This Friday, April 22 we will celebrate Earth Day, originally planned 52 years ago 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. Since then, a lot has changed on our planet. Fortunately, many of us have awakened to a new paradigm that respects, honors and stewards the planet and its intricately connected living systems. New generations are growing up with the inspiration to live more simply so that others may simply live, and to make the regeneration of Earth’s balance their life’s work. [Read More]
Monarch butterflies previously considered Threatened, have now been classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world’s most comprehensive scientific authority on the status of species. Two major driving factors are habitat loss (and thus, food loss), and climate change. 
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!
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. 
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.
This morning’s broadcast of 
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!
Our Annual May Day Festivities and Spring Sale begin May 4th!
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 
With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, we’d like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for another great year, our 30th!, at Harlequin’s Gardens.
So they can support us!
Dear Friends and Fellow Gardeners,
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! 
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.
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. 
Aidan Chopra makes delightfully light, colorful, practical pottery. His path from drawing to jewelry to architecture to software to clay is evident in his work. Mostly it’s about good craft and constant experimentation. Aidan lives in Boulder, teaches design at CU, and is happiest when he’s making beautiful, functional things.
Eric Binkley’s succulent gardens.Driven by his passionate love of outdoor spaces, Eric re-creates natural scenery in living miniature. He has a gift for using low-light tolerant, low-maintenance plants in second-hand ceramics in delightful combinations, making the serenity of the remote outdoors accessible indoors! Eric is a beloved team member at Harlequin’s Gardens.
Erin Huybrechts Davis says she has been a painter for as long as she can remember. She grew up on the east coast, has her degree in painting and printmaking, and a masters degree in education. She now lives here in Longmont, CO, where she is a freelance illustrator and teaches art to young people.
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.
and Swallowtail butterflies on Mock Orange among others. These are also carved into linoleum blocks and printed on reused fabric from Boulder’s ArtParts. Hang them in your garden and speak your wishes into the flags. When the wind blows, the fabric threads that eventually wear down and blow away, and the wind will release your wishes into the wild.
Any gardener will be thrilled to receive a Gift Certificate to Harlequin’s Gardens! Our Gift Certificates are available in any denomination. With a gift certificate, your recipients can select from our wide array of neonic-free plants, soil products, gardening and bee-keeping tools and supplies, and more!
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. 
Our 2022 Fall Members-Only Sale has finished, and now our Big Fall Sale has begun, with 20% off for everyone! Plants included in this week’s sale are:
New this year! Matt Bubernak’s botanical and adventure-inspired ceramic mugs will warm your hands and feed your soul. Their balance and weight feel just right in your hand, and the earthy colors fit any décor.
Theresa Haberkorn, woodcut printmaker, has made Boulder her home for more than two decades. Her masterful woodcut prints are found in exhibits and collections nation-wide, and she teaches her artform as well. Theresa brings her art to hand-crafted household items like house-sculpture vases and candleholders, dishtowels, a charming wall calendar, and an assortment of cards. 
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.
Joan Hemm began working with the fabrics found in thrift-store draperies, duvet covers, tablecloths, and sheets in high school where there was no budget for costumes for the drama department’s productions. We first met Joan at a Boulder County Farmer’s Market, where she was dressed in a wonderful period costume portraying Susan B. Anthony in honor of Women’s Suffrage, and armed with voter registration forms. She had, of course, made her costume from remnants.
off a buying frenzy! Eve gets compliments wherever she goes when she wears the fabulous feathery headband Sondra made, even from strangers on the street!
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.
Plants are, of course, the main thing every gardener wants in their garden. But to garden, one also needs some tools, and the quality of those tools makes a BIG difference in the comfort, ease, and speed of getting those garden chores done. Durability, reliability, precision, and ergonomic design don’t generally come cheap. A quality handsaw or pole-saw, a pair of pruning shears, loppers or hedge-trimmers will, with a little maintenance, last a lifetime.
Reviewed by former HG staffer Deb: