OLD-Archive

We are entering the sixth week of our Fall Sale, and we still have a big selection of healthy plants.
Not only are our perennials and shrubs 40% off, and our roses are 20% off, but our Trees are 50% off (except fruit trees).
Soil Products in big bags are 25% off.

Now is a great time to feed your lawn organically, and fertilize your gardens organically. Organic fertilizers are not water-soluble so they do not produce fast, soft fall growth that would freeze; they feed slowly for up to six months, building energy reserves that will help plants prepare for spring.

Mikl just attended a talk by Paul Tukey, author and national leader in the organic lawn care movement. Paul explained that the essential practices that produce great lawns without chemicals are to 1) apply a compost top-dressing :our locally-made topdressing is regularly $8.25, NOW $6.20.  One bag covers 72 square feet a quarter of an inch deep. 2) apply an organic fertilizer: our locally-made lawn fertilizer 8-2-1, is regularly $17, NOW $12.75. One bag covers 3,500 square feet. And 3) apply compost tea to make nutrients more available: our Harlequin-made compost tea is regularly $5/gal, NOW $3/gal, Use one gallon per 1,000 square feet, spraying it in a hose-end sprayer or back pack sprayer.

If the lawn was not aerated in spring, it is best to aerate before applying fertilizer, compost tea and compost topdressing. This organic method does cost more in the beginning, but once the soil life and soil health are built up, costs and maintenance go down, and become more economical than chemical methods that fight Nature.

For lawns with big weed problems, you can apply Corn Gluten (which is 9% nitrogen) instead of fertilizer and which also prevents weed seeds from germinating. Denver garden advisor Kelly Grummons says good results can be obtained from using the corn gluten in February and September.

Don’t forget: to cut back on watering in October so that plants will be encouraged to go dormant. Then remember to give your plants a thorough watering once or twice a month in the winter, especially evergreen plants, roses, or anything planted in September or October. Water by hose around mid-day so the moisture will have a chance to sink in before freezing.  Of course, if the ground is frozen or under a blanket of snow, you can delay watering or see if Mother Nature has taken care of it for you.  And some very xeric perennials, if they are planted in soil that does not drain very rapidly, may rot if watered in winter.  Feel free to ask us if you aren’t sure.

Coldframes: We built 5 coldframes to sell this year, an improved version based on our previous model, which we have been testing for 3 years. They are equipped with a solar vent opener which opens and closes automatically (without electricity) to protect the plants from both freezing and frying when you are not at home. They should be seeded in September/early October with greens that can be harvested from late February thru May. You can’t imagine how wonderfully tasty, fresh, tender and full of energy these greens are in early spring. We are sold out of these coldframes now, but you are welcome to see our model in operation at the nursery, and perhaps order one for next year. This is one of the best methods for extending the food growing season.

Bulbs: Remember those brilliant orange ‘waterlily’ tulips in our xeriscape rock garden?  The glowing golden cups of species crocus, the dainty nodding miniature daffodils, intense blue droplets of Siberian squill and the smoldering deep red chalices of heirloom tulips?  Every year in April and May, many of you have exclaimed over the beautiful tulips, ‘snow iris’, wild crocus, dwarf narcissus, etcetera, lighting up our xeriscape display gardens, and asked if we sell the bulbs.  At long last, this year we do! Our full selection of bulbs is now here, and we hope you will come in to get these choice gems while they last. The full list of our bulb offerings is on our website at https://www.harlequinsgardens.com/plants/bulbs. The list includes excellent descriptions and photographs.  We also carry Colorado-made Age Old Organics bulb fertilizers and sturdy made-in-Iowa bulb-planting trowels. 

The fall-blooming Saffron Crocus should be planted right away (they should bloom this October or November), and you can begin forcing Paper White Narcissus now for fragrant blooms in four to six weeks.  Spring-blooming bulbs should be planted from mid-October to December (a little earlier for higher elevations).

Our fall vegetable starts, broccoli, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, arugula, spinach, cilantro and kale, are beautiful and healthy, and should be planted in your garden NOW – and they are on sale for 20% off.  Growing vegetables for fall and winter harvests without a greenhouse is a new concept for most Colorado gardeners. It may sound daunting, but it’s really easy.  Some of us have been enjoying fresh, home-grown greens in the colder months for some time now.  Eve has grown Swiss chard, lettuce, kale spinach and arugula for almost year-round harvest, and the incredibly sweet carrots, sown in late July, have graced our soups and salads through the winter.  Our friend Roland, a mountain gardener, has grown the delicious and extremely cold-hardy Purple Sprouting Broccoli (one of the varieties we have ready now) for many years – planted in fall and over-wintered, it begins yielding in spring and continues for many months. He grows about 50 different vegetables in his fall and winter gardens (okay, some are grown in his greenhouse).  We can help you protect your fall and winter crops with row cover fabric, too. 

Remember: In October we are open only Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9-5.

Our best wishes to you for a colorful and healthy fall!

Mikl & Eve Brawner and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

Our hearts go out to the folks who were threatened by fire, forced to evacuate, and especially to those of you who lost your homes.

We don’t have vast resources to offer you, but if you lost a home or landscaping to the Fourmile Canyon fire, come and see us.  We will give you what we can – special deals on mountain-tough plants and advice for choosing them and getting them established.

Great thanks to all the brave and dedicated firefighters who worked so hard to contain the fire and save lives and homes!

Sincerely,

Eve & Mikl Brawner, and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

September is our most successful month for getting plants established and it is our favorite month for fertilizing. At Harlequin’s Gardens, we are planting; getting those plants in the ground to start rooting and gaining strength so that by next spring they will be ready to really expand and bloom. Also at this time the Boulder Valley Rose Society, to which we belong, is getting ready to fertilize the roses at the Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse. We have been fertilizing these roses once in May and once in September for the last 11 years using that great locally formulated Mile Hi Rose Feed.

It is fine to do deadheading now of any plants that you are not wanting to reseed, or that you are not saving for seed for the birds. Pruning is good to do on fruiting plants as soon as the fruit is gone. This will compact and lighten them before winter snows and thin and prepare them for new growth and more fruit for next year. It is OK to remove dead canes from roses now, but it is better to wait until late April or early May to do thinning and major pruning of roses.

If you missed Eat Local Week, you missed a wonderful event. There was an ice cream social, presentations at Chautauqua celebrating the rising potential for the local food system,  films about new thinking about what we are eating, a Flat Iron Chef Cookoff and a Local Foodshed Conference. Check it out for next year. Harlequin’s participated by hosting the Boulder Culinary Gardeners’ Tomato Tasting. (Watch for a public Tomato Tasting in 2011).

OUR BULBS ARE IN so come and get them. We don’t have large quantities this year as we are just testing your interest. We also have locally-grown, organic Chesnok Red Garlic bulbs for Oct. planting.

AND we do have limited quantities of organic vegetable starts for September planting.

AND our FALL SALE is in full swing.

Mikl was one of 22 speakers to give a brief presentation at the Kickoff Event beginning Eat Local Week. This is what he said:

The local food movement is guiding our society to a more healthy, enjoyable and saner experience with life.

When food is not shipped long distances, the varieties of fruits and vegetables can be chosen for their great flavor and for their nutritional value, rather than for their tough skins and resistance to decay. So we get to taste and enjoy tomatoes like Cherokee Purple, Sungold, Black from Tula and Green Zebra; and fruits like Swenson’s Red Grape, Cortland Apple and Crandall Clove Currant.

In addition, these fruits and vegetables do      not have to be picked green so they will resist bruising in shipment. They can be allowed to ripen on the vine or tree, so the starches have time to convert to sugars. These sweet and delicious foods satisfy our food cravings and replace the impulse to consume processed sugars and high fructose corn sweeteners.

Because we appreciate and prefer soil building and nontoxic farm and garden management, we eliminate many physical and psychological health problems at the root.

“Hear-Here” for a locally sustained, healthy soil that leads to healthy plants, that lead to healthy humans in a healthier, saner community.

The Bottom Line cannot be money alone; the Bottom Line has to be our day-to-day enjoyment of Life which includes Good Food, Good Water, Good Air; and a Community where love and sharing is common.

10% Local Food Shift: Transition Colorado is challenging Boulder County residents to make 10% of food purchases buying local food.  Make this commitment to eat well, support local food security and strengthen our local economy.  Pick up an Eat Local Resource Guide at Harlequin’s Gardens, or go to http://www.transitioncolorado.org/.

