You, as a Harlequin’s Gardens community member, have made a tangible difference by choosing neonic-free plants and non-toxic pest management, choosing native and waterwise plants, building soil health, supporting local ecology, creating bird and pollinator habitat, and all while getting outside and beautifying your outdoor space! You deserve our gratitude and applause!
Harlequin’s Gardens will start our 34th season in 2026, and we couldn’t be prouder that your work, and ours, is making change.
Dalea candida, White Prairie Clover
On Saturday morning, I headed down to Kendrick Lake Park in Lakewood to participate in our local rock garden society’s annual fundraiser, the members’ sale. I always donate some plants, and I always come home with some, too, though I vow not to! It’s also a great time to catch up with friends and fellow members of the Rocky Mountain chapter of NARGS (N. American Rock Garden Society)[Read More]
Among our top favorite groundcover plants for low-water, partly-shaded gardens are Cambridge Geranium (Geranium x cantabrigiense) and its best cultivars. They excel as low-maintenance colorful, long-blooming and long-lived, low-growing, spreading evergreen carpets under trees and in east and north exposures.
Right now we have plenty of cultivars ‘Biokovo’(palest blush), ‘Westray’ (pink), ‘St. Ola’ (white flowers from red buds) and ‘Crystal Rose’(unique vivid pink).
Geranium cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’
Rarely exceeding 12” tall, they provide dense masses of bloom over attractive mid-green foliage that emits a spicy woodland fragrant when rubbed. A second season of color comes in fall and winter, when the foliage turns shades of red and orange.
Cambridge Geraniums are happy in most soil types, including clay, and thrive in USDA zones 4 through 7. They can also be grown in sunnier exposures with more water, and in full shade with less flowering.
Colchicum ‘Waterlily’
Autumn brings surprise treats for gardeners and pollinators alike, in the form of fall-planted, fall-blooming bulbs! Plant bulbs like ‘Waterlily’ colchicum (pictured above), Saffron crocus and Autumn crocus NOW to start richly colored colonies of these hardy fall bloomers that will grow larger and longer-blooming each year! You will love their surprise appearance just when you thought there’d be no more flowers, and so will your local bees.[Read More]
The most cold hardy privet, the least likely to die back in cold winters. Tall shrub 8-10′. Stand alone, or plant 3′ apart to make a shorter hedge. White flowers attract butterflies and bees. The blue-black berries are poisonous to people and animals, but eaten by birds. Makes a dense screen. Low to moderate water needs. Zone 3, 8500′
Pink Velvet Honeysuckle
Lonicera Korolkowii ‘Pink Velvet’ Pink Velvet Honeysuckle Reg $36, On Sale $25
A large, tough shrub with rose pink flowers and some red berries. Grows 8-10′ tall with blue-green foliage. Cold-tolerant to zone 3. Fairly fast-growing and water-wise. Very attractive to bees and butterflies.
Tall shrub to 8′ with gorgeous copper-colored foliage turning maroon in summer. The showy white/pink flowers look great against the copper foliage. Best color in sun with once a week deep watering.
Western Catalpa
Catalpa Western Catalpa Reg $85, On Sale $45
Successful big tree to 40-50′. Showy clusters of beautiful white flowers and huge, roundish leaves. Often a big vertical shade tree. Water-wise and tough.
Cotoneaster racemiflora soongorica Redbead Cotoneaster Reg $35, On Sale $25
Big, tough, and beautiful shrub to 6-9′. White flowers in the spring, then red berries eaten by birds in the summer. Drought-tolerant, dense screen or windbreak. Very attractive. Hardy to Zone 3.
Autumn Brilliance fall color
Amelanchier grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’ Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry. Reg $160, On Sale $55.
Small tree/ large shrub 12-15′ with beautiful white flowers in spring, delicious small berries in summer, and brilliant red to orange fall color. The nectar-rich flowers are a favorite of birds. hardy to zone 3. Is good growing in full sun to part shade with deep watering once/ twice a week.
Chinkapin Oak
Quercus muehlenbergii – Chinkapin Oak
40-50’h x 40-50’w Cold-hardy to USDA zone 5
This handsome spreading oak has proved very successful locally, grows faster than other oaks, tolerates our alkaline soils, and resists oak gall insects. It makes an excellent, long-lived shade tree with strong branching. The attractive foliage has yellow to russet fall color.
Quercus undulata – Wavyleaf Oak
8-15’h x 8-10’w Hardy to USDA zone 4, 9,000’ elevation
A drought-tolerant Southwest (including CO) native oak with small leaves varying in shape,[Read More]
Chicago Hardy Fig
Sorbus amurensis – Amur Mountain Ash
20-30’h x 15-25’w Hardy to USDA zone 3
Clusters of showy white flowers in mid-spring are followed by bright red-orange berries that persist through winter and are enjoyed by birds. Attractive dark green pinnate foliage turns purple, red and orange in fall. Plant in full to partial sun. Avoid planting in a heavily watered lawn. Water once a week, deeply. Native to Korea, China, Russia.
Aspen leaves
Populus tremuloides ‘Erecta’ – Columnar Swedish Aspen
30-40’h x 10-15’w
One of the narrowest of hardy trees, great for small spaces and as a screen or lining a drive. Its white bark is stunning and the leaves with scalloped edges turn shades of orange and yellow in autumn and tremble with the faintest breeze. An underused ‘architectural’ tree and striking exclamation point in the landscape. Supports butterflies and birds. Exceptionally cold-hardy to USDA Zone 2, 10,500’. Water deeply once a week (not lawn watering).[Read More]
Our Fall Sale Keeps Getting Better!Aug 30 – Sept 5 – 20% off most plants, plus 10% off houseplants, Deep Discount Area continues, AND members receive a special 15% off Mushroom Compost. Plants in this week’s sale include many:
Fall is a great time to plant in Colorado. We have everything you’ll need – including our favorite tools, soil amendments and, of course, plants free of toxic chemicals![Read More]
It’s the First Week of our 2025 Fall Sale! Start Saving Saturday!Our 2025 Fall Members-Only Sale wraps up this week, and our Big Fall Sale begins THIS SATURDAY, with 20% off for everyone! Plants in this week’s sale include many:
Grasses, Groundcovers, Natives, Perennials, Shrubs, Trees, Vines.
