Hi- I'm in search of white lavender columbine (Aquilegia caerules) AKA rocky mountain columbine. Please see my trade list and let me know if anything interests you. I may have something in my private stock you are looking for if you don't see anything on the list.. Just ask, and I will check.

Just found this forecast. Hope? Kind of? Kevin "The cold pattern should stay in place until the end of March, according to an online forecast from the climate center. But from April through June, "odds favor above-average temperatures across much of the continental United States, including drought-stricken areas of Texas, the Southwest and the Great Plains," says Laura Furgione, deputy director of the National Weather Service. Unfortunately, spring promises little drought relief for most of these areas, as well as in Florida, the weather service predicts. As of this week's U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website that tracks drought, 51% of the U.S. is enduring some level of drought. This is the highest mid-March percentage since the Drought Monitor began in 2000. The two parts of the country that should see below-average temperatures from April through June are the Pacific Northwest and the extreme northern Great Plains. As for precipitation, odds favor wetter-than-normal conditions in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions. Drier-than-normal conditions are most likely in much of the West, the Rockies, parts of the Southwest, much of Texas, along the Gulf Coast and in Florida."

markk, the larvae (maggots) you are seeing in the potting soil are most likely the larvae of fungus gnats. The presence of fungus gnats is an indication that you are over-watering the columbine plant. Houseplants and plants in greenhouses are especially vulnerable to infestations of fungus gnats. Fungus gnat larvae feed on fungi growing in potting soil that is overly saturated with water. The larvae also feed on plant roots of over-watered plants, such as the roots of the Rocky Mountain columbine you have growing indoors. Fungus gnat larvae feeding on the roots of plants can damage the roots of the plant, ultimately causing weak plants, yellowing foliage, leaf loss, and sudden wilting. The larvae begin feeding on the roots first, working their way up the plant and into the stem. When they bore into the stem, as you are seeing on the plant you are growing, it can further damage the plant because the nutrient and water flow to the leaves is affected. The life cycle of the fungus gnat only lasts about four weeks, but through reproduction, they can maintain a presence indefinitely in potted plants in homes. Just one female fungus gnat is capable of producing a batch of 100 to 200 eggs. These eggs are likely in the soil of the plant you have growing in your house, and the eggs will hatch in four to six days, making many more fungus gnats, which will then lay more eggs, etc. etc. Did you spray the insecticide you mentioned on the Rocky Mountain columbine plant itself? If so, I wouldn't bother planting the columbine outside anymore, since I believe the insecticide you mentioned contains an ingredient called phenothrin, a synthetic pyrethroid which is toxic to honeybees. The best thing you could do for the plant at this point is to carefully extract the seedling from its pot, gently remove as much of the soil as possible from the roots, and replant in fresh soil from a different soil source. Then I would try not watering it as much, and turn off the lights each evening when it gets dark out. Good luck!

Hi Keira, I just checked your weather for the next week, and it looks very similar to Denver. In perennials, you should be able to plant pretty much anything outside that's already hardened off. In other words, if you buy something at a garden center that they've had outside, go ahead and plant it. If you can't plant it right away, don't bring it inside, keep it outside in the pots. If you have something that you've grown from seed, harden it off gradually by leaving it outside overnight a few nights when it's several degrees above freezing, and then gradually on nights when it's colder and colder. After about a week it should be safe to plant it. If you've planted things and suddenly get very cold weather--mid-twenties or colder, invert empty pots or boxes over your plants overnight, or cover them with an old bed sheet--don't cover them with plastic. If it's gonna get very cold but you've had snow first and they're covered with snow, don't worry about them. Snow is a wonderful protector. If you're doing any vegetable gardening, you can (and should!) plant things like peas, spinach/chard, lettuce, and beets now. Don't plant things like beans, tomatoes, cukes, squash or corn yet. You can also plant Sweet Peas now! Tomatoes and some other veggies can be planted if you protect them with a wall-of-water or something else. If you don't know what that is, check them out at a garden center--it's too hard to explain here! Annuals shouldn't be planted until at least your last average frost date. Here in Denver that's about May 15, and I'd think yours would be pretty close to that too. On the other hand, garden centers LOVE it when you plant annuals too early and they all freeze and you have to go back to buy more!!! When you do plant annuals, keep an eye on the overnight temperatures and protect them if necessary. Most annuals won't take too well to the snowcover type of protection, so use one of the other methods if necessary! Trees and shrubs--anything you can find available now, you can plant. If you're getting really antsy for some color, pick up some Pansies and stick them in where they're very visible. Don't worry about them even if it gets very cold. They'll do great until it gets too warm out and then they'll just kind of give up. When it gets cool again in fall you can stick in some more and they'll usually keep going until it gets continuously really cold in winter. I'm curious! How does a California transplant like the high plains desert??? I'd have a problem with your Wyoming wind up there! Welcome, good luck, and happy cold weather gardening, Skybird