NOW is the time to get our beautiful Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Chard and Lettuce seedlings in the ground for your fall and winter harvests.  Our seedlings are really beautiful and robust!  Arugula will be ready soon, and spinach, cilantro and broccoli-raab should be following soon thereafter.  These are crops that thrive in cool weather, tolerate frosts, and, with easily-installed protection, can provide lots of fresh, homegrown greens through the fall and even the winter. Ask us about our Row-Cover Fabric and Loop-Hoops. And you thought the vegetable gardening season was almost over!

Don’t forget we have added a great class, ‘Sprout your Eats, Eat your Sprouts!’ on Sunday September 19^th at 1:30 pm.  This class will enable you to grow incredibly nutritious, tasty, fresh greens all year long, even if you live in an apartment.  Check it out on the list of classes on our website at https://www.harlequinsgardens.com/classes-for-2010/.

OUR BULBS HAVE ARRIVED!
We received a shipment yesterday containing most (but not all) of the bulbs we are offering this year.  We will probably receive a few more varieties today, and another few are expected in the week of September 20.  These bulbs should be purchased now, but held for planting in late October, November or early December.  There are two exceptions: Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus) is fall-blooming and should be planted immediately, and Paperwhite Narcissus can be planted in indoor containers right now, or held for a couple of months.

GARLIC BULBS are also in! We have a very limited supply of local, organically grown Chesnok Red hardneck Garlic for planting.  They are really nice, large, plump bulbs that have been properly harvested and cured, and with every garlic purchase we are including a locally-appropriate instruction sheet that covers planting, growing, harvesting and storage.

Saving Tomato Seeds:
Did you know that tomatoes are almost entirely self-pollinating?  This means that they rarely cross-pollinate, so you can collect the seeds from your open-pollinated varieties (any variety that is not an F1 hybrid), and if properly ‘processed’ and stored, you’ll be able to grow the same variety from your own seeds next year, and for years to come.  The procedure is really easy – Eve has been doing it for several years, with excellent success. Here’s how:

Select one or more thoroughly ripe, unblemished fruits from your best, healthy plant of a given variety.  Label a small glass or jar with the name of the variety. Cut the fruit(s) in half horizontally and gently squeeze out the gelatinous substance that contains the seeds, into the container. Add a little water (1/4 to ½ cup), and cover the container with a lid or a piece of plastic wrap.  Place in a warm location out of direct sun for about 3 days, until a layer of mold has formed over the top –  usually, it is a thin white film, and sometimes has black fungus spots as well.  The function of the gelatinous substance surrounding the seeds is to prevent the seeds from germinating inside the warm, juicy fruit.  The mold/fungus eats the gelatinous, germination-inhibiting coating and also produces antibiotics that help control seed-borne diseases.  When this film of mold has formed, skim off and discard the mold and any floating seeds (these are not viable seeds) and pieces of pulp.  Then add a little more water to the container, and pour the seeds into a small strainer (wire sieve) that has holes smaller than the seeds and carefully rinse under running tap water until no pulp debris remains, only seeds.  Let the excess water drip out, then invert the strainer over a plate or baking sheet. Be sure to label the plate with the variety name!  Some people like to dry the seeds on a sheet of paper towel, but with most brands of towels, the seeds are very hard to remove from the paper when dry. Try to spread the seeds out so they are not in a big clump. Allow them to dry completely (usually takes about one day), break up the clumps into individual seeds, and store them in a paper envelope that has been labeled with the variety name and the date.  Tomato seeds usually remain viable for 5 years or longer.

We are very proud that Mikl has recently been awarded the E-chievement Award, an honor bestowed by the Boulder-produced

E-Town radio show.  He was nominated by one of our beloved long-time customers.  Listeners from around the country send in stories that nominate individuals or groups, and E-chievement awards are bestowed upon those nominees they feel are “remarkable individuals who are working hard to make a positive difference in their communities and beyond….One step at a time.  That’s how things change, that’s how problems are solved.  That’s the message that’s delivered each week, as we recognize people who’ve found positive solutions to challenges in their communities” (excerpted from the E-Town website). To learn more about E-Town and the E-chievement Award, go to http://www.etown.org/.

With hints of autumnal chill in the evening air and daylight hours noticeably shorter, we find ourselves harvesting summer’s bounty and beginning to think in terms of preparing for winter.  Our plants are also noticing the changes, and many of them are likewise starting to shift into winter-preparation mode.  This makes late-summer and fall an excellent time to plant and to fertilize our gardens, as the plants have received the signal to start sending starches down to their roots to strengthen them for winter.  Planting now gives the plants enough time, in less stressful conditions, to establish good root systems.  And fertilizing with organic fertilizers at this time of year supports root strength so that gardens can emerge better prepared for surviving our roller-coaster weather next spring.  Organic fertilizers, such as Yum-Yum Mix, Alpha-One, Alfalfa Meal, and Bradfield’s Lawn & Garden, are available at the Harlequin’s Gardens now. You can apply them to beds that are already planted by broadcasting by hand.

There are a number of ornamental plants whose seed-heads will either remain ornamental or provide food for birds, or both, through fall and even through winter.  Included in this group are all the Ornamental Grasses, Coneflowers (Echinacea, Rudbeckia), Mexican Hat (Ratibida), ‘Blue Fortune’ Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), Standing Cypress (Gilia/Ipomopsis rubra and aggregata), Goldenrod (Solidago), tall Sedums (Autumn Joy, Matrona, Purple Emperor, etc.), Angelica, Poppy, Peony, Bee-Balm (Monarda), Sea-Lavender (Limonium and Goniolimon),  Helen’s Flower (Helenium), Gayfeather (Liatris), Aster, Siberian Iris, Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda), Sunflower (Helianthus), Astilbe, Hydrangea, Bears Breech (Acanthus), Stachys sp., Globe Thistle (Echinops), Penstemon, Foxglove, Crocosmia, Heliopsis, Verbena bonariensis, Clematis, Orach (Atriplex), Milkweed, Lily, Columbine, Delphinium, Balloon flower (Platycodon), Yucca, Grapeleaf Anemone (Anemone tomentosa), Yarrow, and Garlic Chives.

Consider how these can give contrast and structure to your winter garden, and add sculptural elements that can be particularly effective when capped with snow or silhouetted against snow.  A few of them can be vigorous self-seeders, so judiciously deadhead the scary ones if you need to, leaving the seed-heads on the plants that will not cause a nuisance in your garden.  Most other plants can be deadheaded now, but leaving this year’s growth on your perennials can help keep your perennials a little warmer through the winter.  There are a few popular perennials that really should never be cut down until April because to do so will compromise their winter hardiness – these include all of the Agastaches, Gaura, Onosma and Sunroses (Helianthemum).  Eve waits and does most of her garden clean-up in early April, only then cutting down the previous year’s stalks. If you are growing roses that form ornamental and/or edible hips (fruits), it’s time to stop deadheading and allow the hips to develop.

Producing fall vegetable starts at the nursery has been a real challenge this year, between the heat, the grasshoppers and the cabbage butterflies. Nevertheless, we succeeded in producing some very fine-looking, healthy plants ready to go out for sale tomorrow (Wednesday August 25), namely:

• De Cicco Broccoli
• Purple Sprouting Broccoli
• Peiracicaba Calabrese-type Broccoli
• Brocoverde (Cauliflower-Broccoli cross)

These will soon be followed by:

• Perpetual Spinach (a type of Swiss Chard)
• Ruby Red Rhubarb Chard
• Lucullus Swiss Chard
• Four Star Swiss Chard
• Winterbor Kale
• Red Russian Kale
• Tuscan (aka Dinosaur, Lacinato) Kale
• Spigariello/Minestra Nero (Leaf-Broccoli)
• Arugula
• Lettuce (Farmer’s Market Blend)
• Spinach

And then:

• Cilantro
• Tatsoi
• Fall Broccoli Raab

We are adding the descriptions for the new varieties to the PLANTS/EDIBLES/ VEGETABLE STARTS section of our website, so check there for detailed information.

Note that all of the Brassicas (the vegetables in the Cabbage family – Broccoli, Broccoli Raab, Cauliflower, Mustards, Collards, Kale, Arugula, Pak Choy, Tatsoi) are ‘heavy feeders’, which means that they require nitrogen-rich soil to thrive.  So be sure to incorporate into your soil a good organic source of nitrogen, such as organic cottonseed meal, aged composted dairy-cow manure, Alfalfa meal, Alpha-One fertilizer, or Bradfield’s fertilizer.  These are all available at Harlequin’s Gardens now.

