There is so much to look at when you visit Harlequin’s Gardens, it isn’t easy to take it all in!
Today we’re highlighting Special Products that may have escaped your notice, but which will greatly assist your gardening efforts.
We Are Open for the Season!
Gift Memberships & Gift Certificates – available online!
See our seasonal hours and address, below.
There is so much to look at when you visit Harlequin’s Gardens, it isn’t easy to take it all in!
Today we’re highlighting Special Products that may have escaped your notice, but which will greatly assist your gardening efforts.
Fall is among the best times to plant perennials. While we may begin to wilt from late summer heat, many plants rise to the occasion and burst into bloom! As days begin to grow shorter, perennials spend the next few months developing root systems or taproots that delve well below the hot, dry surface soil. Pollinators depend on finding pollen and nectar sources through the entire summer, so it’s important to include late-summer and autumn bloomers in your garden.
Here are a few suggestions for successful planting.
Bill McKibben, environmentalist, educator and founder of 350.org recently wrote, “If the last year has been about a phase change in our planet’s climate, the next year has to be about a phase change in our planet’s politics.”
This past week we did get significant good news about climate action, and we want to share it with you.
Summer is waning. Nights are cooler and we’re even closing some windows again. Lots of plants are producing seeds. The most comfortable planting season is here, and so are thousands of plants. And to sweeten the season even more, here come our Fall Sales! Next week you will receive our Fall Sale E-Newsletter, with complete information about our special Member’s Sale at the end of August, and our progressive Fall Sale for everyone! In the meantime, we have some pop-up sales appropriate to the season – see below for the details.
As Colorado gardeners, we’ve come to expect snow in October. But on September 9, 2020 we saw a temperature swing of more than 60 degrees, going from record-breaking heat to one of the earliest recorded snow falls in the state.
This translates into a lot of flower, fruit, and vegetable crops cut short, and a lot of unanticipated work protecting vulnerable plants, harvesting, and preserving. There are measures you can take now to be prepared to protect your gardens from cold weather and snow when they arrive, suddenly or not. The following tools, techniques, and ‘props’ can make the difference between life and untimely death of your plants during inclement weather.
Vines are very valuable for their versatility, variety and vigor, especially in the vertical plane. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Many of us live in urban environments full of walls and fences, and closely packed homes with narrow side-yards. Those of us in townhomes, condos or apartments have only tiny patio gardens or balconies offering little opportunity for greening our outdoor spaces. Or, we live in new developments built on open farmland without mature trees and shrubs for shade or screening. In all of these situations, vines can quickly provide short-term or long-term solutions to provide privacy or shade, maximize our connection to the earth, block unpleasant views, cover ugly surfaces, or add a vertical dimension to the garden. And some vines can also work as groundcovers in tough situations, like under evergreen trees.
We’ve got a wonderful selection of vines right now! Last week we gave you an overview of vines and how to use them, based on their mechanisms for climbing. This week, let’s get into the details of some individual varieties.
from Mitten Lowe at Journey to Wellness
I love beets and beet greens for how grounding and nutritious they are – providing folate, dietary fiber, manganese, potassium, iron, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and more! This wonderful garden beet salad is a perfect way to utilize all parts of the beet plus it’s versatile and so incredibly satisfying.
Remember Spring of 2023? Cool, rainy and cloudy? We had many thousands of plants coming along from seed, cuttings and plugs. And under these challenging conditions, some of them took a very long time to reach the point when they became ready for sale. But they’re ready now! And some of our best groundcover plants for dry shade or part sun, Plumbago and hardy Geraniums (Cranesbills) are among them!
Here’s a list of some of the great plants, including many native plants (noted with an asterisk), we now have in stock.
by Mikl Brawner
The most effective time to remove weeds organically is NOW, when it’s HOT.
Harlequin’s Gardens is carrying two non-toxic* herbicides that WORK. There are non-toxic herbicides on the market that are a waste of money; we’ve tested them. The two we know that work are 20% Vinegar and Avenger Weed Killer.
GARLIC HARVESTING, CURING & STORAGE
Now is the time to check your garlic plants to see if they are ready to dig up. The ‘rule of thumb’ is to harvest when the lower one third or half of the leaves on the plant have turned yellow. So, if your plant has 8 leaves, harvest when the 3 or 4 lowest leaves have turned brown but there are still mostly green leaves higher on the plant.
Japanese Beetle is one of the most damaging insect pests in the Eastern and Midwestern US, but
until fairly recently, Coloradans were spared that challenge. It entered the US in 1916, but took until 2003 before a population was established in Colorado.