We hope to see you this Saturday – there are two live musical performances! 10:30am: “Tea at 6” Irish Music Trio featuring Cora Weiss Moore; 1pm: Hammered Dulcimer champion Tina Gugeler.[Read More]
Here’s some of the new plants available this weekend (7/25/25)
Artemisia ludiviciana, Silver Sage, Native
Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly Milkweed, Native
Echinacea pallida, Pale Purple Coneflower, Native
Heliomeris multiflora, Showy Goldeneye, Native
Hymenoxys hoopesii, Owl’s Claws, Native
Liatris pycnostachya, Prairie Gayfeather, Native
Mirabilis multiflora, Desert Four-o’clock, Native
Oenothera macrocarpa, Missouri Evening Primrose, Native
Ratibida pinnata, Grey-Headed Coneflower, Native
Rudbeckia occidentalis, Western Coneflower, Native
Solidago ‘Fireworks’, Native
Solidago gigantea, Native
Solidago ptarmicoides, Native
Solidago rigida, Native
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Aromatic Aster, Native
Thermopsis rhombifolia, Golden Banner, Native
Tradescantia occidentalis, Western Spiderflower, Native
Vernonia fasciculata, Native
Allium senescens ‘Blue Twister’
Delopserma: Alan’s Apricot, Carlisle Pink Firespinner, Granita Orange, Lesotho Pink
Iris versicolor, Harlequin Blue Flag
Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’
Penstemon hirsutus, Hairy Beardtongue
Phlomis cachmeriana, Kashmir Sage
Rheum rabarbarum, Glaski’s Perpetual Rhubarb
Sedum: reflexum ‘Blue Spruce’, rupestre ‘Angelina’, sediforme ‘Turqoise Tails’
Sisyrinchium campestre, Prairie Blue-eyed Grass
Veronica liwanensis, Turkish Speedwell
By Eve Reshetnik Brawner
On Saturday, I had the great fortune to participate in a botanical field trip to Wyoming with a small group of rock gardeners – members of the Rocky Mountain chapter of the North
American Rock Garden Society. The exploration was led by the incomparable, world-renowned rock gardener and plantsman, Panayoti Kelaidis, whose knowledge of the high steppe region and alpine plants is encyclopedic.
[Read More]
A cornucopia of stunning, hardy bulbs will be arriving in August and early September at Harlequin’s, so get ready! Now is a great time to peruse our list (at the link below) and to look at your garden to identify areas where you can add fall-planted bulbs for (mostly) spring blooms (a few special Crocus and Colchicum bloom later in the fall!). Consider the gentle drama of a drift of mixed daffodils (Narcissus) that bloom from early to late spring[Read More]
Japanese Beetle is an invasive insect pest that feeds on over 300 different plants. It emerges from a grub stage in the ground in late June, peaks around mid-July and continues until early September. There are no natural enemies for Japanese Beetle in the US, and no one seems to have a successful strategy for eliminating them. We recommend a cumulative approach which combine to be helpful. [Read More]
Penstemon secundiflorus
To every thing there is season – like sowing and reaping. However, right now we can still be sowing seeds for fall crops (see below) at the same time we are reaping fruits and vegetables, and seeds. In nature and in our gardens at the nursery and at home, we have begun collecting seeds from wildflowers such as Sidebells Penstemon, Blue Flax and Blanket Flower. And in my vegetable garden, the tomatoes were planted late, so it will be a while before I can begin saving seeds[Read More]
Remember that encouraging phrase, “Yes we can!”? Well, at least one thing we can apply it to right now is planting. Here is a list of steps you can take to ensure your success establishing new plants even in summer heat. We have tested all these ideas in-house and at home.
1) Before planting , prepare the soil by spreading a 2″ layer of compost and digging it into the top 6″-8″. OR spread 1″- 2″ of expanded shale with the compost, then dig it in. [Read More]
Solstice in the Garden, photo by Pacha Edica
Last Friday, June 20th was the longest day and the shortest night of the year. This event is called the Summer Solstice. What does that mean? Sol means Sun. North of the Equator, where we are, the earth has its maximum tilt toward the sun and the sun is at its highest in the sky.
This is often a very hot time of year, when spring flowers have peaked and soils are drying. You may have noticed that our very green foothills have suddenly started turning brown. From the Summer Solstice until the Winter Solstice on Dec 21 this year, the days will be getting shorter and the nights longer.
For gardeners, this is a good time to remove spent flowers so the energies in the plants are not spent making seeds. Dead-heading followed by a deep watering will help to revive or keep the garden looking good, and can help support the plants to flower more. If you do want seeds, you can remove half the dead flowers, leaving half to make seeds and that will still save energy.
The Summer Solstice is also the best time to prune trees and shrubs for maximum dwarfing effect. Do you want that fruit tree to grow only 15’-18’ instead of 25? Does your Forsythia, shrub rose or Privet get too big? Prune them every year mid June to early July to keep them smaller. Why does that work? In the spring, plants use their stored energy to grow and make lots of leaves. By Summer Solstice, much of the spring energy is stored in the leaves and new growth. When plants are pruned at this time, you are removing resources from the plant so it has less energy to grow.
Two of the world’s top weather agencies predict upcoming years of extreme heat, which can lead to extreme wind and drought. We are already in this trend, so best to be prepared as best we can. We will have more to say in the future about making your garden more resilient. For now: grow more natives and Colorado-adapted plants, feed your soil biology, water deeply and seldom, and mulch.
This is last week of Pollinator Month…..if you’re looking for all-summer assistance, this week annuals are buy-one-get-one (of an equal or lesser price).
And: Mikl and Eve will be taking next week off to celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary! Congratulations for being business partners for all those years and still in love!
The cool, cloudy and rainy days of this year’s uncommonly long spring brought us many blessings – among them, a spring superbloom, both in the natural world and in our gardens. Now we are headed into a season of intense heat and sun, and probably not a whole lot of rain. There are many stunning plants we can add to our gardens that will bloom non-stop through the summer and beyond. We still have loads of these annuals (plants that complete their life-cycle in one season), as well as choice, long-blooming perennials (plants that return year after year from their roots).
[Read More]
The squirming, sucking infestations of aphids are not exactly lovable, but they do have real value and they are not that hard to manage. Aphids are the bottom of the food chain, like plankton in the ocean: everything eats them and they are plentiful nutrition. I have even watched small birds like wrens and chickadees lean under leaves and eat the aphids. Aphids are a food source for many beneficial insects including lady bugs, lacewings, syrphid flies and parasitic wasps, and if we kill off all the aphids, the beneficial insects will not have enough food to prosper and will not lay their eggs in your garden.
When we garden with a mission of sustainability, driven by our conviction that plant (and all) life depends on vibrant soil health, we don’t always realize that we’re part of an alternative lineage grounded in an understanding that everything is deeply connected.
Mathew Ingram’s “The Garden: Visionary Growers and Farmers of the Counterculture” invites gardeners to meet the legendary outside-the-box thinkers and growers who quite literally broke new ground and transformed our contemporary practices.
This is your best chance for big savings on healthy, highly desirable, container-grown trees that are very successful in our challenging Colorado conditions! We grew these healthy ‘seconds’ ourselves since they were little babies, in our own soil formulas and without any chemicals, in #5 (5-gallon) pots and larger. The only difference between these and their full-price counterparts is that the sale plants are a little shorter or slightly less full.
