

1) We have alkaline soils so ignore advice to add lime and wood ash;

2) We are officially in USDA plant hardiness zone 5 but microclimates can be harsher or milder;

3) Our average annual precipitation is 15 inches. Even if you run your well dry, you can’t reproduce a wetter, more humid location, which some plants require, like somewhere else in Zone 5—say southern Iowa.

MAGAZINES

Most of the magazines recommended are available at local bookstores. Discounted multi-year subscriptions and back issues are available online.

We are lucky that Colorado’s gardening climate is close to Cheyenne’s, making our local choice The Colorado Gardener (www.ColoradoGardener.com, free at outlets, including the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, and online, or $18/5 issues/year delivered). It is a full-color, tabloid-style, 16-page newsmagazine. In addition to articles and a calendar of Front Range garden-related events, even the advertising is informative.

Another option is Rocky Mountain Gardening (www.RockyMountainGardening.com, $24/4 issues/year). Previously known as “Zone 4,” it covers Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. It was recommended by Catherine Wissner, horticulturist at the Laramie County Cooperative Extension office, and several other respondents. Topics in a recent issue included hellstrip gardening (the hot, dry strip along the curb) and frost blankets (written by a Smoot, Wyoming, gardener). Wyoming is well-represented in the news section.

Judy Kowrach was one of two people who endorsed Garden Gate (www.GardenGateMagazine.com, $20/6 issues/year). With no ads, it is full of tips, plant profiles and design ideas. Despite its Iowa origins, much of the information is applicable to Cheyenne. Even without a subscription, you can sign up online for its free eNotes.

Kim Parker and several others listed Fine Gardening (www.FineGardening.com, $29.95/6 issues/year). It does a splendid job of inciting people to commit acts of gardening. I like their warnings on which featured plants are officially classified as invasive in which state and their scientific plant name pronunciation guide. And their deep website full of free garden and plant information.

            I couldn’t come up with an issue of Garden Design (www.GardenDesign.com, $45/4 issues/year), but looking at a preview copy online, it also is sumptuously photographed. Its price reflects the 148 ad-free pages per issue. And its website is also full of free information, even for non-subscribers.

Finally, Rodale’s Organic Life (www.RodalesOrganicLife.com, $15/6 issues/year) is the latest incarnation of Rodale’s Organic Gardening and Farming. In 1978, that publication printed my interview of a man who built a better bluebird house. These days, think of it as the organic version of Better Homes and Gardens—mostly lifestyle, little gardening.

BOOKS

            My primary garden book, recommended to me several years ago by Shane Smith, director of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, is The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch (2008, Workman Publishing, 820 pages). Written by a gardener from the cold climate of Maine, it covers every aspect of organic home gardening in well-organized chapters, but with an index for quick consultation.

Another option is Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (2009, www.rodaleinc.com, 720 pages). Earlier editions have been on my shelf for years. It’s a tad more technical, but both this and The Garden Primer are good how-to guides and problem solvers.

            Tava Collins recommended National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders (1980, Alfred A. Knopf, $20) for help identifying garden friends and foes. Similar guides are available in the Kaufman and Peterson field guide series.

Collins also recommended three books written by Colorado gardeners: Rocky Mountain Gardener’s Handbook, John Cretti (2012, Cool Springs Press); Rocky Mountain Getting Started Garden Guide, John Cretti (2015, Cool Springs Press); and Cutting Edge Gardening in the Intermountain West, Marcia Tatroe (2007, Big Earth Publishing).

For special gardening techniques that will work in our area, these next two were recommended.

Marie Madison cited The Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits and Edible Flowers by Maggie Stuckey and Rose Marie Nicholas McGee (2002, Workman Publishing).

Susan Carlson, who I interviewed a few months ago about straw bale gardening, apprised me of a new edition of her favorite book: Straw Bale Gardens Complete: All-New Information on Urban & Small Spaces, Organics, Saving Water – Make Your Own Bales With or Without Straw by Joel Karsten (2015, Cool Springs Press, $24.99).

If your giftee’s interest is in growing native plants that attract pollinators or in identifying plants on the prairie, try these. Keep in mind the definition of “weeds” depends on the situation.

