I think your zone 5 but I'm not positive. It seems it has been colder and windier here than average for the last couple weeks.(I'm in Aurora). Further out on the plains like you are you're going to have more wind because there aren't as many trees, houses and buildings to push alot of wind up 30 feet or so.

You're grapevines and trees will probably be okay give them a couple more weeks. My grapevine just started forming leave buds a week or so ago.

Nothing wrong with clay soil that some compost and mulch couldn't make into very good gardening soil.

Soon enough it will feel like summer. And yes the gardening season on the high plains isn't very long especially for your frost intolerant plants probably longer than 3 months. The average last frost date here in Aurora is May 8th yours maybe a week or two out from that and the last average frost date I think is about Oct. 10th. So you probably have May 18th to Oct. 1 from warm season plants.

Good Luck with your gardening.

I'd say you're Sunset 1A - lower down is 2A and they are getting daffies and tulips and the like, and maybe some cottonwood, altho tonite will slow them down a bit. We're closer in and 2B.

You'll come to like those beds as they'll extend your season and allow you to put up some hoops with fabric to stop the incessant dessicating wind. Colo is very amenable to extending the season, a compendium of my strategies. And at least the clay holds moisture!

Welcome.

Dan

Don't get discouraged! I think you're a zone 5 and a 1A too. I had a hard time adjusting at first but trial and a little error are actually kind of fun. I was afraid to try anything and now I've got a handle on quite a few things.

I'm not out your way exactly, I'm in Ned, but the conditions you describe are pretty similar. I might be higher up with a little less growing time.

It helps to ask your neighbors what they are growing and what they've given up on.

Also, there are so many experienced gardeners on here that I've not really seen any questions go unanswered.

I pick my plants carefully. If it is pricey and I want it to come back, I pick for a zone 4, just to be safe. If I just have to have it but it isn't a 4 or even a 5, I plan to baby it with lots and lots of leaf litter and a little tomato cage to keep the leaf litter from blowing into another state.

It could be a very good sign that the previous owners built those planter boxes--I'll bet they grew tons of stuff!

Welcome and have fun trying things out!

Jennifer

Thanks :-) We just moved from Aurora, where things seem a little milder than they are here. My confusion as to the zones is due to where our place (halfway between Bennett and Strasburg) falls on the following map:

http://www.sunset.com/garden/climate-zones/sunset-climate-zones-nevada-wyoming-utah-colorado-00418000067318/

Our housing subdivision sits right at the juncture of the 1B/2A/1A overlap on the map, just before I-70 starts to turn southeast towards Byers and Deer Trail. So you can understand why I'm a little irked. There also doesn't seem to be anywhere on the web that you can input a Zip Code and get the correct Sunset zone.

As far as the raised beds go, they are a little large and not particularly deep (about 4" high, since the previous owners of the home used 4x4 posts). I added at least six wheelbarrowfuls of aged steer manure to each of them and kept some in reserve to dress the veggies with later on in the year, as well as bags of 'garden soil' and tilled that in with a hand cultivator. What I may have to do, once this growing season is over, is reconfigure the larger beds into smaller ones - ones I can get a wind cover over without the possibility of turning it into a sail with the first gusts. Seven feet wide is too large to work well, as the ideal width is three feet wide by six feet. Chopping each of the big beds into 4-5 3 foot by 7 foot beds with a foot in-between would be easier to manage and making the bed sides 8" high would be better for keeping the rabbits and ground squirrels out (as will the predator scent I'm scattering around the garden, I hope).

Hi EasternCo,

DonÂt freak out too much about exactly what zone you are. Even if you were right in the middle of a definite zone, local terrain and other conditions can make noticeable differences in what you can grow. Structures, fences and vegetation can make differences, as can lay of the landÂlike someone in a slight valley might have colder temps than nearby neighbors. And the other thing is that if you start to look up individual plants, youÂll often find that different sites will list them as different zones! GardeningÂespecially "zones"Âis a very imperfect "science!" And other conditions like light, soil, and moisture have at least as much to do with success as do your low temperaturesÂwhich are only averages anyway. The best way to figure out what will work for you is to try things little by little. In a couple years youÂll have a pretty good idea of whatÂs working for you and whatÂs not. If you find something that needs warmer temps, plant it in a more sheltered place like next to a fence or building. You might be surprised by some of the things that do just fineÂthat werenÂt supposed to, and by some of the things that ARE supposed to work where you areÂthat donÂt!

The winds that have just kept blowing and blowing for the last couple weeks have been pretty unusual, so while you will probably wind up with more wind out there on the plains than we get here in the Metro area, it shouldnÂt always be as bad as itÂs been lately. Be prepared to tie things down when you need toÂand never give up!

And with your grape, I definitely wouldnÂt give up on that yet! I planted one late last summer, and I was SURE it had died over winter! ItÂs just started to leaf out in the last week! I was doing a happy dance! So if your trees and stuff are behind ours, the grape probably is too. And mine looked DEAD! The stems really looked dried up! I think a couple of the (4) stems might have died offÂtime will tell, but I noticed today that itÂs also starting to develop new stems down at the base. So hang in there and hopefully itÂll come back!

When youÂre transplanting small plants, try to wait to do it on days when itÂs not so windy, and remember that itÂs not unusual for things to wilt a little bit when theyÂre first planted. Do it late in the day or on a cloudy day/afternoon, water them in wellÂand keep your fingers crossed. Things might look worse for a while after you plant them before they start to look better again.

Hang in there! Once you get a better feel for your new conditions, itÂll start to be easier again.

Welcome to RMG,
Skybird

You guys are giving me some hope for my grape too. I planted one last year and so far I'm seeing no signs of life yet. It looks pretty dead - but I guess I'll see soon enough :-)

I've got stuff I really hoped to get outdoors this week, especially since I'm taking a trip soon- but it looks like it may not happen. The upcoming forecast is looking too chilly to plant out when I won't be here to cover it if I need to. I was thinking I'd cover it before I left but with the winds I don't trust the cover won't come off.

You'll just learn to list with the wind and the plants will appear upright. :) Yes, it is possible to successfully garden out on the prairie, just takes some time and patience. I'm further out in the boonies than you are and I'll have a garden from the end of May until the end of September, maybe longer. Just depends. Don't get discouraged. :)

Zone 5, btw

You can be irked at the lines on a map in a book, but the landscape is giving you the clues you need.

I'm on Aurora, but on the SW side of a hill, so I don't get cold air pooling and we get more heat, and the low temps here at the house are 1-4º higher than just up to the top of the hill and out in the (a little higher speed) wind. Make your own microclimates and use protection like in my link above.

Dan

We have an old grapevine that was here when we moved in ('98)and it is always the last thing to bud. No signs on it even now, but it's been fairly chill this spring. But I really wouldn't worry yet.