Breckenridge, Colorado is in bloom

For some reason, flowers in the Colorado mountains are always extraordinary.  I think the combination of the short growing season, which makes everything bloom at once, the cool temperatures and the proximity to the sun with the extra UV rays, gives us spectacular shows.  I was in Breckenridge last week with my camera, and found some homes and businesses with some beautiful displays.  

We have flowers like this all over Summit County, but the Victorian homes in Breckenridge just add to the charm. 

What does it take to make flowers grow in Summit County?  Not much...just plant them in the ground or pot, get them water on a regular basis, a little Miracle Gro every so often, and watch them bloom like crazy.  I usually plant my pots right around Memorial Day.  Sometimes I get eager and plant earlier in May as I see the flowers in all the garden centers in Denver, but I have learned to stick to pansies early as we will always get snow in May, and I still need to keep sheets handy to cover them at night even into June.  We often have frost right after Labor Day, so the season is short, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in brilliance. 

To have this kind of garden, a mixture of perennials and annuals works really well.  A mainstay in our gardens, and what you see in these photos are delphiniums.  They are the tall ones with the purple spikes.  Lupine does well if you can keep the aphids away from them, and penstemon are native, so they also do well.  The garden above appears to have hollyhocks, but I have never been able to get much in the way of blooms from them before we get frost again.  The Summit County Garden Club tour was last weekend, so you may have missed it,  but if you want to see some fabulous gardens, all you need to do is drive around the county. 

Many people prefer to buy their flowers baskets and window boxes ready made and not have to weed gardens.  We see front porches festooned with baskets and pots and they really make a statement. 

 Even the towns have flower baskets hanging on light poles and the stop sign holders in the middle of the street in Frisco have flowers in them.   

Businesses have found that the flower displays really attract attention and many have spent a lot of money on them.  When you add up the number of baskets and multiply that by the cost of $40 to $100 each, you can see that the expense for the relatively short time is huge.  Steak and Rib and Fattys, two restaurants in Breckenridge probably have the best displays. 

Not to be outdone, the churches and other businesses do their best  to keep up. Where are your favorite flowers?  Email me a photo of places you think are special and I will add them to this post, or maybe do a new one on Summit County flowers. 

See also my post on on gardening in Summit County.