We think you’ll find it very helpful to protect your fall vegetable starts with some light row-cover fabric, either with tunnels supported by hoops or frames, or as a ‘floating’ row cover.  This can give them just a little shade, shield their tender little leaves from the sun and wind, and keep the pests, both critter and insect, at bay.  And later, it will give up to 5 degrees of frost protection. You can buy row cover fabric by the linear foot at Harlequin’s from our big roll, which is 12’ wide.  We charge $2 per linear foot, so if you bought a piece 3’ x 12’ (enough for a floating cover for a row 10’ long and 2’ wide), the cost would be $6. ‘Loop-Hoops’ are also available for making small tunnels. When temperatures drop later in the fall, you can add a second layer of row-cover or a layer of clear plastic to the crops that need it.

You can also sow seeds now for arugula, spinach, swiss chard, cress, parsley (TIP: pre-soak parsley seeds in water overnight before planting), beets, collards, radish, tatsoi, pak choy, lettuce, cilantro and kale.  We have an excellent selection of fall vegetable seeds from Abbondanza and Botanical Interests.

Another great way of growing your own vital, fresh, nutritious food throughout the winter is by growing sprouts. So we’ve just added a NEW CLASS:

‘Sprout your Eats, Eat your Sprouts!’ Sunday Sept.19, 1:30 pm, $10

Harvest fresh greens all year from your kitchen counter – no garden required.  Enzyme-rich sprouts are uniquely loaded with nutrition, and are easy for anyone, anywhere, to grow with minimal investment in time, equipment and seeds.

In this class you will learn how to sprout a wide variety of seeds in soil as well as without soil.  We will discuss the nutritional and energetic qualities of various sprouted seeds, and how to make some delicious recipes using them.

You will come away with recipes, a how-to guide to sprouting, and a clear understanding of the tools required for this very simple process.

Please pre-register by coming in to Harlequin’s Gardens or calling 303-939-9403.

This class is facilitated by Lindsey Stirling, certified nutritionist, herbalist and energy healer.  Lindsey has a private practice in Longmont, where she sees clients and teaches classes to the general public.  For more information, please go to www.lindseystirling.com.

Speaking of Vegetables…..

We are launching a new feature called ‘Speaking of Vegetables’ on our website to invite you to report your evaluations of the vegetable varieties you’re growing.  Every year we add new varieties to our offerings, and we would love to hear what you think of them.  We pre-test as many varieties as possible, but can’t test them all. And there’s not much point in our continuing to offer a tomato variety that nobody likes, an eggplant that never ripens here, or a cucumber that always succumbs to disease.  Likewise, we want to make sure we know which varieties are your ‘can’t-live-without-it’ favorites so we will be sure to keep those available.  Look on our website at www.HarlequinsGardens.com in Edibles/Vegetable Starts for the simple form to fill out.  You can make as many entries as you like.

Dear Friends and Fellow Gardeners,

Welcome to Fall and to Harlequin’s Gardens Fall Plant Sale.

The pain and glory of spring 2010 was so “Colorado.” Various plants, roses and trees died or died back this year, perhaps because of the mid-October 2009  11 degree freeze and end of Oct. below zero hit. (Plants would prefer to adjust slowly.) And then we had this beautiful moist, cool and long spring until June, keeping the bulbs and spring flowers in bloom for a long time. In Colorado, the weather report should always begin, “Don’t be surprised if…”

As usual, our Fall Sale will be the Best Deals of the year on plants that are healthy and strong. Fall is a good rooting season. And because fall is also a great time for soil building and organic fertilizing, we have a good supply of organic composts and organic fertilizers. In addition, this year we started brewing our own compost tea, and we assume our “brew” is a high quality. But what is compost tea, really? Is it:

a) a highly concentrated population of beneficial bacteria and beneficial fungi that build healthy soil?  b) a nutrient-rich brew that feeds soil life naturally? c) brown water that charlatans sell for a huge profit?  d) a compost concentrate that reduces compaction, aerates and improves water retention? or e) who knows? You can’t tell anything by looking at the tea. You have to watch how the plants respond.

So let your plants “taste and see” as the saying goes. And we’re going to make it easy to try our tea. During the sale we’re going to reduce the price of our compost tea to $3 a gallon (regularly $5), and purchases over $75 will get a gallon free, so you can use it on your new plants. Tell us if you see any value in our brew, and tell us if you see no results.

So please come to our Fall Sale which begins with the Members Sale:

Members, for your special support, you get first pick of the plants at the Members Sale, August 24, 25, 26, 27,28, 29 with 20% off all plants and 25% off books. (For info on membership, ask one of our staff, or see our website.)

The next week, August 31,September 1,2,3,4,5 the Fall Sale begins for everybody with 15% off most plants except roses.  10% off books & 10% off soil products in big bags. Also the Deep Discount section will be opened.

The third week September 7,8,9,10, 11, 12, enjoy 25% off perennials, shrubs & trees and 20% off most roses And 10% off books and soil products in big bags.

The fourth week, Sept.14,15,16, 17,18, 19, take 30% off all perennials, shrubs and trees and 20% off most roses and10% off books and soil products in big bags.

The fifth week, Sept.21,22,23, 24, 25, 26, take 35% off perennials, shrubs and trees and 20% off roses, and 10% off books and soil products in big bags.

The sixth week, Sept.28,29, 30 and Oct.1,2,3 there will be a 40% discount off perennials and shrubs, 20% off roses and 50% off trees. And 25% off soil products in big bags, 10% off books

We will continue to offer these prices every Thursday, Friday & Saturday in October.

Gift certificates will be available for the holidays and year-round by calling the nursery, 303-939-9403.

Open: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday  9-5;   Thursday 9-6

October: Thursday,Friday and Saturdays only 9-5

www.harlequinsgardens.com 303-939-9403

Sincerely,

Mikl and Eve Brawner

Here is a taste of some of the great plants available at our Fall Sale

Erodium chrysanthum-Ferny Storksbill, a blue-gray mound of finely dissected foliage and pale yellow flowers, needs very little water, elegant, 4”-10” x 12”-18”, a Harlequin Favorite

Sedum cauticola ‘Lidakense’- let’s call it Blue Cascade Sedum: stunning draping over the edge of a wall, stone or container, in Sept-Oct plum-gray foliage sings with red-pink flowers

Ajuga ‘Catlin’s Giant’-large purple leaves with blue flowers, 4” high dense, weed-smothering ground cover for dry shade; aggressive in moist shade, but useful

Penstemon pinifolius-a tough selection of Pine-leaf Penstemon. 12” x12” with orange-red flowers, excellent evergreen winter appearance. Hummingbirds will stoop to savor.

Blue Mist Spirea-Caryopteris ‘Dark Knight’– Great xeriscape favorite for beautiful blue flowers in the dead of summer; 4’x4’, shear in the spring by 30%; the Econo-Shrub

The Hardy Geraniums are extremely useful for sun or dry shade. Clay is OK. Some are happy in sun, others thrive in dry shade, flowers white to magenta, many with red fall color

We have 4 or 5 kinds, all are wonderful, but do check out ‘Biokovo’ and ‘Splendens’

Desert Four O’Clock-Mirabilis multiflora: lavender trumpet-flowers with purple throats in profusion late day/early am, very drought tolerant; 12”x36”+; fabulous xeriscape plant

Culinary Sage-Salvia officinalis: gray foliage is good in soups, stuffing etc; two by two, flowers blue, wouldn’t you, like a few? Makes a deer-proof hedge or specimen

Diascia ‘Coral Canyon’ Twinspur- here’s a perennial that blooms all summer with coral-pink flowers; great in containers or in the ground; maybe short-lived, but worth it

Barnebyi Columbine-This native yellow and pink columbine is the most xeric columbine, the flowers are small, but attractive; the blue foliage is dome-shaped and resists aphids

Native Gayfeather-Liatris punctata: Totally drought tolerant butterfly magnet, purplish-pink spikes of flowers in the heat of summer; 12”-16”; great addition for your meadow

Arp Rosemary: A woman called the nursery and asked if we carry a rosemary that can grow outside in Colorado, tastes good, called ‘Arp’. “Yes, we do.” “Then would you hold one for me?” “OK, what is your name?” She replied “Rosemary Arp”. Not eternal, but 3-6 years

Provence Lavender-imagine growing a hardy lavender 30”-36” tall with 16” long wands with a fabulous fragrance that can be dried or braided with ribbon, not just in France

Grasses: we have many varieties in top condition including: Autumn Embers Muhly (Muhlenbergia reverchonii) graceful, showy xeric grass introduced by Lauren Springer-Ogden, modest size, easy, AND Giant Sacaton-Sporobolus wrightii-best tall xeric ornamental grass, 5’-7’ tall, dramatic not overwhelming, SW native, screen or focal point

Black Elderberry-Sambucus nigra: 10’ fast-growing shrub; dark green leaves and clusters of white flowers; immune-building elderberry syrup is made from berries; need 2 for fruit

