Spring Gardening Guide For Southern Colorado Landscapes

Part II: Planting Zones & Seed Selection

This is Part II of a two-part blog series on Springtime Gardening & Planting in Southern Colorado. To read Part I, please click here.

To read our Summer Gardening & Planting Guide, please click here.

If you’re now reading this seasonal planting and gardening guide, congratulations — hopefully, after following the steps to prep your garden, which we covered in Part I, you’re more than ready to do some planting and serious seed cultivation!

In this second and final guide, our tips for Southern Colorado gardeners focus on how to pick the ideal seeds for your geographic area and soil climate. A few tidbits and best practices for sowing and planting seeds are sprinkled throughout. So grab a glass of lemonade and have your gardening gloves at the ready — after all, the spring only lasts so long here in the Western Slope!

Want some seasonal gardening tips right this second? We have a go-to list of essential spring gardening tasks! Check out the free infographic below.

Getting Started With Seed Selection: Knowing Your Zone

One of the best tips for cultivating a successful, thriving garden in Colorado starts by knowing your zone — namely, your plant hardiness zone. These geographic areas serve as a frame of reference for gardeners and farmers alike, because the zone of a given region or city represents its first and last frost dates, on average. You don’t want to plant (most of the time) before the final frost of the winter has come and gone, since this increases the chances that your garden will survive and thrive, whether you’re striving to grow vitally nutritious vegetables or flourishing flower beds.

Because Colorado is one of the most geographically diverse states in the country, there are a number of ideal growing regions that vary in the “prime times” of their respective planting schedules. Even here in Southern Colorado, cities along the Western Slope may fall within one of four different plant hardiness zones (there are 7 total in the state). 

Since Southern Colorado is a broad region with ever-changing climates, topographies, and planting zones, we recommend using an interactive map such as this USDA resource to determine where your place of residence (or gardening plot) falls into the grand scheme of our state’s growing seasons. 

We’ve also broken down Southern Colorado’s growing zones on a more general, high level in the following list:

• Zone 5: Includes a scattered array of central and southern cities such as Durango, Ouray, Gunnison, & Mesa

  • Average Last Frost Dates: 5/1 - 5/15

• Zone 6: Includes many cities in Southern and Southwestern Colorado, including Mesa County metropolitan areas such as Palisade, Fruita, and Olathe

  • Average Last Frost Dates: 4/15 - 4/31

• Zone 7: Includes the majority of remaining Southwestern Colorado cities and the greater Grand Junction area

  • Average Last Frost Dates: 4/1 - 5/1

Selecting Seeds Primed For Your Planting Zone

Once you’ve determined your general growing zone and the average climate you can expect from your geographic area, it’s time to start planning your spring season seed calendar and choosing specific plants to include. Because Green-Way Pro services areas that mostly fall in Zone 7 of the plant hardiness scale, we’ll focus on this zone’s best practices for planting. 

If you live in a part of Southern Colorado that falls under Zones 5 or 6, you may want to adjust your own planting calendar accordingly based on your regional frost dates and average growing seasons. For more information, please visit this USDA Hardiness Gardening Zone Finder.

Southern Colorado Gardening: Planting in Hardiness Zone 7

If you live in Zone 7, you’re lucky enough to live in the part of the state with the longest growing season. The average last frost date here is May 2nd, according to the most recent update in the Farmer’s Almanac, but previous final frosts have also historically fallen as early as the beginning of April. 

Regardless of the precise date that the ground begins to thaw and spring is officially “sprung,” you can generally expect to have six to seven months of quality time and growing opportunity in this seventh echelon of the plant hardiness hierarchy. 

Look to the lists below to find out what to plant, and when to plant it, according to the wisdom of all the green thumbs who came before us.

Note: All Seeds in these lists are planted via outdoor direct sow.

For a guide to Zone 7 seeds that should be started indoors and earlier in the season, please see our free infographic resource here.

Vegetables 

• Beans & Legumes

• Brussels Sprouts

• Cabbage

• Corn

• Cucumber

• Kale, Lettuce, Spinach & Other Leafy Greens

• Watermelon

• Onion

• Squash

Flowers

• Perennials — Bulb-planted in fall; blooms return every spring

  • Tulip

  • Iris

  • Daffodil

  • Hyacinth

  • Hollyhock

  • Lavender

  • Black-Eyed Susan

  • Columbine

• Annuals — Direct-planted during April or May; blooms for one season 

  • Pansy

  • Snapdragon

  • Decorative Kale

  • Alyssum

  • Sunflower

  • Zinnia

  • Begonia

  • Cosmos
    
    

Keep Your Garden Looking Great! Contact Our Montrose Landscaping Company Today

Whether you’re having trouble with getting your garden started, or you need a bit of extra assistance with staying on top of weeding and pruning, Green-Way Pro is here to help! Contact our Montrose landscaping company today to get a free service quote or consultation, and explore our full range of service areas in the Western Slope to find a team of our garden care professionals conveniently located near you.

Happy planting this spring!