Blog

Mountain Time Soap

Founded by Stacy Smoot, Mountain Time Soap is hand-made in Golden, CO. Stacy was born and raised in the Mountain West, and is dedicated to living simply and responsibly to enable spending time in the mountains. They use only pure simple vegan ingredients from nature: plant-based-skin-loving oils like olive and coconut oils and shea butter, natural clays and botanicals for color, and pure essential oils for antimicrobial and aromatherapy properties. No lathering agents, hardening agents, fillers, or artificial dyes or fragrance are ever used.

For the Furry Friend in your life, we’ll have their fair-trade organic Dog Wash Bar, carefully formulated to get your pet cleaned up without harmful, allergenic or irritating ingredients. Their products are attractively but minimally packaged, with recyclable and compostable materials. Mountain Time Soap gives back by donating 1% of annual gross sales to Colorado environmental non-profits.

West County Gardening Gloves

We love West County gloves! They are made from recycled plastic bottles, are very durable and stand-up to several seasons of tough gardening. They are machine washable and retain their shape, and they come in great colors and patterns! We carry their Work Glove, Rose Gauntlet, Mud Glove and Grip Glove, all in a range of sizes.

If you give these gloves as a gift, be assured that the recipient is welcome to exchange them for a different in-stock size, as long as they are still unused and in their original packaging.

Smart Cookie Barkery

Doesn’t your dog deserve a gift? What does your dog love the best, besides you, and fetching? Good food, of course! Smart Cookie is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, where Scott and Bri Bradley make all-natural dehydrated treats and jerky for dogs. Their endeavor is founded on the principle that your dog’s treats should be custom tailored to what your dog(s) need to maintain their best possible health, and be yummy as well.

Smart Cookie products are made from scratch in small batches, using fresh, wholesome, human-grade ingredients – real meats that they grind in-house, vegetables and fruits – then dehydrated to retain maximum nutritional value. Their treats are grain-free and soy-free, and have no artificial ingredients.

Wellspring Way Herbals

Leslie Lewis is our friend and our neighborhood ‘Good Witch’, a dynamic woman who puts her boundless talents, her 30+ years of experience, her wisdom and energy into diverse enterprises, including her practice as a certified clinical herbalist and maker of inspired herbal preparations that really work.

Her soothing salves for cracked and dry skin, congestion, rashes and burns, and sleeplessness belong in every family’s medicine chest. Leslie’s wonderful xeric garden and beehive provide most of the raw ingredients for WW’s salves, all of which are organic, nutrient dense, and free of pesticides. Wellspring Way salves are created with the motto “if you can’t put it in your mouth, then don’t put it on your skin.”

Ready, Set, Plant!

What a storm we had last week! With the windy conditions and record-setting low temps, everyone’s gardens looks very different this week and may need some attention. If you haven’t already, this is a good time to review our blog about garden cleanup. The good news is that soil temperatures have cooled down to the optimal soil temperature for bulb planting, ~50 degrees. And, our current mild daytime temps and above-freezing nighttime temps are ideal for planting perennials, and still good for planting roses, shrubs and trees. Inoculating with mycorrhizae and attention to fall and winter watering are the keys to success.

Bulb Planting and Tulipa ‘Paul Scherer’

Starting with bulb planting: Recommended planting depths are to the bottom of the planting hole where the base of the bulb rests. Planting depth can vary depending on how light or heavy your soil is – plant deeper in light soils, shallower in heavier soils. (If you’re in doubt, a general rule is that planting depth is 3 times the height of the bulb.)

You don’t have to dig a single hole for each bulb! You can dig a large hole, say 8-14″ wide by 16-24″ long, to accommodate a large grouping, or swath of bulbs. This is a great way to save time, to create a more naturalized look, and to combine two or three types of bulbs in one grouping.

Single Early, Triumph, Darwin Hybrid, and Multi-flowering tulips should be planted 8″ deep to perform as perennials, and fertilized each year just after bloom. Be sure to allow the leaves and stems to wither naturally before cutting them down.

You may want to sprinkle bone meal in the bottom of the hole so that it can touch the bulb roots. We love Root Rally, which is a blend of bone meal and Endo/Ecto mycorrhizae spores and plant nutrients, providing mycorrhizae life support for all plants. (See more on mycorrhizae, below.) Refill the hole and water well.

See Eve’s ideas for ways and places to use bulbs that you may not have thought of!

Peruse our complete list of 2019 bulbs and individual images and descriptions

Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’

Planting perennials, roses, shrubs and trees: The fall is a great time to plant perennials, roses and shrubs as they can focus solely on root growth instead of trying to reproduce. After gently removing its pot, gently swish the root ball in a bucket of unchlorinated water with water-soluble mycorrhizae (let the water sit overnight to release chlorine and add the mycorrhizae later). Mycorrhizae is a beneficial fungi that attaches to roots, allowing them to better absorb water and nutrients. This results in faster plant and root growth, and better transplanting success. If you only have granular mycorrhizae on-hand, sprinkle it on the roots as you are planting. Read more about mycorrhizae in Mikl’s article, “Mycorrhizae: The Hidden Marriage of Plants and Fungi”.

By gently swishing the root ball in water, the root mass will loose its pot-shape and individual roots will be lengthened. This allows the ends of the roots to be planted deeper, helping to ensure long-term drought hardiness.

After late-season planting, be sure to (hand) water deeply and frequently, at least twice a month for woody plants, throughout the winter.

For specific info on rose planting, see Eve’s rose planting instructions.

Zauschneria garrettii ‘Orange Carpet’

Finally, a quick additional word on garden clean-up. Some of our Southwestern plants should not yet be cut-back. Wait until April to do so, which will give them additional time to gather and store nutrients, and keep the crowns of the plants from getting too cold. These plants include, but aren’t limited to, Agastache, Salvia (S. lemmonii ‘Desert Rose’, S. reptans, S. x microphyllus ‘Royal Ruby’, S. greggii ‘Furman’s Red’, S. darcyi), Zauschneria (Hummingbird Trumpet), Scrophularia macrantha (Red Birds in a Tree), Scutellaria suffrutescens (Cherry Skullcap), Gaura lindheimeri.

Snow Preparation and Protection

With our current mild temperatures, it can be difficult to visualize the forecast 50 degree drop in temperature and snow that await us Wednesday night. But we saw it happen a few years ago and know that our green gardens may become limp puddles of frozen plant material, and that worse, since trees and shrubs have not dropped their foliage yet their branches may break under their weight of the snow. The good news is that there are a few things you can do to mitigate damage.

SHRUBS and TREES – These in-leaf plants are the most vulnerable to damage as the wet and heavy snow can break their branches. To help prevent this, knock the snow off the plant periodically. If possible, do so by knocking the under-side of the branch rather than striking downward on the plant.

SMALL SHRUBS – Valuable, young woody perennials and shrubs, such as Daphne, can be protected by covering with over-turned plant pots to help protect their branches from breaking.

PERENNIALS – Following the snow storm, it’s fine to leave the remaining plant material.

COOL SEASON VEGGIES – To minimize damage, harvest your kale, chard, spinach, etc. as desired, then cover the remaining in-ground plant with a couple layers of Ensulate Row Cover fabric. Large over-turned plant pots, stuffed with bubble-wrap will suffice as well. The snow on top of the fabric and/or pots will also help to insulate the plant. We have used plant pots are available for sale at low prices.

TOMATOES – If your tomato plants are still bearing fruit, pull the tomato plant and it’s roots out of the ground and hang it upside-down in a frost-free place such as a heated garage, where much of the fruit should continue to ripen. If this isn’t possible, harvest your fruit and let it ripen on a window sill. So long as the tomato is showing some lightening of the green flesh to pale green or white, it will likely ripen.

Garden Magazine’s 2019 State of the Industry Report

This fall, Garden Magazine’s Matt Mcclellan interviewed Mikl to find out more about our sustainable approach to growing plants and how it appeals to our conscientious customers. Read the article here

Bulb Tips from Eve

Species Crocus are the earliest Crocus to flower, at least two weeks before their Large Flowering siblings, and are the best for early spring lawn tapestries: hold off mowing the lawn until the foliage has died back. Drifts are also lovely in garden borders and rock gardens. Plant 4” deep and 3”- 4” apart, about nine bulbs per square foot for a dense planting. (Crocus are also good for forcing indoors over the winter. Pot them up in mid-October and pre-cool them at a consistent, dark 38 to 45 degrees F for eight to ten weeks with moderate watering. Bring them into the house ~ they will bloom about four weeks later.)

Narcissus (Daffodil) Culture

Narcissus are easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Best in organically rich, sandy to loams that drain well. Plant bulbs 4-6″ deep and 3-6” apart in fall. After the flowers have bloomed, the top portion of each flower stem may be removed, as practicable, to prevent seed formation, but foliage should not be cut back until it begins to yellow. Flowers usually face the sun, so bulbs should be grown with any shade areas at the rear of the planting. Bulbs can be left undisturbed for a number of years.

RELAX! RECONSIDERING GARDEN CLEANUP

Autumn has declared itself on the Front Range, and many gardeners are itching to bring a close to the gardening year by tidying up. But wait! There are some important issues to consider here before bringing out the rakes, blowers, clippers and shears.

Now is a great time to take a long look at your gardens and make notes on successes, disappointments, gaps, and changes that you’d like to make. Assess the ecosystem you have created, and think about how you can make it even more supportive of our precious wildlife, beneficial insects, pollinators and soil life.

A certain amount of garden cleanup is very important for reducing diseases and pests that are difficult to control. If you haven’t already done so, do remove diseased plants from your vegetable garden. You should have been removing and treating diseased foliage from roses or shrubs with fungal diseases like mildew, blackspot or rust before now, but if their disease-carrying foliage is falling now, keep them picked up and dispose of them responsibly.

But don’t be so quick to scalp those perennials and annuals! Many of them provide natural food and shelter sources that wildlife and beneficial insects depend on for winter survival. You may not have noticed, but so many beneficial insects and butterfly larvae spend the winter in the (often hollow) dead stems. If you throw them out, you’ll lose most of the beneficials that would otherwise keep the balance next year. Always keep an eye out for egg cases attached to stalks when you prune or clean up. There’s often an aesthetic side-benefit – many seed-heads look fabulous either crowned with snow or silhouetted against the snow-covered ground.

