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BOOKSHELF
 BOOK
REVIEW: Organic Gardener's Companion: Growing Vegetables in the West
At last, a book that organic gardeners can call their own. Jane Shellenberger,
the publisher of Colorado Gardener magazine, has written the Organic Gardener’s
Companion: Growing Vegetables in the West. Jane always embraced organic
principles in her magazine so it’s natural that she pored over information
pertinent to our part of the globe to make it readable and useful.
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GARDEN
GARDENING
WITH CHILDREN:
My friend Lawrie once designed rose gardens, heirloom flower gardens and
romantic getaway gardens. But now that she has retired, her gardening skills and
expertise are lavished on a small fruit orchard that surrounds her bungalow. In
the middle of the orchard stands a honeybee hive for bees that pollinate her plums,
apples, cherries and raspberries. She expected a steady hum of busy honeybees.
What she didn’t expect was the small throng of neighborhood kids who watched
her from afar, ventured in and now help her with the task of harvesting honey—complete
with their own beekeeper’s uniforms.
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OUTDOORS  GENTIANS,
PRIMROSES AND EVENING-PRIMROSES: Although gentians and primroses include a wide variety of
species, they do share a few requirements. Most will be found in altitude and
moisture. They won’t transfer to a dry, foothills garden. That’s where
evening-primroses come in, because these aren’t primroses at all. In a strange
misnomer of terms, evening-primroses are in a different family that often
thrives on the prairie or in the foothills.
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OUTDOORS  MUSHROOMS
AND LICHENS: The French adore chanterelles. The Italians savor porcinis.
The Japanese crave matsutakes. Truffles, which are underground mushrooms, cost
plenty. Mushrooms are ancient food but still mysterious. Were you to question
chefs or hikers, their mushroom knowledge might be thin and scanty. Mushrooms
are unlike any other food. They’re not even a plant. Mushrooms are fungi. And
that has everyone on guard.
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OUTDOORS  VAIL'S
SHRINE
RIDGE TRAIL: In a forest of Colorado green, two of the brightest
wildflower reds to be found are paintbrushes and penstemons. Lipstick red. Fire
engine red. Screaming reds that can be seen from miles away—and that’s the
point. Although paintbrushes may be pink or yellow and penstemons blue or
purple, the reds exist to be pollinated by one specific creature—the
hummingbird. These tiny-winged birds, in their long migratory flights, seek out
bright red blossoms for a nectar snack and pollinate an oddly
configured bloom.
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OUTDOORS  PHANTOM
CANYON: As
the crow flies, Phantom Canyon sits northwest of Fort Collins, a canyon in
Colorado without a road. This single distinction makes arriving at the canyon
unlike any other. People arrive on foot as they have for hundreds of years.
Parking is near the highway and visitors hike a short distance from Highway 287
crossing privately owned ranch land. There's only silence followed by the sounds
of caws from birds. Suddenly the earth opens to reveal a huge cleft with the
silvery glint of a river below. It's not until hiking the trail into the canyon
that the swooshing of water swirling around boulders can be heard.
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OUTDOORS  COLUMBINES,
BUTTERCUPS AND CLEMATIS: It’s easy to understand why the columbine is Colorado’s
state flower. With its sky-blue color, elegant bobbing stems and finely
scalloped leaves, the wild columbine is stunning to anyone who has hiked a
mountain trail and chanced upon a cluster. And while columbines can be found in
China and Europe, the Colorado columbine is as spectacular as any.
Above: Colorado blue columbine, the state flower.
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PHOTO PURCHASES
 GARDENS,
HOMES, WILDERNESS--If your company or organization would like to
purchase photos specializing in nature, gardens, historic and new homes,
interiors, antiques, travel and food, look through the gallery. All are book quality, digital and
Colorado-based. Nearly every season, every corner of Colorado is available.
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FREELANCE WRITING  COLORADO,
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION AND SOUTHWEST --If your
publication specializes in the Rocky Mountain, Southwest or Colorado and covers off-the-beaten-track travel adventures, nature, spa destinations,
homes, gardens, events, trends, cooking, collecting and profiles of
interesting people, let us know.
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