We’re bringing you a fantastic selection this year!
ARTICHOKE: Imperial Star
ARUGULA: Wild, Astro (spring), Ice Bred (fall)
ASIAN GREENS: Tat Soi, Joi Choi, Pak Choi, Red Giant and Miz America Mustards, Shiso and more!
BROCCOLI: Fiesta, Nutribud, Solstice, Broccoli Raab, Piracicaba
BRUSSEL SPROUTS: Speedia
CABBAGE: Golden Acre, Red Acre
CAULIFLOWER: De Purple, Snow Crown
CELERIAC: Brilliant
COLLARDS: Georgia Southern and 4 more!
CUCUMBERS: 10 varieties including Lemon, Marketmore 76, Armenian, Nat’l Pickling, Silver Slicer, and more!
KALE: Rainbow Dinosaur/Lacinato, Red Russian, White Russian Blue Curled Dwarf & 4 more!
LETTUCE: Several varieties of each type – Leaf, Butterhead, Romaine, Oakleaf, Batavian, Dwarf, Mixed, Mesclun
RHUBARB: Glaskins Perpetual, Victoria, Canada Red
SPINACH: Caucasian Climbing Perennial (Hablitzia tamnoides), Bloomsdale, Sun Angel, & more!
SWISS CHARD: Seafoam, Fordhook Giant, Perpetual Spinach, 5-Color Silverbeet, and more
MELON: Minnesota Midget, Tuscany, Noir des Carmes
PUMPKIN: Casper, Cherokee Bush, Cinderella, Jarrahdale, Winter Luxury
SUMMER SQUASH: Black Beauty, Yellow Zephyr, Dirani, Tromboncino, Jaune et Verte Scallop, Summer Crookneck +
WATERMELON: 6 varieties including Early Moonbeam, Sugar Baby, Blacktail Mountain, Moon and Stars
WINTER SQUASH: 15 includes Kabocha, Spaghetti, Uncle David’s Buttercup, Acorn, Honeyboat Delicata, Silver Bell +
PLUS: Amaranth, Bulbing Fennel, Collards, Endive, Escarole, Ground Cherry, Kohlrabi, Okra, Tomatillo, Radicchio, Watercress & more!
HERBS, Culinary & Medicinal – Many varieties of THYME, LAVENDER, BASIL, MINT, ROSEMARY, SAGE, OREGANO, CHIVES, plus Parsley, French Tarragon, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme, Lime Balm, Marjoram,, Lemon Grass, Vietnamese Coriander, Pineapple Sage, Lemon Verbena, Borage, Savory, Lovage, Cutting Celery, Catnip, Calendula, Aloe, Greek Mountain Tea, Comfrey, Echinacea , Feverfew, Lobelia, Valerian, Motherwort, Mullein, Sweet Leaf, Lomatium, Hyssop, Anise Hyssop, Plantain, Clary Sage, Skullcap, Arnica, Sheep Sorrel, Self-Heal, Rue, Mugwort, Wormwood, and more.
The Inflation Reduction Act invests $20 billion to help the nation’s farmers respond to climate change…to plant perennial and cover crops and diversify crop rotations…that store carbon in the soil and build resilience against flood and drought.
Union of Concerned Scientists
We are so happy to see you again, talk about our favorite subjects, share some hugs and some news, and to greet new customers too! Among our opening weekend’s first customers were a couple that drove up from Littleton for their first venture to Harlequin’s; their neighbor told them about our Fine Wood Chip mulch, that it knits together and stays in place, looks great, and feeds the soil, unlike the coarse wood chips and bark mulches you find elsewhere.
We had a lot to tell you about last week, soils and seeds, tools, classes and memberships, but didn’t tell you about the plants we have for sale! Yes! We’ve got native and beautifully adapted perennials and herbs that were over-wintered in an unheated but covered ‘house’. These can go home with you now, as long as you can let them ‘harden-off’ for about a week (introduce them gradually to the direct sun, wind and cold). See our instructions HERE. After hardening off, with only a few exceptions, these can be planted in March if you can work the soil.[Read More]
What’s a cucurbit? It’s any plant that’s in the Cucurbitaceae plant family. You eat them frequently and very likely grow them. This is the plant family that includes zucchini, summer and winter squash, pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe and other sweet melons, and gourd.
The next few weeks are the perfect time to sow arugula, beets, small carrots, lettuce, kale, radish, and more!
You’re looking to sow veggies that will be harvestable before our first big frosts – often in early October.