Some perennials die back to below ground (peonies, gas plant, golden banner, balloon flower, desert four o’clock, gayfeather, gas plant, leadwort/plumbago, etc.) leaving no basal growth and leaving a completely blank space. To make sure you don’t forget where they are and accidentally dig them up or step on them, leave dry stems until the new growth begins to appear in spring.

Unless you have an ‘ornamental’ grass that self-sows aggressively, leave grasses and their seedheads standing. If they are ‘cool-season’ grasses, you’ll want to leave them until about mid-February, then cut them to 3” above the ground so they can begin making unimpeded new growth as soon as the soil thaws. Dormant ‘warm-season’ grasses can remain attractive until warm weather comes and don’t need to be cut down until April.

Leaving dry stalks standing in the winter also helps preserve soil structure. Snow collects between the stalks and provides protection from freezing temperatures by insulation for the crowns of the plants, especially important for marginally hardy plants. Captured snow keeps soil temperature more consistent, protecting from extreme temperature fluctuations, and helps prevent the alternate freezing and thawing that can disrupt mycorrhizal networks (and uproot plants, especially new and small ones).

Leave the leaves! The larvae of many butterflies overwinter in the blanket of autumn leaves, as well as other beneficials. The leaves also provide cover for frogs, toads and spiders. Songbirds eat more than just seeds; they search in the leaf litter for insect eggs and caterpillars. As they naturally break down over time, they feed the soil microbes that make nutrients available to plants. Worried about harboring snail and slugs? Before those leaves begin to fall, spread a non-toxic slug bait like Sluggo in areas of concern. You may want to remove leaves and twigs from patios, decks, walkways and lawns, and that’s fine – especially if you can spread them under shrubs or pile them in a corner where they’ll remain undisturbed through the winter. And very large, flat leaves from trees like Basswood (Tilia americana), Norway Maple, Sycamore/London Planetree) should be cleared from beds or they can form a slick solid mat that smothers the crowns of smaller plants.

Xeriscape: Native Plants

Achillea lanulosa (Achillea millefolium var. lanulosa) (Yarrow)

Agave parryi neomexicana

Amelanchier alnifolia (Serviceberry)

Amorpha canescens (Leadplant)

Aquilegia barnebyi

Aquilegia caerulea (Rocky Mt. Columbine)[Read More]

Climate Strike 2019

“On September 20th, young people and adults across the US and world will strike to tell the UN and leaders across the world that we want climate action. By growing and uniting the multi generational climate movement, the strike is the launch of a new era for just and equitable climate action.”

– Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center

Harlequin’s Gardens is joining the Climate Strike, Friday Sept. 20th, by striking while the iron is hot, increasing the focus on the Climate Crisis.

At Harlequin’s Gardens we will not be leaving our jobs on September 20. Instead we will be at work for Harlequin’s where we are always working to help you and the planet. AND we will be giving away one Free bag of compost with each purchase, on Friday, the 20th.[Read More]

2019 Tomato Tasting Results

This year’s tomato tasting was a great success, with a total of 41 tomato varieties present over the 3-hour event!

Participants brought in some wonderful new varieties this year, including Pink Bumble Bee Cherry, Gajo de Melon, and Blue Cream Berries. We always take people’s votes into account when deciding which tomato varieties to carry, so look for the most popular varieties from this year and previous years when you come to buy your organic tomato starts next spring at Harlequin’s Gardens. Every year we grow 80+ great varieties for all kinds of uses and growing conditions! A huge thank-you to Growing Gardens for providing our the location, helping us publicize the event, and for bringing us some fabulous volunteers. Thank you also to the volunteers of Slow Food Boulder County. We couldn’t have done it without you!

2019 Taste of Tomato Vote Tally

[Read More]

Lycium (Goji Berry)

Whoever heard of Goji Berry 20 years ago? Now, with the current interest in superfoods, phytonutrients and antioxidants, Goji Berry juice and dried fruits can be found in many urban grocery stores. The 70+ species of Lycium are found on most continents and one species, Lycium pallidum, is native to Colorado. But the best known and most grown Goji is Lycium barbarum, the Chinese Wolfberry, also known as Matrimony Vine, Desert Thorn and Boxthorn. What is not commonly known is that this exotic superfood can be easily grown in Colorado.[Read More]

Insectary Plants: Let Nature Manage the Pests

It’s a common idea that Nature, left to its own devices, comes to some kind of balance. If one organism gets too numerous, something else will increase to reduce that population. In the case of monocultures created by humans, there is an enforced imbalance that has to be propped up with lots of energy and effort. So in the pursuit of sustainability, humans are opening our eyes to the possibility of biomimicry, imitating Nature. We are coming to the realization that biodiversity is far healthier and less energy intensive than monocultures born out of the aggressive hubris to control Nature. “Let Nature take her course.” But we can stack the deck in human favor first.[Read More]

Biological Farming & Gardening

A newer science that’s not tied to petroleum profits is emerging to challenge the industrial approach to agriculture and gardening. Enormously powerful, politically connected giants like Monsanto, Bayer, and Dupont will continue to make money, but after 60 years of dominance, the “Better Living Through Chemistry” model can no longer hide its fatal flaws. Mountains of evidence now point to the downside of chemical agriculture: poisoning the earth, driving global climate change, causing major health problems, killing pollinators, destroying the life of the soil. The good news is that a more long-range, wholistic view called Biological Agriculture and Gardening is starting to take its place.

This “new” method is based on an entirely different paradigm or model of plant culture. Instead of the bellicose mentality that birthed the pesticide-fungicide-herbicide and chemical fertilizer approach, the biological approach taps the same cooperative relationships that Nature herself has long employed successfully for survival and sustainability. Instead of seeing bacteria as germs, fungi as diseases, and insects and weeds as pests, the biological model sees Nature as brilliantly creative and diverse, and basically good. The scientific truth is that few insects, bacteria and fungi are harmful; most are beneficial or essential to plant development, plant health, and subsequently for human health.[Read More]

Xersicape: Non-Native Plants

Acantholimon glumaceum

Acantholimon hohenackeri

Acantholimon litwanovii

Achillea ‘Moonshine’

Achillea ageratifolia (Greek Yarrow)[Read More]

Non-Toxic Weed and Pest Control

Non-toxic Herbicides

Summer is a successful time to kill weeds, either by mechanical weeding or with herbicides. But toxic herbicides, like Roundup are not solutions we recommend. Roundup in particular was once believed to be quite safe, but now is shown to be harmful to soil life including nitrogen-fixing bacteria, amphibians and is a probable human carcinogen. Roundup formulations can be up to 400 times more toxic than the active ingredient, glyphosate.

At Harlequin’s Gardens, we only sell non-toxic products, but not all non-toxic products are actually effective. Four years ago we tested five non-toxic herbicides and found only two to be really effective: 20% Vinegar and Avenger.

20% Vinegar is 20% acetic acid. It is a non-selective organic acid that quickly kills many weeds, then quickly biodegrades. Repeated use can acidify the soil which is usually a benefit in our alkaline soil. Be careful not to spray desirable plants, and be careful to protect your eyes, especially on windy days. It is most effective on small plants. Repeated applications may be necessary on perennial weeds.

Avenger is a citrus oil weed killer that we found to be equally effective as the vinegar. It is certified organic and is biodegradable. Avenger is non-selective so care must be taken to keep spray off desirable plants. It comes in a ready-to-use (RTU) formula and in a concentrate which may be mixed stronger for tougher, perennial weeds. Like vinegar, it is most effective on small plants, and is best sprayed during hot weather in direct sunlight.

In order to “control” bindweed and other weeds with extensive root systems, don’t let new growth get longer than 2″ or the weed will revive.

BLISTER BEETLE: We have been hearing reports of Blister Beetle attacking clematis. This is a light grey, long beetle that can defoliate a clematis vine in 2 or 3 days. We have found that an organic product called Veggie Pharm actually kills this beetle. It must be sprayed directly on the beetle. (Don’t try to pick up a Blister Beetle; they can raise a blister)

Tree Wrap: We recently saw a big buck with his antlers in the velvet stage. This the time of year deer cause the most damage, when bucks rub their itchy antlers on smooth, usually young tree trunk, tearing the bark. Sometimes a young tree can be girdled in one night. We carry a very good spiral plastic tree wrap that protects trees from deer, rabbits, sun scald in winter. It is superior to paper wraps because it lets air circulate so moisture does not decay the bark. It can be left on in the summer and it expands as the tree grows. Once the bark is older and tougher, it will no longer need protection.

Curl-Leaf Mt. Mahogany

Curl-leaf Mt. Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius)

This tall shrub or short tree is a beautiful broadleaf evergreen that is native to Colorado and much of the west up to 9000’. It’s narrow, curled leaves are an adaptation to reduce exposure to drying sun and wind; consequently it is very drought resistant, needing no irrigation after being established.The leaves are also thick, leathery, resinous and dark green above and pale below. Flowers are mostly inconspicuous and the fruit is only 1/4” long with a 2”-3” long silky tail. In dry weather these tails twist like a cork screw and with a little wind can be carried a good distance and then they will screw the seed right into the soil.[Read More]

2011 Plant Select Winners

Plant Select is a 25 year old cooperative program combining the efforts of Denver Botanic Garden, Colorado State University and some members of the local green industry. Their intention is to chose, propagate and promote plants that are well-adapted to Colorado conditions, colorful and are either little known or underutilized. The 2011 choices are a particularly excellent group.[Read More]

Hyacinth ‘Aiolos’

Dense columns of waxy, pure white florets appear in mid-spring on sturdy stems. Aiolos has an intense, sweet fragrance and is a long-lasting cut flower. Grows 10” tall. Plant 6” deep and 6” apart. Hardy to zone 3.