Choose from the following valuable plants:
Washington Lustre Hawthorn – on sale $65
Tatarian Maple – on sale $50
Swedish Columnar Aspen – on sale $55[Read More]
Rosa nutkana
Alba suaveolens
Autumn Damask
Banshee
Baronne Prevost
JoAn’s Pink Perpetual
Marchesa Bocchella
Sidonie
Zephirine Drouhin
AUSlot – Sophy’s Rose
AUSmove – Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Autumn Sunblaze
Autumn Sunset
Awakening
Bill Reid
Bridal Sunblaze
Brilliant Veranda
Burgundy Iceberg
Carefree Beauty
Carefree Spirit
Carefree Delight
Celestial Night
Champlain
Cinco de Mayo
Cream Veranda
Denver’s Dream
Diamond Eyes
Dortmond
Earth Angel
Fairmount Proserpine
Firecracker Kolorscape
Fred Loads
Fun in the Sun
Gail’s Glauca Seedling
Gourmet Popcorn
Home Run
Iceberg
Jacqueline du Pre
Jasmina
Jeanne Lajoie
Julia Child
Lady in Red
Laguna
Lemon Fizz Kolorscape
Life’s Little Pleasures
Mandarin Sunblaze
Margaret Merril
Millie Walters
Morden Belle
Morden Blush
Morden Fireglow
Parkdirektor Riggers
Peach Sunblaze
Playboy
Plum Perfect
Red Meidland
Red Ribbons
Red Sunblaze
Rise n Shine
Robusta
Roxanne Veranda
Sally Holmes
Sister Soul Sunbelt
Sunbeam Veranda
Sweet Chariot
Trumpeter
Twilight Zone
Westerland
William Baffin
As gardeners, and in community, we can make a real difference to protect and support the planet. We are living in very challenging times. Uncontrolled assaults on our planet’s resources and inhabitants, climate crisis, a political culture of runaway collusion and corruption, our personal safety and our personal freedoms under threat, perpetual wars, etc., etc. And what’s propelling it all is the power of Big Money. And Big, Corporate Money has been behind virtually all of our social, economic and environmental ills. For a very long time, corporations and their allies in power have spent vast fortunes to manipulate us in ways that separate us from each other, make us fear each other, pit us against each other. This is all for the purpose of distracting us from the power we could exert if we came together in community.
Fire is on our minds. How to prevent it. How to curtail or control it. How to live with it. How to use it constructively. We remember the early winter Marshall Fire at the end of 2021 with feelings of grief and
anxiety, and watch in horror as fires ravage Los Angeles and beyond. Folks living in the relatively wild foothills and mountains have always been aware of their vulnerability to wildfire.
But now city-dwellers and people in close-in suburbs are awakened to the threat facing them (us). We are offering guidance through education, and have scheduled a Fire-Wise Landscaping class with professional landscaper Bill Melvin in April. Watch for details as our 2025 class schedule, including winter classes, develops.[Read More]
Time flies, don’t you think? Do you remember when people throughout the “developed world” anxiously awaited the arrival of the new millennium, worried by predictions that Y2K would bring a collapse of technical systems – the internet, banking, stock trading, communications – and throw everything else into chaos? And there was nothing we could do about it? It didn’t take long to see that the world as we knew it did not fall apart. Twenty-five years later, perhaps you’ve been nervously awaiting the advent of 2025 and are scared of what the new year, on many fronts, could bring. Completely understandable!
But in difficult times, fear is not the best guide. We have to believe in ourselves and our communities, and always bring our best efforts forth to build a habitable, sane, safe, peaceful, just, generous, healthy world. [Read More]
These are native plants that we often have for sale during the growing season. Availability does change every year, but we grow and buy a wide variety of natives because they are so successful in our gardens.
KEY: t = tree, s = shrub, v = vine, gr = grass, gc = ground cover, p = perennial, b = biennial, a = annual
Acer glabrum (Rocky Mt. Maple) (t)
Acer grandidentatum (Bigtooth Maple) (t)
Achillea lanulosa (Native White Yarrow) (p)
Agastache aurantiaca Coronado
Agastache cana (Hummingbird Mint) (p)
Agastache rupestris (Sunset Hyssop)
Agastache urticifolia
Agave parryi (Hardy Century Plant) (s)
Agave parryi ssp neomexicana (s)
Agave sp. Big Blue
Agave utahensis x parryi v couesii
Allium cernuum (Nodding Onion) (p)
Amelanchier alnifolia (Saskatoon Serviceberry) (s/t)
Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Regent’ (Regent Serviceberry) (s)
Amorpha canescens (Leadplant) (s)
Amorpha fruticosa (False Indigo) (s)
Amorpha nana (Dwarf Leadplant) (s)
Amsonia jonesii (Jones’ Bluestar) (p)
Andropogon g. ‘Pawnee’ (Pawnee Big Blustem) (g)
Andropogon gerardii (Big Bluestem) (g)
Anemone (Pulsatilla) patens (Pasque Flower) (p)
Anemone multifida v. globosa (p)
Antennaria dioica (Pussytoes) (gc)
Antennaria dioica ‘Rubra’ (Red Pussytoes) (gc)
Antennaria parvifolia (Pussytoes) (gc)
Antennaria parvifolia ‘McClintock’ (gc)
Antennaria rosea (Pink Pussytoes) (gc)
Antennaria rubra (gc) (Pink Pussytoes) (gc)
Aquilegia barnebyi (p)
Aquilegia canadensis (p)
Aquilegia chrysantha (Southwest Yellow Columbine) (p)
Aquilegia chrysantha ‘Denver Gold’ (p)
Aquilegia coerulea (Rocky Mountain Columbine) (p)
Aquilegia desertorum (Arizona Columbine) (p)
Aquilegia elegantula (Rocky Mt. Red Columbine) (p)
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry, Kinnikinnick) (gc)
Arctostaphylos x coloradoensis ‘Chieftain’ (gc/s)
Arctostaphylos x coloradoensis ‘Mock Bearberry’ (gc)
Arctostaphylos x coloradoensis ‘Panchito’ (s)Argemone hispida (Rough Prickly Poppy) (p)
Argemone polyanthemos (Prickly Poppy) (p)
Artemisia cana (Silver Sage) (s)
Artemisia filifolia (Sand Sage) (s)
Artemisia frigida (Fringed Sage) (gc)
Artemisia ludoviciana (Prairie Sage) (p,gc)
Artemisia tridentata ssp nova (Black Sage) (s)
Artemisia tridentata (Western Big Sage) (s)