The Thymes are not as drought-tolerant in Colorado as they are in England, but they are good summer-blooming ground covers where they’re watered once a week and some in winter. Reiter Thyme is a favorite, tough, weed-smothering variety; 3”x30”; Ohme Gardens Thyme is a heat-tolerant, mauve-blooming thyme 3”x24”, vigorous; Back Wall Thyme is very low, good between flagstones, more durable than Elfin; Wooly Thyme-vigorous old standby, somewhat shade tolerant, we have two selections, one that blooms

“Tough as Nails”-Paronychia kapela- looks/ functions like creeping thyme, but is more  tolerant of drought and of our winter sun, showy white bracts, good between pavers

Dianthus simulans-low, very tight foliage makes a large bun in the open or a “starfish” between rocks, very pettable, long-lived; you’ve been asking, it’s finally ready

Penstemon Pikes Peak Purple-purple flowers on 16” stems, long-blooming, Plant Select

Russian Sage-3’-5’ tall, blue-violet flowers in summer, long-blooming, xeric & easy

Silver Edge Horehound-M. rotundifolium: beautiful foliage, 8”x24”, very xeric, behaves

Big Sedums: great for late summer color in the garden/xeriscape, honeybees love them; Neon-deep purplish-pink flowers on 15” stems, zone 3; Red Cauli- masses of bright red flowers Aug-Oct on 10” purplish foliage; Matrona- sturdy 20” reddish stems with dark bluish-green leaves with rosy-pink edges and pink flowers summer thru fall-a winner

Our remarkable Clematis selection includes showy, large-flowered vines; lovely, bell-flowered climbers and scramblers; herbaceous perennial varieties and even xeric shrubs:

Mrs. Robert Brydon is a vigorous scrambler, covering the ground and winding through shrubs; covered with small, light blue and white starry flowers for 4-6 weeks July/Aug

Ramona-6” lavender flowers with maroon anthers, early/late, easy, vigorous, sun/pt sun

ROSES: By now we are known as THE place to go in Colorado for hardy, sustainable roses

And we have a great selection including: “Fairmount Proserpine”–a superb rose found in Fairmount Cemetery-very fragrant, purple-pink flowers that repeat well, and is tough.

Burgundy Iceberg-sport of famous Iceberg with fragrant burgundy blooms, great repeat, 4’

John Davis- very long blooming Canadian with lovely flowers; you won’t find this elsewhere

The Gift-a star for difficult conditions, masses of white flowers, good repeat, 3’x5’

“Broadway Perpetual”-Eve and I found this sturdy rose with medium pink flowers and a rich old rose perfume, guess where?, and it repeats well, 7’x 5’, (real name unknown)

NATIVES: because sustainability is one of our goals, natives have always been a specialty. At our sale you will find wildflowers and dozens of native shrubs including: New Mexican Privet-not a true privet; a 12’-15’ small tree/shrub with light gray bark and light green leaves and blue berries on the female, good screen or specimen. Fern Bush-a 5’ xeric shrub that has ferny leaves and clusters of white flowers that support many beneficial insects

Sphaeralcea sp.-upright very xeric perennials, 3’-5’, soft orange, pink or lavender flowers

Desert Mahonia-M.haematocarpa-blue, evergreen foliage, yellow flowers, red fruit, 6’-8’

TREES

Hackberry, Burr Oak, Western Catalpa, Ginnala Maple, Thunderchild Crab, Scotch Pine; Radiant & Spring Snow Crabs, Chokecherry, Upright Native Juniper, Arizona Cypress,  many hawthorns (Apples, Plums and Peaches are available now, but Not Discounted)

SOIL PRODUCTS-We have high quality organic fertilizers, composts & mulch at reasonable prices and to make your gardens more sustainable, the city of Boulder is offering REBATES for Boulder Water Customers up to 50% off local and 25% off other soil products.

BULBS: Many of you have been interested in the bulbs you’ve seen blooming in our xeriscape display gardens in April and May, so this fall we will offer, for the first time, small numbers of an interesting selection of bulbs that thrive in our xeriscapes, plus a few more.  Many of them are early, short and naturalizing forms of tulips, daffodils, crocus, iris, and alliums, plus blue Grecian Windflower, Siberian Squill, Spring Starflower (Ipheion), Lavender Mountain Lily (Ixiolirion), the fall-blooming Saffron Crocus, and even Paperwhites for indoor fragrance in winter. Some are deer-proof. Look on our website in Plants/Bulbs for a complete listing with descriptions and pictures.

We’re very grateful to all of you who nominated us for Best Plant Nursery, Best Garden Center, and any other category in the Daily Camera’s ‘Boulder Gold’ competition.  We haven’t been notified yet of the winners, but regardless of this year’s outcome, we sincerely thank you for taking the time to show your support and enthusiasm for Harlequin’s Gardens!

We have re-stocked our racks of Abbondanza and Botanical Interests seeds for fall planting of cool-weather greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, tatsoi and arugula. Most of these can continue to supply fresh greens at least through December with just a little protection.  Ask us about our row-cover fabric and Loop-hoops. We have also produced a limited number of fall vegetable starts for these crops and for several types of broccoli.

We would love to hear from you about your experiences with the vegetable starts and seeds you purchased from Harlequin’s Gardens, what was delicious, productive, healthy, or not.  So we are designing a Veggie Feedback section for our website and will soon notify you in our blog when it has been launched.

Landscape Consultations: Eve and Mikl are available for consultations year-round.  If you could use a little help deciding which plants to chose for difficult locations, how to begin working on a brand-new homesite, how to adapt your garden to use less water, support wild-life, or produce more food, give us a call.  We can also help identify pest or disease problems, make pruning and maintenance recommendations, or give you a personal tutorial in how to prune your roses, young trees, or fruit trees. Call 303-939-9403 for rates and to schedule with Mikl, Eve or both. If you schedule a consultation to take place between Nov 1 and Feb 28, we’ll give you 15% off a one-time purchase of plants at Harlequin’s Gardens

Newsletters by Email: Please choose to receive our newsletters by email. As the cost of printing and postage goes up and as our forests continue to come down, we are hoping you will like to receive our mailings and special offers by email. Please go to our website @ www.harlequinsgardens.com and click on the Subscribe link in the left margin of the home page, enter your name and addresses and press submit. Or leave your information at the front desk at Harlequin’s Gardens any day except Monday.

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

July and early August are usually the most intensely hot and dry time of the year in our region.  Not only do gardeners need to be sure to stay hydrated, but our plants are also very vulnerable and need more support from us.  Even though we only water the Xeriscape Rock Garden at Harlequin’s once in May and once in June, we water twice in July.  Many of our plants are expending a lot of energy now in producing flowers or seeds and can exhaust themselves trying to do all that while under extreme stress from heat and drought.  Deadheading is a good idea now, unless you are counting on collecting seeds, allowing the plant to self-sow, or leaving the seed pods on the plant for their decorative qualities in the fall and winter garden.  You can also compromise – we often deadhead about half to 2/3 of a plant and leave the rest to make seed.

With the exception of vegetable gardens, containers and bedding plants, it’s best to hold off on fertilizers now, although mild organic fertilizers can be used safely.  Fertilizers that are high in nitrogen, especially chemical fertilizers, can burn plants that are not receiving ample water.  Most summer vegetables (tomato, cucumber, squash, pepper, etc.) are heavy feeders, and their fruit production can be supported with a light side-dressing of an organic fertilizer such as Alpha One, Bradfield’s Tomato & Veggie, Age Old Fruit (dry formula) or Age Old Bloom (liquid).  After scratching the dry fertilizer into the top 1-2” of the soil, be sure to water it in with ample H2O.

We are experimenting a lot this year with our own Compost Tea, which we are brewing on-site. It is non-burning, and by increasing the soil life (beneficial micro-organisms), it can bring more nutrients and water to the plants and make them stronger and better able to cope with stress.  It can be used full-strength as a mild organic fertilizer, or it can be diluted in water up to 3 times as a soil inoculant.  It can also be used to inoculate compost piles to make materials break down faster. We have observed some very good results and received positive reports from customers who have tried it.  But we would also love to get your feedback on this new product, so for now, we are offering our compost tea for only $4 per gallon ($3.50 for HG members).  Our regular price is $5.  Bring your own jugs, or use ours for a $1 deposit (refundable upon return).

