Notes, Tips and Advice from Pleasant Avenue Nursery

This will be a new section where we offer the most current advice related to the growing of plants, use of products and just good old advice. Visit this area of our website regularly to get the best high elevation gardening information. Respond to this information by using the email link below. If we get enough input we may start a forum for regular give & take.

Tip #1 2/8/10 - I want to start my garden plants indoors to get a jump on the season. When should I sow the seed? Do not start your garden seedlings too early. If you start them too early you have to keep them healthy in what is usually a low light growing environment for too long of a period before getting them hardened off and out into the garden. Plants grown for too long in the house are weak stemmed and stretched out and do not take the transition to the outdoors very well. I suggest that you determine the date which you want to take your plants outside and then count back 6 weeks for the proper sowing date. If you want to put plants out on the 15th of May count backwards to the 1st of April to determine the proper time to sow the seeds. This of course is a rule of thumb and can be adjusted for each variety of vegetable. In Buena Vista we usually get a killing frost between the 1st and the 15th of June, so don't plan on setting your tender varieties like tomato, pepper and squash out until after the last frost unless you are able to protect them with walls - o - water or some other method. Keep good records of sowing dates and make adjustments as necessary.

We want to switch as many customers as we can over to email notification instead of sending post cards. If you want to receive E-mail notification of our sales, send us your address via the E-mail link below and ask to be added to our list. We will never give or sell your email address to anyone.

Jim & Gary Ludwig have owned & operated Pleasant Avenue Nursery for many years, this is what we're about...

Our nursery facility is located in the Arkansas River Valley in the central Colorado mountains. We’ve been growing plants that are adapted to our high desert climate since 1972. Many of the plants that we produce are native plants that occur in Colorado, from 7,000 ft. to 11,000 ft. in elevation. We are a retail and wholesale supplier of plants that can survive in the extremely dry climate of the Southern Rocky Mountains. In Buena Vista, Colorado our elevation is 8000 feet  above sea level (2438 meters) and our average annual moisture is less than 12 inches. At this time we do not have a mail order division, but we would like to invite you to visit our nursery. We're sure you'll find some hardy plants to take home with you.

On February 12th we'll be opening for the season. 

In February and March we will  be open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00-5:00 Closed Sunday and Monday.

Beginning April 5th we will be open 7 days a week.   Monday - Saturday 9:00 to 5:00 and Sundays Noon to 4:00

If you want to receive E-mail notification of our sales, send us your address via the E-mail link below and ask to be added to our list.

Store Hours:
February through March Tue-Sat 9:00 to 5:00, Closed Sunday & Monday                                                                April through June - Mon-Sat 9:00 to 5:00, Sundays 12:00 to 4:00
July through October - Tue-Sat 9:00-5:00, Closed Sunday & Monday
Variable hours in November, December, and January

Reach us at:
506 South Pleasant Avenue (See map on contact page)
PO Box 1669
Buena Vista, CO 81211-1669
Phone: 719 395-6955
Fax: 719 395-5718
Email: pan@amigo.net

This view of Mount Princeton is from our nursery facility!