            Carlson listed Rangeland Plants: Wyoming Tough by Smith et. al. (2015, publication B-1265) It is a free download at www.wyoextension.org/publications or $8 at the Laramie County Extension office, 307-633-4383.

Richard Steele found Weeds of the West (Western Society of Weed Science, 2012, $34 at www.wsweedscience.org) to be particularly useful while manning the “Ask a Master Gardener” table at the farmers market this fall.

Collins mentioned the classic Meet the Natives: A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers, Trees and Shrubs: Bridging the Gap between Trail and Garden by M. Walter Pesman. It was revised by Denver Botanic Gardens staff in 2012 and republished by Big Earth Publishing.

            The author of one of my favorites, The Undaunted Garden: Planting for Weather-Resilient Beauty (2010, Fulcrum Publishing), Lauren Springer Ogden, is a firm believer in “the right plant in the right place” and is the originator of “hellstrip” gardening. Her photography is inspiring. She speaks often at garden events on the Front Range.

Her book would be a good accompaniment to the next two books, helping you to pick appropriate local plants to interpret their lessons. These books are about planet-friendly landscape gardening.

Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West (2015, Timber Press). This may be intended to introduce landscape designers to more natural, sustainable plantings. But you can apply the advice to your own yard, such as using groundcover plants instead of shredded bark mulch everywhere.

            The other is Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change by Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher (2016, Timber Press). Proponents of the “right plant in the right place” too, the authors have designed this book to help you understand their premise: that with knowledge of your eco region and local habitat, you can plant a garden that will evolve over time with a minimal amount of assistance, i.e. chemicals and labor.

LECTURES AND CLASSES

One option: Give your favorite gardener tuition for the 10-week Master Gardener class beginning in January. For more information, call 307-633-4383.

Or give them tickets to the spring gardening lecture series Laramie County Master Gardeners is offering in conjunction with the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. Call 307-637-6458.

Garden Class Roundup

Laramie County Master Gardeners and the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens put on the “Gardening with Altitude” lecture series.

Published Jan. 5, 2014, in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, “Grow your gardening skills this winter. There are many classes in the region to get you ready for the growing season ahead.”

By Barb Gorges

Gardeners are crazy for information and inspiration. Summer may be the time for garden tours, but winter is the time for garden lectures and classes.

Laramie County Master Gardeners and the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens are bringing back their popular series of acclaimed garden speakers—and you would be wise not to wait to buy tickets.

On the other hand, you can sign up for the Master Gardeners training program right up until the first day of class, which is Jan. 13.

Laramie County Community College has been offering a wealth of gardening classes the last three years, but they are hidden in the non-credit “Outreach and Workforce Development” schedules mailed to all addresses in Laramie County.

If you want to head south for a little winter break, check out classes at Fort Collins Nursery in Colorado.

In any case, well before it’s time to start digging in the dirt, you can fortify your mind with new garden ideas and strategies.

Gardening with Altitude 2014

Sponsored by Laramie County Master Gardeners and the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, tickets are $15 each or $50 for all four dates. They may be purchased (cash or check) at the Gardens’ greenhouse in Lions Park.

Call Darcee Snider at 637-6458 or visit www.BrownPaperTickets.com (keyword: “Gardening with Altitude”).

The lectures are held Saturdays, 1- 2:30 p.m., in the Cottonwood Room of the Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave. Tickets may be available at the door.

— “Edible Gardening in Tough Climates: Using Season Extension Tools, Microclimates and Strategic Variety Choices,” Willi Galloway, Jan. 25. Galloway, an award-winning radio commentator and writer, and native of Wyoming, is the author of “Grow, Cook, Eat.” She currently gardens in Portland, Ore. She’ll explain how to warm up the soil earlier in spring, how to extend the harvest season in fall and what are the best tasting and most productive vegetable varieties for the Cheyenne region.

— “Unique and Functional Landscapes: Creating and Maintaining a Flourishing Outdoor Space,” with Loretta Mannix, Feb. 15. Mannix, of Loveland, Colo., with degrees in fine art and landscape horticulture, and years of experience in many areas of horticulture and landscape design, will show new ways of making your landscape unique, including plants that are underused but can be successful here.

