Have you dreamed about having a gardening encyclopedia that would be available at any time to answer your gardening questions? Are you always thinking about how to make your garden better? With our summers of hot days, perhaps you wish you planted more water-wise plants or want to cure your lawn of those brown patches. Researching these problems, particularly on the internet, becomes a daunting task. Often there is much more information than you need or want. More importantly, the information is not specific or accurate for Colorado’s climate.

A free service called Planttalk Colorado is a wonderful resource for valuable and reliable information. Colorado State University Extension, Denver Botanic Gardens and the Green Industries of Colorado sponsor Planttalk. Visit planttalk.org to access hundreds of topics, which include annuals and perennials, design, fruits, houseplants, insects and diseases, lawns, soil amendments, trees, shrubs, vegetables, Xeriscape, weeds and cultural problems. A brochure, listing all the topics, is available from your local Extension Office.

Each topic leads to more specific information—there is even an option to access answers to specific questions asked by site visitors. In a general search of weeds and cultural problems, pesky bindweed results in 196 pages of questions and answers—a lot of information! Thankfully, there’s a search option so that you can hone in on a very particular subject. There’s also a place to rate topics and leave suggestions for further topics and/or studies. If you look through all the information and cannot find the answer to your question, you can click on “Ask a Question” and submit your own.

One of the best features of Planttalk Colorado is that it is a 24-hour service. An added bonus is that many of the topics are also converted to Spanish. Whenever you need your gardening encyclopedia, it’s ready when you are. No more sleepless nights wondering about your weeping fig (1330) or how to control spider mites (1416); the information is ready when you want it. Check out Planttalk Colorado – it’s free, reliable, and a fun way to get the best dirt when you need it

The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.

Gardening and Insect Fact Sheets are available on-line by clicking HERE.

Return to Master Gardener Articles

This page updated:  September 19, 2007