Vegetables - What to plant when... (Colorado Springs, Evergreen: house, landscaping, university)

[beezle1]

I thought I would start a thread where we can post what vegetables we plant when we plant them, for those newcomers that ask about vegetable gardening.

I just put out some white onion sets (for green onions). This is probably the earliest I have put anything out in the garden, but it feels so much like spring and the stores just got them in so I though I would give it a try. Its going to be a few months though before anything else goes out there though. (Up on the Palmer Divide doesnt get warm enough for much else until later on).

[otterprods]

No vegetables yet. Tulips usually come up first. Replacement peach tree will go in next month. After that I will build some stone walls for a big vegetable planter this year. Previously, as far as edibles, we've just done peach, apple, cherry and pinyon pine trees, with varying results, a fruitless almond tree and more rosemary and sage than we could consume or give away in 100 years. We also keep bees, but thats a separate subject.

[otowi]

Read the seed labels - there are a few cold season crops that you can start planting in late March early April like some varieties of beets, radishes, etc., and then cross your fingers, but most crops need to wait until May. I know a lot of local gardeners who live by the adage 'nothing in the ground before Mother's Day'.

[allprolab]

Good topic. Wifey has some seeds sprouting now and we're not exactly sure when we should be moving them outside.

We're also wondering the best time to throw down some grass seed. We've only been here a year and are not use to the weather patterns.

[dr.frog]

Last year there was a hard freeze and snow in the first week of May. When I was at Home Depot some weeks later, one of the garden center employees mentioned that they lost something like $300,000 worth of plants at that one store alone. So, yeah, be cautious about planting before mid-May, unless you don't mind replacing things if there's a late freeze. Even supposedly hardy shrubs and trees may not survive if you put them out too early, because a lot of the garden centers get their early-season stock from nurseries in milder climates.

Personally, I'm going to spend the next few weeks on tidying up in the garden and cleaning out an area of landscaping rock that's gotten full of dirt and weeds over the years, rather than on planting.

[gn3]

Things like peas and spinach that are very cold tolerant can go in the ground in the next week or two. We have spinach that we overwintered that is starting to perk up and grow. Moderately tolerant things like chard and cruciferous vegetables can be planted in April. Tomatoes, corn, peppers, other warm weather crops don't go out until mid-May.

[hollyt00]

Colorado Springs Utilities is doing a free tree giveaway. I was able to reserve a tree. It was odd and cool at the same time; when you put in your address, it popped up a google maps image of your house and then you had to pick a spot that was acceptable. Unfortunately the google maps image didn't show the trees we had to cut down since the pic was taken so I had to pick a spot in our alleyway :P

And some of the trees seemed oddly picked for people to plant out here in CO. The Kentucky Coffeetree? Interesting.

[dr.frog]

Hmmm, the trees they are giving away all grow too big for my small yard! The only way I could fit an oak here is if I could plant it in the middle of the street. :-D

Colorado State University has a lot of information about suitable plants (including trees) for this climate. Here are some links:

Xeriscaping: Trees and Shrubs
Xeric Evergreen Trees and Shrubs
Xeric Deciduous Trees

Unfortunately, a lot of the recommended trees are hard to find at the local "big box" garden centers....

[Mike from back east]

Gardeners are anxious to get to planting now that Spring is here....

[Dagumol]

Do peppers grow well up there? I like to grow jalapenos, habaneros, Thai and ghost. What about watermelons?