Many of our Wyoming native plants require cold stratification for germination of seed. “Cold stratificaton” is a fancy term for “needs some time spent in cold dirt.” It’s easy to understand. If a northern plant naturally distributes its seeds in the autumn, those seeds will spend the winter being subjected to cold and rain and…
Tag: landscaping
Watering the Landscape in Winter
It’s been getting up into the low 50’s around Casper for the last three days. I drug the hoses out and watered my flowerbeds, paying special attention to soaking the ground around the shrubs I planted last fall. It may seem strange to be watering this time of year in the northern parts of the…
Look to Nature for Natives
Landscaping with native plants lends itself to a looser form of planning. Although some native species are suited to the formal garden, I prefer to place native plants in a garden setting which reflects the essence and uniqueness of the surrounding native landscape. Native plant gardens don’t have to look “wild” in the sense that…
Ground Cover Antennaria Has Low Water Requirement
It’s hard to beat Antennaria for a ground cover in dry areas. Antennaria, also known as Pussy Toes, has flowers which resemble cats’ paws. This native plant is very drought tolerant and makes a beautiful ground cover around pavers and rocks. The species shown is Antennaria microphylla with its wonderfully silvery grey mat forming leaves….
Landscape Planning in the Long Winter Evenings
We are having a wonderful, warm, windless autumn here in central Wyoming, but the days are getting noticeably shorter and winter isn’t far away. My mind is already turning to plans for next spring’s landscaping efforts. My planning always includes looking for resources of native plants, drought tolerant plants and ground covers suitable for my…
Wyoming’s Native Crataegus Tree
Cratageus is a very adaptable Wyoming native tree suitable for a variety of uses. It can be pruned into a hedge, left to grow into a multi-stemmed clump 15 – 25 feet tall, and I wonder if it couldn’t be groomed into a single stemmed ornamental tree. The University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension named Cratageus…
Eriogonum umbellatum: An amazing native ground cover
Also known as Sulfur flower and Buckwheat, Eriogonum umbellatum is one of my favorite native plants of Wyoming. It consists of a ground cover of small ovate leaves 4 inches high and topped with flower stems 8-10 inches tall. In my gardens it has grown to cover a 24 inch circular patch. In Wyoming we…
Oh Yeah, I Forgot About That Plant
Up until last summer I spent a lot of the spring, summer, and fall hiking, driving and photographing native plants in my area. In the fall I went back to places I marked on my maps and collected seed for propagating promising natives for my own use. But the last two years I have been…
Drought Tolerant Plants, Wyoming Style
You can’t have lived in Wyoming for very long without hearing about “drought tolerant” plants. There’s a good reason for that. In central Wyoming, our annual precipitation hovers somewhere around 12-15 inches per year. Even in the “wetter” parts of Wyoming, such as the mountain foothils the annual precip is somewhere around 20 inches. The…
Struggling Plants
The sedums are doing great. Some are even in partial shade and they seem to be thriving. But some of my plants seem awful small for July,and I notice some insect damage I suspected a night time feeder. A quick trip with my flashlight tonight confirmed it. Earwigs and sowbugs. Oh the joy.
Trying Out Shrubs
My plan is to concentrate on getting some flower beds in this year, along with some foundational plants. As I mentioned, we have plenty of trees, but I thought some shrubs would be a good place to start for this first year. I stumbled upon some good choices at the local Menards. I felt like…
My Latest Landscaping Challenge
I’ve never had to deal with shade before. Up until now, my biggest landscaping challenge has been the relentless sun of the Wyoming range. We moved to town last year, and that has all changed. There are large, towering elm trees which shade most of my yard. I didn’t even know where to start when…
Wyoming Life 