Because plants are more vulnerable in this hot, dry season, it is an excellent time to reduce weeds.  This can be accomplished through hand-tool weeding (if you don’t have one already, come check out our hori knives, weeding trowels and ‘Garden Bandit’ weeders); this is also the most effective time to apply non-toxic herbicides, such as ‘Clean & Green Naturally’, made with 20% vinegar, and ‘Perfectly Natural’ weed and grass killer, made with clove oil.  Both are in stock now at Harlequin’s Gardens.  Spray them in the heat of the day for the greatest effectiveness.  To prepare larger weed-filled areas for new plantings, consider ‘solarizing’ the area under clear or black plastic or pond-liner for 4 to 8 weeks.  This technique is most effective in the hottest months.  Ask us for detailed instructions on solarizing.

We also want to let you know that we have re-stocked our seed racks with seeds from both Abbondanza and Botanical Interests, for summer and fall planting of fall and winter crops.  Sow seeds now for carrots, beets, swiss chard, kohlrabi and kale.  In August, kale, kohlrabi, chard, cilantro, scallions and lettuce can be sown, and in September you can sow lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, cilantro, arugula, parsley and scallions.  We have already started broccoli and cauliflower plants for you to transplant out next month, and will also offer starts of kale, chard and more.  We have row-cover fabric to help you keep seed-beds protected and to protect crops from frost in the fall.

We are planning to launch a Vegetable Variety Review feature on our website where our customers will be able to report on their experiences with the vegetable varieties they’ve purchased from Harlequin’s Gardens.  This way, you can let us know what worked for you, what didn’t, what was delicious, productive, healthy, or not.  We will let you know as soon as this feature is ready.

In response to customers’ requests, we are excited to be offering for sale, for the first time, a limited number of the same kinds of cheerful, colorful and unusual spring bulbs that visitors to our display gardens were admiring in our gardens earlier this year. These include choice selections of wild species of tulips, miniature daffodils, irises, crocus and alliums, along with several lesser-known types of bulbs.  We will publish a list and descriptions on our website and in our Fall Newsletter, and we expect to receive most of our bulb shipment in the first week of September.  A few items will arrive a little later, after September 20th.  Since this is the first time we are offering bulbs and we need to appraise the response, the supply will be limited, so shop early for the best selection but wait until October or November to plant them in the ground.

Those of you who read the Boulder Daily Camera are probably familiar with their ‘Boulder Gold’ awards.  The Camera is currently conducting voting for the categories in which we can be nominated (they call this group of categories ‘Shopper’s Paradise’), and we would really appreciate your vote for us for Best Plant Nursery and Best Garden Center.  Voters can nominate a business for a maximum of 3 categories, and must enter votes for at least ten categories altogether.  Some other categories for which you might want to give us a third nomination might be Best Green Products/Services Store, Best Locally Owned Store, Best Shopping Destination, or Best Company/Store that Gives Back to the Community.  We feel that winning, especially as Best Plant Nursery, can go a long way to increasing our exposure to gardeners in Boulder County and beyond, many of whom still aren’t aware of our existence.  And that way, we will have a chance to introduce many more gardeners to sustainable plants and sustainable, non-toxic gardening practices and products.  Yes, we are trying to change the world!  And you can help us, one vote at a time. You can cast your ballot on paper and mail it in or hand-deliver it, using the ballots printed in the Camera through July 30th, or vote online at WWW.DAILYCAMERA.COM/VOTE.  If you can, ask your family, friends and neighbors to participate as well.

If you have some time to relax in the shade of a tree or in the relatively cool comfort of your house, you may want to read some of the excellent books we have stocked this year.  Joel Salatin’s ‘Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal’ entertains and educates, bringing to life “with humor and verve, the everyday conflict between the entrenched industrial food system and the local, neighbor-friendly farmer-entrepreneur”.  Get inspiration for planning and improving your gardens with ‘Planting Design: Gardens in Time and Space’ by renowned garden designer Piet Oudolf.  A newly arrived addition to our bookshelf is the long-awaited revised edition of ‘Native Plants for High Elevation Western Gardens’ by Jan Busco and Nancy Morin.  This is a highly useful text that describes and illustrates a large palette of native plants, covering not only their native habitats but their garden needs as well.  Anyone interested in extending the season to grow vegetables almost year-round will find a wealth of information in Eliot Coleman’s wonderful books, ‘The Four Season Harvest’ and ‘Winter Harvest Handbook’.  ‘Seed to ‘Seed’ by Susan Ashworth is an indispensable resource for anyone growing open-pollinated vegetable varieties and intending to save their seeds for planting next year.  On this subject, also check out our upcoming classes below.  And Harlequin’s Gardens Members receive a 25% discount on books all through the season.  See ‘Membership’ on our website, www.harlequinsgardens.com, and in our Spring 2010 Newsletter to learn more about our membership program.

We are still taking registration for the following classes at Harlequin’s Gardens (call 303-939-9403 or come in to register):

Saturday July 24, 1:30 pm: SAVING YOUR SEED with Janice Kieft.  Learn from an expert which kinds of vegetables and flowers will ‘come true’ from seed, how to ‘isolate’, and how to select, harvest, clean, store and test seeds. Janice is a professional in the seed industry  with 30 years experience. $10

Saturday August 14th, 1:30 pm:  PRUNING FOR STRENGTH, HEALTH and BEAUTY with Mikl Brawner.  In this talk and demonstration you will learn to train young trees, to restructure shrubs and trees damaged by storms, to prune roses, and more.  Mikl has over 35 years experience in pruning.   $15

Saturday August 21, 1:30 pm:  COMPOSTING with Eric Johnson.  Eric has been composting for more than 20 years and will teach the basics of easy, successful composting in our climate.  Learn how to troubleshoot problems and what to do about them.  $10

Sunday August 22, 1:30 pm:  PRUNING FOR STRENGTH, HEALTH and BEAUTY repeated – see description above.

Saturday September 11, 1:00 to 2:30 pm:   LOW-TECH GREENHOUSE DESIGN & OPERATION with Mikl Brawner.  Mikl has been researching, building and using simple greenhouses for 18 years.  This class will focus on designs on site at the nursery.  $15

Thank you for your patronage and friendship, and for your stewardship of the Earth!

Wishing you delight in your gardens,

Mikl Brawner & Eve Reshetnik Brawner
And the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

We inadvertently forgot that in addition to yesterday’s long list, we also have the following vegetable starts ready for sale:

MELON:
Crane
Green Nutmeg
Ha Ogen
Tigger
Hearts of Gold

WATERMELON:
Peace – Yellow-fleshed
Cream of Saskatchewan – White-fleshed
Sweat Dakota Rose – Red-fleshed

WINTER SQUASH:
Nutty Delica (Kabocha type)
Tetsukabuto (Kabocha type)
Carnival (Acorn type)
Sunshine (Sweet, dry, red)
Burpee Butterbush (Butternut type)

PEPPER:
Early Jalapeno

Now offering Compost Tea

The first gallon is FREE with any purchase

Mikl has been researching compost teas for three years and thinks this compost tea may be a very high quality and effective treatment for both fertility and increasing the beneficial bacteria and fungi in our soils.  We are using a compost in a swirling vortex brewer.

According to Steve Diver of Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, compost teas “provide soluble nutrients that promote a noticeable greening of crops, …provide bioactive compounds that function as bio-stimulants and coat the plant surfaces with protective microorganisms.”  The microorganisms are very important in making nutrients available, in improving soil structure and in suppressing diseases.

But our experience is limited so we want you to test this compost tea and tell us if you see any positive results.  Take one gallon for free (bring your own clean 1 gallon jug or pay $1.00 for a jug and return it rinsed clean for a $1.00 refund).  This offer will be good from now until June 30^th.

This compost tea may be applied full strength as a fertilizer using a sprinkling can or strained and sprayed or may be diluted up to 4 times for use as a microbial innoculant (increasing your population of beneficial bacteria and fungi).  It is best to use the compost tea within 4-6 hours. Besides the value to our plants, this compost tea offers great potential in having a locally produced renewable fertility product.

Here is a comprehensive list of the organic vegetable starts that are still available.