2018 Taste of Tomato Results

This year’s Taste of Tomato was a blast! We love the new location at Growing Gardens’ Barn, with its’ beautiful view of the Flatirons, easy access, and wonderful staff. The tasting featured 44 different varieties of tomatoes, with Aunt Ruby’s German Green winning the greatest number of votes. Participants brought in some wonderful new varieties this year, including Brad’s Atomic Grape, Thornburn’s Terracotta, and Indigo Cherry. Look for the most popular varieties from this year and previous years when you come to buy your organic tomato starts next spring at Harlequin’s Gardens. Every year we grow 80+ great varieties for all kinds of uses and growing conditions![Read More]

Plants which Bloom in July

Many gardeners think of Spring as the height of the ornamental gardening season. Sure, so many of our best-known flowering plants – Tulip, Crocus, Daffodil, Primrose, Peony, Lilac, Forsythia, Oriental Poppy, Basket of Gold, Bearded Iris, are at their showiest in spring. But as we pass to the other side of the Summer Solstice, a whole new palette of blooms arises, including many Natives, lots of Prairie-dwellers and Steppe plants, and hardy plants from South of the Border, bringing bold color and attracting more and different beneficial insects and pollinators to the garden. Here’s a list of many of those flowers to inspire you!

Acanthus balcanicus (Bear’s Breech)
Achillea (Yarrow)
Aconitum (Monkshood)
Agastache aurantiaca ‘Coronado’
Agastache aurantiaca ‘Coronado Red’
Agastache ‘Blue Boa’
Agastache foeniculum (Anise Hyssop)
Alcea (Hollyhock)
[Read More]

Harvest Guidelines for Summer Crops

Here are a few harvest guidelines for summer crops:

Eggplants should be picked while they are still firm and glossy. Once their skins have become dull, they will be softer and have dark seeds, which can spoil the flavor. Eggplants don’t keep long, so use them soon after harvest.

Bell peppers and sweet frying peppers are sweetest when allowed to ripen fully to their mature color, yellow, orange, red, purple or mahogany. Bell peppers are often picked green, but their flavor will be a lot more pungent and they may be more challenging to digest.

Some of the hot peppers are traditionally enjoyed green – poblano, mulatto, jalapeno, Anaheim-type, while most of the rest are allowed to ripen to red (cherry, habanero, cayenne, lanterna, any chile dried for a ristra, etc.) orange (Bulgarian Carrot), or dark brown (Pasilla).[Read More]

Narcissus ‘Mount Hood’

Breathtaking pure white flowers. Grows to 14” tall. Plant 6” deep and 6” apart in full sun to light shade. Deer and rabbit resistant. Hardy to zone 3.

Narcissus ‘Princess Zaide’ Small-Cup Tall Daffodil

This elegant Narcissus has broad white overlapping petals and a small white cup. Grows 16–20″ tall and blooms mid to Late Spring. Deer and Rabbit-resistant! Hardy to zone 3.

Narcissus ‘Spring Pride’ Large Cup Daffodil

‘Spring Pride’ has white petals and a white trumpet with ruffled apricot-pink fringe. The plant will not leaf out until after the Narcissus have bloomed. Deer and rabbit resistant. Plant 8” deep and 6” apart in full sun to light shade. Hardy to zone 3.

Tulipa ‘Lipgloss Stain’ Species Tulip Mix

This mix of species tulips in pastel pinks and greenish-yellows is reminiscent of a watercolor painting. The flowers grow to 8” tall. Plant 6” deep in full to part sun. Hardy to zone 3

Xeriscape Herb Garden

Usually when we talk about xeriscape gardening, we think of rock garden kinds of plants or natives, but there are a lot of herbs that survive and even thrive in low water conditions. I learned about this from my own herb garden which went from low water irrigation to next to no watering. It had been established for ten years and then three years ago, I had to cut back the watering to only a couple times a year.[Read More]

Planting Instructions for Roses

Planting Container-Grown Own-Root Roses

Thank you for buying your roses at Harlequin’s Gardens nursery! To get off to a good start for growing beautiful, healthy roses, please follow these planting instructions. Please read them through before you begin.

WHEN: Many of our roses have been over-wintered outdoors; these may be planted as soon as your soil can be properly dug and worked. Otherwise, in Colorado’s Front Range region, plant roses after the average “last frost” date (in Boulder,May 15). Roses that have just arrived from greenhouse growers may need to be “hardened off” for 4 to 7 days prior to planting. Keep them outdoors in a place where they’ll be somewhat protected from sun, wind and major temperature changes (you can bring them into a garage or shed temporarily to wait out a late frost or storm). You can plant roses all through the summer, as long as you can keep them watered. And we’ve had great success with fall planting, well into October, with monthly winter watering.[Read More]

Cherry Trees on the Front Range

According to some reports, Colorado weather in 2014-2015 has resulted in the deaths of 80% of our cherry, plum and peach trees. How did this happen? Does it make sense to replant? And if so, how can we reduce future losses and increase fruitful successes? This article will focus on cherry trees.[Read More]

A Xeriscape Harvest

For most people, harvest time brings to mind a cornucopia of veggies and fruits. For me, the end of this 2009 growing season has been a fruition of over 20 years of cultivating a xeriscape where most of the trees and shrubs have been watered 5 times a year or less. These self-imposed watering restrictions have demonstrated which plants can survive and thrive under serious water shortages. I have done this both to encourage water conservation in Colorado and to demonstrate that a dry western landscape can be beautiful.

The reason why 2009 feels like a harvest year is because many of my woody plants are now mature and because with all the rain we’ve been getting, my xeriscape has never looked better at the end of summer.[Read More]

Big, Bold, and Beautiful

If you’ve got room for some big splashes of color in a garden that is not pampered with water and fertilizers, here are some tough natives that will pay for their real estate.

Desert Four O’Clock, Mirabilis multiflora is a Colorado perennial that, like its annual cousins, blooms from late afternoon to mid-morning. The trumpet-shaped flowers are of a rich purplish rose color and virtually cover the foliage when the flowers are open, blooming for several months starting in July. The leaves are thick and blue-green. They look so innocent as seedlings, and then they grow and grow to a 3’-4’ mound, 1 ½-2’ high. The stems lie on the ground, providing a mulching effect.[Read More]

Eve’s Favorite Fragrant Roses

“Banshee” (found) Z 4, dbl pink 2″ early & long-blooming May-June, rich sweet damask fragrance; large shrub or climber, no die-back, very disease resistant, very tough & tolerant of low water, poor soil, shade, once established. Distinctive matte foliage, fall color- purple, orange. Common in old neighborhoods all along the Front Range.Not terribly prickly. Cut armloads for big fragrant spring bouquets!
“Broadway Perpetual” (found, Boulder) Z 5 (4?) Large dbl strong pink quartered, deep old-rose perfume, spring & fall, sporadic inbetween. Good cut-flower. Seems somewhat shade-tolerant. Strong arching growth to 7’. Potential climber? Healthy foliage, moderately prickly.
“Fairmount Proserpine” (found, Denver)

[Read More]

Growing Roses Without Chemicals

Here is the basic approach which we use at Harlequin’s Gardens to grow hundreds of roses without using any pesticides or fungicides, and only using a few soft controls.[Read More]

A Soil Revolution

In this article, Mikl explains why Soil Health matters.

From Peak Soil to Soil Revolution

We are having a real revolution in our relationship with our soils. The turning point is our change in focus from soil fertility to soil health. In the last 60 years of the “Green Revolution” (i.e. the petrochemical boom), soil was viewed as a physical structure and fertility was viewed as a measure of chemicals in the soil — primarily NPK, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The petroleum industry could make these macronutrients from natural gas, which make plants grow but often in poor health. Weak plants attract insect pests and fungal diseases, so more petroleum in the forms of insecticides and fungicides added to the success of the oil industry. But this approach has led to “Peak Soil” where land is losing productivity, crops are losing nutritional value, the soil is eroding at extreme rates, and the health of animals and people has declined.[Read More]

How Do We Manage Fireblight

Colorado is said to be the worst state in the US for fireblight, and 2018 was considered by many to be one of the worst years in Colorado. Fireblight is a serious disease affecting apples, crabapples, pears, Mountain Ash and hawthorn, and sometimes quince and pyracantha (supposedly up to 73 species of plants).[Read More]

Growing Agave in Colorado

Most of us in Colorado know that Agave is the source of tequilla and Agave sweetener, but fewer have seen it growing here. Even more rare is the sight of Agave in bloom. The Century Plant doesn’t really take 100 years to bloom, but it does seem to take forever. After 13 years, my Agave parryi, whose bold and armed rosette finally achieved 31” in diameter and 16” tall, began this May to push up a bloom stalk. Then it skyrocketed 3”-4” A DAY until it reached eleven and half feet tall with a candelabra of rich yellow flowers. Eclectic horticulturist Bob Nold says in his book High and Dry, “Their flowering, mostly, is as spectacular a thing as the plant kingdom has invented….”[Read More]

Drought Resiliency

Drought resiliency is normally thought of as the ability to spring back after a drought or maybe it means tolerant of drought. But when a plant is stressed by having little water, its ability to survive and even thrive is influenced by other factors, some of which are Health, Vitality, Strength and Immune function.

The word Sustainability has become popular as a goal, but the word is too static. A more active word is Re-generative. We can “create” gardens that not only can maintain, but also support the abilities of Life to regrow, multiply, defend itself against predators and add to the vitality of other living things around it.[Read More]

Drought Water Restrictions

Drought, Water Restrictions and Gardening: How Can They Go Together?

I think we were all caught off guard by this drought, by how fast we were forced to see dying trees and brown lawns and by the difficult discipline of watering restrictions. This was especially true in Boulder and Lafayette where mandatory restrictions began in May. Actually, 2002 is the third year in a genuine drought, which some of us without city water supplies can confirm. This year all around Boulder, Red Twig Dogwoods turned brown, linden leaves were scorched, Norway Maples suffered, many viburnums were looking very stressed, and trees in medians defoliated or died. Gardeners caught in the crunch between weeks of hot, dry weather and few opportunities to water, held off most of their planting projects; some started talking about moving away to where they could garden. For Denver and other Colorado cities, next year could be much worse.[Read More]

July Color in the Xeriscape Garden

Xeriscape? Are you kidding? With all the rain we’ve been getting, isn’t the drought over?

