Explore the spectacular floral displays of the Continental Divide while you can!

Hiking the West Ridge Trail on the Continental Divide
We Are Open Tuesday – Sunday, 9 – 5 for the season
Gift Memberships & Gift Certificates – available online!
See our seasonal hours and address, below.
Hiking the West Ridge Trail on the Continental Divide
Successional Planting is the continuous planting of crops following the harvesting of another planting. Depending on the plant, this can mean one annual planting for a long-season species, or multiple plantings for short season species. This process will help your garden to be as productive as possible, which is important in our short, highly fluctuating growing seasons. Our friend, and occasional class instructor, Tracey Parrish, has developed a comprehensive Successional Planting chart that she has generously permitted us to share with you. —Thank you, Tracey!
In her document, Succ. planting-most updated, Tracey outlines Colorado’s Five Seasons, gives you ideas for succession plantings, and then provides detailed planting charts for root vegetables, peas/beans, herbs, greens/salads, brassicas, onions, and summer crops. This five-page document is a wealth of information! Succ. planting-most updated
Top left: Ian, Jill, and Eric. Bottom left: Kelsey and Avery. Not pictured: Daughter Morgan.
We were very saddened to learn that last Friday’s car accident involving a car and dump truck in rural Longmont took the life of Eric & Jill Skokan’s 17 year old son Kelsey and injured his brother Ian, as well as the truck’s driver and passenger. The Skokan Family are valued members of our community, friends of ours, and proprietors of Black Cat Farm, as well as the Black Cat Bistro and Bramble & Hare restaurants. [Read More]
We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect one of the most unique parcels of land in Boulder in a way that would have lasting impact on the community for generations to come. In 2014, Boulder native Timothy Francis and his wife, Kerry, broke ground on a half-acre garden called Dharma’s Garden—named after a deer who was born where the garden now stands. Their nonprofit was founded to pursue the greater vision of the whole five-acre property as a fully integrated educational farm and homestead.
Over the last six years, Dharma’s Garden has become a thriving center of social connection within the neighborhood. [Read More]
Hummingbirds are zipping and humming and sipping around our gardens, partaking of the summer’s bounty of nectar-rich flowers, many of which are ‘color-coded’ specifically to attract them. And you’ll want hummers in your garden, not only because they’re beautiful, not only because some plants depend on them for pollination, not only because migratory birds are imperiled, but also because they eat prodigious numbers of small flying insects like mosquitoes! And did you know, some hummingbird have been known to live up to 25 years!
Here are some of the plants we sell that attract and support these flying jewels. [Read More]
Some people repeat Ralph W. Emerson, saying “A weed is a plant whose virtues remain undiscovered.” But although I appreciate that many weeds do have virtues, I doubt that many gardeners would accept that definition as the final word. Most of us have had extensive experience with Bindweed, Thistle, Goathead, Ragweed, Dandelion and Cheat Grass; not to mention some aggressive natives like Whiplash Daisy, Wood’s Rose and Hairy Goldenaster; and certain herbs like mints, Comfrey and Sweet Grass. So in talking about managing weeds non-toxically, the main point seems to be: How can we keep certain plants under control?[Read More]
The best time of day to plant your new vegetable starts, or any other container-grown plants, is after sundown, when the temperature has decreased a bit and the sunlight is not direct. Avoid planting in windy conditions, which can desiccate the fragile plant. If you plant in the evening, plants will have all night and early morning to make some adjustment to their new homes.
We have found that applying mycorrhizae to the roots while planting vastly improves a plant’s ability to adapt successfully. You can use either a granular or water-soluble form.[Read More]
For over a quarter century Harlequin’s Gardens has shared plants, Eco-products, and advice for organic methods of gardening with our community. We are proud of the success so many have had and have wanted to share their results! So, we’ve created Harlequin’s Virtual Garden Tour for our community to share not just photos of their gardens but also a little about gardening goals, styles and experiences–especially sustainable approaches. [Read More]
Accepting nursery trays, pots, and our clear soil product bags, March 1 – October 31
Since Harlequin’s Gardens began in 1992, we’ve been dedicated to sustainability. In general, this means providing plants that are well adapted to Colorado conditions so they will be successful with less water, fertilizers and pest management. But Sustainability is also reusing existing products, helping to reduce new plastics being introduced into the system. Over the years, Harlequin’s Gardens has constructed 50% of our structures with recycled materials, we reuse and recycle nursery trays, pots, and our clear soil product bags, and we make compost with our biodiesel tractor! [Read More]
All spring we have been advising you not to prune out branches without leaves yet. After last October’s flash freeze and this March’s freeze of the new leaves, it was important to give shrubs, trees and roses time for a second set of leaves to come out before removing wood. By now we should be seeing new green leaves forming if the wood is still alive.