SQUASH
Lady Godiva Pumpkin
New England Pie Pumpkin

Delicata – winter
Long Island Cheese – winter
Spaghetti – winter
Sunshine – winter
Tetsukabuto – winter
Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash – winter
Uchiki Kuri – winter
Uncle Dave’s Dakota Dessert – winter

Coosa – summer
Gentry – summer
Ronde de Nice – summer
Soleil – summer
Tatume – summer
Tromboncino – summer

MELONS
Collective Farm Woman
Jenny Lind
Noire des Carmes
Sugar Baby

CUCUMBER
Armenian
Bush Champion
Diva
Homemade Pickles
Marketmore
Suhyo Long
Super Zagross
Salad Bush

TOMATOES
Black Krim
Black From Tula
Box Car Willie
Carmello
Cherokee Purple
Garden Peach
Gardener’s Delight
Golden Delight
Goliath
Jaune Flammee
Kellogg’s Breakfast
Mexico Midget
Mo’s Golden Paste
Mortgage Lifter
Opalka
Orange Blossom
Orange Queen
Paul Robeson
Principe Borghese
Pruden’s Purple
Rutgers Indeterminate
Siletz
Speckled Roman
Stupice
Taxi
Thessaloniki

PEPPERS
Alma Paprika
Anaheim
Ancho/Poblano
Ariane
Espanola Improved
King of the North
Lanterna
New Mexico #6
Orange Thai
Peruvian Purple
Pretty in Purple Pepper
Purple Cayenne

EGGPLANT
Applegreen
Black King
Dusky
Galine
Listada de Gandia
Nadia
Pingtung Long
Prosperosa
Rosa Bianca
White Fingers

BASIL
cinnamon
Fine Verde
Italiano Classico
Mrs Burns Lemon
Nufar
Spicy Globe
Thai
Tulsi or Holy

CHARD
Argentata
Golden Sunrise
Orange Fantastic

MISC
Celeriac Brilliant

We want to let you know about a wonderful event coming up this Sunday, as well as some updates on plant and product availability:

HARLEQUIN”S GARDENS NURSERY is very excited to invite you to a

FREE (and CARBON- FREE) DEMONSTRATION of
 
SOLAR, OFF-THE-GRID COOKING   with Mary Carhart

on SUNDAY MAY 16^th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at

 Harlequin’s Gardens Nursery

4795 N. 26^th St., Boulder CO 80301    (303) 939-9403

Experience the technology and sample cookies baked in a solar oven!

Solar Cooking is a simple, exciting and important clean-energy technology providing a clean and healthy alternative that greatly improves the lives of millions of people around the world, as well as the small and large-scale environments in which they (and we) live.

Mary Carhart will be demonstrating a variety of different Solar Cooking technologies, from home-made to high-tech.  Mary is passionate about solar cooking and spreading its use, both locally and globally.  She has been cooking with solar ovens and educating people about solar cooking technologies and techniques for five years. 

Colorado is blessed with optimal conditions for Solar Cooking, and solar ovens can be used to bake, roast, fry, dry-process (dehydrate) or otherwise cook all kinds of foods, from turkey to casseroles to cakes.

This event is not about selling solar ovens and Mary has no products to sell.  It is an opportunity to see and experience solar cooking technologies, to hear about the ways in which solar cooking is improving lives and environments, to find out about resources for solar cooking, and to get answers to your questions about solar cooking. And to eat a sol-food cookie.

So we hope you will join us for this valuable, informative and fun demonstration!

_____________________________________And come in for our bounty of vegetable starts:

As I write this note on Thursday night, we currently have the following out for sale:

TOMATOES: Siletz, Super Lakotah (aka Super Sioux), Sungold, Goliath, Silvery Fir Tree, Orange Blossom, Stupice, Black Prince, Orange Queen, Principe Borghese,  Box Car Willy, Carmello, Big Beef, Jaune Flammee, Chianti Rose, Mortgage Lifter, Mo’s Golden Paste, Opalka, Amish Paste and Martino’s Roma. 

As space becomes available over the next few days, we plan to bring out some more, including: Tumbler, Pineapple, Pruden’s Purple, Brandywine, Black Krim, Siberian, Lemon Boy, Black from Tula, Mexico Midget, Speckled Roman, Rutgers Indeterminate, Golden Delight, Paul Robeson and Kellogg’s Breakfast.

Soon to follow will be:  Black Cherry, Gardener’s Delight, Thessaloniki, and more……

We also have lots of different kinds of peppers and eggplants coming out, and we still have cabbage, cauliflower, Pak Choi, Red Shiso, Mizuna, and other spring greens, seven different beautiful varieties of Swiss Chard (!), radicchio, Nasturtiums, and on, and on!

AND… we have Marketmore Cucumbers, Soleil Golden Zucchini ready for sale, and soon to follow, a whole bunch of Summer Squash (Eight Ball, Yellow Straightneck, Gentry, Tatume, Raven, Costata Romanesco, Caserta, Coosa, Tromboncino, Benning’s Green Tint, Ronde de Nice, etc.) and Winter Squash varieties (Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato, Delicata, Fordhook Acorn, Long Island Cheese, Hessel Sugar Loaf, Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert, Burpee’s Butterbush, Tetsukabuto, Sunshine, Sweet Meat, Blue Ballet, Carnival, Squisito Spaghetti Squash, Cha Cha Kabocha, etc.) and Melons coming on (Collective Farm Woman, Crane, Ha Ogen, Green Nutmeg, Tigger, Noire des Carmes, Halona, as well as many other cucumber varieties (Suhyo Long, Home-made Pickles, Diva, Tanja, Early Russian, etc.).

_____________________________________________________________________________________

In the last two weeks we have brought out lots of plants from our own propagation, and have received many deliveries from our suppliers, most of whom are small Front Range growers.   Right now we have our best plant selection of the season.

We are fortunate to be able to offer local organic Mushroom Compost right now.  We hope to be able to get more, but we don’t know if it will be available again this season.

Our selection of books has grown, and includes many of the best books available for edible gardening, container gardening, native plants, xeriscape, permaculture, creating meadows, planting design, etc.

We look forward to helping you make your gardening joyful, successful and rewarding.

Eve & Mikl Brawner

          Can Spring still be dodging snowstorms on the 12^th of May? Well, thank goodness for the water. We Rocky Mountain Gardeners always have to be ready for changes. It will be hot soon enough so let’s enjoy the best and longest season of bulb-blooming we’ve had in some years. In fact, we are expecting much warmer, sunnier weather this weekend.  And that’s great because we are very excited to be hosting a free demonstration of Solar Cooking on Sunday May 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Please see the announcement at the end of this blog entry for more information.

          If you haven’t already done it, not is the time to prune out dead canes from roses and dieback from other shrubs. Many people are reporting plant damage due to last fall’s early deep freeze. Our favorite daphne in the rock garden died, and many zone 5 roses died to the ground—another reminder of the importance of planting own-root roses instead of grafted ones.

          Now is also a good time to feed roses. Pull back the mulch, scratch the soil 1”-2” deep and apply the fertilizer (we recommend the Colorado-formulated Mile High Rose Feed) fertilize in a wide ring near the drip line, not close to the canes, scratch it in, water deeply and pull the mulch back.

          When can we safely plant tomatoes and peppers without protection? That is a question! Usually May 20^th; Denver Botanic Gardens suggest May 15^th. If you can put a bucket over them on a cold night, mid May is probably OK. Or, to get an earlier start, you can use our popular Solar Caps which are like a Wall-O-Water, but better, and can be left on the whole season long to keep the soil warm even during our cool nights. Tomatoes and peppers appreciate warm soil both when they are planted (set up the Solar Cap several days before planting), and later to keep growing and maturing when nights are cool.

          Heads Up! To you few getting this announcement: Organic mushroom compost has been hard to get and we just brought in a limited quantity. This stuff is great for vegetable gardens and roses.

          Also our recent deliveries and the readiness of our Harlequin-Grown plants have filled our tables and houses, so we have the best selection of plants now that we will have all year. We still have a good selection of organic vegetables and herb starts and will continue producing them into June.

          Our Soil Food Café is also well stocked with organic composts and organic fertilizers and a good organic potting mix for your containers. Also don’t forget to check out our schedule of classes (www. HarlequinsGardens.com/Classes) and call to pre-register for the ones that interest you.  We have some great ones coming up including:

Saturday May 15, 10 am High Altitude Gardening with Diane Badertscher. Gardening above 6000’ has its own challenges. There are certain plants and certain strategies that can improve your successes. Diane lives and gardens at 8000’ and can help you.  $10

Saturday May 15, 1:30 pm Alison Peck: Edible Landscaping.  Learn how to grow fruits, nuts, vegetables, vines and herbs in your yard, beautifully. Learn which plants are the most successful and how to integrate them into your landscape. Alison has been designing edible landscapes for 25 years;  She owns Matrix Gardens landscaping. $10

Sunday May 16, 1:30 pm  Home-grown Fruits with Mikl Brawner. Apples, cherries, plums, currants, grapes, strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, service berries (and more) produce good fruit in Colorado. Learn which varieties are disease resistant, good flavored and best adapted to CO conditions. $15

Saturday May 22, 1:30 pm  Spring Pruning with Mikl Brawner Prune Spring-blooming shrubs soon after they have bloomed. Mikl will show how to make proper cuts, how to shape, thin and renew shrubs. (tree pruning see Aug classes) Mikl has 35 years experience. $10