We’re proud to bring you seeds from Botanical Interests. They say, “Nurturing seeds in the garden slows us down to reconnect to nature and earth, develops bonds in a community, and creates family traditions and memories. We’re so happy to be a part of that!” And we are, too!
My favorite way to use fresh, home-grown Cilantro and my favorite way to get a concentrated hit of nutrition-packed greens is to make my own version of Chimichurri.
Well, it’s almost here …… we couldn’t wait any longer to tell you about it! Some of you may have guessed that we’re talking about the blooming of Eve and Mikl’s Agave parryi, aka Century Plant, which was planted 27 years ago. Last summer, Eve started whispering to it, suggesting that it might be time to think about blooming.
Late spring, with the blessing of all the rain we’ve had, offers some of the first harvests of the season. Asparagus, radish, and crisp, mild Hakurei turnips are showing up in CSA shares and at our farmers’ markets. Why not try this springtime salad recipe – the recipe and the vegetables are local, and delicious!
by Mikl Brawner
As we enter June, most of our trees and shrubs have leafed out, but not all. Some have leaves only three quarters of the way up, and many broad-leafed evergreens are mostly brown. Should we cut them back or replace them? Let’s not, just yet.
Monday was a perfect day (except for the smoke) for us to take a wildflower ramble in our favorite foothills open space. I had one particular goal: to find Fringed Puccoon (Lithospermum incisum) in bloom. This is a very small plant with foliage and stature that are anything but charismatic, so searching for it when out of bloom is a lost cause. Even when blooming, the light lemon-yellow flowers are only a half inch across. It’s been many years since I have found any Fringed Puccoon in these meadows, and I was hoping that the generous rains we’ve had this month might have coaxed them out of hiding.[Read More]
In spite of cloudy skies and not-so-distant rumblings of thunder, Mikl and I had another opportunity to ramble among the wildflowers last week. This time, we chose the easy Lichen Loop trail at Heil Ranch, just off Lefhand Canyon Road. It’s amazing how long we can take to walk a mere 1.3 miles! Our excuse was the amazingly rich floristic display brought on by the combination of copious rain and wood ash from the Calwood Fire.
[Read More]
Lilac time is a very special and very short sweet time for us here in Colorado. Here are a few ways to use these flowers for health and well-being, from Mitten Lowe at Journey to Wellness.
We recommend harvesting lilac flowers while they are in full bloom, and making delicious medicine to enjoy through the rest of the year.
[Read More]
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW.” While this ancient Chinese proverb still rings true, fruit trees can begin to bear at a pretty young age, bringing satisfaction much sooner than a tree planted for shade or major presence in the landscape. We carry a wide selection of fruit trees proven to thrive and produce here in Colorado and taste great, and the apples, pears, cherries and plums on the list in the link below are in stock right now so that you can plant your own for years of enjoyment. (We don’t have peaches out at the moment – ask when you come in).
Mikl has assembled a collection of some of our most interesting, unusual and hard-to-find woody plants, many of which are just ready for sale now. These include some excellent native trees, shrubs and ground-covers, as well as particularly interesting and worthy non-natives that thrive in Colorado conditions. We’d like to share some descriptive profiles with you here.
Does everyone know what a biennial plant is? It’s a plant that spends its first year of life building a substantial root system and a basal rosette of foliage. In its second year, it will have the resources to support a season of massive blooming and seeding. After having done its job, it dies away, leaving the future of its kind to the new generation of seedlings it has created.[Read More]
We are constantly bringing out new plants from our propagators and receiving deliveries of native, fruiting, perennial, woody and xeriscape specialty plants from our favorite local growers.
This week, we’re excited to bring you new tomato varieties, herbs and perennials.
By Mikl Brawner
Not Just Another Pretty Face
We gardeners see a lot of branded plants in branded pots pushed with a lot of money to make a lot of money. That’s not the story with Colorado’s Plant Select program. Plant Select began as, and continues to be a plant promotion program genuinely aimed at the success of Rocky Mt. gardeners. It’s goals include saving water, supporting pollinators and encouraging a western garden aesthetic.
Around 60% of Coloradans live under a homeowner association. If you’re one of them, you know how difficult it is to get HOA approval for water-saving landscaping choices. Senate Bill 178 would allow homeowners to remove grass lawns, forcing HOAs to accept the alternative landscaping.
Thinking this cheery yellow-flowered plant is a weed? Think again.
