Western Mountains & High Plains, What to plant in what zone...

Hi everybody, I am at work just itching to get home a play in the dirt. But I was thinking it would be a fun project for me to put together a list of what to plant when in the western mountains and high plains region. Because our region is huge and has so many different variables I am asking for your help. Please tell me what zone you are in and what you put in the ground and when. I will gather all the information and make a spread sheet for our region organized by all the different zones in our region. The more people that participate the more informative it will be. It could be a nice quick reference sheet when I finish and it will be fun for all of us to learn about all the different zones in our region!

I am in zone 5A I have planted carrots, radishes, peas, turnips, strawberries, onions, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kohlrabi. I always plant my flowers on Mothers day, and I don't transfer my summer crops until mid June which are tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers, squash, beans, herbs.

I am doing some (a lot) new veggies and such this year because I have started square foot gardening and never realized that I had so much growing room. Those include corn, kohlrabi, turnips, beets, spaghetti squash, strawberry spinach, sugar baby watermelons, and a couple that my hubby thinks are doomed to fail, a peach tree and blueberry bush but I just have to try.

I am certainly forgetting a few but it will come to me eventually. I will post some pictures when I get home but it's not too grand looking yet considering my zone. So I am asking for your help and looking for some pictures of your beautiful gardens!

I forgot to mention that I will replant my cool weather veggies again in mid July and hope to harvest most of those in mid September. I always loose a few due to weather though.

5b here. So far I've got bok choy, several types of radish, carrots, several lettuces, bordeaux and tyree spinach, garlic that was planted in October, white and purple kohlrabi and turnips all planted and growing outside Inside, I still have all of my tomatoes.
This weekend (doubtful ) I would like to get my onion sets and potatoes in. In a few weeks I'll be getting all my squashes and cucumbers sown outside.
I will buy all my pepper plants this year.

I forgot about my lettuce and spinach, oops. Your tomatoes look fantastic Rooster. I have had better luck starting my peppers than my tomatoes, they don't look sick or anything they are just puny so I might be buying some I said I would get some pictures on here and here they are.



This is River we just got done planting some more spinach, lettuce, and bunching onions!



This is a few things, bottom row are some bareroot strawberries that were planted about a week ago. Middle is the kohlrabi, and the top are some radishes!!



This is some lettuce that came up, yay! My spinach has also come up!



This is the garlic that I wasn't supposed to plant but just had to try, I'm doubtful but sometimes I just have to see for myself....



I finally got some grids on my lower bed and yesterday we started planting! Got some onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and potatoes (they are in the hole on the bottom right side! Yum.

So there you have it I told you it was not very grand looking let but it's early here so I have some time to wait!

WoW cheyannarach, your beds look fantastic! I love your wood and River is a cutie. My 14 1/2 (don't forget the half)year old daughter THINKS she is starting drivers ed this summer. My wife and I do this when she says that

Ugh! The time scoots by

Rooster, I love it too. River is the best little helper of the three, I am still working on the other two! I have 8 years before I have to worry about the dreaded drivers ed I am just crossing my fingers that they change the driving age from 14 to 16 before then to save me some of that !

I am just crossing my fingers that they change the driving age from 14 to 16

My father in law never misses an opportunity to tell the kids they could drive at 14 if we moved to SD

RoOsTeR wrote:

I am just crossing my fingers that they change the driving age from 14 to 16

My father in law never misses an opportunity to tell the kids they could drive at 14 if we moved to SD

Grandparents, ugh, paybacks it must be... I saw that you were in Oral/Hot Springs a while back. That's what you must have been doing, visiting.

Yes, my wife's family's ranch is between Olrich's and Hot Springs.

Awesome, I used to go help out at a ranch in Oral, we called him old man Kenny. It was always a blast.

Looking for more Western mountains and high plains gardeners, so far I've only heard from zone 5A (me) and zone 5B (thanks Rooster)! This is a fun opportunity to learn about how our Region differs sooooo much! So please let me know what zone you are in, what you plant, and when you put it outside!!!!

