Submitted by, Marvel Clyde, Owner Colorscapes
Illustrations by, local artist, Kathryn Grider
What inspires me? What turns an “I need to…” into an “I want to…”?
This may sound like a small difference, but when it comes to how I choose
to spend my time, the difference is important.
I want to spend more time enjoying the beauty of nature. I can travel to different parts of the country or world to see and experience it. I can look out my windows and see the beauty of nature when the weather is too hot or too cold. I can also relax on my deck or spend time in my gardens and feel that I am bringing the beauty of nature into my own little part of the world.
Gardeners are unique in that they see and experience nature as beauty. Not just a thing to be tamed or bent to fit our needs (learned the hard way by planting the wrong plant in the wrong place) but as an activity; gardening.
Plants motivate me. I acknowledge and appreciate characteristics in them that I like and decide on those I want to have around me; just like my friends. Big ones, little ones, green ones, orange ones, and the more the merrier. The pots, the borders, the walkways, the hardscapes, they’re all here to better enjoy the plants. Do some fall short of expectations? Absolutely. Making mistakes is not only allowed, it is part of the process.
I know firsthand how hard it is, physically, to develop and plant a landscape. I drive through Spring Creek and see the challenges gardeners are faced with. My only assurance regarding our plants is that we grow for this area and our website is a go-to place for information about those plants. The information and advice provided is free, based on personal experience, and can help-you-help-me by answering questions you have prior to stopping out, and hopefully, allow you to shop with a list of possibilities in hand.
Container gardens are a beautiful addition to any area and provide the up-close contact we want with bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other beneficials seeking the pollen and nectar that sustains and nurtures them. While the website provides information on the annuals too, my experience is that customers are looking for long-lasting, three season color, on plants that can succeed despite our cool spring, hot summer, and early-frost fall climate.
Our website includes Everything Elko articles that I have submitted in the past and I try to answer questions you may have about gardening while you’re here shopping; pictures of the area you’re developing really do help. In that same manner, shop with a plan that includes varieties and numbers needed based on garden area size and the size plants will be when mature. Big areas are much easier (and more affordable) to fill with plants that get big and smaller spaces need smaller plants to keep the garden in balance.
