After last week's bomb-cyclone-blizzard, we've had beautiful spring weather this week! Don't be fooled though,there's always a good chance for a heavy spring snow in northern Colorado. While it's too early to set out plants, it's the perfect time to make a plan!

• Are you considering rearranging or adding to your container gardens? I have a small inventory of ceramic pottery and l frequent the nurseries in the area. Also, if your drip irrigation system needs to be amended, we can get that done before the plants arrive.
• Would you like to tackle a larger landscaping project? I offer landscape design services for the do-it-yourself homeowner. If you don't want to do the work yourself (or are not able to), you can contract out the installation using my design. I have several contacts who are capable installers.
• Can't wait until May? I can fill a pot or two with pansies and other cold-tolerant flowers for you.
• I have a couple of openings in my schedule this summer for fine garden maintenance contracts. By fine garden maintenance, I mean caring for a perennial or annual flower bed with some shrubs or ornamental grasses. I do not offer lawn mowing services or tree trimming. Let me know if you're interested; most contracts provide bi-weekly garden visits.

Call or text me at (970) 988-3808, email me or reply to this email to start planning for the summer. Don't forget, refer a friend to Sundrops & Starflowers and receive a $25 discount or nursery gift card.

March is a great time to prune. The plants are starting to bud but haven’t really popped out yet. The timing here is helpful because we can see what’s dead or dying since it will have no buds and be brittle. We can also see what’s rubbing or overgrown, and where to make the best cut since the leaves haven’t opened yet. Before you grab your loppers and head out to the yard, here are a few pointers.

1. Most shrubs and trees need to be pruned only once per year – or less. I have lots of shrubs so I honestly only manage to prune about 1/3 of them each year. This is fine, as long as they have enough space to grow, shrubs and trees can manage themselves. Continuously shearing shrubs into tidy mounds stresses the plants and results in lots of little surface branches and reduced flowering. Exception: trees require pruning each spring for the first 3 or 4 years to ensure a good shape for the rest of their lives.
2. Prune early spring flowering shrubs later, and later blooming shrubs early. For example, Forsythia blooms early in the spring, so it should be pruned later in the summer. Spirea, on the other hand, bloom later in the season and so they should be pruned early in the spring. If you mess up and prune at the wrong time of year, you’ll have few or no flowers for the current year, but the plant will recover. Exception: Hydrangeas are split in that some are early and some are late, be sure you know what variety of Hydrangea you have and look up when to prune it.
3. Rejuvenation pruning (which really means cutting the plant down to its base) should be done in early spring and should not be done every year. Not all plants appreciate rejuvenation pruning, but some that respond well are Butterfly Bush, Blue Mist Spirea, Dogwood, Spirea, Forsythia, and Rose of Sharon. Exception: Russian Sage should be cut back to the ground every year.
4. Although I can’t recommend doing heavy pruning in June, if something needs to be trimmed later in the summer, go ahead and cut it. Exception: If the tree or shrub looks diseased, call an arborist before you begin to trim it – you could spread a disease and make it worse.

For more specific information, here are some of my blog posts: Pruning Shrub Roses; Rejuvenating a Butterfly Bush; Cutting Back Ornamental Grasses. If you have questions or need help accomplishing this task, contact me or give me a call at 970-988-3808. Happy Gardening!

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Stephanie's Favorite Flower:

Netted Iris/Iris Reticulata
I get ridiculously excited each year when these little baby Iris pop-up. They look just like Tall Bearded Iris, but in miniature: they’re only about 4” tall. This species of Iris is always a shade of purple, frequently with yellow throats or splotches or areas of white. All types of Iris grow from rhizomes. Botanically speaking, rhizomes are actually a modified stem structure. Most people, however, simply say they grow from bulbs. These little beauties are tough – they don’t mind snow and cold even while they’re blooming and, because they are dormant in summer, they tolerate dry soil in the summer time. Along with Chesney’s favorite at the time of year, Netted Iris and Crocus are some of the first flowers of spring and are important food sources for bees.

Chesney's Favorite Flower:

Crocus/ Crocus
One of the first flowers to pop up and say hello in the early spring is a Crocus.  These cute little flowers are planted as a bulb the fall before and kept warm under the soil all winter.  They spread really well and come in a variety of colors to help bring some color to your yard at the first signs of spring. These little flowers attract bees since they are some of the first flowers, and in turn source of food, that bloom each year. After the flowers are done blooming, don’t cut them back right away! While the foliage is still nice and green it will gather sunlight and nutrients to prepare for the next spring when the Crocus flowers will pop out again. A little water during this time won’t hurt either. During the summer the leaves will turn yellow and brown and then you are good to clean those up.

Stephanie's Favorite Pruners:

Although I’ve written that March is a great month for pruning, I use my pruners all year long. I don’t really have a strong brand loyalty for pruners; my favorite type is a pair that is SHARP. Each winter I take some time to clean my tools really well and either sharpen them myself or have them professionally sharpened. I prefer bypass pruners rather than the anvil type because they create cleaner cuts –anvil type crush green stems rather than cutting straight. I have a pair of long handled bypass pruners which are really useful both for larger branches and for reaching into the center of a tree or shrub. When I'm cutting back or dead-heading perennials, I just use a good pair of office scissors. A good pair of pruners will run at least $50 which makes it painful when they are misplaced in the yard. I’ve seriously considered attaching a ‘Tile’ GPS tracker to my pruners!

We love to talk about plants and landscaping! Send an email, call or text Stephanie at (970)988-3808 to chat about your plants.