So now we can prune away any branches that are not leafing out. Do cut back to a leafed-out branch or sprout; don’t leave a stub. Some evergreens may still be looking very brown. Look closely to see if tiny leaves are forming amongst the brown ones. Use a broom or gloved-hand to brush away dead needles. If you start removing branches from a conifer it may never look good again, so if you see any green, give it a chance. [Read More]
It is clear that we have achieved our independence from England. We don’t really have to celebrate that anymore.
The next goal and success might be to understand and cultivate an awareness of our inter-dependence with all the peoples of our planet as well as an inter-connectedness with all the life forms that create a healthy, vital ecosystem-community.
The “self-made man” ideal and the “us versus them” point of view are really not realistic in the 21st Century. Our successful evolution and survival depend on a bigger, global, more inclusive, and more interconnected view.
Pollinator week is a special time for Harlequin’s Gardens – a time when we can celebrate the hard-work of bees (honeybees, solitary bees, bumblebees) wasps, ants, flies and bee flies, butterflies and moths, beetles, some bats and birds, and some mammals. They’re all around us, connecting the dots between flowers and food.
Come check out our special pollinator display, which is our whole facility! Our perennial signage is marked with bee, hummingbird, and butterfly icons, but almost everything is important to bees, of which we have over 500 species here in Boulder County alone. Even our native bunch grasses can provide nesting sites for bumblebees in the dried leaves at the bottom. [Read More]
Do you love the sweet fruits and vegetables of late summer as much as we do? Well then, PLANT THEM NOW! We’ve got the heat now, which they thrive on. To develop those natural sugars, these crops take more time to mature than many other veggies, mostly between 70 and 100 days from seeding. We’ve saved you some time by growing starts, LOTS of them, and most of the varieties we’ve chosen will mature relatively early.
All are open-pollinated unless otherwise indicated. Our selection includes:[Read More]
In October of 2018, we were asked by the Rocky Mt. Chapter of the Rock Garden Society to give a program that would include a history of Harlequin’s Gardens. Mikl has been a member of that excellent organization since the mid-1980s and so he composed and presented this playful and humorous account of the evolution of our nursery. We think you will enjoy it!
Harlequin’s Gardens has just completed our 26th year in business. It’s practically a miracle. We were able to get our start and have survived this long because of some remarkable circumstances, some remarkable people, a genuine vision, strong determination, and just plain luck.
In the beginning, my ignorance kept me from knowing the depth of the hole I was digging myself into. I had no idea of how complex and all-consuming the nursery business can be. But it wasn’t all ignorance; I was smart too. Early on, I joined the Rock Garden Society, and later I married Eve Reshetnik. But I’m getting ahead of the story. [Read More]
Incorporating edible flowers in your cuisine not only adds visual appeal, but also can offer high nutritional value and great flavors. Edible flowers have been used for millennia in many cultures to enhance everything from salad to beer and wine. A quick internet query on “ancient edible flower recipes” revealed many results. It could be a fun family event to recreate a heritage recipe!
The flavor of many flowers is improved by removing the sexual parts – stamens, anthers and pistils. And, you will notice how a flowers’ flavor can vary as the plant ages throughout the season, and with variations in the soil, and climate (think terroir!) [Read More]
Grow Formula: 8-4-1. a naturally based, high nitrogen blend of nutrients, including 1% calcium, which are slowly converted by soil microbes into plant available forms. Grow Formula is an excellent nutrient addition to potting mixes or soils and can be used as a top dressing on existing gardens and lawns.
We couldn’t be happier to see so many people taking up gardening this spring! We can’t think of a healthier, more nourishing occupation (on many levels!) to engage in while spending a lot more time at home, especially with kids. We continue to do all we can to supply you with plants, soil-building products and other gardening supplies. Yet we know there will be some disappointments as we run out of some items prematurely.
But we have to tell you that this great surge in demand was not anticipated; not by us, not by our suppliers, and not by their suppliers either! [Read More]
We’re unmasking our retail staff just long enough to show their smiles and share their contributions at Harlequin’s Gardens! (Stay-tuned for another edition featuring our Wholesale and behind-the-scenes staff!)
Due to habitat reduction and fewer predators, many people are seeing more rabbits in their garden. Here are tactics that can help you.
Don’t be in a hurry to prune dead branches on woody plants this spring! Last fall we had warm weather followed by a fast-deep freeze, and this spring we had an 11-degree freeze after some leaves were out. Some branches and some whole shrubs may have died, but most will put out new leaves. So, it is best to wait another couple of weeks before pruning.