First of all, dandelions provide much needed early-season nutrition for the bees. If that wasn’t enough of a reason to let them into your garden, every part of this plant is good for you. Since ancient times dandelion has been used as a spring tonic. (That’s right, we’re suggesting eating the weeds!).
by Mikl Brawner
DitchWeeds, Wildflowers, Native Forbs
Call them what you will: when Nature chooses, She knows what She’s doing. And She doesn’t need a human audience. Nature is happy playing to the bees, wasps, butterflies, moths and beetles. We humans can learn a thing or two just by noticing and appreciating Nature’s perfect performance. And that’s just what we gardeners do.
[Read More]
Did your roses take a hit from the winter cold and strong winds we just experienced? Perhaps they look as though they didn’t make it, showing brown, shriveled canes and no new growth above the ground. Or maybe there are no signs of life on the canes, but there is new growth just coming up from the ground. Either way, if your roses are growing on their own roots, you’re in luck. If they were grafted onto a rootstock, the prospects are not so good.[Read More]
Now celebrating its 36th year, The Boulder Irish Session is a Boulder ‘institution’ and is still going strong. They are an informal, dynamic gathering of top-notch Front Range musicians who, until Covid, came together on Sunday evenings at License No. 1 in the Boulderado Hotel to share tunes and songs of the Celtic tradition. After the last 2 summers of outdoor sessions on Sunday evenings at Harlequin’s Gardens, beginning Sunday Oct. 3rd, BIS is trying out a new indoor venue. We’ll update you soon!
Over the years, the Session has gained many loyal followers who know they will always hear some of the best, most spirited live traditional Irish and Celtic music in the region on any given Sunday. Harlequin’s Gardens co-owner Eve Brawner is one of the founding members of the Boulder Irish Session and is still a ‘regular’ there, playing English concertina, and singing. We offer both of their excellent CDs, Sunday at Conor’s and the sequel, Next Sunday at Conor’s.
There is something special and exciting about the arrival of May. In May, Spring weather may still be variable, but there’s nothing tentative about the progress of growth and flowering. They are unstoppable, full speed ahead!
At Harlequin’s Gardens, we love to celebrate May Day. This ancient festival from the British Isles welcomes Spring and celebrates the beauty, fertility, and abundance of the Earth. For 30 years, Harlequin’s Gardens has maintained a tradition of starting off our May Day festivities with hosting the Maroon Bells Morris Dancers, performing their lively traditional dances with bells, music, knocking sticks and waving scarves to bring forth the Earth’s fertility. The magic seems to work!
It may sound trite or boastful, but truly – every day is Earth Day for us.
We are not just here to sell plants. We have a deep love and respect for plants and their roles in everything from making life on Earth possible for us humans and so many other life-forms, down to the minute details of their wondrous adaptations, behaviors and forms. We want to share all this with you,
by Mikl Brawner
If you look at old photos of Colorado Front Range cities, you won’t see many trees. And if you look up native trees of Colorado, you will find a lot of mountain-growing conifers and just a few deciduous trees that grow natively along streams. And yet the quality of life for us humans depends on trees.
Corn Gluten and Rose Food are two helpful products you should consider at this time of year.
Corn Gluten Meal
We normally recommend applying corn gluten for weed control a bit earlier in the year, like February and March, and NOW is a still an effective time to apply it on lawns and other spaces. Here are the details.[Read More]
PURPLE COMET – NEW!
70 days from transplant, hybrid, Asian-type
Strong upright plants produce big yields of long-fruited Asian type eggplant. Purple Comet’s substantial fruits can reach 10” long and 1.5 to 2” diameter, but they are equally delicious when picked young. The firm white flesh is bitter-free, seed development is slow, and the rich violet skin is thin and tender. Plants are robust, with extra-large, tropical-looking foliage and showy purple flowers, and beautiful purple fruits.
PURPLE PICKLING – NEW!
90 days from transplant, OP, Italian
This pear-shaped Italian heirloom variety is traditionally used to make eggplant relishes like Caponata, but is equally suited to grilling, roasting, and baking and stewing. Fruits up to 8″ long are borne in abundance on purple-stemmed, thornless plants.
KURUME LONG – New! 60 days, Open-pollinated
This popular, early and productive Japanese heirloom variety is a favorite for its cylindrical 9 to 10”- long, shiny black fruits with black calyx, excellent texture and mild, delicate flavor. The attractive, high-yielding plants are very vigorous. Can do well in containers.
A Wide selection of Roses, Peppers, Tomatoes, Pots and Planters!
This week, we have a great selection of Colorado-adapted, healthy, plants.