Sunday May 23, 1:30 pm  Secrets of Veggie Gardening in the Mountains with Roland Evans. Learn how to amend soils, choose the right varieties, simple plant protection strategies. Roland grows over 50 varieties of veggies at 7500’. CEO of Organic Bountea. $10

Saturday June 5, 10 am  Growing Vegetables without Chemicals with Niki Hayden. Niki will cover soil amendments for fertility, pest barriers and nontoxic methods for insect and weed control. Niki has many years of experience with healthy gardening. $10

Saturday June 12, 1:30 pm   Opportunities and Tricks of Xeriscape with Mikl Brawner There are advantages to gardening with less water, and tricks that will improve your success. Mikl’s xeriscape experience of over 20 years has taught him tricks that will cost you a lot less than it cost him.  $15

Sunday June 13, 10 am   Backyard Beekeeping with Julie Finley of Growing Gardens. Learn honeybee culture and the plants that support them. Visit our Top Bar hives to learn a great system for natural and small scale beekeeping. Julie buzzes with 14 years experience. She’s a honey.   $10

Sunday June 13, 1:30 pm  Top 40 Fragrant Roses with Eve Brawner: A Nose-on Class.    Eve will share her long experience searching out and growing the truly fragrant rose varieties, heirloom & modern, and will bring samples of as many as possible.  $10

We are very excited to invite you to a

FREE (and CARBON- FREE) DEMONSTRATION of
 
SOLAR, OFF-THE-GRID COOKING , with Mary Carhart

on SUNDAY MAY 16^th , from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Experience the technology and sample cookies baked in a solar oven !

At Harlequin’s Gardens Nursery, 4795 N. 26^th St., Boulder CO 80301 (303-939-9403)

Solar Cooking is an exciting and important clean-energy technology providing a clean and healthy alternative that greatly improves the lives of millions of people around the world, as well as the large and small-scale environment in which they (and we) live.

Mary Carhart will demonstrate a variety of different Solar Cooking technologies, from home-made to high-tech.  Mary is passionate about solar cooking and spreading its use both locally and globally.  She has been cooking with solar ovens and educating people around the country about solar cooking technologies and techniques for five years.

Colorado is blessed with optimal conditions for Solar Cooking, and solar ovens can be used to bake, roast, fry, dry-process (dehydrate) or otherwise cook all kinds of foods, from turkey to casserole to cake.

So we hope you will join us for this valuable, informative and fun demonstration!

Thank you for your support and for recommending us to your friends and neighbors.

Sincerely,  Mikl, Eve and the Staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

Mid-April Greetings from Harlequin’s Gardens

Spring has arrived!  Yesterday we passed a lovely old apricot tree in full bloom.  But wait! – maybe summer is here? – there was a hummingbird hard at work sucking nectar from the apricot blossoms!

We thought we’d blog about bees this month, but that will have to wait. In the rush of spring coming on so fast this year, perhaps it is best to talk about what to do now.

Clean Up: cut down the dead stems and stalks of your perennials and compost them. The ornamental grasses should have been cut down to 6” or so a month ago, but do it now if it is not done, maybe to 10” now.  Ground covers may have dead leaves and bits, but cutting them out with clippers would take too long; try just rubbing them with your gloved hand and watch them quickly fill in and look better.

Weeding: it is most effective to weed now while weeds are small. It is especially important to dig out the weed grasses at this time, so you are not pulling up desirable plants with your weeds later. Use a soil knife or a sharp trowel so you can get close to your plants without badly damaging their roots while removing competing weeds. Some people really like knee pads while weeding, others like to squat which stretches out the back muscles. Bindweed will be pushing up soon; it is important to prevent it from having an opportunity to feed its roots. So use a long knife-weeder or trowel that can cut the root at least 3”-4” below the surface. This will give you time to do other things before the bindweed needs to be cut again in 2-4 weeks. If you dig it again before the tops are more than 2” tall, the root will be stressed and that will give your perennials and shrubs a chance to grow, leaf out and shade the bindweed, suppressing it even further.  Careful application of a 20% Vinegar non-toxic herbicide can also burn the foliage back to give the desirable plants a head start.

Soil Preparation: Right now is a great time to add organic matter to the soil – the clay soils are not too wet and gummy, and the gravelly soils are still moist and soft.  Be sure to use mature composts. Avoid manures with a smell (the odor tells you that they need further composting) or raw wood material that will rob the soil of nitrogen if incorporated into the soil.

Most of our Colorado soils are rich in phosphorus and potassium, but deficient in organic matter and nitrogen. We recommend composts locally made from local materials, such as: EcoGro (made from landscape and beer wastes), Eko Compost (made from well-composted chicken manure and wood wastes), or composted dairy cow manure. And we recommend composted cotton burs for breaking up dense clay soils. We also recommend organic fertilizers made either from animal manures (like Nature Cycle) and from alfalfa (like Alpha I or Bradfield’s). Other valuable organic materials to add to the soil are: kelp meal, cottonseed meal, and rock dust. In early May you can fertilize your roses with locally formulated and produced Mile Hi Rose Feed.

These organic composts and fertilizers will support soil life and will help build healthy soil with improved aeration and long-term nutrition, which translates into healthier plants and more nutritious food.

Many of you have your vegetable gardens prepared and are raring to go.  Harlequin’s Gardens is well-stocked with seeds for you from Botanical Interests and Abbondanza Farm. Now is the time to sow seeds for beets, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, carrots, parsnips, kale, onions, radishes, turnips and salad greens.  And it’s not too late to plant Sugar Snap peas.  To protect seedbeds from drying out and also protect from squirrels and birds, we sell Seed Guard light-weight row cover fabric.  Seed Guard is also very useful for covering plants of broccoli, kale, and other cabbage-family members to protect from cabbage butterflies (they lay their eggs on the undersides of the leaves – then they hatch into cabbage loopers, which feed voraciously on the leaves).

Now is also the time to set out plants of vegetables that prefer or can tolerate cool weather, and we are extremely well stocked with cool-season vegetable starts – Broccoli (8 varieties!), Cabbage (5 varieties!), Cauliflower (both white and purple), and Kale, Brussels Sprouts, Radicchio (3 kinds!), Tatsoi, Pak Choi (aka Bok Choy), Mizuna, Lettuce (in small pots and pre-planted Cutting Salad boxes), Chicory, Watercress, Arugula, Leeks, Nasturtiums, etc.  Go to ‘Plants’, then ‘Edibles’ on our website for descriptions of the varieties.

Potatoes and onions can be planted now, and this year we are offering three varieties of ‘seed’ potatoes – Yukon Gold, Red Sangre, and Purple Majesty, and three varieties of onion seedlings – Copra, Ailsa Craig and Rumba.  Asparagus crowns are in, plants of two heirloom varieties of rhubarb (Victoria and Glaskins Perpetual) are ready, and we have dozens of varieties of culinary and medicinal herb plants.  Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) is always in short supply, but right now we have some beautiful Comfrey plants in quart and gallon containers.  Russian Comfrey is an extremely useful medicinal plant and is also highly valued for making nitrogen-rich compost and biodynamic ‘tea’ for plant vitality. A little later in the season we will have plant of ‘True’ Comfrey, (Symphytum officinale,  True Comfrey is very rarely offered and is considered the supreme Comfrey for medicinal use.

For those of you who want to get a head-start on your tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, we have begun to bring out some tomato and pepper plants, and this first modest selection will soon be followed by an avalanche of varieties of every color, size, flavor, shape and origin.  But first, come and get your Solar Caps – the best protection for your early plantings of warm-season vegetables. (a vast improvement over Wall-o-Water).

We like to include some tasty edible flowers in our salads, such as Violas (we have dark red, yellow, blue and purple-black varieties), Nasturtiums (two varieties are ready, and several more coming along soon) and Calendula (ready soon).

Speaking of flowers, you may have noticed that we carry plants of several self-sowing annuals, such as Larkspur, Batchelor Buttons, California Poppy, ‘Lauren’s Grape’ Poppy and Evening-Scented Stock.  You may wonder ‘why not just seed these in the garden?’  And, of course, direct seeding is definitely an option, but it must be timed correctly. Some gardeners find that they can start a ‘colony’ of these wildflowers more successfully by beginning with a few plants, which will bloom and produce copious seeds that will distribute themselves in the area at just the right time.  Enough of the seeds will find perfect niches in the soil, and the next year(s), a self-sustaining colony is established.

Our classes are rapidly filling up, so come in or call 303-939-9403 to reserve your place for any classes that interest you.  A few of the classes coming up soon are:

Sun, April 18, 10 am : Ecological Garden Design, part 1

Sun., April 18, 1:30 pm : Raising Backyard Chickens

Sat., April 24, 10 am : Ecological Garden Design, part 2

Sun., April 25, 1:30 : Wild Edibles & Medicinal Weeds

We invite you to come and celebrate with us at our May Day Festival on Saturday May 1 and Sunday May 2.