Asclepias arenaria (Western Sand Milkweed) (p)
Asclepias asperula (Antelope Horn Milkweed) (p)
Asclepias hirtella (Tall Green Milkweed) (p)
Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed) (p)
Asclepias speciosa (Showy Milkweed) (p)
Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed) (p)
Asclepias viridis (Green Antelope Horn)
Aster coloradoensis (see Xanthisma coloradoense) (Colorado Aster) (p)
Aster ericoides (See Symphyotrichum ericoides) (Wreath Aster) (p)
Aster laevis (see Symphyotrichum leave) (Smooth Aster) (p)
Aster oblongifolius (see Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) (Aromatic Aster) (p)
Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’ (see Sympyotrichum ob. ‘October Skies’ (p)
Aster oblongifolius ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ (see Symphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ (p)
Aster porteri (Symphyotrichum porteri) (Porter’s Aster) (p)
Atriplex canescens (Four-wing Saltbush) (s)
Atriplex confertifolia (Shadscale) (s)
Baileya multiradiata (Desert Marigold) (a)
Balsamorrhiza sagittate (Arrowleaf Balsamroot) (p)
Baptisia australis (False Indigo) (p)
Baptisia australis v minor (Dwf. False Indigo) (p)
Baptisia lactea (White False Indigo) (p)
Berlandiera lyrata (Chocolate Flower) (p)
Blepharoneuron tricholepis (Pine Dropseed) (gr)
Bouteloua curtipendula (Side Oats Grama) (gr)
Bouteloua curtipendula ‘Trailway’ (gr)
Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama) (gr)
Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’ (gr)
Callirhoe involucrata (Poppy Mallow, Wine Cups) (p,gc)
Calylophus hartw. lavandulifolius (see Oenothera lavandulifolia) (Lavender-leaf Sundrops) (p)
Calylophus (see Oenothera) hartwegii v fendleri (Fendler’s Sundrops) (p)
Calylophus serrulatus (Dwarf Sundrops) (p)
Calylophus serrulatus “Prairie Lode” (Dwarf Sundrops) (p)
Campanula rotundifolia (Mountain Harebell) (p)
Castilleja integra (Indian Paintbrush) (p)
Ceanothus ovatus (Prairie Redroot) (s)
Celtis occidentalis (Western Hackberry) (t)
Celtis reticulata (Netleaf Hackberry) (t)
Ceratoides (see Krascheninnikovia, Erotia) lanata (Winterfat) (s)
Cercocarpus intricatus (Little-leaf Mt. Mahogany) (s)
Cercocarpus ledifolius (Curl-leaf Mt. Mahogany) (s/t)
Cercocarpus montanus (True Leaf Mt. Mahogany) (s)
Chamaebateria millefolium (Fernbush) (s)
Chilopsis linearis (Desert Willow) (t)
Cholla Cactus, hardy species (See Cylindropuntia) (s)
Ericameria (Chrysothamnus) nauseosus albicaulis (Tall Blue Rabbitbrush) (s)
Ericameria (Chrysothamnus) nauseosus nauseosus (Dwf. Blue Rabbitbrush) (s)
Ericameria (Chrysothamnus) viscidiflorus (Tall Green Rabbitbrush) (s)
Clematis hirsutissima (Sugar Bowls) (p)
Clematis ligusticifolia (Western Virgins Bower) (v)
Clematis scottii (Scott’s Sugarbowls) (p)
Cornus sericea (Red-twig Dogwood) (s)
Coryphantha missouriensis (Nipple Cactus)
Coryphantha vivipara (Ball Cactus)
Crataegus erythropoda (Red-stemmed Hawthorn) (s)
Cupressus arizonica (see Hesperocyparis arizonica) (Arizona Cypress) (t)
Cylindropuntia echinocarpa (Silver Cholla) (s)
Cylindropuntia imbricata (Hardy Cholla Cactus) (s)
Dalea purpurea (Purple Prairie Clover) (p)
Dalea Purpurea ‘Stephanie’ (Purple Prairies Clover) (p)
Datura wrightii (meteloides, inoxia) (Angel’s Trumpet, Sacred Datura) (a,p)
Deschampsia caespitosa (Tufted Hair Grass) (gr)
Draba oligosperma (Few-Seeded Draba) (p)
Echinacea angustifolia (Narrow-leaf Coneflower) (p)
Echinacea pallida (Pale Purple Coneflower) (p)
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) (p)
Echinocereus coccineus (Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus) (p)
Echinocereus fendleri (Sitting Cactus) (p)
Echunocereus x lloyii (Lloyd’s Hedgehog cactus) (p)
Echinocereus reichenbachii (Purple Candle Cactus) (p)
Echinocereus triglochidiatus (Claret Cup Hedgehog Cactus) (p)
Echinocereus trigloch. inermis (Spineless Claret Cup Cactus) (p)
Echinocereus viridiflorus (Green Pitaya Cactus)
Ephedra viridis (Mormon Tea) (s)
Eragrostis trichodes (Sand Love Grass) (gr)
Eragrostis spectabilis (Purple Love Grass) (gr)
Erigeron caespitosa (Tufted Fleabane) (p)
Erigeron compositus (Cutleaf Daisy) (p)
Erigeron formosissimus (Beautiful Fleabane) (p)
Erigeron linearis (Yellow Fleabane) (p)
Erigeron pumilus (Shaggy Fleabane) (p)
Erigeron speciosus (Aspen or Showy Fleabane) (p)
Eriogonum flavum flavum (p)
Eriogonum jamesii (Antelope Sage) (p)
Eriogonum niveum (White Buckwheat) (p)
Eriogonum ovalifolium (Cushion Buckwheat) (p)
Eriogonum umbellatum (Sulphur Flower) (p)
Eriogonum umbellatum v aureum ‘Kannah Creek’ (Kannah Creek Sulphur Flower) (p,gc)
Eriogonum umbellatum v aureum (Sulphur Buckwheat) (p, gc)
Eriogonum umbellatum v majus (Subalpine Buckwheat) (p, gc)
Eriogonum umbellatum v porteri
Eriogonum wrightii v wrightii (Snow Mesa Buckwheat)
Krascheninnikovia lanata (Winterfat) (s)
Erysimum capitatum (Western Wallflower) (bi)
Erysimum wheeleri (Wheeler’s Wallflower) (bi)
Fallugia paradoxa (Apache Plume) (s)
Fendlera rupicola (Cliff Fendlerbush) (s)
Forestiera neomexicana (New Mexico Privet) (s)
Fragaria vesca v americana (Wild Strawberry) (p, gc)
Gaillardia aristata (Indian Blanket, Firewheel) (p)
Gaillardia aristata BldrCo (Golden Blanketflower) (p)
Gentiana bigelovii (Bigelow’s Gentian) (p)
Geranium caespitosum (p)
Geranium fremontii (p)
Geranium richardsonii (Richardson’s Geranium) (p)
Geranium viscosissimum (Sticky Cranesbill) (p)
Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke) (p)
Grindellia squarrosa (Rosinweed, Gumweed) (p)
Ipomopsis aggregata (Skyrocket, Scarlet Trumpet) (bi)
Ipomopsis rubra (Scarlet Gilia, Standing Cypress) (bi)
Gutierrezia sarothrae (Snakeweed) (p)
Helianthus maximilliani (Maximillian Sunflower)
Helianthus pumilus (Dwarf Sunflower) (p)
Helianthus salicifolius (Willow-leaf Sunflower) (p)
Hesperaloe parviflora (Red Yucca) (s)
Heterotheca jonesii (p) (Jones’ Goldenaster) (p)
