COLORADO SPRINGS — After May 15, many longtime locals say it is safe to plant for summer gardens. A late may cold snap raises questions about that thinking.
Gardeners have been busy across southern Colorado over the past couple of weeks. At the Community Garden in Bear Creek Park seedlings are coming up alongside a lot of protective coverings that gardeners have put over their young plants.
Plants can be protected from cold with covers, or at Spencer’s Garden Center where inventory is on wheeled displays, moved into a greenhouse when cold is in the forecast.
"It's important to look at what's in front of us. I mean the long term forecast, I saw this coming a week ago, 10 days ago. “You know, we've got to slow down, watch the weather. There's plenty of summer left," said Mike Spencer, owner of Spencer's Garden Center.
Spencer is the 3rd generation of gardeners running the family business, a Colorado staple since 1934. In nearly 100 years, the family has sold a lot of plants and given even more advice.
"I think I've learned a lot more from the people who garden and people who come in and teach me. Customers teach me every single day," Spencer said.
His perspective has also been shaped by venerable local gardeners like Nick Venetucci, best known for his pumpkin giveaway. Venetucci is gone, but his advice on planting vegetables, specifically corn, remains part of Spencer's best practices.
"He would say 1st of June, plant the 1st of June, your corn will be wonderful. That's how I learned a ton about gardening. More than I ever did for my education," Spencer said.
As implied by his sweatshirt that reads "University of Spencer's," gardening is about educating yourself. That can happen year to year, and by paying attention to the immediate forecast.
"I keep notes every year what's doing good, what's not doing so good, when I planted it, and it makes it fun for me," Spencer said.
For longtime gardeners, changes in the weather are just part of the learning curve. With this cold snap, there will be plenty of plants that survive. There is also plenty more time to plant.
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