As I understand our current water situation, water restrictions are still in effect for the Denver area, Colorado Springs has had a very dry spring until July and is under water restrictions, the Western Slope has been dry, New Mexico has been dry until July; and Montana and South Dakota are having severe droughts. What this means is that the wonderful moist season we are enjoying in the Denver area depends on ephemeral conditions we cannot count on. In addition, much of our water comes from the Western Slope where weather patterns can be quite different from our own, so even if our gardens are getting watered, it doesn’t mean our reservoirs will be full. We live in a semi-arid environment and water conservation and xeriscaping will be increasingly important as our population grows, especially if global warming increases our temperatures.[Read More]

On The Dry Side

Plants that can survive and even thrive with little water are always valuable in Colorado where we get 15”-18” of precipitation most years. But when a real drought comes or when limited snowfall in the mountains means water restrictions down here, then xeriscape plants are essential in our gardens

Because the well at Harlequin’s Gardens nursery is so poor, my rockery garden has been on water restrictions for the last 25 years. Here are some plants that have performed well in my garden that is watered only 3 to 7 times a year.[Read More]

Opportunities and Tricks of Xeriscape

Since the drought of 2002, there has been some real progress in understanding and appreciating xeriscape or water wise landscaping. And yet some people think the drought is over and that we can go back to assuming that we have as much water as we want. But it is quite possible that we could have more droughts, and it would be painful to be as unprepared as we were in 2002. That was our wake-up call. And even with the moister weather in recent years, peoples values are changing. They are more interested in sustainable landscapes, and they want more economical landscapes and gardens that need less water, time, energy and money. And of course that means using plants and methods that are adapted to Colorado conditions.[Read More]

Some Drought-Tolerant Gems

Plants that tolerate or even revel in hot, dry conditions are always in vogue in Colorado. We may be blessed with moisture in the spring, as we had this year, but by June or July our vegetables need regular watering and east coast woodland plants are melting. There are some plants, however that are adapted to hot and dry conditions. Some are natives and some are from other regions of the world that have similar drought stresses as we have here.

These gems are ones that we have tested at Harlequin’s Gardens where none of our demonstration gardens are watered more than once a week, and others only 5 or 6 times a year. We can recommend these plants as successful and enjoyable under mandated or self-imposed watering restrictions.[Read More]

Testing Xeriscape Groundcovers

TESTING XERISCAPE GROUNDCOVERS TO REPLACE LAWN AREAS

Whether this turns out to be a drought year or not, the idea of conserving water is probably as vital to our future as educating our children. As long as the human population grows, the demand on our water reserves will continue to rise, forcing eventual water-rationing even if the supply stays the same. And as we have seen this year, we can’t count on a bountiful supply from the heavens. Ten years ago these ideas, and the fact that my own water source is a very low-producing well, got me to thinking about how much water we use in Colorado to water our lawns. We know that xeriscape plants use less water than bluegrass, so why couldn’t we use large areas of certain low-water plants to replace lawn, which could greatly reduce the demand on our valuable water? In order to test a variety of xeriscape plants that might function as replacements for Kentucky Bluegrass, I built a 104′ x 6′ demonstration garden which will be on the 2002 Xeriscape Garden Tour, taking place in Boulder June 29th and 30th.[Read More]

The 2002 Drought

Drought, Water Restrictions and Gardening: How Can They Go Together?

Three Xeric Plant Select Favorites

Here are three hardy, xeric and floriferous plants that are successful in western gardens.

Russian Hawthorn, Crataegus ambiguus was tested at the Cheyenne Horticultural Station and found to be well-adapted to the west. It is native to Armenia, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey. I have a 20 year-old specimen growing without irrigation along with many native shrubs. The mature size is 15′-20′ high and wide in our area. The branches grow quite horizontally which gives it natural character. It lends itself to a bonsai/character style, and I have been growing one in a big ceramic pot for 10 years. The finely cut leaves give a soft appearance and in May it blooms with profuse white flowers that are attractive to bees and butterflies and followed by showy red berries in August/September that are eaten by birds. Very dry conditions can result in fewer flowers and fruit. Like apples, to which Hawthorns are related, the seeds contain some cyanide, so should not be eaten, but the berries are edible and make a respected heart tonic.[Read More]

Xeriscape Perennials That Withstand Colorado

“The quality of mercy is not strained
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.” Shakespeare

It was great to have a long cool spring with plenty of moisture, but since it followed the very hot temperatures and drought of 2002, it really felt like a merciful blessing. Now instead of dying trees and brown lawns, the streams are gushing, the reservoirs brimming, the wildflowers are extravagant and the birds are joyfully singing. Those plants and gardens that survived 2002 have never looked better. We’ll take it.[Read More]

Beyond GMOs and Petroleum Farming

Four years ago I was among the group of Boulder County residents who were asking to ban GMOs on our publically-owned farm lands. The Commissioners at that time voted to add GMO Sugar Beets to the already approved GMO corn, but they also increased the acreage of land to be used for organic agriculture and agreed to take another look at neonicotinoid use if there was new evidence. There is now new evidence on GMOs, Roundup that is used on 80% of GMOs and on neonicotinoids linked to the death and weakening of all our insects, including bees.

So in 2011, in order to find out if there were practical non-toxic options to manage larger pieces of farm land (like 200-300 acres), I traveled to Ohio to an Acres USA Conference. Attending that conference were over a thousand farmers and ranchers. ACRES has been guiding eco-agriculture for 45 years now; the last conference I had attended was in 1977. I met farmers and attended talks by farmers who were managing 100-1000 acres without GMOs and without toxic chemicals.[Read More]

Xeric Perennials that Thrived During the 2002 Drought

Xeriscape Perennials Thriving in 2002 Drought

Acantholimon glumacium

Acantholimon hohenackeri

Acantholimon litwanovii

Achillea ‘Moonshine’

Achillea ageratifolia (Greek Yarrow)[Read More]

The Drought Response

Responding to the worst drought in 100 (300?) years has been confusing, disturbing and difficult. The main unanswerable questions are, “How long is it going to last?” and “Is global warming or other conditions going to cause this kind of drought to be more common place?” Implicit in these questions is the question being asked by water utilities, city governments and members of the Green Industry: “How much money should we invest in changes that will conserve water?” If in two years the drought is over and will not be this bad again for 100 years, then why bother to reinvent our utilities and businesses? On the other hand, if water providers, city councils and the Green Industry are not proactive about water conservation, and the drought cycle lasts for a long time, consequences could be devastating, and the public could get furious.[Read More]

Quaking Aspens

Leave them to the Mountains OR Plant them at Home?

Populus tremuloides or Quaking Aspen is not only one of the best-known native trees here in Colorado, but it is said to be the most widely distributed tree of North America. Its narrow, roughly pyramidal form is commonly 25’-30’ tall and 15’-20’ wide, although it can get much larger. The leaves are shiny, dark green above and light gray-green beneath which makes the tree shimmer in the breezes. Also its whitish trunk adds to its attractive architecture. Then in the fall the leaves can turn a rich golden yellow which look glorious on the tree and lovely on the ground. It has a suckering habit which inclines it to clumps and which has put aspen in the running for the world’s largest being.[Read More]

Bigtooth Maple

Bigtooth Maple, Acer grandidentatum, is native to the far southwest corner of Colorado in a place known as Sleeping Ute Mountain. It is common in canyons, northfacing slopes and along mountain streams in Utah, Wyoming and west Texas from 5000′ to 8000′. Although most often listed as a separate species, Bigtooth Maple is sometimes called Western Sugar Maple, therefore, a subspecies of Acer saccharum. Its other names are Canyon Maple and Wasatch Maple.[Read More]

Bur Oak

BUR OAK—QUERCUS MACROCARPA-MOSSY CUP OAK

One of the most successful oaks for Colorado is the Bur Oak. It is adaptable to our clay soils and tolerates our alkaline conditions better than most oaks. In harsh, droughty areas this tree can be a low shrub, but on rich, river-bottom land can get 170’ high and 6’-7’ in diameter; but most often grows 50’-70’ high. The trunk is often thick and short with deeply furrowed bark, and the stout branches often extend almost straight out making the tree as broad as tall. The leaves are deeply lobed only in the bottom half and these lobes are rounded not pointed as with many other oaks. The acorns are distinctive in that there is a mossy fringe around the cap. The overall effect can be quite grand and sculptural, sometimes like a Chinese painting. The short taproot is surrounded by a massive root system which is strongly competitive. This is why old specimens often are standing alone.[Read More]

Catalpa

Western (Northern) Catalpa- Catalpa speciosa

It is surprising that a tree that looks so different from the other Colorado-adapted trees, is so successful. What stands out immediately are the huge leaves which can be 3”x 6” or even 6” x “12” and are heart-shaped. And in June, this large shade tree blooms exquisite, ruffled, bell-like, white, fragrant flowers with yellow and purplish coloration .And in the fall the passerby might be surprised to see the long thin pods 10”- 18” long.[Read More]

Champion Trees Show More Possibilities

Growing trees in Colorado, especially big shade trees, can be very challenging. Few of the specimens in our community “forests” are native to Colorado, and areas where big trees are abundant are often so different from our conditions that those trees do not adapt well here. Some of the difficulties trees face here are: alkaline soils, nutrient-poor and shallow soils, low humidity, hot and drying winter sun, strong winds, untimely wet snows in spring and fall, rapidly changing temperatures, and low rainfall. Add to these the confining root zones in which many trees are growing in urban environments, and it is easy to understand why our trees are often stressed, subject to borer and fungus problems, broken and short-lived.[Read More]

Why Plant A Once Blooming Rose?

I know of one lilac that has some repeat flowering in the fall, but I’m not aware of any spireas, mockoranges, shrub honeysuckles, forsythias, serviceberries, butterfly bushes, rabbitbrushes, cotoneasters, or other shrubs that repeat their flowering cycle. Why is it, then, that many gardeners demand continuous flowering roses ? We want them, of course, because they exist.

