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OUTDOORS  COOLEY
LAKE AT SOUTH PLATTE PARK: Each
spring, college students head to Florida or other southern climes to soak in the
sun and water. Birds do, too, and the luckiest will head to South Platte Park,
where a kingdom of waterfowl cruises placidly on a wide lake in the middle of
suburbia. Owned
by the city of Littleton, South Platte Park's Cooley Lake is 230 acres of water.
Once a gravel pit in the 1950s, the 1965 flood not only changed the terrain, but
forced citizens to consider how best to stem flooding and preserve some natural
beauty.
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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  CASTLEWOOD
STATE PARK: Sunflowers
arch over high summer grasses exposing a wide-open sky as storms roll in from
the west. Wild roses have exchanged summer blossoms for autumn red hips.
Chokecherries ripen into purple clusters. Yellow prairie coneflowers mix with
Indian blanket flowers, scarlet gilia, orange globe mallow, spotted gayfeather
and clusters of prairie winecups. A breeze ripples waves in a sea of golden
grasses. But it’s the sunflowers that stand tall, as high as the grasses,
facing east.
All plant families have their champions. The rose family
arrives perfumed, dressed in scarlet colors. The mint family includes basil and
thyme--great additions to world cuisine. But for sheer success, the daisy or
aster family takes center stage.
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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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GARDEN
 COVER
CROPS: WINTER PROTECTION--Cover crops are the last detail, the finishing touch to the end of an autumn
season. Nothing will protect a vegetable garden as well throughout a frosty
winter with strong winds. Turning over a cover crop in the spring adds humus and
nitrogen. It’s the easiest way to enrich your garden and the best insurance
that healthy soil awaits when you plant seeds. Most garden centers provide a
variety of cover crop seeds, which you can buy by the pound. Above: peas fix
nitrogen in the soil for next year's crops
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GARDEN
 TOWARD A
NEW GARDEN: WHEN VEGGIES MIX WITH FLOWERS--Vegetable beds traditionally come in rows for a practical
reason. This timeless design is intended to weed and harvest as efficiently as
possible. But as suburban plots shrink so do wide open spaces for vegetable
gardens. That’s when it makes sense to look at vegetables in a different
light—as ornamental plants as well as practical food producers. We plan
flowerbeds to buffer a sidewalk, surround a building or line a path. Those
places may be the sunniest or best drained. Why not locate vegetables where
they will be happy, even if it’s among the bearded iris or roses.
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ESCAPES
 RUGGED
BEAUTY: COMANCHE GRASSLANDS--After miles of flat grasslands, the Comanche National Grasslands suddenly
give way to the deep interior of a grand canyon--unexpected and breathtaking.
Comanche is a piñon-juniper forest with broad canyons carved by the numerous
drainages feeding the Purgatoire River. You'll often see a forest of cholla
cacti sprinkled among the junipers and piñon pines. Spring wildflowers carpet
the grasslands. And in the fall, sunflowers and feathery grass spikes
bend and sway. The
grasslands are a bird-watchers' paradise. Lark buntings clothed in black and
white feathers, like a tiny tuxedo, look unsuitably formal for grasslands. At
Comanche they perch atop the cholla cactus and dart within for protection. The
spiny limbs never appear to bother them.
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PHOTO SHOWS  WILDERNESS
GARDENS OF COLORADO--is one of four photo shows
for
clubs, societies, gatherings. "100 Years of Colorado Antiques and
Historic Homes" is perfect for those who want the personal stories
behind 1890's homes and interiors. "Secret Gardens of Colorado"
will amaze you with the remarkable retreats in our backyards.
"Colorado 12 Months of the Year" will challenge you to travel
our state and "Wilderness Gardens of Colorado" is filled with
special microclimates in our region.
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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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