Heterotheca pumila (Alpine Goldenaster) (p)
Holodiscus discolor (Creambush) (s)
Holodiscus dumosus (Rock Spirea, Ocean-spray) (s)
Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ (Golden Hops) (v)
Humulus lupulus v neomexicanus (New Mexico Hops) (v)
Hymenopappus filifolius (Threadleaf Sunflower) (p)
Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris) acaulis (Sundancer Daisy) (p)
Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris) argentea (Bitterweed) (p)
Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris) grandiflora (Old Man of the Mountain, Alpine Sunflower) (p)
Hymenoxys (Helenium) hoopesii (Owl’s Claw) p
Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris) scaposa ‘Prairie Sunshine’ (Perky Sue) (p)
Ipomoea leptophylla (Bush Morning Glory) (p)
Iris missouriensis (Native Wild Iris) (p)
Jamesia americana (Wax Flower) (s)
Juniperus communis (Common Juniper) (s, gc)
Juniperus monosperma (One-Seed Juniper) (t)
Liatris aspera (Rough Gayfeather) (p)
Liatris ligulistylis (Rocky Mountain Gayfeather) (p)
Liatris punctata (Spotted Gayfeather, Blazing Star) (p)
Lilium philadelphicum (Wood Lily) (p)
Linum lewisii (Native Blue Flax) (p)
Lithospermum multiflorum (Many-flowered Puccoon) (p)
Lobelia siphilitica (Great Blue Lobelia) (p)
Machaeranthera bigelovii (Bigelow’s Tansyaster) (bi)
Machaeranthera pattersonii (syn. M. bigelovii) (bi)
Machaeranthera tanacetifolia (Tahoka Daisy) (bi)
Mahonia fremontii (Fremont’s Desert Holly) (s)
Mahonia haematocarpa (Desert Holly) (s)
Mahonia repens (Creeping Mahonia) (gc)
Melampodium leucanthum (Blackfoot Daisy) (p)
Mentzelia decapetala (Blazing Star) (b/p)
Mentzelia nuda (Bractless Blazing Star) (p)
Mirabilis multiflora (Desert Four O’Clock) (p)
Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot, Bee-balm) (p)
Monarda fistulosa v. menthifolia (Wild Bergamot, Native Bee-balm) (p)
Monardella macrantha ‘Marion Sampson’ (Scarlet Coyote Mint) (p)
Muhlenbergia rigens (Deergrass) (gr)
Nolina microcarpa (Beargrass) (s)
Oenothera caespitosa (Tufted Evening Primrose, Gumbo Lily) (p)
Oenothera howardii (Boulder Native Evening Primrose) (p)
Oenothera macrocarpa incana “Comanche Campfire’ (Comanche Campfire Evening Primrose) (p)
Oenothera macrocarpa incana “Silver Blade” (Silver Blade Evening Primrose) (p)
Opuntia fragilis (Brittle Prickly Pear cactus) (p)
Opuntia basilaris (Beavertail Cactus) (p)
Opuntia polyacantha ‘Peter Pan’ (Peter Pan Dwf. Prickly Pear Cactus) (p,gc)
Opuntia hybrids (Hybrid Prickly Pear cacti) (p)
Oryzopsis (Acnatherum) hymenoides (Indian Rice Grass) (gr)
Oxytropis besseyi (Bessey’s Locoweed) (p)
Oxytropis lambertii (Lambert’s Loco Weed) (p)
Oxytropis multiceps (p)
Oxytropis sericea (Silky Locoweed) (p)
Oxytropis splendens (Showy Locoweed) (p)
Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass) (gr)
Panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Sky’ (Blue Prairie Switchgrass) (gr)
Panicum v. ‘Shenandoah’ (gr)
Paxistima canbyi (Mountain-lover) (s,gc)
Pediocactus simpsonii (Mountain Ball Cactus)
Penstemon alamosensis (p)
Penstemon alpinus (p)
Penstemon ambiguus (Sand Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon angustifolius (Pagoda Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon arenicola (Sand Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon barbatus (Scarlet Bugler) (p)
Penstemon brandegeei (Brandege’s Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon caespitosus (Bluemat Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon cardinalis (Cardinal Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon clutei (Sunset Crater Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon crandallii (Crandall’s Mat Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon cyananthus (Wasatch Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon eatonii (Firecracker Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon glaber (Smooth Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon grandiflorus (Shell-leaf Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon grandiflorus ‘Prairie Jewel’ (p)
Penstemon hallii (p)
Penstemon jamesii (James’ Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon lin. ssp coloradoensis ‘Silverton’ (Silverton Mat Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon lin. ssp sileri (Siler’s Mat Penstemon (p)
Penstemon linarioides (Mat Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon mensarum (Grand Mesa Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon palmeri (Fragrant Beardtongue) (p)
Penstemon pin. ‘Mersea’s Yellow’ (Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon) (p,gc)
Penstemon pin. v. ‘Compactum’ (dwf. Pineleaf Penstemon) (p,gc)
Penstemon pinifolius (Pineleaf Penstemon) (p,gc)
Penstemon pinifolius ‘Sunset Glow’ (Sunset Glow Penstemon) (p,gc)
Penstemon procerus (Smallflowered Penstemon)
Penstemon pseudospectabilis (Desert Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon rostriflorus (Bridges’ Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon rydbergii (Rydberg’s Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon secundiflorus (Sidebells Penstemon, Orchid Beardtongue,) (p)
Penstemon strictus (Rocky Mt. Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon strictus ‘Bandera’ (p)
Penstemon superbus (Coral Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon teucroides (Pine-mat Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon virens (Blue Mist/Foothills Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon virgatus (Wandbloom Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon virgatus ssp.asa-grayi (Wandbloom Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon whippleanus (Dusky Penstemon) (p)
Penstemon xylus (Tushar Mt. Penstemon) (p)
Petalostemon (Dalea) purpureum (Purple Prairie Clover) (p)
Philadelphus lewisii “Cheyenne” (Cheyenne Mockorange) (s)
Philadelphus microphyllus (Littleleaf Mockorange) (s)