The fixation on constant flowering is encouraged with annuals, which, of course, don’t really start blooming until late spring or summer and then the first winter, they die. And seasoned gardeners know that the search for perennials that “bloom all season” leads to the proper selection of many species that will bloom in succession. So when we hear of roses that bloom from May or June through September, we think we have found the holy grail. However there are qualities besides repeat flowering which could entice us to cultivate the so-called “once-blooming” roses. I would like to share these not-so-obvious reasons with you.[Read More]

Kentucky Coffee Tree – Gymnocladus dioica

This member of the pea family (Fabaceae) can get 50’-60’ high and 30’-40’ wide, though most that I’ve seen in Colorado are under 45’. Nearly everybody thinks of this tree as interesting or picturesque.The branching is more open than most trees and the bark is gray to dark brown, rough and deeply ridged even on small branches. The leaves are bluish-green and somewhat tropical-looking being double compound, each one 18”-24” long and forked with small leaflets alternating on the stem. Fall color is yellow. As the species name implies, this tree is dioecious, having the male and female flowers on separate trees. The flowers are greenish-white, supposedly fragrant and not conspicuous. On the female trees, tough, leathery seed pods follow that are 4”-6” long and 1 1/4”-2” wide. These hang on after the leaves fall and into the winter.[Read More]

Hackberry

Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Why would anybody be interested in a tree that is just the common variety? In this case, we Coloradoans can be very interested because “common” means it will grow just about anywhere. In our harsh country that provides a good living for people planting and replanting and pruning and re-pruning trees, the Common Hackberry is somewhat of a relief. It will grow to 7000’. Our 25 below zero winters do not bother it as it is hardy to zone 2, which helps a lot in adjusting to our sudden warm-to-cold swings. It is also not picky about soils, tolerating both acidic and our usual alkaline conditions; rocky is fine, heavy clay is OK; it really likes rich, moist, but grows right along in poor, dry, windy, polluted cities. [Read More]

How to Plant a Tree

Planting a tree puts us in touch with one of the most essential parts of a tree that is often overlooked—the roots. When a seed germinates, the first part to develop is the root. The seed has stored nutrients, but if the plant is to live, it must immediately make a relationship with the nourishment of the earth. Then it can make the sprout that pushes into the sunlight to start photosynthesizing. So the first matter of importance in planting a tree is to honor its roots—their condition, their future environment and their nourishment.[Read More]

Interview with Alex Shigo

Alex Shigo is a world-renowned authority in arboriculture, the science of trees. His delving curiosity and sharp scientific analyses carried him beneath the bark into a realm previously little understood. He worked 26 years for the US Forest Service investigating decay in trees, and through the process of dissecting over 15,000 trees with a chainsaw, he has uncovered much valuable information about tree structures and tree systems that have revolutionized the practice of tree care. As he puts it in the preface to his book Tree Pruning, “A major problem throughout the history of tree pruning has been the scant attention given to pruning as it affects the health of trees, while great attention has been given to pruning as it affects the desires of man.” Even though he is busy writing, giving workshops and talks and doing consulting, he agreed to answer some pressing questions for The Colorado Gardener.[Read More]

Sustainable Roses for Colorado

Tea House Roses, photo by Nikki Hayden

Roses are certainly one of the world’s most beloved flowers, and yet many people have given up on them because they have gotten the reputation of needing frequent spraying, feeding and fussing. They got this reputation because for decades, hybrid tea and floribunda roses were bred mostly for special colors, a particular flower form and repeat flowering. Their value was judged more for the exhibition table than for the garden. Now, as more people have become aware of the dangers of pesticides and as the trend has moved to “care-free” shrub roses for the garden, rose breeding has shifted in the last ten years towards more sustainability.[Read More]

Mountain Ash

European Mt. Ash (Sorbus aucuparia)

This is surely one of my favorite ornamental trees for the front range which can be used up to 8000’.It is an upright oval tree spreading with age 25’-30’ tall aned 15’-25’ wide. If cared for, it will be attractive throughout the season. The bark is a shiny, orangy-brown. The serrated, compound leaves are dark green and in the fall turn yellow and reddish-gold. The clusters of flowers are white, blooming in spring with a peculiar fragrance that some people appreciate more when they’re gone. Clusters of red-orange berry-like fruit follow which color the tree through the fall, accenting the orangy leaf colors. These fruits are greatly loved by the birds and are in fact edible for people. They are known as Rowan berries and are used in Europe in making a brandy. In ancient times the Rowan tree, also know as the Quickbeam, was greatly revered by the Druids and used against lightning and witches’charms. The berries were considered extremely valuable having the “sustaining value of nine meals”, healing the wounded and giving a man the strength of ten men. I had to try this, of course, and found I couldn’t eat even 10 berries. Later I learned they need to “blet” or shelf-ripened. The birds do spread these around, and Mt. Ash seedlings are not uncommon.[Read More]

Pinyon Pine – Pinus edulis (Pinus cembroides edulis)

The Pinyon Pine has several advantages over other evergreen trees in a Colorado landscape. For one thing, its size doesn’t consume so much horizontal space. Compare the modest mature Pinyon at 10’-15’ in diameter with Austrian or Ponderosa at 25’-35’ diameter or Blue Spruce at 30’-40’ diameter. A few of these “average” sized evergreens look innocent when freshly planted, but who hasn’t seen them blocking sidewalks and doorways, tearing off gutters and shading solar collectors and windows in the winter? The Pinyon with its gently rounded top only gets 12’-20’ high, which suffices for many screening needs and still leaves the view. If it isn’t crowded, it stays branched to the ground with dense foliage of short, medium green to gray-green needles, two to a bundle. The cones are small 1 1/2”-2” long, brown to reddish-brown, which open to a rosette form and in the wild yield Pinyon “nuts”. These seeds are good-tasting and oily, with a piney flavor much appreciated by birds, animals and humans. They are also nutritious, being higher in protein and carbohydrates than pecans, but lower in fat. For some reason , these “nuts” are unlikely to develop in small urban plantings.[Read More]

Redbud

One of the most beautiful ornamental trees is the Eastern Redbud, Cercis canadensis. It is a native of the eastern and southern U.S. and has “naturalized” in older Boulder neighborhoods. It’s most distinctive feature is its reddish purple buds followed by intense purplish-pink pea-like flowers in late April before the leaves come out. This wondrous and heart-warming display is greatly appreciated so early in spring but cannot be counted on if winters are too harsh.

It is a smaller tree 20’-25’ high and wide with attractive bark and heart-shaped leaves which are shiny and purplish when young. Fall color is yellow. It is said to be hardy to zone 4 and we have many fine specimens in Boulder.[Read More]

Small Trees for Eastern or Northern Exposures

Shade trees 40’-60’ high and wide are great on the south and west sides of our houses and offices. They reduce temperatures and reduce cooling costs in the warm months, but they are not always appropriate. We don’t want dense shade where we grow most xeriscapes, rock gardens, herb gardens, most natives and many perennials. In addition, there is no need for big shade trees on the north side, and the morning sun is usually welcome on the east side of our houses and workplaces. And many plants prosper in morning sun and afternoon shade. It is also significant that a 20’ tree costs far less to have pruned than a 40’ tree. So it seems to me we should be growing small trees under 30’ tall on the east and north sides of our buildings.[Read More]

Stressed Trees: How to prune and care for them

Trees have it hard in Colorado. If it’s not the shallow and lean topsoil, it’s the low rainfall and low humidity, or it’s the heavy wet late spring or early fall snows, or like last November, it’s the dramatic temperature changes. After a warm and beautiful fall without a killing frost until November 11, we experienced a 77 degree drop in temperature between November 10 and November 12. This was one of the three largest temperature drops ever recorded in the Denver area, the other two were in December 2013 and January 2014.[Read More]

Penstemons at Harlequin’s Gardens

Below is a list of many of the varieties of Penstemons that we usually have for sale at Harlequin’s Gardens. Penstemons are in general very well adapted to xeriscape gardens in Colorado. Many of them are regional natives and there are several that are native in Boulder County. In general, they like full sun and good drainage, however many can be grown in our clay soils if they are not overwatered. Some are 3′ tall, some are ground covers. Many are blue or purple, some are orange or red and there are a few whites. It is good to sow their own seeds in the fall to create sustaining populations. Try them; they are beautiful and fun AND nearly all LIKE hot and dry conditions, once established.[Read More]

What’s Blooming in July?

Many gardeners think of Spring as the height of the ornamental gardening
season. Sure, so many of our best-known flowering plants – Tulip,
Crocus, Daffodil, Primrose, Peony, Lilac, Forsythia, Oriental Poppy,
Basket of Gold, Bearded Iris, are at their showiest in spring. But as we
pass to the other side of the Summer Solstice, a whole new palette of
blooms arises, including many Natives, lots of Prairie-dwellers and
Steppe plants, and hardy plants from South of the Border, bringing bold
color and attracting more and different beneficial insects and
pollinators to the garden. Here’s a list of many of those flowers to
inspire you![Read More]

Supporting Trees in Colorado

Trees do a lot for us humans, so we shouldn’t forget to give them some support. When I look at the treeless ten acre lot next to our nursery, or when I see an old photo of the CU campus with bare land around Old Main, I remember why we can’t take trees for granted in Colorado. Trees really have it hard here, but there are things we can do to help them survive and thrive.[Read More]

The Pruning and Care of Young Trees

Of all our plants, trees take the longest to develop and so it is not only heart-breaking, but a significant set-back to a landscape when a tree that is 10-20 years old is destroyed in a storm. Many of these disasters could be prevented with proper pruning early in a tree’s life. Besides preventing disasters, pruning trees properly when young will help them to develop more beautifully, make them stronger, less expensive to maintain as they get older and keep them healthier.

A young tree, like any young being, is vulnerable and needs some extra care. And trees are often a costly investment, both for the plant and for the planting. So since few arborists will come out for the fifteen minute job of pruning a young tree, and since few lawn crews are trained in proper pruning, it is good for home-owners to understand the basics of pruning in order to get their trees off to a good start.[Read More]

Xeriscape Perennials And Biennials For Sun

Note: plants listed in bold are native to our region

Acantholimon hohenackeri

Acantholimon litwinowii

Achillea ageratifolia

Achillea filipendula ‘Moonshine’

Achillea lanulosa

Achillea millefolium ‘Cerise Queen’

[Read More]

Tree Roots 1: The hidden support system

The roots are the hidden support system of our giant plants, the trees. They anchor their woody trunks to the ground, store food and bring in water, nutrients and oxygen. In this article I will discuss what is going on down there. In the next issue I will discuss more practical applications of this understanding.

