Gardening in High Elevations

I have found that gardening in 6,000 feet elevation is challenging. If you plant bulbs, they can take years to prosper and bloom for the first time. Out of the 60 bulbs I planted, only one or two bloomed the first year.

Planting seeds is even more difficult. For instance, you need to start the seeds indoors in February to early March. I felt sure that the possibility of frost had passed and started putting the plants outdoors in early June. June 18th, we had a late dusting of snow, and that finished the tender sprouts off.

The growing seasons up here are also very short. The seeds I could get growing again did not have time to bloom before the first frost. The one plant grown by seed that worked out well was sunflowers; the only reason they did well was I planted them in a deep cauldron (I don’t know the original purpose behind the object). I have read that one trick to growing seed outdoors is to plant them in troughs; this will protect the seeds and sprouts from winds and keep them warmer. They say mulch in this situation is your friend and will keep seedlings warm.

The one type of blooms I found that will last all year round is metal flowers hung on a fence. It is also fun to watch the snow melt on them, slowly revealing the flowers.