To know for sure if a branch is dead, try the old fingernail test: scratch a little bark on a smaller branch; if the wood under the bark is green, the branch is alive, if brown, it is dead. Also, wrinkled bark shows it is dead.[Read More]
We’ve all been through a lot of challenges together in the 28 years since Harlequin’s Gardens first opened: drought, watering restrictions, flood, the advent of genetically engineered seeds and foods and neonicotinoid systemic pesticides, wars overseas, wildlife extinctions, immigration bans, political divisiveness, economic crises, increased crowding and traffic, rising costs and stagnant wages, rising obesity and auto-immune disorders, alarming gun violence, the COVID-19 pandemic, increased stress altogether…….. [Read More]
The ancient proverb “March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers” could be revised for Colorado as “March and April heavy snow, freezing temps, and strong winds bring forth May flowers”! And this year was no exception. Two recent cold snaps with temperatures reaching lows of 3 degrees F in our neighborhood, snows up to 36” in the foothills, and winds that will bring down any weak tree branches, wreaked havoc and impacted flower and fruit productivity. So now it’s time to help support our shrubs and trees to recover.
The most influential factor in this process is soil biology, which is activated by warmth in the soil. [Read More]
We love Solar Caps, and so do our tomato starts! Solar Caps consist of a sturdy welded galvanized steel wire frame that lasts for years, over which you drape the water-filled plastic bag that comes with the kit. By positioning the Solar Cap where your tomato (or other warm-season veggies) will be planted, in 5-7 days your soil will be warm enough for planting (55+ F). Following planting, Solar Caps form a personal greenhouse for your veggies, which improves growth throughout the season and won’t tip over or collapse. They protect plants from drastic spring temperature fluctuations and from nightly cooling. We leave the Solar caps on our tomatoes though the season, enlarging the opening in the top from a small slit at first to a fully open circle when plants have put on height and weather is consistently warm. We’ve had great success using them for many years and regularly plant our tomatoes by April 15!
April 22 is Earth Day, originally planned to bring a billion people into the streets to let our leaders know for sure that the health and resilience of our planet and our environment is of the Utmost Importance. Of course, neither a billion nor a dozen people are going to congregate on Earth Day this year.
But for Harlequin’s Gardens, Earth Day is special. First of all, our office manager, Chas Moore has his birthday on Earth Day. Is it any wonder that he is now a manager of the most ecological retail nursery in Colorado?
Harlequin’s Gardens has been a pioneer and leader in sustainability in the nursery industry and a vehicle for organic veggie, herb and fruit plants and for classes and advice on organic gardening. [Read More]
Designated as an essential Food Production and Agriculture business by Boulder County and the State of Colorado, Harlequin’s Gardens is open every Thursday through Sunday, 9am to 5 pm. We take this privilege seriously and do not want to contribute to the spread of COVID-19. We are working hard to keep our space as safe as possible (sanitizing, limiting numbers of customers in our store, wearing face masks) and we need the support of our community. When you come to Harlequin’s Gardens, we ask that you wear a face mask to protect yourself and others, and practice social distancing. Thank you![Read More]
We’re wearing our masks, keeping our distance, disinfecting, etc. It couldn’t be more obvious that we are all connected by the air we breathe in and the biology we breathe out and share through what we touch. It’s not all bad. The microbes in our guts are responsible for helping digest our food and supporting our immune system. Not only that, but 90% of the cells in our bodies are microbe cells, and only 10% are human cells. Kinda makes ya think.
It wasn’t too long ago when Harlequin’s Gardens only accepted cash (and we would extend credit to those customers who didn’t have cash with them). And now here we are, only accepting credit cards to help minimize contact and maximize social distancing. (Thankfully we had set-up our credit card system a few years ago.) We’re continuing to evolve by introducing on-line orders! Who would have thought?
Our Order On-Line Page lists all of our big-bag soil products (composts, fertilizers, potting soils, mulches). Each product has a link to description information, our current inventory count, along with a link to order your desired[Read More]
HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS IS
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Harlequin’s Gardens will be open this week and hopefully longer. We are disinfecting and keeping a 6’ distance from each other, and only allowing 4 people at a time into our store. And we have plenty of unscented soap to wash your hands. Please help us maintain these precautions. If even one of our staff gets sick, we may have to close our doors.