Far less is known about tree roots than about the trunk, branches and leaves. This is understandable since the roots are hidden from our view, and once you dig them up, they are no longer what they were. We are awed by the massive trees swaying over our houses and streets, but usually we give little thought to what is going on under the surface. However, when spring thawing is followed by powerful winds and we see an 80’ spruce toppled over with its roots in the air, which are only 9” deep; that gets us thinking.[Read More]

Tree Roots 2: The hidden support system part II

What would we do without trees? What structures could we invent and construct that would hang over our houses and offices, providing shade and cooler temperatures? Such a structure would have to hold up under 80 mph winds and heavy wet snows, and would have to retract in the winter to let in light. Trees provide these values and much more, giving off oxygen, providing housing for birds, and protection for understory plants. Thus it is very important to take good care of our trees, and the most fundamental level of that care must be directed to the roots.[Read More]

Biological Farming and Gardening

A New Model for the 21^st Century

A newer science that is not tied to petroleum profits is emerging to challenge the industrial approach to agriculture and gardening. Of course, the enormously powerful and politically connected corporate giants like Monsanto, Bayer and Dupont will continue to make money, but after 60 years of dominance, the “Better Living Through Chemistry” model can no longer hide its fatal flaws. Mountains of evidence now point to the effects of chemical agriculture: poisoning the earth, driving global climate change, causing major health problems, killing pollinators and destroying the life of the soil. The good news is that a more long-range, wholistic view is starting to take its place. This new approach is being called Biological Agriculture and Gardening.[Read More]

Biological Thinking

It has been suggested that this period of the 21^st Century might well be called The Age of Biology, because the biggest challenges will be biological and the biggest breakthroughs will be in the realm of biology.

In this article, we will continue the discussion from the last issue on Biological Agriculture and Gardening, but this time going into specifics of biological thinking, biological discoveries and applications that improve plant and food success with biological solutions.[Read More]

Xeriscape Vines

Xeriscape Vines For Sun

Campsis radicans / Trumpet Vine
Celastrus scandens / Bittersweet
Clematis ligusticifolia / Western Virgin’s Bower
Clematis tangutica / Golden Clematis
Humulus lupulus / Hops
Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ / Golden Hops
Humulus lupulus neomexicana / Native Hops
Parthenocissus quinquefolia / Virginia Creeper
Polygonum aubertii / Silver Lace Vine
Solanum dulcamarum / Nightshade
Wisteria floribunda / Japanese Wisteria
Wisteria macrostachya ‘Aunt Dee’ / Aunt Dee Wisteria
Low – Water Vines For Shade & Part – Shade
Akebia quinata / Japanese Akebia
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata / Porcelain Vine
Euonymus fortunei ‘Minima’
Euonymus fortunei ‘Coloratus’ / Purple Wintercreeper
Hedera helix / English Ivy
Parthenocissus quinquefolia / Virginia Creeper

Food Safety and GMOs

Food safety is one of the most critical issues of our time. What we eat is directly related to our health, and health care has a direct impact on our personal and national economies. Major chemical companies like Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and Dupont have introduced 86,000 synthetic chemicals into our environment, food, drugs, cosmetics etc and most of them have never been tested for toxic effects on human health and the environment. Since the mid 1990s, some of these same companies have been filling our grocery stores and feed stores with genetically engineered food products which may be causing serious health problems but are being approved by our government without safety testing.[Read More]

Gardening from the Heart

Most of us were taught that gardening is about control, about battling unruly, ravenous nature to succeed with our objectives. And a very complex and prosperous industry sprang up in the late 1940s to provide us with the power and weapons to meet those expectations. Petroleum products from World War II chemical weapons, defoliants and bombs were reformulated to solve our plant problems and feed the world. These chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides have now had 50-60 years to show that this aggressive, heartless and poisonous approach has failed. Foods with little nutritional value and a polluted world are inspiring a strong international movement toward sustainability.[Read More]

Columbines in Colorado

Everybody seems to love columbines with their delicate, exquisite beauty, both elegant and elusive. The Rocky Mt. Columbine is the state flower of Colorado and yet we seldom, if ever, see front yards swaying with masses of their classic loveliness. What is the story or trick to growing these plants successfully in Colorado? Because of my own mixed success with columbines, I decided for this article, to add the experience of other gardeners to my personal views.[Read More]

Gardening without Chemicals

How can we deal with all the bugs and diseases without using toxic poisons, and how can our gardens really produce without high-powered chemical fertilizers? Many people wanting to garden sustainably are asking these questions. And it is not easy to find the answers, partly because the answers are not simple. I want to admit this up front, but don’t be scared off, because it’s not that hard to garden sustainably once you get the hang of it. However you must know that you can’t just exchange a slam-bam chemical approach for a slam-bam sustainable approach.[Read More]

Gardening Without Fear

The key to minimal maintenance and a low input approach is Gardening Without Fear. The solution to gardening without fear is twofold: being empowered to garden successfully and being relaxed and tolerant. If we are fearful, we will react to every little problem, worry and criticize ourselves. Then we might seek an immediate solution like some poison.

We have been guided to believe that we need these petroleum products by companies that sell them. In fact, these products weaken the support systems of plants and make them more vulnerable to diseases, pests and drought. The truth is—we don’t need them.[Read More]

Invasive Plants and Weed Profiles

Last month we raised the issue of invasive introduced plants and the idea of being responsible gardeners who respect our native habitat and make an effort to not release invasive plants into the wild. We began with obvious noxious weeds that are having strong negative impacts on our native populations of plants and animals. This month again I am profiling weeds which have been declared as noxious, but this time a question is beginning to arise about under what circumstances are some of the less aggressive weeds invasive? In other words, is it possible that we might find a middle way that guides us strictly with the truly harmful invasives and more leniently with the less aggressive and more useful weedy plants? These are questions I am asking myself and will be asking in future interviews. We also welcome your views on this issue.[Read More]

Invasives August Issue

In February 2000 President Clinton established the National Invasive Species Council. Agriculture secretary Dan Glickman, Commerce Secretary William Daley and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt were asked to work together on a plan to minimize the economic, ecological and human health impact of invasive plants and animals not native to the US. The executive order on Invasive Species directs federal agencies to prevent the introduction of invasive species, to control populations of such species in a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner, to monitor populations, restore native species, conduct research and promote public education on invasive species.[Read More]

Invasives Intro

One of the hot subjects in horticulture these days is the issue of the invasiveness of introduced plants. Since they did not evolve here, they lack natural enemies, and whereas most are harmless, some have engulfed vast areas of wilderness, national forests, range and farm lands. This has led some people to campaign for “natives only” and others to attack the introduction of new plants as an ecological nightmare. In response to these attacks some in the plant industry have dismissed these fears as invalid over-reactions. As Colorado gardeners, most of us can be both excited by new plant introductions that are well-adapted to Colorado conditions, and feel very protective of our natural ecosystem and our native plants. In a series of articles, we hope to uncover some truths regarding these issues and to educate ourselves about how to work with this situation in a constructive manner.[Read More]

Nitrous Oxide

The forgotton greenhouse gas and how it relates to growing plants

Nitrogen is one of the most essential nutrients for plants. Nitrogen is required for building amino acids, DNA and RNA, in stimulating growth, supporting health and is a critical ingredient in chlorophyll, the chemical needed for photosynthesis. In our gardens, when nitrogen is lacking, plants are small and yellow, and roots do not perform well. In Colorado, almost all our soils are deficient in nitrogen and organic matter. So we gardeners often add fertilizers and composts to our soils.[Read More]

Trees For Xeriscapes

In general, shade trees are not very tolerant of drought. Some people have gotten the idea that since trees have big root systems, they are less vulnerable to dry conditions. Unfortunately this is not true. Truly xeric trees that are native to arid regions are usually small, more like big shrubs. Even in our semi-arid region, photos from a hundred years ago, show very open and unshaded areas where we now have our urban forests. Most shade trees come from forested areas with much more rainfall and deeper, richer soils. On top of that, our trees are often made to grow in very confined areas in heavily compacted soils. So even under normal circumstances, big trees have a hard life here in Colorado. Therefore, during a drought, we must take extra care to make sure they survive by deeply watering at least once a month. If you multiply the diameter of a tree in inches times 10, you will get the recommended gallons of water required per watering. This water should be applied, not next to the trunk, but in a wide band around the drip line. Your best chances of establishing a tree during water restrictions are to:[Read More]

Pea-Planting Advice

Local advice from our friend Elizabeth:

Hi All, I have been trying a new technique (at least for me) of starting peas in sections of guttering (which I got at Resource) in the greenhouse, growing them on until they are about 4 inches tall, and then transferring them to a trench in the garden. So far it seems to be working fairly well. The peas germinate really fast and grow quickly in the greenhouse. You could probably do it in a house too. I plug up the ends of the guttering with a piece of foam and duct tape. When I am ready to transfer them, I dig a trench, remove the foam and duct tape, spread the sides of the guttering away from the soil, and slide them out of the guttering into the trench. The sliding is the tricky part. I have found it takes two people to go well: one to guide and encourage the peas along, and one to lift and shake the guttering, as you have to get it to a fairly steep angle for the peas to slide. I’m using galvanized guttering, but plastic might work better as it would be smoother. So far they have adapted well to the outdoors, and we shall see how they grow on and produce. There’s lots of videos of this on the web. Thought this might be a good solution to slow germination in our really unpredictable springs.

[Read More]

Bees, Beauty, and Biodiversity

It used to be that beauty was enough. If the lawn looked good and we had a few shrubs and a few flowers, we could relax, having done our duty to the neighborhood.

Now we have to be water-wise, save the bees and the Monarch Butterflies, and on top of that, we’ve got to have Biodiversity.

