Hello everyone, it seems like I am having a large infestation of tiny little flying bugs in my yard. They are all over my windows and I'm wondering if I should be worried or if this is just a vigorous year for bugs.

They look like little tiny flies? Potential midges maybe? Unsure.

Thanks for helping me out.

Hi! I know there are already a few posts about tonight’s potential frost but they seemed more vegetable and tree related, so hopefully this is okay!

I planted the Pollinator Peak Garden in a Box a couple months ago (late August). Other than one bee balm, they all seem to be thriving (or at least surviving). This is my first attempt at gardening ever in my life so I want to make sure I’m doing things as correctly as possible.

I asked my mom (major green thumb but in the Midwest) and my good friend (also green thumb in the Midwest but with experience gardening here) and they gave me mixed advice. So I’m looking for more opinions 😬

Do I cover the plants tonight? With what? Bags or a sheet? The packet that came with the plants says to trim the bee balm to 6” in the late fall. Should I do that before tonight or will it mess something up trimming so close to a frost?

Thanks for any advice 💚

Sup Denver gardener fam! Hope you’ll accept a green mountain/ golden submission. Planted 90% of this garden as summer was winding down this year. It’s been such a fun journey looking at other posts here and finding things that would work well in the garden.

When my wife and I bought this house a few years ago the front yard had like three ornamental grasses planted that were all dead, it was atrocious. Since then I’ve done trial and error, so many fallen soldiers due to bunnies in my neighborhood. Did all this myself from research to planting and it’s been a joy of a project particularly this summer. Tried to source mostly through plant select but there are definitely some non natives and red headed step children I planted before learning more. Anyways, full list is below. I’d love feedback but if you’re mean to me I’ll rip all this up and throw it away so pls be sweet.

We’ve had hummingbirds in my front yard the past few years and that’s what inspired all this. This past summer we had a pair in the front yard and backyard, they loved the salvia along other things. Monarchs are showing up too, I got my monarch watch sign on proud display! Anyways, here’s the garden:

Blanket flower- Arizona red shades (3)
Little Trudy catmint (1)
Montbretia ‘Lucifer’ (1)
Delphinium (1)
Sunset foxglove (2)
Amethyst falls American wisteria (1)
Dalmatian purple foxglove (2)
Silvery lupine (2)
Goldenrod ‘little miss sunshine’ (2)
Goldenrod ‘little lemon’ (4)
Fireworks Goldenrod (1)
Denver gold Columbine (2)
Black- eyed Susan Denver daisy (2)
Summer sparkles baby’s breath ‘gypsophila’ (1)
Leucanthemum sweet daisy Jane (1)
Bases Loaded Amsonia (1)
Stone crop ‘autumn joy’ (3)
Mr. Good bud stonecrop (2)
Bee balm ‘garden view scarlet’ (2)
Gayfeather ‘floristan white’ (1)
Gayfeather ‘kobold’ (1)
Dark Towers Penstemon (1)
First love Dianthus (1)
Goldflame Honeysuckle (1)
Rabbitbrush dwarf blue (1)
Meadow sage lyrical rose (3)
Meadow sage marvel blue (2)
Mesa yellow blanket flower (4)
Blue ice blue star (1)
Bushy aster “woods purple” (2)
Bushy aster “woods pink” (2)
“Woods light blue” aster (2)
Beard tongue pine leaf red (1)
Aster “woods blue” (1)
Furman’s red salvia (1)
PowWow wild berry coneflower (1)
PowWow White coneflower (2-4?)
Cheyenne spirit Coneflower (1)
Coneflower double scoop bubble gum (1)
Whispurr pink nepeta (2)
Sombrero lemon yellow improved coneflower (2-3?)
Sombrero Sangrita Coneflower (1)
Sombrero adobe orange coneflower (1)
Onion ‘millennium’ (3)
Coral baby penstemon (1)
Mesa yellow blanket flower
Ultra violet salvia (3)
Maltese cross lychnis (2)
Veronica mauve moody blues speedwell (2)
Chinese wisteria (2)
Salvia vermillion bluffs (1)
Hardy fuchsia (2)
Lupine ‘gallery mix’ (1)
Leucanthemum sweet daisy jane (2)
Granita raspberry ice plant (1)
Granita orange ice plant (2)
Ice plant ‘gold nugget’ (4)
Ice plant ‘wheels of wonder white improved (2)
Ice plant delosperma nubigerum (1)
Ice plant delosperma floribunda (2)
Fire spinner ice plant (1?)
Red mountain flame ice plant (3)
Table mountain ice plant (1)
Tiny dancer dwarf globe plant (1)
Red rocks penstemon (2)
Unforgettable hummingbird trumpet (2)
Coronado red hyssop (2)
Leucanthemum sweet daisy jane
Pikes peak purple penstemon (2)
Rocky Mountain penstemon (2)
Penstemon windwalker garnet (2)
Purple mtn sun daisy (2)
Mandy sun daisy (2)
Agastache Sonoran sunset (1)
Agastache hybrid- dwarf hummingbird mint poquito butter yellow (1)
Hyssop hummingbird mint ‘kudos coral’ (2)
Showy milkweed- ascelpias speciosa (4)
Multi mum stellar trio (1)
Asclepius speciosa ‘milkweed’ (4)
Confetti garden Leo mum (3)
Guara belleza dark pink (1)
Butterfly weed (2)
Corkscrew ornamental onion (3)
Garden phlox super ka-pow white (1)
Garden phlox super ka-pow coral (1)
‘Flame Pro Pink Pop’ garden phlox (1)
Phlox subulata creeping phlox “scarlet flame” (1)
Phlox subulata creeping phlox “emerald blue” (1)
Crystal river Veronica (1)
Snowmass blue- eyed Veronica (1)
Chocolate flower (2)
Spanish peaks foxglove (1)
Colorado gold gazania (1)
Jupiters beard (pink and white 3-4)
Butterfly bush (don’t remember the variety 1)

