As temperatures rise and we begin to wilt from the heat, many plants rise to the occasion and burst into bloom! Many of these summer stalwarts have spent the cooler, wetter 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 mid and late-summer bloomers in your garden.
Picture above: Rudbeckia hirta ‘Rustic Colors’ (Native Black eyed Susan selection).[Read More]
Okay, you prepared your soil and planted your vegetable garden with all kinds of wonderfully flavorful, nutritious foods, you’re watering and watching them grow, and wondering ….. When can I start to eat them, how do I harvest them, and how do I get the most out of these plantings? Here are some tips on vegetable crops harvest timing and techniques that may not be self-evident. Even if you’re a seasoned gardener, you may not be aware of some of these procedures! 
With great sadness, we share the news that the pioneering plantsman David Salman passed away on the fifth of June. David was a dedicated, passionate, and articulate educator and proponent of sustainable gardening, a plant explorer with a gift for selecting and introducing exceptional plants for western landscapes, and the founder of Santa Fe Greenhouses, High Country Gardens, and Waterwise Gardening. 
Pollinator Month is a special time for Harlequin’s Gardens – a time when we 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.
We would like to invite you to visit the Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse Rose Garden in downtown Boulder across from the city park. The unique treasure of an intricately handcrafted, traditional Tajik Teahouse was gifted to the city of Boulder by the citizens of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, one of Boulder’s Sister Cities, in 1988. In time, the design of the structure was amended to be able to house a restaurant business, construction was completed, and the Teahouse opened in spring of 1998. Both the inside and outside of this fabulous building are elaborately adorned with colorful carved, painted and sculpted elements, mostly traditional, plus some contemporary artistry. 
Our best selection of plants for the 2022 season is here now! Even though record numbers of customers have poured in this month and left with record numbers of great plants and products, we STILL have tons and keep bringing out more!
We were just getting comfy and confident in the progressing spring weather, when Mother Nature reminds us that She is in control!
We’re close to Boulder Valley’s “average last frost” date, and except for being windy and dry, it sure feels like Spring! Lots of gardeners are asking whether it’s safe to prune now, especially roses and shrubs. The answer is YES! But…..
This week, we invite you to visit us and choose some new plants to nurture and mother. And honor the Mothers in your life with the plants, garden items, books, classes or healthy products they’d love. We have a beautiful line of glazed pots for patios, entryways and balconies. Our organic pepper, tomato, and herb starts are pouring in, as are many new perennials and shrubs, roses, vines, grasses, and annuals, all neonic-free. We also have plenty of fruit trees and berry bushes, and seeds for delicious summer crops like beans, basil, cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, and melon, and glorious pollinator-supporting flowers like Lace Flower, Poppy, Zinnia, Sunflower, Nasturtium, Gloriosa Daisy, Cosmos, Morning Glory, and many, many more!
Give yourself a break by putting away your lawn mower for the month of May with the additional benefit of feeding our early bees!
What a glorious spring! Having been blessed with generous snow and rain, the land is bursting with energy, greener than green, and flowering in kaleidoscopic exuberance! Migratory birds have been arriving or passing though our region this month, offering sightings of avian treasures like Lazuli Buntings and Western Tanagers, not to mention the hummingbirds. We do live in a wondrous world!
The bad news is that last week’s small delivery of tomato starts froze when the wind blew open the back door of our greenhouse in the middle of the night.
We are here for you! You’re in the high desert/steppe now, with short growing seasons, sudden temperature changes, unpredictable precipitation, low humidity, drying winds, alkaline soils that are low in organic matter and nitrogen, hot summers and cold winters. Despite these challenges, gardens can thrive here, and be productive, rewarding and beautiful!
It’s nesting time for many of our little birds, and they are out there house hunting! Providing housing opportunities for them will bring benefits to your garden as birds eat large numbers of insects like mosquitos, scale, various larvae, etc., and give you the pleasure of watching them raise their broods. 
So they can support us!
Opening Day will be here in just a few minutes (or it seems to our busy-bee staff!) and our doors will re-open this Thursday, March 3rd at 9 AM. We hope to see you then! Our hours for the month of March are Thursday through Sunday, 9 AM to 5 PM. Then beginning Tuesday, April 1st, our hours expand to six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday. 
This morning’s broadcast of 
We know Mother Nature is teasing us with these delightful warm weather days, and they give us hope for the warm spring days ahead! However, snow and cold temperatures are again forecast to arrive this weekend, a pattern that will continue through March, and into April.
Spring is Not here. But it is coming.
Like miniature iris emerging from the warming soil, March launches Harlequin’s Gardens early spring season, and our doors will re-open on Thursday, March 3rd. Our hours for the month of March are Thursday through Sunday, 9 AM to 5 PM. Then beginning Tuesday, April 1st, our hours expand to six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday.