I think this is a good trend. Gardens are more than something to look at. They are a piece of Nature and the more diverse they are, the more like Nature they are.[Read More]

Canadian Roses for Colorado

The Canadians, like their English and French ancestors, have a great love of roses. However much of Canada is in zones 4, 3 and even zone 2. Therefore many of the hybrid tea and floribunda roses bred in modern times have not been tough enough for Canadian gardeners. So the Canadians set their own federal agriculture department to work on breeding roses that succeed in Canada. Not only do these roses do well north of our border, they are very successful in Colorado, even in our higher elevation environments. Our 10-20 below zero winters and dramatic temperature changes can kill or significantly injure more tender roses like the hybrid teas and floribundas. So gardeners in Colorado who don’t have time to remove large masses of dead canes, hill soil around the canes to protect them for winter, and who have less inclination to spray and fertilize frequently, find the Canadian-bred roses provide a rewarding and easy-care alternative.[Read More]

Difficult Broadleaf Evergreens for Colorado

In the last issue I discussed the easy broadleaf evergreens for Colorado and this time we will go into the difficult ones. Many people have killed or had poor success with rhododendrons, hollies, azaleas and daphnes etc. so it is good to understand these plants further. Unfortunately in my sunny, low-water gardens, I have had little experience with them so I went to two people who have plenty of experience, Don Zaun and Allan Taylor.[Read More]

Feed the Soil, Not the Plant

It is widely known that nitrogen is essential for plants. It is a major component of amino acids, DNA and chlorophyll. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the alchemical process of turning sunlight, carbon dioxide, minerals and water into oxygen and sugars that is the food that feeds life on earth. In Colorado, most of our soils are deficient in nitrogen.

But too much nitrogen can be a problem, especially high nitrogen chemical fertilizers. Bill McKibben, author of The Art of Balancing Soil Nutrients states, “Although all plant nutrients are critical, none seem to produce such quick and dramatic effect on plant growth as nitrogen does. It is because of this reason that nitrogen has been over-used and abused.” A 20%-30% nitrogen fertilizer can make a spring lawn turn bright green practically overnight, and can make plants in a greenhouse or garden grow and look mature really fast. So what’s the problem?[Read More]

Flood Recovery for the Garden

Flood recovery is not a problem most of us have had to deal with before so we can only try to solve the problems individually and make adjustments in the future.

The main problems seem to be:

1) Soil washed away-erosion

2) Soil dumped on top of plants, trees and existing soil

3) Plants washed away

4) Weed seeds deposited on the soil 5) manure and sewage and unknown contaminants deposited on the land[Read More]

Easy Broadleaf Evergreens for Colorado

In the winter when the deciduous plants have dropped their leaves, the evergreens really stand out. If we go for a walk, especially in the older neighborhoods, what evergreens do we see? The greatest numbers are spruces, firs, pines and junipers. In general these conifers with their narrow needles or scales are adapted to our cold temperatures, strong winds and sunny winter days. But there are other woody evergreens to be seen in Colorado neighborhoods: the broad-leaf evergreens. In general their wide leaves transpire more and are more prone to desiccation in our drying conditions; however by choosing the right plants and siting them in their right places, we can enjoy these less popular but deeply satisfying winter-green shrubs and vines. In this article I will discuss the easy broad-leaf evergreens for Colorado and in the April issue we will talk about the difficult ones.[Read More]

Climbing Roses for Colorado

Many Colorado gardeners have been frustrated in their attempts to grow climbing roses. The main problem seems to be that the tall canes die back and though they may bloom, they look like shrubs, not climbers. We are green with envy of the European and Californian gardens with roses cascading over and festooning pillars, walls and bowers. Why can’t we achieve this? I think we can, but not without a very discriminating approach. First of all we must realize that our cold temperatures and especially the rapid cold-hot-cold changes, and our drying winter winds are death to all but the hardiest rose canes.

[Read More]

Taste of Tomato 2018

2018 Tomato Tasting Results: tomatoes cut up for tasting

This year’s Taste of Tomato was a blast! We love the new location at Growing Gardens’ https://www.harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IMG_0725.jpgBarn, with its’ beautiful view of the Flatirons, easy access, and wonderful staff. The tasting featured 44 different varieties of tomatoes, with Aunt Ruby’s German Green winning the greatest number of votes. Participants brought in some wonderful new varieties this year, including Brad’s Atomic Grape, Thornburn’s Terracotta, and Indigo red tomatoes cut up for tasting Cherry. Look for the most popular varieties from this year and previous years when you come to buy your organic tomato starts next spring at Harlequin’s Gardens. Every year we grow 80+ great varieties for all kinds of uses and growing conditions!
A huge thank-you to Growing Gardens for providing our new location, helping us publicize the event, and for bringing us some fabulous volunteers. Thank you also to the volunteers of Slow Food Boulder County and the CSU Extension Service. We couldn’t have done it without you!

	CHERRY		BEEFSTEAK
Votes	Tomato Variety	Votes	Tomato Variety
35	Sungold hybrid	38	Aunt Ruby’s German Green
25	Matt’s Wild Cerry	23	Berkeley Tie Dye
22	BHN 624	20	Malachite Box
20	Brad’s Atomic Grape	18	Black from Tula
14	Chocolate Cherry	18	Paul Robeson
10	Sweet 100	17	Cherokee Purple
10	Indigo Cherry	10	Black Krim
11	Yellow Pear	7	German Johnson
9	Chocolate Sprinkles	6	Super Fantastic hybrid
6	Fourth of July	5	Lucid Gem
5	Negro Azteca	3	Big Rainbow
4	Indigo Rose	3	White Beauty
3	Juliet
3	Sweet Chelsea
3	Grape
1	Early Doll
1	Principe Borghese

	SALAD/SLICER		PASTE
Votes	Tomato Variety	Votes	Tomato Variety
21	Japanese Black Trifele/Black Truffle	7	Airyleaf
14	Thornburn’s Terracotta	6	Costoluto Genovese
13	Siberian Pink Honey
11	Celebrity
9	Green Zebra
8	Glacier
5	Early Girl
5	Black Prince
4	Jaune Flamme
4	Stupice
3	Boxcar Willy
3	Lemon Yellow Plum
1	Black Icicle

A Tomato Celebration and Tasting
Savor the Flavors of Dozens of varieties of Home-Grown Tomatoes!
Learn about Tomato Growing and Care!
Find out which tomato varieties you want to grow in your own garden or buy from your local farmers!

On Saturday August 25th, from 10am-1pm come to the new, modern Growing Gardens Barn at 1630 Hawthorn Avenue, Boulder 80304

Here’s the lowdown:
If you bring 3 or more medium to large tomatoes (or 10+ small or cherry tomatoes) of one named variety, with its variety name on a card, to donate to the tasting you will get in FREE. You are encouraged to share more than the minimum, and enter more than one variety! NOTE: If the correct name for your tomatoes is unknown we cannot use them in our tasting.

If you have no tomatoes to bring, come anyway, for an entrance fee of $5.

Volunteers will be cutting tomatoes for your tasting. The samples will be grouped by type: Cherry, Beefsteak, Paste, and Slicing/Salad and will be labeled by name. In past years we’ve had from 65 to more than 100 different varieties to taste!

You will be able to vote for 6 of your favorite tomatoes. Voting results will be assembled and emailed to participants. Results will also be posted at www.HarlequinsGardens.com.

Valuable DOOR PRIZES will be awarded every half hour!

Two demonstrations of Tomato Seed-saving procedures will take place during the tasting, at 10:30 and 12 noon.

Master Gardeners and Harlequin’s Gardens staff will be on hand to answer your tomato questions.

This is always a lot of fun, and educational, too!
Please do not bring dogs.
Children are welcome with adult supervision.

Presented by
Harlequin’s Gardens Nursery, Growing Gardens, & Slow Food Boulder

2017 TOMATO TASTING RESULTS

VOTES	CHERRY/CURRANT/GRAPE/PEAR VARIETIES
23	Matt’s Wild Cherry
23	Green Doctors / Green Doctors Frosted, Grape
23	Sungold Cherry
14	Honeydrop Cherry
13	Coyote Currant
7	WOW Cherry
6	Jelly Bean Grape
6	Super Sweet 100 Cherry
5	Black Plum
4	Napa Chardonnay Cherry
3	Bumblebee Sunrise Cherry
3	Rebel Alliance Cherry
3	Green Grape
3	Sunshine Gold Cherry
3	Sweetie Cherry
3	Snow White Cherry
2	Chocolate Cherry
2	Purple Bumblebee Cherry
1	Galina Cherry
1	Sunsugar Cherry
	Blondekopfchen Cherry
	Indigo Cherry Drops
	Juliet Grape
	Rapunzel Cherry
	Yellow Pear

VOTES	BEEFSTEAK VARIETIES
15	Berkeley Tie Dye
14	Stump of the World
13	Cherokee Chocolate
9	Gold Medal
9	Paul Robeson
8	Amana Orange
8	Siberian Pink Honey
6	Black Krim
6	Purple Calabash
5	Dagma’s Perfection
5	Lavender Lake
4	Chapman
4	Humph
3	Chocolate Stripes
3	Thessaloniki
2	Green Zebra
1	Ananas Noire
1	Black from Tula
1	Cherokee Purple
1	Hillbilly
	Big Beef
	Big Rainbow
	Sicilian Rosso
	Vinson Watts’

VOTES	SALAD/SLICER VARIETIES
14	“Anasazi”
14	Dwarf Purple Heart
11	Northern Light
10	Japanese Black Trifele/Black Truffle
9	Green Zebra
8	Early Girl
8	Jaune Flamme
7	Siberian
4	Black Prince
4	Carmello
4	Fourth of July
4	Indigo Apple
3	Aurora
2	BHN 876
1	Principe Borghese
1	Indigo Rose
1	Quick Pick
	Big Zac
	Costoluto Genovese
	Early Doll
	Oregon Spring
	Sasha’s Altai

