Are you new to Routt County and wondering if it’s time to plant tomatoes — or if that azalea you would love to transplant into your new mountain paradise will do well here?

Or maybe you’ve been gardening here for some time and would like to visit with some other gardeners. Come visit with the Routt County Master Gardeners from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, at the beautiful Yampa River Botanic Park.

Gardening in the high mountain west can be infinitely rewarding as well as a little challenging. Our short growing season, low average temperatures and dense soils may invite you to explore beautiful hardy or native plants you have never heard of. If you enjoy harvesting fresh vegetables and herbs from your own yard, you may become highly creative in finding ways to grow what you love.

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Perhaps your repertoire will expand to include plants and vegetables you have not considered before. Who doesn’t love a sweet, crisp carrot right from the ground? Or the dizzying scent of flowers, or the beauty of pollinators at work. Lots of cool-weather, short-season vegetables do very well here, and we’ve got lots of tricks to mitigate the intense high-country sun and easily extend the growing season.

If you are more of a flowering plant kind of gardener, come and learn about selecting and caring for the native plants that thrive here in spite of ravenous deer and insidious grasshoppers.

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The Routt County Master Gardeners are partnering with the Yampa River Botanic Park to have a live in-person event at our magical botanic park on Wednesday.

Bring your questions to this fair-like activity, and the Colorado Master Gardeners will be happy to provide you with answers. Stroll around the park for inspiration and enjoy an evening at the jewel of Steamboat.

You can also stop by or call us at 970-879-0825 during our office hours from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursdays for a free consultation or email us at csumgprogram@co.routt.co.us with your questions.

Jackie Buratovich was raised in a central California farm family and loves making things grow in and around a solar home here in Routt County. She received her Master Gardener training in Boulder County in 2003, and acknowledges that while growing conditions here are more challenging, being back in an agricultural community is like coming home.