Kelly Grummons – Head grower and plant connoisseur
Kelly is widely known in professional circles as an outstanding producer of perennials.
Kelly’s writing appears occassionally in the Denver Post and other periodicals. He teaches various horticulture classes for the Denver Botanic Gardens. He has been a guest lecturer for the Denver Botanic Gardens, California Horticulture Society, Plant Propagators Society, Rose Society and various others.
Pictured is Kelly’s own creation – ‘Dulcinea’s Heart’.
Kelly also runs his own cactus business and you can visit his website at www.coldghardycactus.com
What a winter! I had a customer call in January wondering how to do her winter watering through all the snow. It was my fault because with the items she had planted in the fall I told her “Be sure to water through the winter at least once a month!” Who would have imagined that we would have this much snow! Most winters the snow comes and melts so fast that the ground stays dry. I imagine we’ll have different problems related to the snow like broken shrubbery, overly saturated soils and molds on the lawn.
I spent Christmas through New Years seed collecting in the mountains of southern New Mexico, western Texas and southern Arizona. Most of our hardy Agaves and Yuccas are from these mountains. It is quite a challenge finding the plants and then property owners to get permission to collect. I traveled with Sean Hogan, who is a world famous plantsman from Portland, OR, and George Hull of Mountain States Nursery in Phoenix who specializes in desert natives. Oddly enough, most of the Agaves and Yuccas from this region thrive in the Denver area (zone 5). Unfortunately, Agaves only produce seed when they are 30-50 years old, so seed is rarely available from garden or nursery plants. Yuccas only produce seed in the wild where a moth symbiotic with the plants occurs. This moth doesn’t like living in the city for some reason.
I’m sure you all are looking forward to spring as are we! Our new stock is trickling in to the nursery. Seed racks are in and we are going through the yearly ritual of making space for spring. It’s time to plan your vegetable garden. We have a fantastic sale on ceramic pottery (as our new line arrives in February). Check out this website to see our plant lists and new products.
Happy Gardening!
Kelly Grummons
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES -
Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
Click here to reference CSU’s Home Page