Physaria bellii (Bell’s Twinpod) (p)
Physocarpus monogynus (Mountain Ninebark) (s)
Physocarpus monogynus ‘Grey Rock’ (Grey Rock Mountain Ninebark) (s)
Picea pungens (Blue Spruce) (t)
Pinus aristata (Bristlecone Pine) (t)
Pinus cembroides var. edulis (Pinyon Pine) (t)
Pinus cembroides var. edulis, dwf. (Dwarf Pinyon Pine) (s)
Pinus flexilis, dwarf (Limber Pine (s)
Pinus ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine) (t)
Polemonium foliosissimum (Towering Jacob’s Ladder) (p)
Polemonium reptans (Creeping Jacob’s Ladder) (p)
Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen) (t)
Prunus americana (Wild Plum) (s/t)
Prunus besseyi (Western Sand Cherry) (s)
Prunus besseyi ‘Boulder Weeping’ (Weeping Western Sandcherry) (s, gc)
Prunus besseyi “Pawnee Buttes” (Dwf. Western Sandcherry) (s)
Prunus virginiana (Western Sandcherry) (s/t)
Psilostrophe tagetina (Paperflower) (monocarpic)
Pulsatilla patens (Pasqueflower) (p)
Purshia stansburyana (syn. Cowania Mexicana) (Cliffrose) (s)
Purshia tridentata (Antelope Bitterbrush) (s)
Quercus gambelii (Gambel Oak) (t)
Quercus gambelii ‘Gila Monster’ (t)
Quercus turbinella (Shrub Live Oak) (t)
Quercus undulata (Wavyleaf Oak) (t)
Ratibida columnifera (Mexican Hat Coneflower)(p)
Ratibida columnifera var. pulcherrima (Red Mexican Hat) (p)
Rhus glabra cismontana (Rocky Mt. Sumac) (s)
Rhus glabra laciniata (Cutleaf Rocky Mt. Sumac) (s)
Rhus trilobata (Three-leaf Sumac, Skunkbush) (s)
Rhus trilobata ‘Autumn Amber’ (Autumn Amber Creeping Three-leaf Sumac) (s, gc)
Ribes aureum (Golden Currant) (s)
Ribes aureum ‘Gwen’s Buffalo’ (Gwen’s Buffalo Currant) (s)
Ribes cereum (Wax Currant) (s)
Ribes odoratum “Crandall” (Crandall Clove Currant) (s)
Robinia neomexicana (New Mexico Locust) (s)
Rosa arkansana (Prairie Rose) (s)
Rosa woodsii (Woods’ Rose) (s)
Rubus deliciosus (Boulder Raspberry) (s)
Rudbeckia hirta (Blackeyed Susan) (p)
Rudbeckia laciniata (p)
Rudbeckia missouriensis (p)
Rudbeckia subtomentosa (Sweet Coneflower) (p)
Rudbeckia tomentosa (short-lived perenn.)
Salix irrorata (Bluestem Willow) (s)
Salvia azurea ssp grandiflora (p)
Salvia dorrii (Purple Sage) (p)
Salvia pitcheri (Pitcher Sage) (p)
Salvia reptans (Sand Sage) (p)
Sambucus racemosa (syn. S. pubens) (Red Elderberry) (s)
Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem) (gr)
Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blaze’ (gr)
Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Prairie Blues’ (gr)
Schizachyrium scoparium ‘The Blues’ (gr)
Scutellaria resinosa (Prairie Skullcap) (p)
Scutellaria resinosa ‘Smoky Hills’ (Smoky Hills Prairie Skullcap)
Sedum lanceolatum (Stonecrop) (p,gc)
Senecio fendleri (p)
Senecio plattenensis (p)
Shepherdia argentea (Silver Buffaloberry) (s)
Shepherdia argentea ‘Silver Totem’ (Silver Totem Buffaloberry) (s)
Shepherdia argentea x rotundifolia (s)
Silene laciniata ((Fringed Indian Pink) p)
Silene regia (Royal Catchfly) (p)
Sisyrinchium angustifolium (Blue-eyed Grass) (p)
Sisyrinchium montanum (Blue-eyed Grass) (p)
Sisyrinchium campestre (Blue-eyed Grass) (p)
Solidago nana (Dwarf Goldenrod) (p)
Solidago ptarmicoides (Upland White Goldenrod) (p)
Solidago rigida (Stiff Goldenrod) (p)
Solidago speciosa (Showy Goldenrod) (p)
Solidago speciosa ‘Wichita Mountains’ (p)
Solidago petiolaris (Downy Goldenrod) (p)
Sorbus scopulina (Native Mountain Ash) (t)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indian Grass) (gr)
Sorghastrum nutans ‘Pawnee’ (‘Pawnee’ Indian Grass) (gr)
Sphaeralcea fendleri (fender’s Globemallow) (p)
Sphaeralcea coccinea (Cowboy’s Delight) (p)
Sphaeralcea munroana (Orange Globe Mallow) (p)
Sporobolis airoides (Alkali Sacaton) (gr)
Sporobolis wrightii (Giant, Wright’s Sacaton) (gr)
Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie Dropseed) (gr)
Stanleya pinnata (Prince’s Plume) (p)
Symphoricarpus oreophyllus (Mountain Snowberry) (s)
Symphoricarpus occidentalis (Wolfberry) (s)
Symphoricarpus albus (Western Snowberry) (s)
Symphoricarpus rotundifolius) (see S. oreophyllus) (s)
Talinum calycinum (Rock Rose) (a/p)
Thermopsis divaricarpa (Native Golden Banner) (p)
Thermopsis montana (Mountain Golden Banner) (p)
Townsendia grandiflora (showy Townsendia) ()
Townsendia eximia (Rocky Mt.Townsend Daisy) (bi)
Townsendia hookeri (Hooker’s Townsend Daisy) (p)
Tradescantia occidentalis (Western Spiderwort) (p)
Verbena (Glandularia) bipinnatifida (Prairie Verbena) (p)
Verbena hastata (Blue Vervain) (p)
Verbena stricta (Hoary Vervain) (p)
Verbena (Glandularia) wrightii (Davis Mts. Mock Vervain) (p)
Vitis riparia (Riverbank Grape) (v)
Wyethia (Scabrethia) scabra (Badlands Mule Ears) (p)
Wyethia helianthoides (White Mule Ears) (p)
Yucca baccata (Broadleaf Yucca, Banana Yucca) (s)
Yucca elata (Soap Tree Yucca) (s)
Yucca nana (Dwarf Yucca) (s)
Yucca glauca (Soapweed Yucca) (s)
Yucca harrimaniae (Dollhouse Yucca) (s)
Zinnia grandiflora (Prairie Zinnia) (p)
Zizia aptera (Heart-leaf Golden Alexanders (p)
Some of our favorite gifts encourage experimentation, thinking, engaging with nature, and providing activities that let folks of all ages share an experience. Choose from books that inspire imagination, tools to bring new things to light (microscopes, loupes and more), activity backpacks, and puzzles.[Read More]
Pruning is the art and science of removing or shortening branches of a tree or shrub. If done correctly, it can prevent breakage, increase beauty and increase flowering and fruiting. To learn how to make a healthy cut, study the Shigo method of pruning, or come to one of Mikl’s pruning classes.
What follows is some general guidance:
If you’re baking a delicious pumpkin pie, or making a warming squash soup, don’t throw away the seeds.
Our friends at Seed Savers have put together everything you’ll need to know on growing, and saving squash and pumpkin seeds for next year’s garden! You’ll want to identify the species first.