Zone 4 checking in

I have orach almost ready to pick.
Rhubarb, walking onions and asparagus to pick.
The first planting of peas, bak choi, raab, carrots, onions are up as is the fall garlic.
Spinach, lettuce, beets, cilantro, chamomile, are seeded and potatoes planted but not up.
Broccoli, marigolds, violas are transplanted out and covered because it is supposed to go to 28 tomorrow.
Inside there are tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, broccoli, marigolds, okra, basil starts covering the window sills. I hope to transplant the tomatoes next week into the greenhouse in wall o waters. I am trying to decide how/when is best for the others into hoop houses/ cold frames.
Tomorrow I should plant the second planting of peas and onions and decide if i froze the lettuce/spinach and they need reseeding.
MOthers Day I should seed inside~ corn, melons, cucumbers (so I really need the tomatoes out, I need the space)
Memorial Day I will direct seed summer and winter squash after doing a final tossing of the compost heaps for them. Maybe seed beans. Transplant hte second planting of broccoli and marigolds and kale. Seed second plantings of carrots/ beets/ cilantro. Cukes and melons out into hoop house if all goes well.

Welll..... Best laid plans of mice and gardeners.

pics are still beyond me....

Thanks for sharing Turan!!! I am shocked that you are direct sowing you summer veggies before I am! Maybe I should sow some of mine sooner!!! Maybe not, I am unfamiliar with squash but will keep my cukes and maters in safe quarters until mid June. Maybe I should be trying a few in the great outdoors sooner...Hmmmm, I'll think about it. Thanks, now you've got me thinking...

cheyannarach wrote:Thanks for sharing Turan!!! I am shocked that you are direct sowing you summer veggies before I am! Maybe I should sow some of mine sooner!!! Maybe not, I am unfamiliar with squash but will keep my cukes and maters in safe quarters until mid June. Maybe I should be trying a few in the great outdoors sooner...Hmmmm, I'll think about it. Thanks, now you've got me thinking...

Welll..... the tomaters are going in a simple green house and hte cukes will have a hoop house over them. Raised beds give us a slight edge on the season, they are above the light frosts and the soil warms quicker. Out side I would plant them early June/Memorial Day in wall o waters. You got to get a feel for your own situation. My M-I-L lives 8 miles from us and her season starts 2 weeks later than mine but lasts 2 weeks longer..... go figure.

Okay that makes me feel better! So is it just the cukes under the hoop houses? I am wondering now about squash, specifically winter squash (spaghetti squash). My maters and peppers will still go outside midish June!

cheyannarach wrote:Okay that makes me feel better! So is it just the cukes under the hoop houses? I am wondering now about squash, specifically winter squash (spaghetti squash). My maters and peppers will still go outside midish June!

I got the idea for the hoop house from GWN here. So it still needs implementation. Here, to grow cukes etc, there needs some sort of warm protected micro climate. When I try to grow them unprotected in the garden in raised beds they grow but never fruit. There is a corner tucked against the house and garage where they can grow but raspberrys have claimed it and we want those too.... So last year I grew them in the greenhouse, but that is full to bursting and tomatoes/basil have priority over everything else.

Squash is so fast growing and vigorous to produce that I can direct seed it into the old compost pile covered with black plastic in an old tire for a heat well/wind protection.

In this pic you see my garden in spring of 2009. In the back you see that black plastic covered mound? That is a mostly composted heap. See the tires around it? In those, through a hole in the plastic , is where I direct seed the squash. I also try transplants but the direct seeding usually out grows the transplants. They then cover the heap with vine and make happy mayhem. The heap generates some heat for them at first.
The tires half way back are a potato tower.


This year I put another 2 raised beds. One where the potato towers are and one where the heap is. So the heap is confined to the tire tower and will get taken down to make hills for the squash in a smaller version of this.

I do not have luck keeping plants too long term in small pots. I don't think my tomatoes would survive till mid June.

Wow Turan your garden looks great! I like your potato tower! I have never started anything from seed before so this has been a learning experience for me! I am realizing I started more than necessary but it has been fun. My tomatoes will have no problem making it until mid June, I started too late and they are still tiny so I will probably end up buying transplants for those too. Some of my squash and cukes died and were looking droopy but are doing good now but it's good to know I can start them in the garden instead. Thanks for the picture and all the tips!

Well, the latest USDA map has me at 5a but I really thought I was a 4. I'm at the base of the Black Hills.

Outside I have tiny lettuces, radishes, cilantro, spinach, bok choi, arugula, and peas coming up. Oh and chives.

