We are very proud of our staff, to help you to get to know us here are some short bios. To find out when a particular specialist will be at the nursery, please call us at 303-939-9403.
Alfredo Ortiz
originally hails from El Salvador, but has been a mainstay at Harlequin’s for 14 years – propagating, potting up and keeping our plants beautiful. Back in El Salvador he has a coffee farm with cows and other animals. Alfredo grew up on his grandfather’s dairy farm where he began learning to take care of plants and animals, and we feel blessed his skills grace us now.
Ann Zelnio
loves to help Harlequin’s Gardens customers learn about plants right for Colorado. A long-time teacher and advocate for organic gardening methods (she recently earned her Organic Master Gardener certification!), Ann also has interests in regenerative agriculture and gardening to nourish the living soil; tap-dancing; cooking whole grain food.
Annika Johnson-Dupree
started working in Harlequin’s Wholesale in 2022 after moving to Boulder from Minnesota. She grew up gardening with her mom and grandma, and made it into landscaping in her community. Annika loves caring for plants everyday and watching them grow.
Alex Bruce
has been the Wholesale Manager at Harlequin’s Wholesale since 2022. Growing up in Iowa, Alex had an easy time learning to grow veggies and flowers with her mom. After moving to Colorado, Alex became passionate about native plants and water sustainability. She started her career with plants over the pandemic in 2021 after making a career change from engineering. Outside of Harlequin’s, she loves going to local concerts near her home in Denver and crafting.
Damaris Andrews
has had a lifelong love affair with planting/growing gardens, creating beauty, and a passion for helping others do the same. She has worked in the gardening industry professionally for 10 years, along with other creative and outdoor pursuits along the way including playing violin in a professional Symphony and participating in the restaurant business.
Eve Reshetnik Brawner
has always had a passion for gardening and for studying, growing, and drawing plants. She has a degree in landscape architecture and over ten years of professional experience in that field. She has delved into roses, fragrant flowers, grasses, clematis, vegetables, and herbs, and is now smitten with natives and rock gardening. Eve, with Mikl, designed the rose garden at the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House. In her “spare” time she is a musician, a fine artist and loves to spend time in nature. Eve is co-owner of Harlequin’s Gardens.
Gary Meis
was the head propagator for Country Lane Wholesale Nursery for 20 years. He has a special interest and is very knowledgeable about edible and medicinal native plants. He is the primary propagator at our wholesale growing operation that supplies pesticide-free plants to Harlequin’s, local landscapers, cities, Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Butterfly Pavilion.
Jared Borowsky
has multiple degrees relating to horticulture (horticulture production, sustainable agriculture, natural areas management, and a permaculture design certificate). Jared is our Specialist for Trees, Shrubs and Houseplants. He is also involved in the production of our cool and warm season vegetables.
Jeff Edson
has a degree in biology and spent much of his professional life directing the cleanup of toxic waste sites, like the Rocky Mt. Arsenal. Jeff is an avid gardener and has been growing wine grapes for the past 20 years.
Jillian Gourley
has a degree in horticulture, arboriculture, and natural areas management. She is excited to help people navigate the plants of Harlequins and find what will best suit their and the plant’s needs. Jillian is fascinated with the native plants of the Rockies and particularly has interests in medicinals, edibles, and wild mushrooms.
Jose Escobar
has worked at Harlequin’s Gardens for eight years. We’re grateful for all he does behind the scenes keeping everything healthy. He loves to watch plants grow, and has been gardening since he was a teenager back in El Salvador.
Mary Polk
joins Harlequin Garden this season. After retiring from a full time career in healthcare, she worked at Longwood Botanical Gardens where
she pruned, planted and weeded in gardens ranging from formal ivy beds to native woodland shrubs to a vertical “green wall” planted with 36,000 ferns. She was introduced to the concepts of a natural garden and the use of native plants in the 1980’s and continues to learn and apply these concepts. She she has taken classes offered through the Denver Botanical Gardens, CO Master
Gardeners, and local nurseries such as Harlequin to learn about water-wise Colorado plants.
Mikl Brawner
got his initial training along the creeks and woods of eastern Iowa. He studied biology at the University of Iowa, then went to India with the Peace Corps. Back in America, he managed a small organic apple orchard, and operated a tree care business. Studying plants, researching alternatives to pesticides, and developing a xeriscape garden led him from the treetops to a plant nursery. Now the evolving Harlequin’s Gardens is his lifework, helping the gardening community to bring nature into their personal lives and homes using sustainable plants, materials and methods. His current passion is soil health and energy-efficient greenhouses. He was honored with the 2009 PaceSetter Award for the Environment.
Mimi Yanus
has grown vegetables and flowers for the Farmers Market and for a CSA. Her class at Harlequin’s on Veggie gardening is always popular. Talk with Mimi about growing vegetables and cut flowers.
Moss Butler
is specializing in our soil products, operating our forklift, dump truck and tractor. He mixes our basic soil mix and has been handy in various construction projects. He has helped design a product ordering system and is educating himself on Harlequin’s Soil Food Café. He loves hiking, snowboarding, snowshoeing, basketball, poetry, singing…the list goes on.
Roger Menell
has had Harlequin’s on his list of ‘happy places’ since moving to Boulder in 2005. He’s on a mission to help Colorado gardeners find the right native (or well adapted) plants for their landscape projects. Roger loves how native plants support our native insects, birds and soils, while also making our homes more beautiful. He also enjoys food, cooking, and music.
Stephanie Pache
is a life-long learner and educator by nature and training. She enjoys growing gardeners and nurturing their connection to the diverse life that surrounds us. Stephanie has learned that gardening is full of uncertainty and challenge as well as magic and mystery! Stephanie is often available to help you by phone, email or in person.
Sue Salinger
works at the intersection of education, environmental and food justice, and spirituality. Sue is a Colorado trained Master Gardener and has managed nonprofit educational farm and food justice projects in Detroit and Denver. For the past decade, Sue has brought people of all ages into relationship with the natural world through earth-based experiential learning. She’s grateful to be working on HG’s media and communications, and customer service.