Index: Recommended for the Year-Round Garden

If you are interested in creating any of the indoor or outdoor spaces featured on my blog, please know that, at no additional cost to you, I get a small commission for any of the items you purchase from this page. This will help me pay for the hosting expenses for the blog, so thank you in advance for your support of these weekly posts. All of these are items I have purchased/used in my gardens and I will only list products I feel support the vision of year-round gardening for anyone who wants to give it a try.

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For All Seasons

Seed, Bulb, and Live Plant Vendors

I try to order most seeds locally as this means they are adapted to my climate and each purchase supports local growers/businesses. Most of the seeds in my collection are from Colorado seed and bulb vendors: Botanical Interests, Plantgem, Lake Valley Seeds, and Seeds Trust. When I cannot find local, I look for expertise from US growers in other states and I appreciate the variety and pricing at Blooming Bulb out of Michigan.

Botanical Interests is located in Broomfield, CO They have have been supplying garden centers and home gardeners with the highest quality seed in the most beautiful and informative seed packets on the market since 1995. Curtis and Judy started Botanical Interests because they believed that gardeners were not getting the information they needed on seed packets. Their desire to provide more information led them to create a unique seed packet that includes art, garden history, landscape ideas, organic gardening know-how, recipes, fun facts, and of course, high-quality seed.

Willow King and Julie Carson, casual Colorado gardeners and fashion hounds, set out to create a gardening store that suited their tastes, and Plantgem feels like a little breath of fresh air in the gardening world. Inspired by the bio-diversity of plants, Plantgem makes the hard to find but easy to grow gems available for the first time to the home gardener. You don't want a garden that looks like everyone else, you want a garden that looks like you!
Plants & Bulbs - Shop Now - BloomingBulb

Blooming Bulb, was launched by a small group of friends and family - who brought 35 years of experience working with the world’s top bulb and plant growers. Our products are shipped directly from  Michigan. We also work with growers to direct ship from their fields, allowing us to be even more competitive with our prices.

 

 

For the Winter Garden

Winter Plant Wall

Plants as art anyone? These are items I purchased to create an indoor wall garden in our home for amaryllis, orchids, and forced bulbs. The shelves are great because they can be added anywhere you have natural light near a window. Additionally, they are low-profile so they can house many plants in a small space.

 

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Winter Herb Garden

  

I use the AeroGarden all winter to succession-plant my herbs so I have fresh basil, dill, chives, chervil, lovage, oregano, parsley, sage, salad burnet, tarragon, and thyme to brighten winter cooking and salads. Once these herbs reach the lights of the AeroGarden, I transplant them to the window sill sized planters below so they can get natural light during the day. I use seeds I have on hand in the replacement sponges, rather than the AeroGarden seed pods, to keep the cost reasonable after the large initial investment.

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Indoor Starter Plants

This photo from April 24, 2020 shows the progress my starter plants made when planned in January and planted in February. I have been starting my garden veggies and flowers inside for the past decade and experimenting with new set ups each year. The components below have proven to be tried and true helpers in getting garden starts to grow and after the initial investment, save me from spending hundreds of dollars each year at the nursery.

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Indoor Fruiting Trees

This past summer, I purchased five fruiting trees that are not native to Zone 5 or 6: Black Mission Fig, Hass Avocado, Cold-Hearty Avocado, Meyer Lemon, and a Key Lime. In the summer they live outside, in winter inside near our big windows. Since I move them twice a year, I chose not to plant them in ceramic pots, but rather, plastic so the weight is more manageable.  As we have hardwood floors indoors, it was important to me that the trees had a big enough plant tray to catch the water overflow and protect the wood. These trees sure do make our home verdant and livable through winter.

Black Mission Fig
Haas Avocado
Cold-Hearty Avocado
Meyer Lemon
Key Lime

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Winter Reading

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For the Spring Gardener

 

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For the Summer Gardener

 

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For the Fall Gardener