There are some positive things we can do for our health, like getting exercise out in the fresh air and sunshine, and eating organic food fresh from the garden or our local farms. Get rest, meditate, pray, sleep, laugh a little. Just really do what we know is good for us. If we take good care of ourselves, we will be more capable of helping others.[Read More]
A couple of days ago, I decided to trim back the clumps of Narbonne Flax in my garden, which had been bent over by the heavy snow in March. I grabbed my hedge clippers and cut the first clump down to about 8”. Then I took a closer look at it. Something was in there, and it wasn’t a wad of dry redbud leaves. I had just missed cutting through a Praying Mantis egg case by about a quarter of an inch! A little shaken and much relieved, I inspected all the other clumps carefully before trimming the rest.
This was a vivid reminder that our garden allies need safe habitat during their dormant and larval stages, and undisturbed places to hide their eggs. [Read More]
At Harlequin’s Gardens we always knew that nurseries in Colorado are seasonal, but our commitment to local, sustainable, high quality, beautiful, delightful, unusual and innovative is eternal. One of our owners, Eve Reshetnik Brawner, also happened to be a multi genre artist with artisan friends making amazing items without enough ways to sell them. So nine years ago we germinated the idea of a Holiday Gift Market that would not only provide our cherished customers with items that reflected the reputation we’ve tended with our outstanding nursery stock and sustainable garden center items, but would also keep our dedicated and amazing staff working in the off-season.
The market has flourished under Eve’s care and every year new artisans bloom and are discovered, while like a favorite perennial, beloved returning artisans continue to intrigue us and bring forth new delights, too. So regardless of whether you’ve been coming since that very first opening weekend or have yet to discover the most rewarding, enjoyable and entertaining place to shop for your holiday gifts (or yourself) please join us![Read More]
Cayenne pepper can stop bleeding. Garlic helps alleviate a toothache. Honey soothes a burn. When an emergency situation arises, simple home remedies can play a vital role in easing symptoms and providing immediate help. Become an effective first responder with a combination of best first-aid practices, herbs, and standard homeopathic applications.
This quick-reference handbook by Brigitte Mars spells out hundreds of life-saving techniques, commonsense tips, and time-tested herbal remedies that everyone should know. From how to perform basic CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver to the best immediate response to natural disasters, you’ll find the most practical, effective actions to take to ensure survival. Compact and easy to bring along in your backpack or camper!
Look at the world beyond the limits of your eyes with these 4x magnification binoculars that are lightweight and designed for small hands. The attached neck strap keeps the binoculars handy and can be stored in the handy carrying case when not in use.
The Celestron Binoculars feature high quality, coated lenses; 4.3 degree x 225 foot field of view at 1000 yards. While these are small enough for kids – they’re much more than a toy.
There’s so much adventure and wonderment for young eyes, and it can take place with these wonderful items: Butterfly Tattoos, Backpack Explorer Kits (On the Nature Trail, Bug Hunt, Discovering Plants and Flowers) and Nature Smarts Workbooks for various ages.
This very small, extremely high quality 12x power magnifier is great for getting a closer look at what’s bugging your plants, taking out splinters, or helping to identify flowers.
We also offer other affordable, high-quality magnification tools, such as Binoculars!
The Art of Papercraft by Helen Hiebert
Explore the fascinating and accessible arts of papermaking and paper crafts with Helen Hiebert, Colorado’s foremost artist working creatively in this medium! She has taught inspiring papermaking and papercrafting workshops for people of all ages, and her books will walk you through every step of dozens of fun and exciting projects.
We are stocking classics AND a plethora of NEW puzzles!
Piece together a fascinating visual exploration of the natural world. Featuring illustrations from Julia Rothman’s best-selling books in her Nature Anatomy series, these jigsaw puzzles will open your eyes to new ways of seeing earth and sky, flora and fauna. With each of the 500 pieces you put in place, nature’s wonders unfold: the crystalline structure of a single snowflake, the different types of feathers on a bird, a constellation of stars. A distinctive blend of art and science, this sweeping study of the universe will delight, educate, and enlighten.
We have stocked several different puzzles in the Nature Anatomy series, plus Illustrated Herbiary, Bestiary and Crystallary Puzzles – California Poppies, Monarch Butterflies, and Garden Quartz.
These make great gifts for nature enthusiasts, design fans, homeschooling families, and curious learners of all ages.
The Stella Natura Wall Calendar is an easy-to-use, informative and beautiful planting and gardening calendar that shows the best times to take advantage of the cosmic influences of the moon, sun and planets. This is a research-based system that is used by Biodynamic farmers and gardeners.
We have been using this calendar for over 25 years and believe it has helped with germination of seeds, root development of cuttings, and healthy plant development. More than just a calendar – it’s packed with valuable information and insights for successful growing, from seed to harvest!
Wildflowers of the Rocky Mountain Region, the most complete, up-to-date field guide for identifying a huge number of our wildflowers. All of the plants are described, located, and photographed, and arranged in an easy-to-use format.
