Staff

spent most of her childhood identifying birds from her grandparents’ dining room window and identifying host plants to catch and raise caterpillars into butterflies. In addition to tending to her own vegetable garden, she is a certified Colorado Gardener and Permaculturist with a particular interest in advocating planting of the most ecologically beneficial native plants. She launched her own garden maintenance business this last summer, Roaming Roots Ecological Gardening, and has a real interest in helping to educate and empower others in supporting life and beauty in their own yards.

grew up with a strong love of nature and gardening further enhanced by working on farms. His passion for plants, sustainable agriculture, and PermaCulture brought him to Harlequin’s Gardens, where he is thrilled to be among people who share his values. Alexander loves to help others and feels that gardening is a great way to see and understand the need for a partnership of mutual nurturing with nature.

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, as well as a loving wife. 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.

studied cultural anthropology and spent five years farming on the East Coast before returning to her Colorado roots and diving into permaculture. She has worked at Harlequin’s in some capacity since, while also spending a summer with Boulder County Parks and Open Space, founding Left Hand Landscaping, and helping facilitate the Boulder Permaculture Design Course. Amy has a passion for the intersection between native and edible plants, drought resilient food production, shortgrass prairie ecosystems, and people–including the inspiring staff and customers Harlequin’s Gardens.

loves the chance to help Harlequin’s Gardens Wholesale customers learn about plants right for Colorado. She is grateful for all she is learning in return from her colleagues and customers at Harlequin’s. A long-time teacher and advocate for organic gardening methods, Ann also has interests in regenerative agriculture and gardening to nourish the living soil; tap-dancing; cooking nourishing whole grain food; sleeping; and (ahem) accounting.

helps to lift heavy things and to get dirty – really to just be an extra set of hands to help Mikl build things and get things done. Ben was a production manager for a cold brew coffee company in Virginia, where he began to learn more about the importance of what one puts into their body, and that it all starts by working down the food chain. This sparked an interest in quality inputs for plants and learning about the importance of high quality and natural soil and plant care. Ben loves to learn and share his knowledge with all who will listen!

may not often be seen  at the nursery, but she’s indispensable. A landscape architect with an emphasis in ecological practices and a longtime Harlequin staffer, creates and writes our informative and beautiful weekly e-newsletters, and maintains our ever-growing customer database!

with a degree in Urban Horticulture and decades of gardening experience, Engrid has been on our staff for many years. Engrid launched our beekeeping supply business and is also one of our custom-propagators, providing us with lots of organic vegetable and annual flower starts from her business Haystack Gardens’ greenhouse.

Co-Owner of Harlequin’s Gardens with her husband Mikl, is the plant nerd in the family. Passionate about studying, growing, and drawing plants for as long as she remembers. Prior to joining Mikl, she pursued careers in landscape architecture, botanical illustration, and custom picture framing. She leads development of the vision of the nursery, plant propagation planning, seed and plant ordering, seed collection, writing for our e-newsletters, marketing, curating our Holiday Gift Markets, and so much more!

spent 20 years as the head propagator at Country Lane Wholesale Nursery, before helping establish Harlequin’s Gardens Wholesale, which supplies the retail operation, local governments, and landscapers with pesticide-free plants. He has a special interest in and is extremely knowledgeable about edible and medicinal native plants. When not managing operations “down below” in wholesale he’s probably out in the woods finding mushrooms or other delights.

has a passion for sustainability and problem solving. You may occasionally hear him say “Consume less, recycle more!” His background in Chemical Engineering and passion for the Earth has led him to Harlequin’s Gardens. James makes a positive impact on grounds maintenance in the front gardens and the wholesale department. With a specialization in water treatment and a passion for programming, you may find him analyzing our Compost Tea or uploading pertinent information to our website.

recently moved to Colorado and has multiple degrees relating to horticulture (horticulture production, sustainable agriculture, natural areas management, and a permaculture design certificate). Jared has spent two years working as a foreman and potting lead at a wholesale nursery in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He will be involved in the production of plants at Harlequins, as well plant inventory.

has put energy and passion into the preservation and protection of our precious soils by starting in our community’s backyard. Through enthusiastic observation while working in local school gardens, in our Boulder County Open Spaces and in her own home gardens, she has come to recognize the need to protect and preserve the integrity of our soils. Jessica is excited to learn and grow her knowledge of Colorado gardening with the fine folks at Harlequin’s Nursery.

is originally from the Midwest, coming to Colorado with 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.

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.

our resident beekeeper and entomologist has an undergraduate degree in biology and a master’s in honey bee behavior genetics from CU.  She opened her first beehive 35 years ago and has been hooked on bees ever since.  Beekeeping has taken her to 5 states, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada.  While living in Washington she co-owned a pollination business with both honey and mason bees. Currently she keeps about 10 of her own hives and with her business,  Beehave, mentors beekeepers along the Front Range. She manages our Bee Barn, and can answer your questions about both native and honey bees and the equipment to keep them along with sharing her extensive horticultural knowledge.

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 started a tree care business. Studying plants, researching alternatives to pesticides, and developing a xeriscape garden led him from the tree tops to a plant nursery. Now the evolving Harlequin’s Gardens is his life-work, 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 designing an energy-efficient greenhouse. He was honored with the 2009 PaceSetter Award for the Environment.

brings a degree from CU in Environmental Studies; a background in communications; and leadership in the non-profit sector to Harlequin’s. She’s quickly learning about our plants at a rapid clip and her smart, helpful and cheerful energy delights customers and coworkers alike.

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! You can consult with Stephanie on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays.

is passionate about bridging the gap between our inner health and the health of our beautiful planet. She loves working outside with seeds, plants, soil, and microorganisms, and carries that love and energy with her when helping customers at Harlequin’s, or while getting down and dirty at one of the local farms. She is Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition, a Certified Health Coach and Personal Trainer, earned a Permaculture Design Certification, and holds a degree in Education. If interested, you can find more info on Susan’s nutrition work at www.mbsnutrition.earth.