We’ll Make You See Red To add red to your yard and liven up the autumn yellows and golds of our native Colorado landscape, try one of the following shrubs or vines:

Amur Maple Black Chokecherry Burning Bush Cotoneaster Currant Gamble Oak Ninebark Redtwig Dogwood

Serviceberry Snowball Bush Spireas: False Leaf Spireas: Goldflame Spireas: Van Houtte Sumac Western Sandcherry

Winter Textures

Your garden can be beautiful in the winter too! Create a lovely landscape for winter by leaving on seedheads or by not pruning dried growth until spring. Here are a few plants that star in the winter garden:

Apache Plume Autumn Joy Sedum Boston Ivy Blue Mist Spirea Coneflower Cotoneaster Curled Leaf Mahogany Engleman Ivy

Garlic Chives Ornamental Grasses Pyracantha Saltbrush Yucca

Moving Daze

Resist the temptation to move perennials, shrubs and trees until our temperatures in Colorado maintain on the cooler side. When a plant is uprooted, there’s a good chance the root system will go into shock. With high temperatures, evaporation continues, but there will be minimal water uptake from the roots, no matter how much we water! If temperatures are cooler, both day and night, there will be less stress on the roots and less evaporation. Ideal conditions are during cool, rainy spells or when the plants are near or in dormancy, i.e. April/May or September/October.

Now is the Time for Planting

Fall is the perfect time for planting! Although plants ultimately go dormant in October (or November), there will be vigorous root development prior to that. Consider improving your landscape with trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs at this time.

The How-To’s of Mulching

Mulch, correctly applied at the appropriate time can prevent unnecessary plant death during the unpredictable Colorado winters. Follow these steps when applying mulch to your garden:

1. Deep water before application
2. Spread after a hard freeze or during growing season
3. Spread to a minimum depth of 2"—deeper is better
4. A wide-range of mulch materials are available—organic materials are the most beneficial

For any questions you have on this article, or any topic of concern, email us—or better yet, come by and talk to one of our professional staff members. Remember, Phelan Gardens is open year-round!

For additional information, check the following links:

• Ornamental Grasses
• Healthy Roots and Healthy Trees
• Fall and Winter Watering
• Mulches for Home Grounds