Mud season is a great time to plan to brighten up a corner of your vacation home in Frisco or a condominium terrace in Silverthorne CO real estate.  Plan to put in lavish baskets and flower beds of peonies, crocus, poppies, lupine, tulips, columbine, delphinium—and peek-a-boo stands of hearty wildflowers along the hillsides.

Gardening at an elevation of 9,600 feet requires a bit more patience than at sea level, however.  Our local landscapers are wonderful guides to successful high-altitude gardening.  They know what works and what plants tend to struggle in the cooler climate. 

Annuals and perennials are slow to start.  They can be started indoors using the short-season or high-altitude seeds that are available through a variety of plant suppliers and local landscaping companies.  Additionally, seed-starting mixes such as Redi-Earth Seed Starter and Ferti-Mix are available on the market. They really do help our high-altitude gardeners achieve maximum success.  After germinating, seeds must stay inside for 4-6 weeks so start in early May.  To shortcut the process, buy plugs to plant in June. 

When temperatures consistently reach the 40s, prepare the flower beds outdoors but wait to plant until the middle of June when warm weather arrives.  By covering the plants with mulch and regularly watering and weeding, most gardeners enjoy beautiful blooming gardens by late July or early August.  After the middle of August, it’s best to stop fertilizing and start planning for next year.  Most watering should end by the end of summer. 

Wildflowers prefer soil with low fertility that can be watered.  If seeded with a carrier such as fine sand, they will spread evenly.  The key is to barely cover them with dirt and to keep them moist.  If planted in the spring, they will bloom by late summer. 

New gardeners may get the hang of it more quickly by joining the Summit County Garden Club, which works on beautifying public spaces.  Mid-summer, they hold an annual tour of some of the most fabulous gardens in the area.  Everyone shares gardening ideas, including inspiration about healthy bushes and flower bulbs like daffodils that can be planted in the fall for an easy garden in 2010.  By the way, water bulbs until snow or freezing temperatures arrive.

Jonna Beardsley of Breckenridge Associates offers a wealth of information about real estate in the Rocky Mountain region.  Call Jonna at (970) 453-2200 for friendly, professional assistance.

As the ship of United States economy bows down in the stormy waters, Breckenridge Colorado properties continue to gain value.  Moreover, over a ten-year period Breckenridge real estate has outperformed the Standard & Poor 500, the five-percent return rate, and the average amount for property sales in the U.S.  When looking at the comparative data displayed on a graph, the performance of real estate in Breckenridge is actually astounding.

In the long term, real estate values throughout all of Summit County are steadily climbing.  There have only been one or two periods of leveling off in the past ten years, depending on the area of Summit County being charted.  The most difficult year was 2002 after the September 11 attacks upon the nation.  During the majority of this decade, property values realized double-digit appreciation.

In contrast, the average return on money invested ten years ago in the stock market did not even keep up with the 5-percent conservative investments.  It increased in value just over 110 percent of the original investment—including reinvested dividends.  Dollars invested in real estate at market value since 1998 (without rental income) increased over 175 percent in the U.S. market and over 275 percent in the local resort market.

With 25-percent annual increases in property values, our quaint Victorian Town of Breck stood out in the crowd during the period of 2005-2008.  Today, we find that resort real estate is emerging as one of the safest, most secure tools for building wealth that is available in our nation.  Due to the continuing turmoil in the national economy, the projected slowdown of appreciation rates for 2009 turns this year into a rare opportunity for buyers.  Prices are right for investing in the next 10-year cycle.  It will help your ship move into calmer waters.

Jonna Beardsley of Breckenridge Associates offers a wealth of information about real estate in the Rocky Mountain region.  The brokers at Breckenridge Associates Real Estate own the business and work together with an uncommon dedication to their clients, the industry, and the community resulting in top performance in the resort areas for decades.  Call Jonna at (970) 453-2200 for friendly, professional assistance.