Are you ready to add new plants to your indoor garden this season? Our selection is excellent, with plants to suit a variety of light conditions. Did you know that winter is the dormant season for most of the non-blooming tropical plants that we grow as houseplants? We’ve assembled some tips to help them thrive in our dry indoor conditions.
Water and Moisture Essentials:[Read More]
by Dan Brawner
Mikl’s brother, Dan, has been writing a weekly, mostly humorous, column for a small-town Iowa newspaper for 33 years. Here’s his latest.
Just because it says so doesn’t mean you have to do it. Fall, I mean. We probably wouldn’t even think about seasonal expectation except now we’re in one of the imperative seasons whose name sounds like a command; the other one being spring.
Spring is a joyful season – and I don’t mean merely happy. To call spring “happy” is to miss the entire point of the thing. Like calling a Ferrari “good transportation”. Or a hot-air balloon ride over the Grand Canyon “sightseeing”. Spring is spring because following a long, cold winter after we’ve been Houdinied up in wool coats and throat-choking serpentine scarves with the frigid air hurting our faces and the ice-covered roads telling us we’d better stay home if we know what’s good for us, we can get wound pretty tight by around the first of March. When that first actually warm day comes to us with the sun like butterscotch, we are ready to spring, and nothing can stop us!
But fall is the season of stumbling. [Read More]
Are you beginning to think about giving gifts of appreciation and love to your friends and family?
We know that these gifts don’t have to take physical form; what we do for our loved ones and how we express and demonstrate our love all year long – this is what really counts.
HOWEVER…. it can be a lot of fun to search out just the right gifts to delight and support your favorite people! And since we know that our customers care about the natural world, sustainability, health, creativity, quality and beauty, we have worked hard to assemble a remarkable and diverse array of fantastic gift items, mostly made by highly skilled local Colorado artisans and producers, that are in line with your values and ours.
If you are attending holiday parties, you could bring the hosts a gift of some of our exclusive locally handcrafted specialty foods.[Read More]
Here we are in the season of giving generously. Not all of us can afford to give lavishly, but even the humble gift of seeds can create enormous abundance. We’re talking about both literal and figurative seeds here.
On the literal plane, a $2.69 packet of our Botanical Interests certified organic Red Russian Kale seeds (~190 seeds) can yield an abundant and highly nutritious crop of either ‘cut & come again’ baby greens or mature leaves over an exceptionally long season. Friends of ours in Boulder are still harvesting this easy-to-grow, delicious vegetable, rich in minerals and antioxidants. How’s that for a stocking-stuffer with abundant potential?
The more challenging life becomes, the more I remind myself of what’s good and beautiful and wondrous and nourishing in life, what I can be deeply grateful for and what I will stick my neck out to protect. The list is long!
Harlequin’s Gardens is a business that has, over 32 years, grown beyond Mikl’s and my dreams, assisted by our fabulous staff and our wonderful customers and allies, guided by our love of people, plants, gardens, gardeners, wild things and the connections between them, sharing good information, good products and good news. There is so much beauty and richness in all of this interconnectedness and possibility and we will always thank our lucky stars that we have had the opportunity to spread it around. And we couldn’t have done it without YOU! From all of us: Our deepest gratitude! May all of you enjoy a meaningful, joyful and delicious Thanksgiving celebration!
Eve’s “Embarrassment of Riches” Garage Sale Is DelayedDue to unforeseen circumstances, the sale, originally scheduled for this weekend, will be rescheduled!
At Harlequin’s Gardens Nursery
4795 N.26th St., Boulder
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
NOVEMBER 9th & 10th, 10 am to 5 pm
It’s that time – time of year and time of life – when having too much stuff, even beautiful stuff and quality stuff and useful stuff, is making me feel claustrophobic. My mother taught me to be an astute shopper, and I’ve spent my life as a treasure hunter, seeking beauty, quality, authenticity and value, in every realm, from experiences to plants to art to earrings.
[Read More]
WINTER SOLSTICE GREETINGS!
Winter Solstice, the day when we in the Northern hemisphere experience the shortest day and longest night of the year, falls on Saturday, December 21st. After that, the tilt of the earth will reverse direction, lighting the path to Spring north of the Equator. And because Spring is coming, once again, I’ve got seeds, my favorite subject!, on my mind, on my desk (dining table), in bags and boxes all around the room, and seed order invoices are crowding my inbox.[Read More]
At this time of year, many of you probably share with me the bittersweet feeling of closure drawing near. It’s been another immensely rewarding growing season at Harlequin’s, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to introduce hundreds of new Colorado gardeners to appropriate and successful materials and methods, as well as helping so many longtime, like-minded sustainable gardeners. For 32 years we have been providing pollinator-safe Colorado-appropriate plants, products, information and advice based on our ongoing research and long experience, and we look forward to carrying this service well into the future. Thank you all for your support! But we’ve extended our season and we’re not done yet!
This week we are still open Tuesday through Sunday, 9am to 5pm and we still have beautiful plants (30% off), fantastic spring-blooming bulbs to plant now (20% off), seeds (many 60% off), composts and mulches, fertilizers and pest repellents, houseplants and much more.
We’ll be closed briefly for inventory, from Oct. 31st through Nov. 6th.
We will RE-OPEN November 7th and remain open from 10am to 5pm through December 22nd, every Thursday through Sunday.
Our 13th Annual Holiday Market opens Thursday Nov. 21st and runs through December 22nd.
After the winter holidays, we’ll RE-OPEN AGAIN from On January 2nd, 2025 for 3 days a week (Thursday through Saturday) from 10am to 4pm until we start over on Saturday March 1st!
Don’t be a stranger! Come and see what we have to offer year-round.
This week’s warm weather aside, December is the time we cozy up indoors to dream about next season’s garden, and to decide what new techniques to try and which plants to grow. Winter is for gardening books, and we have quite a few in stock that we’d like to suggest for you. Whether you have a book club or just a comfortable chair to curl up into, these titles are sure to fire your imagination.
FALL GARDEN CARE
In the ‘Old Normal’, by now, we would expect to have had some light frosts and maybe some killing frost in the Denver-Boulder area. And some rain, and even snow. And lots of leaves would have fallen from the trees and shrubs. Most of us with irrigation systems would have had them blown out and turned off. But this long extension of summer heat and drought is definitely not the Normal we used to rely on. As gardeners, we have to adapt. Here are some suggestions for fall garden maintenance under these new conditions.
PLANTING
Perennials, Trees & Shrubs: This fall we have a great opportunity to continue planting! We’ve had some of our best successes with transplanting hardy roses, shrubs, trees and perennials in October. There is enough time for new plants to establish before the soil freezes. Do mulch your new plantings (see mulching section below), and water thoroughly and frequently while daytime temperatures remain above 40 degrees and the soil has not yet frozen. We still have a lot of really great plants in great condition, and nearly all of them are on sale! See our Fall Sale details below.[Read More]
Every garden should include some spring-blooming bulbs. And some fall-blooming bulbs as well. “But” you say – “my entire garden is devoted to native plants to support native pollinators and other native critters; and hyacinths, crocus, tulips and daffodils are not even native to the North American continent”.