Choose from pepper and tomato plants, herbs, flowering annuals, native and non-native perennials, shrubs, trees, fruiting bushes and fruit trees. Plus the pots and planters you’ll need this season.[Read More]
Commentary needed on Senate Bill 23-192 – the Sunset Pesticide Applicators Act
Sometimes you can make a difference. Colorado’s People and Pollinators Action Network (PPAN) is organizing a letter campaign to legislators advocating for greater local control of pesticides.[Read More]
Today (May 9) is the average last frost date in our area, and Mother’s Day is the traditional Colorado date considered ‘safe’ for planting.
Of course, we have lived through enough late-May freezes and snowstorms to be a bit cautious! We offer vital supplies to have on hand to protect your frost-sensitive plants. Ask about our row-cover fabrics when you come to the nursery.[Read More]
We’ve just endured one of the coldest and snowiest winters in the last 16 years.
On December 22nd Boulder saw low temperatures of minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit, followed by minus 10 on January 30th , and again in late February the temperature fell to minus 11. These cold temperatures seem to be the explanation for damage to plants that we are seeing.[Read More]
If you have met and spoken with our founder and guiding force, Mikl Brawner, then you know that he is, to say the least, an interesting man who has led an interesting life. He is also a gifted storyteller and writer and has at last begun to recount his adventures and observations on paper.
These stories are from true experiences in Mikl’s life. They start at the end of his 2-years of work in the Peace Corps in India, with a trip to Katmandu, Nepal. From there, Mikl chronicles his adventures travelling solo overland from India in 1971 through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, Munich, and London, and has added a bonus of a few other stories. It’s a page-turner. Read a paragraph and see.
Profits from the sale of his book will be donated to our Staff Prosperity Fund.
Are you an Old Hippie? Are your parents? If so, this book is for you, or for them! Our friends Brus and Jean Westby travelled the “Great Hippie Trail” back in 1970, at a time in America marked by the Vietnam War, social unrest and change, a proliferation of psychedelic drugs, and a quest for a meaningful spiritual path. After college, the young couple travel overland through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, bound for ‘Mother India’ and compelled by a desire to explore a world different than their own, a world of mystery, challenge and discovery. In this recounting of their eventful journey, Brus weaves together the reassuring letters they wrote home to their families and the more accurate and compete account of their adventures and lessons learned along the way.
Nearly everyone loves butterflies! We watch them because they’re exquisitely beautiful, but they also have magical life cycles and intricate relationships among their host ecosystems. Are you overwhelmed by the array of possibilities in field guides that cover a broad geographic range?
This expanded second edition is a user-friendly book focusing on 100 frequently seen species in the Colorado Front Range. Easily identify butterflies using over 120 striking color photos of individuals in their natural setting, and clear descriptions of both males and females. Each entry also includes that species’ habitat and life cycle, the caterpillar’s host plants, and look-alike butterflies. The introduction includes tips on where to find butterflies, how to get close to them, and what we can do to attract them to our gardens and preserve their sensitive habitats. Belongs in every Colorado hiker’s backpack or back pocket!
Voting for the Planet, and People
With the election a week away, we wanted to bring a visionary moral community effort to your attention. Over 30 of our local environmental groups are calling on Denver municipal candidates to work for the planet, and people.
This coalition has created “The Greener Denver Platform” for a healthy, thriving and climate-resilient future.
We know that not all of customers live in a house with a yard. Many of you live in apartments or condominiums or townhomes and have only a balcony or a very small patio on which to grow anything outdoors. We would love to help you make the most of your outdoor space, even if it’s tiny.
Some customers wonder why we are selling starts of self-sowing hardy annuals like Larkspur, Rocky Mt. Beeplant, California Poppy, Peony-flowered Poppy, Sweet Alyssum and Desert Bluebell. Shouldn’t they be grown from seed sown directly in the garden? The answer is Yes, they certainly can be, and if you find a source for the seeds and sow them at the optimal time, usually in the fall, you can get great results. But some gardeners report having little or no success with direct sowing: their timing is off, the seeds are watered in and then dry up and are no longer viable, critters eat the seeds, etc. [Read More]
Every 5 years or so Congress has the opportunity to transform our food system by revising a piece of legislation known as the Farm Bill, which covers everything from supporting farmers to ensuring food security for all. Politicians and local and national advocacy organizations are working to determine how nearly a billion dollars a year will be spent. You can help!
Sign-up for our weekly e-newsletters to receive empowering gardening tips, ecological insights, and to keep up on happenings at Harlequin’s Gardens — such as flash sales and “just in” plants. We never share customer’s addresses!
Seasonally, MARCH to OCTOBER.
MARCH HOURS:
Thursday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM
APRIL-OCTOBER HOURS:
Tuesday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM
Mondays, CLOSED