VOTES	PASTE VARIETIES
5	Amish Paste
2	San Marzano
1	Roma
1	Speckled Roman

2016 TOMATO TASTING RESULTS

Votes	Name	Type	Other
47	Striped German	Beefsteak	Heirloom
27	Isis Candy	Cherry	Open Pollinated
18	Sungold	Cherry	Hybrid
17	Black Truffle ( aka Japanese Black Trifele)	Salad	Heirloom
15	Chocolate Cherry	Cherry	Open Pollinated
14	Malakhitova Shkatulka (Malachite Box)	Beefsteak	Heirloom
14	Hillbilly	Beefsteak	Heirloom
14	Black from Tula	Salad	Heirloom
13	Matt's Wild Cherry	Currant	Heirloom
13	Brandy Boy	Beefsteak	Hybrid
12	Mexico Midget	Cherry	Heirloom
11	Lucid Gem	Salad	Open Pollinated
11	Thessaloniki	Salad	Open Pollinated
8	Tami G Grape	Cherry	Hybrid
8	Gold Medal	Beefsteak	Heirloom
7	Chocolate Chestnut	Salad	Open Pollinated
6	Cherokee Purple	Beefsteak	Heirloom
6	Afghan Orange	Beefsteak	Heirloom
6	Black Krim	Beefsteak	Heirloom
6	Pineapple Pig	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
6	Jen's Christmas	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
6	Siberian	Salad	Heirloom
6	Roma	Paste	Heirloom
5	Chef's Choice Pink	Beefsteak	F1 Hybrid
4	Indigo Cherry Drops	Cherry	Hybrid
4	Super Sweet 100	Cherry	Hybrid
3	Brown Berry	Cherry	Open Pollinated
3	Big Beef	Beefsteak	Hybrid
3	Pomodoro	Paste	Heirloom
3	Glacier	Salad	Open Pollinated
3	Blue Berries	Cherry	Hybrid
3	Black Cherry	Cherry	Open Pollinated
3	Yellow Pear	Cherry	Heirloom
3	Yellow Cherry	Cherry
3	Abe Lincoln	Salad	Heirloom
2	Pruden's Purple	Beefsteak	Heirloom
2	Cowlick Brandywine	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
2	Beauty King	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
2	Anasazi	Salad	Heirloom
2	Moskovich	Salad	Heirloom
2	Rose de Berne	Salad	Heirloom
2	Mountain Mist	Beefsteak
2	Celebrity	Salad	Hybrid
1	San Marzano	Paste	Heirloom
1	Early Girl	Salad	Hybrid
1	Stupice	Salad	Heirloom
1	Carmello	Salad	Hybrid
1	Sweetie	Cherry	Hybrid
1	Striped Green	Cherry
1	Omar’s Lebanese	Beefsteak	Heirloom
1	Pineapple	Beefsteak	Heirloom
1	Lemon Boy	Beefsteak	Heirloom
	Park’s Whopper	Beefsteak	Hybrid
	Siletz	Salad	Hybrid
	Jaune Flamme	Salad	Heirloom
	Betterbush	Salad	Hybrid
	Indigo Rose	Cherry	Hybrid
	Jelly Bean	Cherry	Hybrid
	Sprite Grape	Cherry	Open Pollinated
	Lozane	Cherry
	Tomato Berry	Cherry	F1 Hybrid
	Cherry Baby	Cherry	Hybrid
	Valencia	Beefsteak	Heirloom
	German Johnson	Beefsteak	Heirloom
	Grandma Aiello	Beefsteak	Heirloom
	Golden King of Siberia	Beefsteak	Heirloom
	Pink Girl	Beefsteak	Hybrid
	Gilbertie	Paste	Heirloom

2015 TOMATO TASTING RESULTS

Votes	Variety Name	Category	Seed Type
0	German Johnson	Beefsteak	Heirloom
0	Green Grape	Cherry	Hybrid
0	Hard Rock	Salad	Open Pollinated
0	Husky	Cherry	Hybrid
0	Moonglow	Salad	Heirloom
0	Valencia	Salad	Heirloom
1	Amana Orange	Beefsteak	Heirloom
1	Celebrity	Salad	Hybrid
1	Cuostralee	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
1	Indigo Blueberry	Cherry	Hybrid
1	Mr. Stripey	Salad	Heirloom
1	San Marzano	Paste	Heirloom
1	Stupice	Salad	Heirloom
1	Sweet 100	Cherry	Hybrid
1	Sweet Pea Currant	Cherry	Heirloom
2	Anasazi	Salad	Heirloom
2	Aunt Ruby’s German Green	Beefsteak	Heirloom
2	Basrawya	Beefsteak	Heirloom
2	Bella Rosa	Salad	hybrid
2	Fruity Cherry	Cherry	Open Pollinated
2	Green Doctors	Cherry	Hybrid
2	Hillbilly	Beefsteak	Heirloom
2	Jaune Flamme	Salad	Heirloom
2	Jelly Bean	Cherry	Hybrid
2	Margaret Curtain	Beefsteak	Heirloom
2	Pork Chop	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
2	Primo Red	Beefsteak	Hybrid
2	Punta Banda	Cherry/Paste	Heirloom
2	Yellow Taxi	Salad	Heirloom
3	Brandywine	Beefsteak	Heirloom
3	Pink Ponderosa	Beefsteak	Heirloom
3	Yellow Pear	Cherry	Heirloom
4	Amish Paste	Paste	Heirloom
4	Grandma’s Pick	Beefsteak	Hybrid
5	Black Cherry	Cherry	Open Pollinated
5	Costoluto Genovese	Salad, Paste	Heirloom
5	Glacier	Salad	Open Pollinated
5	Green Doctors’ Frosted	Cherry	Open Pollinated
5	Siberian	Salad	Heirloom
5	Super Fantastic	Beefsteak	Hybrid
5	Vintage Wine	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
6	Green Zebra	Salad	Open Pollinated
6	Siletz	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
8	Juliet	Salad	Hybrid
8	Pineapple	Beefsteak	Heirloom
9	Chianti Rose	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
9	Peron Sprayless	Beefsteak	Heirloom
9	Tangerine	Beefsteak	Heirloom
10	Indigo Kumquat	Cherry	Hybrid
10	Super Sweet 100	Cherry	Hybrid
11	Berner Rose	Beefsteak	Heirloom
11	Black Krim	Beefsteak	Heirloom
11	Chocolate Cherry	Cherry	Open Pollinated
11	German Striped	Beefsteak	Heirloom
11	Grandma Aiello	Beefsteak	Heirloom
12	Paul Robeson	Salad	Heirloom
13	Mariana’s Peace	Beefsteak	Heirloom
14	Jasper	Cherry	Hybrid
18	Pink Brandywine	Beefsteak	Heirloom
20	Japanese Black Triefle/Black Truffle	Salad	Heirloom
21	Black From Tula	Salad	Heirloom
21	Jen’s Christmas	Beefsteak	Open Pollinated
21	Lemon Boy	Salad	Hybrid
22	Indigo Apple	Salad/Cherry	Hybrid
23	Matt’s Wild Cherry	Cherry	Heirloom
26	Cherokee Purple	Beefsteak	Heirloom
50	Sungold	Cherry	Hybrid

Henry Kelsey Rose

Henry Kelsey (1984 Kordesii cross) is an Explorer Series rose from Ag. Canada that is hardy to Zone 3 and is considered by many to be the best red-flowered climber for cold climates. It is very vigorous and grows strongly even in lean soils. Whereas it can be grown as a low arching shrub to 4’, it excels as a short climber to 8’-10’ and looks especially good trained down a split-rail fence. The flowers are semi-double with prominent golden stamens, opening a luscious deep red and fading to a pinker medium red. The fragrance is light but pleasant and the clusters of flowers repeat from June until frost. Where I have grown it in a very low water area over the last five years it has performed well and has not died back on the trellis, but repeat flowering is intermittent rather than continuous. One of the truths of xeriscape is that not all plants that grow well on low water, flower as well. Sometimes just one or two deep waterings during bloom time will make a big difference in flower production.[Read More]

Time for Sustainability

You may have noticed that the word “sustainability” is cropping up frequently these days. What does this word mean?, and why is it suddenly so popular? The word “sustainability” naturally means: the ability to sustain or to endure through time. And why is this idea so relevant to gardening, farming, economics, foreign policy, trade agreements, water use and automobile and product design? I think it is because the world can no longer ignore the reality of our earth’s limits. We humans have been going through a long adolescent period and now it is getting harder and harder to ignore the necessity of growing up and taking responsibility for our actions, and for the entire earth’s children. We have been burning our candle at both ends, acting like there’s no tomorrow, assuming our resources would last forever, thinking there is place called “away” where we could throw the waste and poisons of our expedient solutions. We have put cheap products and fast profits ahead of real essential values.[Read More]

Five Little-Used Xeriscape Shrubs

Fortunately, there are many choices of drought-tolerant shrubs. And not only can they tolerate drier conditions, the fact that they are taller than most perennials and groundcovers helps them to compete better with weeds, giving them a greater survival potential in untamed, harsh or more industrial locations. In native ecosystems, it is often the shrubs that begin to pioneer a barren ground, and the shade and wind-protection they create, gives more favorable microclimates for other plants to germinate and find a home. There are many fine non-native shrubs for xeriscapes, but in this article, I am mostly going to describe some of my favorite native shrubs for drier conditions.[Read More]

Will The New Lawn Be a Meadow?

I used to be prejudiced against grasses because I associated grasses with the American monoculture of Kentucky Bluegrass that we all know as “the lawn”. But after testing many kinds of xeriscape plants for over 20 years I finally realized that most sustainable ecosystems have grasses mixed with the other plants. And I also came to appreciate that grasses are strongly self-replicating and that they can be more easily grown from seed than most perennials, so that installation and maintenance costs could be much less. I still think low-water shrubs and Colorado-adapted perennials have an essential place in a sustainable landscape, but I have been wondering how grasses could fit in. Of course Piet Oudolf and Kurt Bluemel have shown the potential for using grasses in a garden, but their examples look well watered and seem like they would be high maintenance. The prairie model so successful in Wisconsin and the Midwest focuses on tall-grass prairie that is out of place here, and so I have been wondering how grasses could be used in a Colorado-sustainable landscape.[Read More]

Mulching the Garden

MULCHING THE GARDEN

Benefits of Mulching:

1) prevents evaporation; holds moisture

2) reduces weeding; makes weeding easier

3) reduces fungal diseases; prevents splashing of spores onto bottom leaves

4) feeds the soil; as mulch decomposes, worms take nutrients into the soil[Read More]

Planting Container-Grown Own-Root Roses

2016 TOMATO TASTING RESULTS

Footer

Contact Us

303-939-9403 (Retail)

303-919-0780 (Wholesale)

Join Our Email List!

Map

Please Note