Stay tuned for our 2022 class listings, and as your spring-flowering bulbs emerge, refer to our 
Your landscape is not just something to look at. It is an opportunity to support your values by:
“The less biodiverse any system is, the greater the potential for its collapse.” Janisse Ray, from The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food.
Historically February is one of Colorado’s snowiest months, and finally we’re beginning to see evidence of that this year! Additionally, the forecast indicates more to come. It remains to be seen how some of our marginally hardy garden plants have suffered from the below zero temperatures.
Our hearts go out to the many people who suffered devastating losses in the Marshall wildfire. It may be possible to rebuild homes, but their contents may be irreplaceable and the sudden disruption to lives will present great challenges. Communities will also need to be rebuilt, and we are hoping the larger community will continue to step up to offer long-term support to all those in need. It takes a village! 
This year the Winter Solstice will fall on Tuesday, December 21st. This astronomical event is the time of the year when the Earth’s north pole is tilted farthest from the sun, so that night is the longest and daylight is the shortest (in the northern hemisphere). This day has long been celebrated because it signals the lengthening of the days until Summer Solstice on June 21. Even though there is a lot of winter left, there will be more day light. It is the promise of Spring to come. 
‘Tis the season of mailboxes stuffed with seed and nursery catalogs, and we know all too well the temptations therein! Our gardens may be dormant, but our plant lust is not, and haven’t we all been sucked in by glossy photos of sexy new must-have plants, even though we haven’t a clue where we’ll put them? We recommend that you try to resist, at least long enough to evaluate your existing garden. 
Mason Bee populations plummeted throughout Boulder County due to harsh spring weather, so it’s especially important to coddle them this winter! Mason bees normally nest in holes in tree trunks, which offer stable temperature, moisture, and protection from predators. To provide extra assistance, bring your Mason and other native bee tubes/cocoons into a sheltered place with ambient (outdoor) temperatures, but with less fluctuation, like a garage or refrigerator. Cocooned bees are now adult and safe to handle in their cocoons. If you used liners or reeds, take them out of the guard tubes and shelters and store them in the fridge. Ideally, unwrap the liners/reeds and just overwinter the mason bee cocoons. Place them in a Humidi-bee chamber (in stock), and keep the lower pad moist. 
It’s been a rough year over in Holland, where the business of flowers and bulbs is a huge component of the economy. Unprecedented heat followed by heavy rains and flooding, combined with labor shortages due to COVID, made the bulb harvest and export very difficult.
We are appreciative of the community support at our Holiday Market opening weekend! With the perfect autumnal weather, more people than ever were able to enjoy our local musicians, Sandra Wong & Jon Sousa’s world music, and Margot Krimmel’s traditional and original harp pieces.
I turned 75 this year so I get to give some perspective on the state of the world. Here is some of the good news that is not being reported these days. I should begin by acknowledging that, oh, yes, there are lots of things that are getting worse, but many things are getting better, too.
BBB is a great local seed company, offering Rocky Mountain wildflower mixes, and flower seed mixes for supporting honey bees and wild bees and other seed mixes that are perfect for gifts or holiday party favors.
Botanical Interests goes to great lengths to provide all the information you need, and more (like an illustration of what the seedling looks like when it emerges), on both the outside and the inside of the packet, plus stunning, botanically accurate illustrations by highly skilled local artists adorning the front of each packet! We have carefully selected varieties from their catalog that will thrive in Colorado’s short season, early heat, cool nights, etc.
In these strange and challenging times, the pandemic having altered just about every facet of our lives, we are sticking with the decision we made last year and presenting our Holiday Gift Market in October. It’s the only way we can keep our customers (and staff) safe and happy while shopping our market. From your previous visits in the last nine years, many of you know that our Holiday Market is the most rewarding, enjoyable place to shop for your holiday gifts, relaxed and far from the madding crowd! And now you can shop early and enjoy a commercial-free holiday season. Customers tell us they find the very best gifts at our holiday market, and feel particularly good about supporting small, mostly local artists and producers. 
We are offering Boulder Mushroom’s kits for growing your own delicious and highly nutritious mushrooms at home! They take up very little space, though these kits are bigger than most and will yield 2 to 4 times as many harvests! The main requirements are that you need to check on your mushroom log daily and provide a humid environment. Full instructions are included in each kit.
Hanukkah begins early this year at sundown on Sun., November 28th. A set of dripless, smokeless, hand-dipped beeswax candles from Amber Lights contains all the candles you’ll need to light the Menorah through the entire 8-day holiday. And they smell wonderful! And they come in a lovely blue mesh bag. And they are Local. And if you have no use for Hanukkah candles, we have everything from birthday candles to 6″ pillars, bee-skeps to Buddha heads, Deco to dragons, reindeer to roses, all beautifully crafted from our friend Clark at Amber Lights.