— “Tuning Up the Wyoming Garden: What’s New in Plants and Growing Techniques,” Tom Heald, Mar. 15. Heald and his wife own the Wyoming Plant Company in Casper, with the goal of providing the kinds of plants he found Wyoming gardeners needed when he was a university extension agent. He will talk about how to reflect the high elevation prairie and sagebrush steppe and their extraordinary color and durability, and will also present new ideas in growing plants horizontally and vertically in our challenging climate.

— “Seed, Soil, Sun, Water: All You Need to Grow Food in the West,” with Penn and Cord Parmenter, Apr. 26. The Parmenters have been gardening above 8,000 feet in south-central Colorado since 1992 using sustainable, bio-intensive methods that “rock out food 365 days a year.” Learn to garden like our grandparents, focusing on what already works, how to work with what you have, and be inspired by nature’s ability to feed us.

Laramie County Master Gardener Training

Anyone can become a Master Gardener—no prior experience required. Sign up for the 10-week course that begins Jan. 13. Classes are Monday and Wednesday evenings, 6-9 p.m. Completion of the course and 40 hours of volunteer internship by next fall is required for Master Gardener certification.

The course, held in Cheyenne, is taught by Catherine Wissner, University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service horticulturist, along with other local experts.

The $100 fee includes the 500-page manual, “Sustainable Horticulture for Wyoming.” Sign up at the extension office in the old Laramie County Courthouse, 310 W. 19^th St., Suite 100. For more information call 633-4383 or visit www.lcmg.org.

LCCC Gardening Classes

Instructor Jeff Dyer said, “You can garden here despite the challenging environment.”

Laramie County Community College’s Life Enrichment classes in gardening are held on campus. Almost all classes are one session and most are offered twice.

For complete class descriptions, visit http://lccc.wy.edu/workforce/lifeEnrichment. For specifics, call Dyer at 421-1176 or email him at greenspeak@ymail.com.

To register, call 778-1236 or 778-1134. Register no later than two days before the class is scheduled, and four days before the Botanical Arrangement class.

Fort Collins Nursery Classes, Ft. Collins, Colo.

This garden center, at 2121 E. Mulberry St., brings in a variety of well-known Front Range gardeners. And for the most part, what they teach is applicable to Cheyenne’s environment.

All classes are held on Saturdays. See complete class descriptions, and more classes, at www.fortcollinsnursery.com. Register online or call 970-482-1984 or 866-384-7516.

–“50 Shades of Green: Gardening for Sensuality” with Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden. Jan. 18, 10 a.m.-noon or 1-3 p.m., $22. What makes a garden sensual? Play of light and darkness, sound, motion, serenity, fragrance, creation of mystery. The Colorado couple are authors of several garden books.

–“My Favorite Pollinators and How to Attract Them,” with Beth Conrey. Jan. 25, 10 a.m.-noon, $18. Without pollinating insects, most plants won’t produce fruit and seeds. Discover the full spectrum of pollinators. Conrey is president of the Colorado State Beekeepers Association.

–“Even More Secrets from My Grandmother’s Garden,” with Don Eversoll. Jan. 25, 1-3 p.m., $18. How to make super soil, new tricks for growing “killer” tomatoes with heirlooms and other secrets from Coloradoan Eversoll’s new book, “Secrets from My Grandma’s Garden.”

–“Organic Gardener’s Companion: Cool & Warm Season Vegetables,” with Jane Shellenberger. Feb. 1,10 a.m.

-noon, $18. Shellenberger is publisher and editor of the Colorado Gardener seasonal newspaper and author of “Organic Gardener’s Companion: Growing Vegetables in the West.”

— “Raised Bed Gardening 101,” with Bryant Mason. Feb. 1, 1-3 p.m., $18.  The founder of The Urban Farm Company of Colorado covers the basics. “Raised Bed 201” will be held Feb. 15 at 10 a.m.

–“Design Tips for Western-inspired Gardens with Plant Select®,” with Pat Hayward. Feb. 8, 10 a.m.-noon, $18. Plant Select® is a plant introduction program from Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado State University focusing on unique, adaptable and resilient plants for western gardens.

— “Incorporating Native Plants into Your Landscape,” with Joanie Schneider. Feb. 15, 1-3 p.m., $18. Contrary to their reputation as dusty prickly plants, the native flora around the Rocky Mountain Front Range is truly exquisite, with a great diversity of colors and textures.