“Where can I get some good topsoil?” That’s a question I hear frequently at our nursery. And I often look wistfully towards the plains and say, only half-jokingly, “You can get good topsoil about 800 miles east of here.” That’s where I grew up, in Iowa, and where two tomato plants feed a family of six. It’s not that local suppliers are trying to deceive us when they sell Colorado clay as topsoil; it’s just that the glaciers didn’t dump three feet of loam on top of our clay.[Read More]
Many of you remember our long-time staffer Engrid Winslow, who creates jams and jellies that make you close your eyes and sigh with pleasure. She uses fresh fruit, (local and organic whenever possible) and very little sugar, so the fruit flavors shine. She makes the classics as well as many delicious originals, like Pear with Vanilla Bean, and Blueberry Lemonade, to name just a couple.
You’ll find delicious uses for Engrid’s preserves, in breakfasts, hors d’oeuvres, salad dressings, glazes, and desserts. This year Engrid is also offering one-of-a-kind knitted socks!
Achillea lanulosa (Achillea millefolium var. lanulosa) (Yarrow)
Agave havardii (Havard’s Century Plant)
Agave parryi neomexicana (New Mexico Century Plant)
Amelanchier alnifolia (Serviceberry)
Amorpha canescens (Leadplant)
Amorpha fruticosa (False Indigo)[Read More]
Back (every year!) by popular demand: Scrumptious, rich, melt-in-your-mouth grain-free shortbread cookies, based on almond flour, sprouted pecans, and butter, subtly sweetened with a little maple syrup. Gluten-free, grain-free, mostly organic, no refined sugars. You don’t have to be gluten-sensitive to love these rich and satisfying cookies! These cookies will keep for a long time in your freezer or fridge (as long as nobody finds them!)
Lamborn Mountain’s organic lavender and goat milk body-care products, made on a small organic farm in Paonia, CO, by our friends Carol and Jim Schott, are a great favorite at Harlequin’s.
From the milk of their own goats and lavender from their fields, they make the most luxuriously creamy, moisturizing hand and body lotion and gentle aromatic soaps. We offer their lavender lotion, their calming and uplifting Lavender Hydrosol and Essential Oil, and Cleopatra’s Bath gift Sets. All Lamborn products are hand-made in small batches.
moose + frankie is a small (so small!) woman owned and operated business out of Lakewood, Colorado.
Their skin care products are made by hand, in small batches. They use no synthetic color, fragrance, or preservatives. They choose ingredients based on how they benefit you and the planet, not how they could save them money or time.
We’re happy to once again bring you Robin’s wonderful, locally-crafted chocolate truffles! Robin Autorino is an award winning chocolatier and has been named by Dessert Professional as one of the Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America in 2013. We also offer her chocolate-drizzled crystallized ginger and chocolate-covered almonds!
The Spanish word ‘trementina’ has come to be used as the name for the sap of the pinyon tree of New Mexico. Folk remedies made from this sap have been used for centuries to relieve dry, cracked skin, abrasions and scrapes, and for drawing out splinters, and it really works! The pinyon sap and beeswax also contribute a wonderful aroma!
Made in New Mexico’s ‘curandera’ tradition by our friend Pamela, who climbed the pinyon trees to gather the sap, purified it, and infused it in olive oil and beeswax to create this rare traditional salve. Each tin of salve comes in a lovely organza gift bag.
Yea – totally organic! Made by herbalist Debra St. Claire! No corn syrup! Delicious! Effective! Packaged in pretty, reusable tins (some staff use these for seed saving)! Incredibly inexpensive! Lots of flavors! Great stocking stuffers!
Yellow Wellness offers plant-based skincare products that soften dry skin from head to toe. Their carefully crafted products aim to bring out the healthy glow in your skin. Give the joy of incorporating high-quality, affordable, and family-friendly skincare into your daily life. We’ll have Soft Oils, Bare Oils, Palo Santo, unscented, Eucalyptus/lemon and Ylang Ylang Body Butter.
As Colorado gardeners, we’ve come to expect snow in October (last year it was October 10), but September?! In the past 24 hours, 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 (the earliest recorded area snowfall was in 1961 when Denver received over 4″ of snow on Labor Day).
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. How many of you spent Sunday and Monday making pesto, tomato sauce, pickles, jam, and flower bouquets?[Read More]
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
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Seasonally, MARCH to OCTOBER.
MARCH HOURS:
Thursday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM
APRIL-OCTOBER HOURS:
Tuesday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM
JANUARY - FEBRUARY HOURS
Thursday-Saturday, 10AM-4PM
Mondays, CLOSED