Dear Friends and Fellow Gardeners,
Welcome to Autumn and to Harlequin’s Gardens 2023 Fall Plant Sale!
Gardeners can’t be faint-hearted. No matter how much we know, we have to be prepared for the unpredictable. Last winter’s three waves of below zero weather caused some woody plants to die back that have been hardy for decades. Then we were blessed with rain. Denver’s 6” of rain in June broke a record. At the same time, we are having the “hailiest” year in Colorado history. And while other regions have suffered extreme heat, our area has had a record number of days under 90 degrees. Many of our gardens have never looked better.
It’s obvious that we need to garden for resilience. Thank goodness, Colorado’s normally erratic mountain weather has prepared us for climate extremes.
To make our gardens resilient, we need to build healthy soil, putting compost (our carbon wastes) and 
minerals in the earth to feed our soil life and retain water. We can grow plants that are adapted to Colorado conditions, that will recover and thrive, like our native species. We must depend on the intelligence in Nature rather than on pesticides that cripple our beneficial insects and pollinators. And the more we learn from our own experience, and from our friends and neighbors, the more prepared we will be to navigate this challenging and delightful dance with Nature we call Gardening.
For your success, Harlequin’s Gardens has the right plants, products and information to support your efforts. Our experience, and that of our customers, proves that this boast is not just advertising.
FALL SALE!
Our Members Sale will begin Aug 22 and run through Aug 27. For your special support, members are rewarded with first pick at 20% off all plants, except fruit trees, veggie starts and house plants; and 25% off books. Your membership supports staff, extras like organic and neonic-free plants and display gardens. And Membership has benefits!
Fall Sale for Everybody: August 29 into October, beginning with 20% off most plants. (Details below.)
Our plants are selected for being well-adapted to Colorado conditions and every year we hear that our customers have a high success rate in establishing our plants in their gardens. All the plants we grow are pesticide-free.
Besides the plants themselves, our local, high-quality composts and organic fertilizer products, our mycorrhizae, and our good advice, all contribute to your success.
FALL & WINTER GARDEN CARE
Late August through September is an ideal time to plant and fertilize, because now is when plants are storing food in their roots and when they are making leaf and fruit buds for spring. Giving our plants and trees nutrition at this time of year strengthens their vitality and immunity and supports flowers and fruits for the following season.
Rake up diseased leaves from fireblight and other fungal, bacterial or viral diseases, and remove seed heads from aggressive seeders. Leave seeds of desirable plants, and leave seeds for the birds.
You can extend the vegetable season by 1) planting cool-season veggies, 2) using row cover fabric over 
veggies to add 2-4 weeks more production 3) using tomato cages over tomatoes and peppers and cover them to protect from freezing 4) mulch root crops to extend the harvest season. 5) buying our Garlic and Shallots in September to plant mid Oct. to mid Nov.
Winter Watering: Once our irrigation systems are blown out, we should water new plantings, especially the small plants, by hand or sprinkler once or twice a month, or more.
Lawns: September is the best time of year to aerate and fertilize with an organic fertilizer. Fall is also an excellent time to apply Corn Gluten, the organic weed and feed. Its 9% nitrogen provides fall fertilizing and it prevents weed seeds from germinating.
PRODUCTS
Harlequin’s Fertility Mix: contains organic fertilizer, humate, rock minerals, coral calcium, molasses and mycorrhizae. Use for most plantings.
Richlawn 5-3-2 Lawn Fertilizer: made from chicken manure, blood meal, feather meal
Alpha One Fertilizer: contains alfalfa, cottonseed meal, blood meal, sunflower: use for veggies, perennials
Yum Yum Mix: contains cottonseed, rock dust, alfalfa, rock phosphate, kelp: perennials, shrubs & xeriscapes
Organic Healthy Grow , Age Old Grow and Bloom, Neptune’s Harvest great for fall veggie planting
Mycorrhizae: Myke for Trees & Shrubs, which contains some ectomycorrhizae (which is good for conifers); Root Rally from Age Old; Down To Earth Tree & Shrub fertilizer, which contains mycorrhizae.