While growing an all-native garden is a great idea, and supporting our local ecosystems is an important endeavor, there are good reasons for including some non-native plants, especially plants that extend the flowering season at either end. They will attract and support honeybees, bumblebees, mason bees, and other pollinating insects at times of the year when flowers are relatively scarce.
If deer roam in your yard, we offer a lovely assortment of highly deer-resistant (toxic to deer) spring-flowering Narcissus (daffodils) that span from early to late spring, in many sizes and color combos, some of them quite fragrant. [Read More]
I have a passion for seeds, for the elegant and endlessly diverse designs of their natural packaging, their fascinating distribution and germination strategies, and for the astonishing emergence of exuberant life from even the most minute speck of a seed. I once grew a Eucalyptus gunnii tree from seed the size of a dust mote. It grew, outdoors (in Eugene, Oregon) for several years, reaching 16’ tall until an unusually heavy snowstorm broke all the branches off. And in its native Tasmania it could have reached 135 feet! In addition to collecting seeds from plants in the wild and in my pollinator garden at home, I collect seeds at this time of year from my vegetable garden to enable Harlequin’s Gardens to offer unique and commercially unavailable varieties of tomatoes (“Anasazi”) and peppers (Lanterna Piccante), wild perennial arugula, and perennial Caucasian Spinach vine.
When planning for garden seed-saving, remember these basic guidelines:[Read More]
Unruly. Out of control. Overgrown. That’s my garden this year. But it’s still beautiful in its own wild way, and it’s hosting more beneficial insects and pollinators than ever. One of the things I love about both the natural landscape and my own garden is the constant evolution, the sequence of growth and bloom and seed formation, the ever-changing scene.
Some elements in nature and in the garden are quite ephemeral; if you look away, you might miss them altogether. But it’s so exciting to be present, to be looking when, for example, the Angel’s Trumpet (Datura meteloides or wrightii) flowers unfurl, and to breath their intoxicating fragrance in the night. Some
Colchicum cilicicum
appear on the scene with no prior notice, like the Colchicum flowers that just appeared this morning, as if by spontaneous generation, bursting through the Plumbago, or in spots that were bare yesterday!
By the way, Waterlily Colchicums, Autumn Crocus and fall-blooming Saffron Crocus bulbs are here, and ready to plant now![Read More]
With cold on the way, the sun going down before 5pm when we turn back the clock this weekend, and Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time for nourishing food to support our immune system and to support the body against Seasonal Affective Disorder, often triggered by changing seasons and decrease in sunlight. This recipe is a great way to use the last of the fall vegetables that you might have rescued before tonight’s freeze, from our friend and nutritional coach Mitten Lowe.[Read More]
In the late 1800s Colorado was one of the top apple-growing states in the country. Many of these ancient apple trees still exist, and together with trees planted this century, are producing more fruit than homeowners alone can harvest.
Enter GrowLocal Colorado, and their ever-growing effort to keep fruit in the food system. Largely volunteer-run, this year they harvested and distributed 11,652 pounds of fruit from across the Front Range!
We connected with GrowLocal Colorado’s Co-Director Barbara Masoner to see what she likes to make from Colorado-grown apples. She graciously shared her recipe for Pistachio and Apple Cake (below).
Read more about GrowLocal’s 2024 gleaning here.
Fruit & Pistachio Holiday Agave Cake
2 Granny Smith apples (chopped fine)
1 T Lemon juice
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 c veg oil
1 c Agave Nectar
3/4 c dried cranberries
3/4 c pistachios (coarsely chopped)
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 11-cup Bundt Pan.
Toss apples, lemon juice in one bowl.
In another bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, soda, powder, salt & cinnamon.
In mixer, beat eggs with oil and Agave until well blended and smooth. Slowly beat in dry ingredients. Stire in apples, cranberries & nuts.
Bake 45-50 min, or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to cake plate.
Serve with Agave Cream Cheese Cinnamon Glaze.
Agave Cream Cheese Cinnamon Glaze
1 (8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Agave Nectar
In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla and cinnamon. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Add agave nectar, blending until fully incorporated. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until ready to use, up to 1 week.
Drizzle glaze over top of cake just before serving.
Sometimes we are running so fast that we forget to slow down and see what’s ready to come out for sale. This week we are happily surprised to see that we have fresh stock of lots of premium native shrubs that we grew in convenient, affordable 2-gallon pots. We’re making them available at regular price (not discounted for our fall sale) – read more below.
And these perennials ARE on sale – a new infusion of hardy, water-wise, native Penstemons has been brought out, including P. clutei, P. glaber v. alpinus, P. palmeri, P. virgatus, P. grandiflorus, and P. angustifolius. I have planted many Penstemons in October and November in past years, with great success.[Read More]
One of the beautiful alternatives to a standard, water-thirsty, solid green, mowed Kentucky Bluegrass lawn is a naturalistic meadow composed of low-water clumping grasses and wildflowers.
This approach offers plant diversity, an ever-changing, dynamic sequence of colors and textures throughout the seasons, and provides sustenance and habitat for beneficial insects, pollinators, birds and other small critters. If this sounds good to you, now is the time to plan and prepare, and buy grass seed mixes on sale for 15% off! We also have lots of wildflower seeds to add to the grasses – mixes for specific pollinators and situations, as well as individual species.[Read More]
We cut, dig and store our dahlia tubers just after the first frost – so we know what we’ll be doing this weekend! Our friends at Arrowhead Dahlias have easy instructions.
Dahlia tubers will not survive if they freeze, so they must be dug in cold climates like ours.
You can divide in spring or fall – it takes practice and patience, but it is well worth the trouble.[Read More]
We still have Lavender (Munstead, Buena Vista, Hidcote and Grosso), and if you want to plant them this season, get them this week on sale for 20% off! Any plants left after that will be potted up for next year. Because it is evergreen, newly planted lavender is more sensitive to hard frost than many other hardy perennials, so to give them a chance to establish before very cold weather arrives, plant them NOW. If you garden at an elevation higher than 6,000’, we recommend waiting to plant lavender next spring.
Rosemary ‘Madeline Hill’ is still in stock, and on sale! [Read More]
Designing a garden or planting bed can be a daunting project without the knowledge of where to start. These steps can help you develop a successful planting design for your garden the first time around. And if you’ve taken these steps, we can give you optimal assistance when you come to Harlequin’s for your plants, soils and products. Please note that larger spaces, new builds or landscapes that need full renovations will need more preliminary work to determine placement of areas for people moving through the yard, retaining or screening views, hardscape design (patios & walkways) and other important planning steps.[Read More]
