Pretty Summer Whites

Sidalcea candida (White Checkerbloom)

I saw this beauty just off the hiking trail above my house not far from Hunter's Knob. I want to grow it!

Daisies!

Erigeron eliator in the light shade of the aspen grove

Heliomeris multiflora out in the open sun

Plants are finally filling into places where there were once weeds and thinly growing grass. It's been exceptionally wet this year so far. So these areas are growing on rainwater only.

The Hillsides Around Silverthorne

Balsamorhiza sagittata (Arrowleaf Balsamroot)

The hillsides are golden! I just had to turn off the road and delay my errands to get a picture. Wouldn't you?

Spring Again in the High Country

Mahonia repens (Mountain Holly) 

Arnica cordifolia (Heartleaf Arnica)

Still Under Snow

The garden is out there sleeping.

We have 50 degree temperatures some days, and then it snows the next. Typical spring. There will certainly be enough moisture in the wet parts of the meadow this summer. The trees that have survived the Mountain Pine Beetle should benefit from the snow and new saplings will take off. This much snow also helps the perennials overwinter. It should be another wild flower year. I've put out Oenothera caespitosa and Helianthella quinquenervis in flats to cold stratify, but I put them close to the house so they won't disappear under drifts of snow that is yet to come. It seems like spring will never be here, never summer or endless winter, we'll see. I think I'll start the Helenium autumnale indoors.

Getting Ready for More Plants

All of the plastic pots were washed today. It is quite a chore. There is not much else to do besides spring skiing when there is still 3 to 4 feet of snow on the ground.

Scrub your old pots in soapy water, then do a "dip" in a 10% bleach and water solution. Let them air dry and it will keep seedlings from damping off.