A1 Eco-Grow Compost
Composts: 2 kinds, good quality, economical, locally sourced to use local wastes & reduce CO2
Mulches: Fine Wood Chip, and Soil Pep – a partially composted bark: both feed soil organisms, stay put
Potting Mixes: Coco Loco and Ocean Forest: nutritious and successful for container-growing
Expanded Shale: a porous ceramic shale to break up heavy clay, hold air and water; permanent
ORGANIC FALL VEGGIE STARTS & MORE!
Organic Fall Veggie Starts: broccolini, kale, arugula, spinach, lettuce, collards, chard, mesclun, cabbage, Tatsoi, etc. These new premium plants cannot be sold at a discounted price
SEEDS: fresh 2024 seeds from Botanical Interests for cool-season greens, cover crops, sprouting. No discount
2023 Seeds are 50% off!
Fall & Spring-blooming BULBS, Garlic and Shallots (no discount) Coming in September: many kinds of bulbs and new varieties. Check our website under Plants/Bulbs in the coming weeks for descriptions and photos of this year’s selections. Bulbs are NOT discounted during our fall sale.
PLANTS
Lacinato Kale
Pollinator & Bee Lovers: Our high quality plants are 100% free from bee-killing, nerve-toxin neonicotinoids. Most of our plants are free from all pesticides and fungicides.
ORGANIC HERB STARTS: Chives, Clary Sage, Echinacea, 2 Rosemary, 4 Lavenders, many Mints, Lemon Balm, Greek Oregano, Nettles, Sweet Grass, Winter Savory, Fennel, Garlic Chives, Parsley, Lemon Grass, Rue, Sage, Self Heal, Feverfew, Wild French Thyme & lots more
BERRIES: 3 kinds of Currants, 3 Serviceberries, 2 Gooseberries; 2 Table Grapes; 2 Thornless Blackberries, 4 Kinds of Elderberries, 2 Nanking Bush Cherries, Aronia (chokeberry)
FRUIT TREES (no discount): grown in our own superior potting mix, with mycorrhizae, and without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Apples, Cherries, Plums, Pears
VINES: 25 Kinds Trumpet Vines, Golden Hops, Silver Lace Vine, Honeysuckles, Thorndale English Ivy, Purpleleaf Wintercreeper, Porcelain Vine, Clematis, Wisteria, Bittersweet and more
Undaunted Ruby Muhly
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES: 30 kinds Freshly potted grasses- strong and sure to be successful planted in September: Little Bluestem, Prairie Dropseed; Giant Sacaton, Karl Foerster’s, Avalanche Reed Grass, Maidengrass, 6 Fescues, Undaunted Ruby Muhly, Mountain Muhly, Big Bluestem, Mexican Feather Grass,
Indian Grass, Blue Grama, Junegrass, Sideoats Grama, Blonde Ambition, Switch Grasses, Indian Rice Grass.
ROSES: Our proven, sustainable own-root roses, including hardy Canadian Roses
TREES: 45 varieties Chinkapin Oak, May Day Tree, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Columnar English Oak, Chanticleer Pear, 3 kinds of Hawthorns, Hazelbert, Ptelea, Silver Maple, Compact Ginnala Maple, Russian Hawthorn, Wild Plum, ‘Sensation’ Boxelder, Maackia, Oakleaf Mt. Ash, Hackberry, Ohio Buckeye, ‘Hotwings’ Maple, Crabapples, ‘Autumn Brilliance’ Serviceberry, Aspen and MORE
Ribes aureum, Golden Currant
NATIVE SHRUBS: We’re famous for our great selection of strong, neonic-free native shrubs! Fernbush, Rabbitbrush, Boulder Raspberry, ‘Cheyenne’ Mock-orange, Silver Buffaloberry, New Mexico privet, Fourwing Saltbush, Gambel Oak, Wavyleaf Oak, Native Elderberry, ‘Regent’ Serviceberry, 3 species of Mountain Mahogany, Leadplant, Yucca, and many more!!!
