TORRINGTON – Temperatures are rising and spring is here, what can be planted for the summer that will grow in the hot weather and not need much water. Jeff Jones owner of Great Gardens grew up in Torrington learning about the soil, the climate, what you may need to grow plants, trees and vegetables, what it takes to have a beautiful garden.

As a young boy Jones would come to the greenhouse to buy plants for his mother to plant in her garden. When he became an adult, he bought the greenhouse turning it into the second largest garden center and greenhouse in the state. Great Garden center has been in Torrington for the past 40 years Jones has been owner for the past 10 years. The garden center has eight greenhouses and approximately 40,000 square feet with about an acre under cover, they have expanded the outdoors to increase the area for trees, shrubs and pottery.

Wyoming is listed as USDA growing zone 4 B giving the average extreme temperature in winter ranging between 20 to 25 degrees below zero according to the 1975 - 2005 extreme temperature map.

When you plant perennials, trees and shrubs you want to make sure that that plant is rated for the correct zone, where you live. If it is not, it probably will not live through the winter and it might look good through the summer but the next year it might not come back, needing to be replaced.

“We are very careful to stock plant that are going to do well here,” Jones said. Buying for  zone 4 or 3 this will insure you are getting a hardy plant that will survive the Wyoming winter lasting for years to come.

 The favorite plant list of Jones are not only plants rated 4b for this area but they are also drought and heat tolerant and are classified as high desert or high plains.

Jones list for trees, shrubs and perennials:

Alyssum Basket
of Gold

May Night Salvia

Russian Sage

Moonshine Yarrow

Karl Freister Grass

Gallardia, Blanket Flower 

Blonde
Ambition Grass 

Autumn Joy Sedum

Little Red Birds

Stella Lily

Black Eyed Susan

Autumn Blaze
Maple Tree

Tatarian Maple Tree

Everybody should know what type of soil that they have on their property, know your dirt. The soil is something that can change here in town, it can change block by block.Torrington is very sandy and south of the river is very high clay soil. For clay, compost is one of the better ways to amend the soil. It can be boughten or it can be made at home. Making compost can include grass clippings, food scraps but do not use any kind of meat or animal scraps.

Organic Gardening is available at Great Gardens, fertilizers and pest controls like lady bugs are one of the best for organic pest control. This year we have brought in Lady Bugs to sell to people, Jones said. And Neem Oil which is natural from a tree, it has a nutty smell to it and will take care of some of the insects. In our vegetable department we grow here we do not use any chemicals on the plants we use only organics for pests control and fertilizers. They also use microscopic worms known as Nematodes which destroy the eggs of the pests so they do not repopulate and Nematodes cannot harm humans.

For control of summer pests,  the mosquito is at the fop of the list, there are herb and flowers that can be used to repel the mosquito. Mint is known to repel mice, mosquitos and spiders, lavender, rosemary herb growing around the house or on the deck also certain kinds of marigolds can help with mosquitos. 

One thing that Jones suggest is to be careful when buying plants from box stores and check to make sure they are rated for this area.

Visit with Jeff Jones and his staff to find out more about gardening in Wyoming and to find out more about what you may need to grow a healthy garden in the ground or in pots visit you local garden center for more information.