Are you new to the shortgrass prairie of Eastern Colorado? New Mexico, Wyoming, western Kansas? Do you live east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains? Another oft-times windswept plain? A mountain park between ranges? Do you live in a semi-arid climate, or at high altitude, or both?

You may be tempted by USDA (US Department of Agriculture) planting zone information or by the promise of a green Spring growing season to plant anything and everything that's available at a local nursery or from an online or mailorder site for your planting zone. I was! And I learned through much trial and error (as well as expense, disappointment, and frustration) that these are NOT environments in which "stick it in the ground and it grows" applies.

I've created this website to help others avoid the same landscaping, gardening, and windbreak failures that I experienced. Example: Don't even bother with Hackberry trees. They may be recommended by your local conservation district or nursery, but unless you see evidence of them growing as stately yard trees or vast windbreak rows in the same type of environment you intend to plant, skip them! The same applies to Burr Oak.

This is a new site (May 2019). Please bear with me as I add content and learn the ropes of B2Evolution - it's my first deviation from WordPress (of which I've not been overly fond).

The exciting project for the spring and summer of 2019 is a comparison I'll be doing among different types of roses growing on their own roots (not budded onto a rootstock). These will include shrub roses, Knock Out, Simplicity, Freedom, Oso Easy, and others.