I just planted a baby Catalpa and a baby maple about a month ago. Do I need to cover them completely? Sorry for my ignorance I I’m used to new plants but not trees.

ADVICE NEEDED: what is the best way to overwinter these babies?

Due to a 3+ week delay in receiving starts from High Country Gardens (grrr...), I am getting starts this week. Obviously its late seasonally to plant them. We got snow last night (6,500ft).

My choices are: 1) plant them in prepped bed and hope, 2) leave in pots and "plant" in soil overwinter outside to plant in final places in spring to protect tap roots in existing starter pots, 3) bring into garage in starter pots for overwinter (full sun, approx 50degrees all winter), 4) bring into house like houseplants.

Here are the species:
Gamma grass, Rice grass, Yucca, Sage, Red hot poker, Common Sotol (Dasylirion), Curry Plant (Helichrysum italicum)

Anyone happen to see potted marigolds at any nurseries/stores lately? I have about 10 potted plants that had big fluffy blooms mid-August but the new blooms are much smaller and looser. I may have started them too early, indoors late April.

The couple of in-ground volunteers are doing great but protecting them from frost until Nov 1 is a pain, which is why I only did pots this year. I’ll dig up the in-ground ones tomorrow but I would still like a few more to adorn my Day the Dead altar.

We pulled out our front lawn this year. Most of it had already died during a construction project, and it turns out that alone can disqualify you (Aurora, for one, requires healthy grass when you apply). I also learned too late that most of these programs want you to apply before you touch anything, and the money is usually gone by summer anyway.

So I went through every lawn replacement program I could find on the Front Range. Short version: most of it is spent for the year, but Aurora opens a new round Nov 1.

Aurora (GRIP): applications Nov 1 to Jan 1, then install by July 31, 2027. $3 per sq ft for a water-wise yard, no per-project cap published. Two rules that trip people up:

• Don't remove your grass until your application, design and plant list are approved. It's not retroactive.
• The grass has to be alive when you apply. Dormant is fine, dead or weedy isn't.

Thornton: up to $2 per sq ft, but proje Oct 31.

For 2027:

Nobody has posted dates yet except Aurora. Highlands Ranch usually opens Mar 1. Fort Collins says to check back in January, Castle Rock expeche Resource Central cities (Boulder,Lakewood, Westminster, Arvada, Longmont) and Colorado Springs say spring. Denver Water hasn't said.

Most programs open in late winter or spring and fill by summer, so winter is the time to plan.

Full list with what each pays, the official links, and what your HOA can and can't say about it:
coloradogardening.co/lawn-replacement-rebates-colorado

If I got your city wrong or missed a program, tell me and I'll fix it.

We drain our rain barrels when freezing weather hits and move them away from the downspouts so that they won't crack from the expanding ice. It doesn't look like the temperature will go much below freezing this week. Do you think we are right to wait to drain them until it gets colder?

Hi Gardeners, I would like to get some floral perennials to plant, but I won’t have time to go to nurseries all over the metro area before the season ends. Has anyone been to a nursery recently and knows that they definitely have a good number of perennials still in stock? I was at Home Depot recently and they actually still had a fair number of plants but I’m interested in actual nurseries too.

thanks!

This is our first year with our drip system. We have an underground 3/4 inch system which connects to a lot of 1/4 inch above ground emitter lines that go all over the yard. One zone handles all the perennials, and the other handles the raised beds. The perennial drip lines are all under between 1-4 inches of mulch. The garden ones are on top of the soil.

So, with the temps hovering around freezing for one or two nights (seemingly briefly, depending on the forecast) are you all blowing out your lines?

Part of me thinks it won't be cold enough for long enough, and I'll be able to keep the drip running another couple weeks before the real freeze comes in. The other part of me is afraid I'll have a bunch of broken emitters come spring if I don't do it now...

Help!

What’s everyone doing to prepare for the light frost Thursday pm? I’m planning on picking tomatoes peppers and cukes… maybe cover a couple things to get a couple more weeks.

