Cool Season Annuals for Mountain
Gardens
By Yvette
Henson, San Miguel Basin CSU Extension
When I am scrolling through Instagram seeing lovely pictures
of warm-season annuals like zinnias, Mexican sunflowers and tall annual
sunflowers, I usually feel a longing to grow them too. I start thinking, “could
I possibly grow them in my high elevation (8,400’) garden with cool night
temperatures and short frost-free season?” Strategizing, “maybe I could start them early from seed and transplant them
into a location with a warm microclimate” or “maybe I could grow them from seed
in the garden and only save seed from the ones that do well in my garden-- if I
do this selection for several years, I might have a variety that would work for
me!”
But in reality, for me, it makes much more sense to grow the
things I can grow easily! I have the perfect garden for cool-season
annuals! And if you garden in the
mountains, you probably do too!
Following are just a few of the easiest cool-season
annuals to grow:
Pansies, Viola x wittrockiana
My grandmother grew pansies in front of a stone retaining
wall at her house in Telluride. She
would let me pick an arm full of the cheery, fragrant blooms and put them in a
cute glass frog vase.This photo is pansies in that vase.
 |
| Pansies, Viola x wittrockiana |
In flower language, pansies are known for love, especially thoughts
of love. Both the leaves and flowers are
edible. They can be started from seed
and set out in early spring, as soon as the snow melts. They can be planted out again in the late
summer or fall. In my garden, I can
usually just cut them back if they get leggy, and they will re-bloom.
For more about growing pansies and pansy varieties:
For info about very cold-hardy pansies check out the page
for the CSU Annual Flower Trial Garden http://www.flowertrials.colostate.edu/trial_garden.php?category=Cool+Season
Calendula, pot
marigold, Calendula officinalis
Calendula have cheery, large flowers that look similar to
zinnias, but they only come in oranges and yellows. There are some recent selections that are
more peachy-orange. They are easy to
start from seed, either as transplants or directly in the garden. Calendula should bloom the entire summer in a
cool mountain garden. They also make a
good cut flower.
 |
| Calendula, pot marigold, Calendula officinalis |
Like pansies, they are edible, hence, the common name pot
marigold. However, they are not the same
species as what we commonly refer to as ‘marigolds’, which are Tagetes spp. Calendula is also used in making homemade
salves that sooth the skin. They say the
best variety for this is ‘Resina.’ Calendula
is the British floral emblem for the month of October.
For information on how to make a skin salve from Calendula
flowers go to this blog: https://theherbalacademy.com/how-to-make-calendula-salve/
Poppies, Papaver spp.
My grandmother also planted a small orange poppy mixed with
her pansies. I haven’t been able to
definitely figure out which species it was, but it could have been alpine
poppies, because they were pretty small plants. However, some Icelandic poppies are short too. I took this photo of self-seeded poppies
growing in an alley garden in Silverton last summer.
 |
| Poppies, Papaver spp. |
Annual poppies, like Papaver
nudicaule, Papaver alpinus, Papaver somnifera, and Papaver rhoes do best in cool summers
and alkaline soil. Choosing from these
species will give a range in size and color, from white, pink, purple, yellow,
orange and red. You can sow seeds into
loose garden soil in the fall, or start transplants to set out in early
spring. If they are in a happy location,
they will re-seed. Some poppies make edible seeds. In flower folklore, poppies have many magical
meanings and uses.
There are so many different varieties of poppies we can
grow. I recommend you do an internet
search!
Sweet peas, Lathyrus odoratus
WARNING: ornamental sweet peas are NOT edible!!!
There are tall vining varieties as well as short varieties. They
were so popular in the late 1800’s that breeders developed many colorful, large
flowered varieties that sadly didn’t inherit the fragrance of their
grandparents. Sweet peas with true sweet
pea fragrance are still hard to find. Plant
seeds in the early spring as soon as the ground can be worked. Soak them overnight first to soften the hard
seed coat.
 |
| Sweet peas, Lathyrus odoratus |
Some varieties have longer stems that make good cut
flowers. In the language of flowers,
sweet peas mean “departure” or “adieu.” They are often considered the flower for April.
Irene Shonle wrote a Colorado Mountain Gardener blog about
sweet peas back in 2015. To read it
again, go here http://coloradomountaingardener.blogspot.com/2015/04/sweet-peas-by-irene-shonle.html
No comments:
Post a Comment