NON-NATIVE SHRUBS: Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus), Cotoneasters, Butterfly Bush, Potentillas, Spireas, Viburnums, Russian Sage, Blue Mist Spirea, Ninebarks, Caragana, Forsythia, Lilacs, Elderberry, and many more!
PERENNIALS: HUNDREDS of Neonic-free, Colorado-adapted selections – 12 varieties of Penstemons; Redbirds in a Tree, tough groundcovers including creeping veronicas, sedums, thymes, Lotus corniculatus, many Hardy Iceplants; Good plants for dry shade: 4 Geranium varieties, Lamiastrum, 3 different Lady’s Mantles; Showy plants for Shade: Coral Bells, Ajugas, Anemone ‘Cinderella’; Natives: Agave, Golden Banner, Campanula rotundifolia, Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Chocolate Flower, Bee Balm, Spiderwort; PLUS Agastache Blue Spires, Harlequin’s Silver Teucrium, Plumbago, Scarlet Gilia, Evening Primrose, Goldenrod, Windwalker red Salvia, Smoky Hills Skullcap, Kent Beauty Oregano, 3 Dianthus, Kniphofia Flamenco, 3 Yarrows, Baptisia, Prairie Winecups, Dictamnus and lots MORE!
ARE YOUR FRIENDS RECEIVING OUR WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTERS?
If not, they’re missing timely advice and valuable education, plants just in, beautiful photos!
Go to our website and join our e-newsletter list! (We’ll never share your info with others.)
FALL CALENDAR & SALE DETAILS
FALL SALE
MEMBERS SALE: Tuesday: Aug 22-Aug 27 for your special support, you are rewarded with 20% off plants, except Fruit Trees, fall veggie starts and house plants; 25% off books
FALL SALE begins for EVERYBODY: Tuesday Aug 29-Sept 3: 20% off most plants except veggies, fruit trees and houseplants Aug 29 – Sept 10th MEMBERS ONLY get 10% off in-store fertilizers (except Harlequin’s Fertility Mix and Azomite)
September 5-10 enjoy 25% off perennials, shrubs & trees. And 20% off Roses, and 20% off Compost Tea. (No discount on fruit trees, veggies or bulbs.) Our Deep Discount section will be opened: perennials $1.50 for 2 1/2s and $4.50 for quarts Plus bargain shrubs, trees & roses
Sept. 12-17 take 30% off perennials, shrubs, trees; and 20% off roses, soil products in big bags and 20% off Compost Tea. No discount on fruit trees, veggies, houseplants
Sept. 19 thru end of the season take 30% off perennials, shrubs, roses and trees, and 30% off soil products in big bags, & Compost Tea No discount on fruit trees, veggies, houseplants
We will close for the season October 29th at 5pm.
Autumn is harvest time.
Whatever bounty you have, share some of it.
You’ll be glad you did.
12th ANNUAL HOLIDAY GIFT MARKET
Saturday September 30th through Sunday October 29th.
Our famous Holiday Gift Market, featuring exceptional creative and sustainable artworks and products from local artisans is moved it up to October, to take advantage of warmer weather, open windows and doors for good air circulation.
On Sept 30 enjoy performances by some of our finest local musicians
Shop early for gifts in an uplifting, safe and comfortable environment. Encourage your friends and family to Subscribe to our excellent weekly E-Newsletter to receive preview information about this year’s musicians, artisans and makers, and see samples of their work!
Offering delicious handmade specialty foods, safe and effective herbal bodycare products, bees-wax candles, holiday ornaments, books, clothing & accessories, wreaths, CDs, artwork, flower bulbs, gloves, science tools and toys, puzzles, jewelry, kitchen & tablewares, & MUCH MORE!
Tell your friends about this truly local artisan market. Support the artists.
Watch our E-Newsletters and Website for Details!
Juli Neri pottery
Baxter Jones and Co. Linens and Aprons
Fall Bulbs!
Customers enjoying the Market
Lynn Mattingly Quilt