And Then There Were Nine

We are new to Colorado, so the rhythms of its weather are still new to us. For instance, I wasn't aware that there were such high winds here. Last winter, the wind whipped through our back yard a few times with so much power that it moved the barbeque as well as a bench on our back patio! It even pushed around our (then empty but still quite heavy) garden boxes which were sitting on the back patio! One particularly forceful gale knocked down a large section of pretty antiquated fence.

It turns out that Denver can be a pretty windy place -- especially out here on the outskirts, not in the city itself, where there are lots of tall building to break the gusts us. It makes sense if you look at the topography of our continent. Denver is east of the Rockies -- like directly east. Further east of Denver are plains, plains, plains. North and South of Denver there aren't any mountain ranges. When the wind picks up from the North, South or East, what's there to stop it?

If you'd like to watch a fascinating, real time map of wind currents on the continental US, look here:

http://hint.fm/wind/ (yes, it's a weird looking URL, but it really goes to a cool site!) Here's a still shot from just now:

After things started to thaw and the first tulips appeared, things settled down. A fellow at the dog park told me it is most blustery in spring and fall, but by the time we set our plants out a few weeks ago, things seemed mellow. I assumed the plants could take a little blowing around.

Whoops.

Last week we had two days of really strong winds. Just crazy strong. Not as bad as the big guys of the winter, but fierce for knocking around plants and trees. I still didn't have my little guys in cages, much less stakes. It had been good, hot weather, so I hadn't used my wall-o-waters either --- which I'd purchased specifically for wind protection more than heat (though next year I will set them out earlier and use them as little greenhouses -- we just weren't ready to go with the garden that early since we were still transitioning it from a wasteland of pebbles, decades-old mulch and bindweed).

I noticed the wind while driving home from dropping the children off at school. The trees were being whipped about. They looked to beautiful. I was admiring their dance when I suddenly thought of our little babies in the side yard!

Sure enough,  the poor little plants looked so wind battered by the time I got home. I rushed in, got out the wall-o-waters and started filling them up as fast as I could. This is a somewhat lengthy and annoying process, taking about 10 minutes per cloche. I got 3 or 4 plants done, focusing on the tallest ones first, and then the wind quieted down. I wasn't sure about how the plants would handle the heat cast by the wall-o-waters, so I decided to leave the rest un-cloched and see how the protected ones fared over the next day. Plus, I couldn't figure out how I'd water them, since I didn't have my drip irrigation set up yet.

The next day, the winds stayed down, but the heat was up. The poor plants looked like they were sweltering in their little tents. I had asked the woman I bought my principe borghese starts from if she thought it could get too hot in a wall-o-water, and she'd never seen it. Clearly she hasn't been ridiculous enough to leave them on in 90 degree heat!

I figured out how to lift an edge of the tents and pour some water under. The plants appreciated it.

On the third day, the winds came up again. Fierce and strong. My 5 year old and I rushed to cover the rest of the plants, but it was too late for one.... yes. And then there were nine. Our poor little Hillbilly had been snapped straight down about an inch from the ground. Amongst the wind gusts, I dug the poor plant up, made a deeper hole, watered the hole base well and replanted it with the snapped portion set deep.

Two more days of terrible heat and I finally conceded I could no longer keep the poor buggers sweltering in their tents. I presently have 5 Texas Tomato Cages (6 more on order) and 6 bamboo stakes. With 10 plants, I had to get creative to protect them from the wind without giving them heat strong. I devised a way of setting the cages up and wrapping the bottom 18" in bubble wrap. They are taped in with duct tape. So far, they are holding.

I set up this wind guard for the five tallest plants. Four, really, and one on my little dead Hillbilly looking limp and done. I just couldn't give up on it.

The other plants, the shorter buddies, are staked for the moment. I set two full wall-o-waters (since I had nine of those) around each staked tomato and hope that'll work until my second batch of Texas Tomato Cages arrive.

In the meantime, I've had to admit that the Hillbilly isn't going to make it.

I was at Murdoch's yesterday and spotted a little "Lemon Boy" plant. It looked perky enough, so I bought it and will set it out in the Hillbilly's place in a day or so. This is the first non-heirloom variety I will grow. Sadly, there just aren't that many places to get an heirloom start around here at this time of year, so Lemon Boy it is.