COLORADO SPRINGS — Ten days into May and weather in Southern Colorado changes quickly.
Sunny in the morning changed to a severe weather warning in the afternoon.
The ups and downs of spring weather in Colorado require caution when it comes to planting summer gardens.
“The weather can be erratic at this time of year and seemingly weather is getting a little bit more erratic with each increasing year,” said Robin Boutilier with Good Earth Garden Center, “I think we had snow on May 20. Last year, there abouts.”
It is why most of the plants grown in the city greenhouses are still inside.
“I always need to remind the volunteers that even though the temperatures are nice, we want to wait a little bit,” said Colorado Springs City Horticulturist, Alex Crochet, “So I'll be distributing my plant material to the Springs in Bloom volunteers, the third week in May. And that could still be a little dangerous.”
Crochet and his small team start the plants in the greenhouses.
A robust group of volunteers plants them across the city.
“They take the 65,000 annuals that we grow and they put them all across the city and medians, in the right of ways and places that need a little bit of color,” said Crochet.
Crochet grew up in Colorado Springs.
He has heard some gardeners say Mother’s Day is good point on the calendar for planting.
There is also the suggestion that waiting until May 15th is typically safe.
His marker is different.
“A lot of times people say Mother's Day, but I personally wait until I see the oak trees leaf out, they're going to be the last tree to leaf out in Colorado Springs.”
Even when those oak brush trees have turned green, he may wait longer based on the weather forecast.
Last year, we gave flowers out and they had to put them in their garages before it was time to plant.
The suggestion is to wait for planting until the end of May and delay even more if the forecast predicts some unseasonable snow and cold.
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