I’ve got red and yellow bell peppers that are growing to be very big, but they just aren’t ripening. I’m worried with the upcoming weather that I’m going to lose them. If I don’t do something soon, can I still eat them unripened? I’ll definitely be saving the seeds for next year. It seems like such a waste - is it best to harvest them now before the cold hits?

UPDATE: I made stuffed peppers with them and they were 🔥

Sunrise Celeste on a second year in ground plant. Hopefully we get a ton more next year but it tasted great

I've been living in Aurora for over 20 years and have been buying plants from High Country Gardens most of that time as I've slowly replaced lawn with low-water perennials. However this year I ordered one of their pre-planned gardens and it arrived later than the scheduled time without communication, and was packaged differently so that the plants arrived overturned and intertwined with loose soil in the box and some plants smashed. And their customer service email is now answered (poorly) by AI. Has anyone else been disappointed by them this year?

I have a 15x30ft catio area where the dirt has a lot of bindweed growing over it. I want to plant some kind of cover to lessen the bindweed. My two cats use parts of the dirt as a litter box and it's hard to direct them on where in the dirt I'd like them to pee and poop in. Can planting a cover crop still work here? I don't need it to look perfect and uniform, just want to lessen the bindweed.

Finally getting ripening tomatoes on my branywines, but the first one looks like this.

I want to reuse this flagstone as mach as possible. Partly to make a little pad, partly to widen the walking surface along the sidewalk. Also going to use the dirt excavated to make a swale with odd shaped stones for a little rock garden as a border.
I have a xeriscape garden in a box coming to plant and will mulch everything on this side w/fresh maple chips. Im trying for a low budget xeriscape yard but dont want it to look too barnyardy/ghetto.

So I cooked a bunch of tomatoes yesterday and because I'm running out of freezer space for marinara and pizza sauce, I cooked it much longer (usually reduce moisture by about half) before straining the seeds and skin.

When I drained it, I chose to pour off the runny liquid that comes out first in order to keep the tomato paste really thick. I assumed, from the consistency when it was hot, that this was a watery liquid. What I found when it cooled is that it's really sweet and concentrated flavor, but the color of tomato juice without the pulp.

Any thoughts on what I can do with this liquid or should I just mix it into my paste before freezing in ice cube trays?

TIA!

I want to reuse this flagstone as mach as possible. Partly to make a little pad, partly to widen the walking surface along the sidewalk. Also going to use the dirt excavated to make a swale with odd shaped stones for a little rock garden as a border.
I have a xeriscape garden in a box coming to plant and will mulch everything on this side w/fresh maple chips. Im trying for a low budget xeriscape yard but dont want it to look too barnyardy/ghetto.

I'm giving up on growing vegetables in two shallow raised beds I have. I would love to plant wildflowers/pollinator plants to make my own bouquets throughout the summer. I'd love to learn from this group whether anyone has done this and had success! Taking specific recommendations please 😄

I need to buy some edging for a new 4" deep planting zone in my backyard. It's a very small zone so I probably just need like 5-10 of those big edging bricks/stones. I know they have them at Home Depot but I was wondering if anyone has experience with them for recommendations

The lawn is dead and we've paid our respects. Happy Halloween everyone!

In our backyard, we focus on planting native plants, shrubs, and trees, especially host plants to support the moths and butterflies. We also incorporate a lot of habitats and try to make sure all the needs of our native fauna are met.

Admittedly, the vast majority has been planted in the last year or two, so things are still establishing themselves and balancing out. However, this year we did not see a single caterpillar. I have the suspicion that we are attracting too many beneficials that actively hunt for caterpillars (e.g. various species of wasp, assassin bugs, and tachinid flies); we have a fair share of plants known to draw in those beneficials.

I was wondering if anybody else is experiencing the same issue (well, it is an “issue” if you like to get caterpillars).

Our hope is that, as the plants and shrubs grow and spread, things will balance out. Caterpillars will find more hiding spots, and also there might be survivability in sheer numbers then. I think we have to try to balance the population of wasps and hornets in our backyard because there is an abundance of them.

EDIT: I should have phrased things differently in regard to wasps, because some people now believe I hate them. On the contrary, I consider wasps and hornets to be beneficial insects. We have several water features that attract them, and they have never bothered us. Whenever a stray wasp ends up indoors, we guide it out; we don't kill it. Our neighbors on both sides have wasp nests every year, not by choice but because of their "garden layout" (keeping a lot of old wood, deserted sections, rotting overhangs, etc.), so there is a steady influx. In the past two years, we took down two tiny paper wasp nests inside our small shed. Similar to black widows, I won't kill them unless they are in a spot that could pose a danger to our daughter, pets, or even me.

We killed the grass in 2022. Planted blue gramma plugs and perenials in 2023. This is the first year we only watered once a week. It’s great to have a pocket prairie in Denver. We get lots of pollinators and birds.