My full 4x4 bed of strawberries is looking pretty good so far. Most of the plants are showing some green leaves.

Asparagus and potatoes aren't showing anything yet.

Inside, i have tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, hot peppers, bell peppers, basils (3 kinds), cilantro, chives, marigolds growing, but small.

I always heard of putting in transplants on June 1st, but Maybe Ill wait til mid-June too.

Sounds like you are doing good Annamagpie! Did you get the hail last night too? Everything looked pretty good except for the Kohlrabi they took a pretty hard hit. On a good note just about everything in my pyramid bed is sprouting but nothing in the lower beds yet. I am just chicken with the tomatoes it seems like we always have some nasty storms the first weeks of June! Thanks for the update!!!

I don't want any one to think that first pic I posted (my first pic! WaHooo! ) was current, it is from early July of 2009 I think. Soooo, that I managed to take some current ones There are no cute kids though So I took a pic of my lawn mowers. They promise not to eat the apple trees and then charged through the newly seeded grass.



Here is the garden today with a storm coming (HOPING for rain and NO Hail). The bed covered with white heavy row cover is full of broccoli and marigolds. The tire stack in the back is the compost pile.



Here is the early bed skirting pushing the limits. Peas are up and the garlic and onions show a grid. The leafy things scattered about are orach, it self seeds and is welcome about now.

Your lawn mowers are pertty cute ! I assumed it was an older picture because you said you had added a bed and because that was a lot of green for our neck of the woods this time of year! Looks awesome! I am jealous of your greenhouse that is bursting with tomatoes! Thanks for the pics!

I am so happy to see people posting in our region! It's usually very quiet. I am in the Salt Lake City area and have been bumped up to zone 7a. Right now I have spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, snap peas, and carrots in the ground. We typically are safe to plant our summer crops over Mother's Day weekend here, so next weekend I will be transplanting tomatoes, peppers, and squash. Will direct sow corn, cucs, beans, etc. I am going to attempt the three sisters method this year - one in a SFG and one in a traditional garden. I want to compare the results. I love this time of year!

Peanut thanks so much for posting! I am so excited this time of year, it's funny I plan and plan and plan and I still don't follow my plans, lol. I have been gardening for years but this is my first SFG so I am even more excited about this year! I am also trying a three sisters garden and look forward to hearing your comparisons! I am also curious to know how long your cool weather crops last before they bolt. Have fun planting next weekend I will be planting flowers instead of tomatoes but will be jealous of you while I plant them, lol. Keep us posted and show us some pics!!!

WoW look at all the action in the Western Mountains and High Plains! Way to strum up some business in here cheyannarach!

Turan, what a beautiful area you live in and love the garden and the horses. Thanks for sharing your pictures and keep them coming!

Peanut, we would love to see some pictures of what you got and keep us updated on how your 3 sisters goes for you.

I took a couple of quickies before work the other morning of my 2 beds with cool weather crops and the garlic I planted in October:


above: spinach's, kohlrabi, turnips, several lettuces, and baby bok choi. The four open squares on the north are reserved for tomatoes.


above: my garlic on the east with some radish planted between them. Spinach's, lettuces, kolrahbi, and turnips, and baby bok. If you look real close behind the garlic on the north side is one larger kolhrabi plant. It was the only survivor of a surprise freeze a while back. The two squares on the north with the radish's planted will be for cucumbers in a couple of weeks


above: same bed standing on west end looking east.
Lol, next time I promise to take the cat protector off the beds for better shots

After these pictures, my lettuce and spinach really took off and I took some trimmings just yesterday


Cheyannarach, I can't wait to see your awesome bed once it gets going!!

Great pics Rooster, I can't wait for my first fresh from the garden salad of the season, yum! I have a lot of sprouts up, we have got a lot of rain (and some darn hail, poor kohlrabis). Now they are just getting bigger by the day, even the garlic is growing (at least the tops are, lol). All my onions are up (seeds and sets), carrots are popping up too bad I didn't have nantes but I did plant some of them over carrot week , turnips up, lots of radishes up, lettuce and spinach are up, I am still waiting for the peas to make an appearance though . The strawberries are springing to life too, now I want the hubby to make me one of the planters like Josh has to transfer runners too . Keep up the posting everybody!!!