On Saturday, come out for some delightful entertainment – first, at 10:30, the Maroon Bells Morris Dancers will perform their lively, ancient May Day dances to make the crops grow.  Then at 12 noon we will have the classic harmonies of the Coconuts Barbershop Quartet.  And at 1:00, Margot Krimmel will play heavenly melodies for us on her harp.

On Sunday, be sure to bring your kids, as we will also be celebrating World Laughter Day (don’t you think we can all use a good laugh?).  Refreshments will be served, and Denver Magician Stuart Hayner will amuse and amaze us with his Magic Show at 1:30.  He will also be around afterwards to create balloon-animals for the children.  Mikl may juggle, one never knows when.  And at 2:30 the Boulder Irish Session Band (including Eve Brawner) will play lively, authentic Celtic music.

Coinciding with the May Day Festival will be our Plant Sale which begins May 1^st and continues through Friday May 7th (please note we are closed on Mondays). We will have lots of great plants including a special members-only section.  During the May Day Sale, members will get first pick of the unusual and specialty plants Mikl and Eve have propagated, which are often in short supply, for only $2.25 each. The following week these plants will be available to everyone at the regular prices of $3, $3.50, and $4.  During the May Day Sale, members also get 10% off roses (except quart size).

We are looking forward to seeing all of you, and we wish you a green and growing Spring!

Mikl & Eve Brawner

Many fruits can be grown successfully here on the Front Range of Colorado. At one time, there were commercial apple orchards in Boulder and Fort Collins, commercial sour cherry orchards and canneries between Loveland and Fort Collins and commercial raspberry production in various places. Cheap shipping, more reliable weather and harvests in other regions, and a raspberry disease chased these operations to other states. However there is great potential here for the home gardener to grow tree- and bush-ripened fruit that is delicious, organic, fresh and economical.
Conventional agriculture has an economic priority, that places the emphasis on quantity over quality, on shelf-life and ship-ability over flavor, and on cosmetic appearance, over nutritional value. You may know the song about “…two things that money can’t buy; and that’s true love and home-grown tomatoes.” Well, the same holds true for home-grown strawberries, home-grown peaches, home-grown plums, most home-grown apples, and, in fact, for all the fruits.
At home we can nourish our soils so the soil life flourishes and the fruit is more nourishing. Recent studies found that you have to eat two apples today to get the nutritional value that was found in one apple in the 1940s. We can choose the really great-tasting varieties to grow like Ogalalla Strawberry, Anne Raspberry, Stanley Plum and Cortland Apple that cannot be found in the supermarkets. And we can grow them without pesticides, so we don’t have to feel like the witch from Snow White when we hand our child an apple. We can leave the fruits on the tree, bush or vine till they are fully ripe with the starches changing to natural sugars, so they taste really good. We can eat them fresh while they are vibrant with the Life Force. We can feel proud that we are not buying food that was produced and shipped great distances with petroleum fuels that produce greenhouse gases. Nor are we buying food grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizers that poison our fragile planet.
Fruit crops are often so abundant that, not only are they cheap to grow, there is often so much food that we can feel generous about sharing with friends, neighbors and the Food Bank. This kind of community wealth not only goes around, but comes around, so the gal giving apples could get plums.
Wow, this sounds really good. And it is! Is it really easy? Not really. Neither is it really hard. But it is harder than growing ornamentals. The economics of Nature are very simple and direct: if you put more in, you get more out; if you put little in, that’s what you get back. Most fruit plants like soil that is rich in organic matter, so add compost and/or composted manure or organic fertilizer every year. They need water, especially between flowering and ripening, but they need oxygen in the soil too. If the soils are soggy, there will be more disease problems. Fruit trees don’t like much competition; plant them far enough apart so they have good air circulation and sun. They need pruning: cut down the old canes, thin and shape the trees and replace old plants of strawberries.
And then there is the work of the harvests. Many fruits have to be processed somehow or they won’t keep. You can dry them, can them, freeze them and share them. In a weak economy, and to strengthen community, a cornucopia of fruit could be celebrated. We have much to learn, much to do and much to be gained.

Mikl Brawner Harlequin’s Gardens
copyright 2010

Greetings Friends and Fellow Gardeners,
We have been requested to write a blog and so we are going to give it a try. I apologize for beginning with an apology but I must say up front that we cannot return emails. Sorry. So many questions, so little time. However if I write one blog a month, I could answer some questions I’ve received at that time.

I grew up in Iowa and my first gardening experience was growing vegetables. If I were writing a blog about gardening in Iowa, it could be short: “put seeds in deep, rich earth; never watered; spread a little cow manure; weeded a lot; the neighbors finally stopped us from bringing them our surplus.”
Of course gardening in Colorado isn’t that easy so I will have plenty to say. And since it is not cliché for gardeners to talk about the weather, I will begin that way.
We were having a nice fall when on October 15 the temperature dropped to 15 degrees with 3” of snow. Many plants and trees still had their leaves. Ouch! Then a week later a high of 83, then 30” of snow the last 4 days in October. (really? That’s what records say) Then a “normal” November and then the first two weeks in December brought near zero temps with 12 below zero on Dec 9, and zero again the day before Christmas. See how we suffered this winter. But the plants had it worse; they are outdoors being jerked around by these extremes.
Cold tolerance of plants is not only their hardiness to an absolute temperature, but is affected by when the cold comes. If the plants had not hardened off when the real cold arrived, there could be some die back this spring or even some dead plants. And if woody plants had not sealed the openings where the leaves connect to the stems, then we may see serious fungus problems this year. In addition, young plants with small root systems are not as strong as adults, nor have they built up their starch reserves to get them through til spring.
Those that made it through the coldest weather may need water. This has not been a very dry winter, but I would recommend hand watering your evergreens and any plants that were planted in late summer or fall. It is best to winter water in late morning to give the water a chance to sink in before freezing night temperatures descend.
In Iowa when spring begins, it doesn’t go back to being winter for two weeks, then spring for a week, then winter, then summer, then spring. And it rains. So you don’t have to be such a good gardener.
Here we have to try harder, be smarter, experiment, replant and keep building our soils. I’ve never met so many very knowledgeable amateur gardeners as I have in Colorado. It is one of the reasons why I love running a plant nursery with my wonderful wife, Eve. I get to constantly learn from you smart and observant gardeners and from Eve and from the plants. And I spend most of my time outside in Colorado’s mostly wonderful climate, breathing the fresh air and working 7 days a week trying to keep up with the constant changes and frequent surprises. What could be more fun than that?

Joyful Gardening,
Mikl

Dear Friends and Fellow Gardeners,

2009 has been a good year for gardening-mostly. Hail was devastating in some areas and the coolness which was so pleasant, wasn’t so good for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. It was an excellent year for xeriscape since even the hills were green all summer. And we all had a lot of successes in planting.

It’s really hard to second-guess Nature, like to plan for certain weather, but it seems obvious that if we support Nature, Nature will provide, and support us. But if we keep burning things to make energy, it may take years to recover from the climactic changes. So our choices matter: reduce, reuse, recycle, and harvest home-grown energy where possible. See www.350.org to help on Oct.24.

Fall is the best time to plant for me. The energy of the plants is going to the roots and that process is enhanced when we support the soil life with our recycled plant wastes like composts and mulches. There are now reliable sources of beneficial fungi and bacteria that can help increase soil life and broaden the diversity of microorganisms. Fall is also an excellent time to fertilize with our organic fertilizers to strengthen plants for winter and for next spring. And, of course, we have lots of plants we would rather you take care of this winter.

So we would like to invite you to our FALL PLANT SALE. This sale is not our strategy to dump the half-dead dregs of our inventory. This is your best opportunity to get our healthy Harlequin’s plants at discounted prices.

Members,for your special support, you get first pick of the plants at the Members Sale, August 25,26, 27,28,29,30 with 20% off all plants and 25% off books. (For info on membership, ask one of our staff, or see our website.)

The next week, September 1,2,3,4,5,6 the Fall Sale begins for everybody with 10% off most plants except roses. 10% off books & 10% off soil products in big bags. Also the Deep Discount section will be opened.

The third week September 8,9,10, 11, 12,13, enjoy 20% off perennials, shrubs & trees and 20% off most roses And 10% off books and soil products in big bags.

The fourth week, Sept.15,16, 17,18, 19, 20, take 25% off all perennials, shrubs and trees and20% off most roses and10% off books and soil products in big bags.

The fifth week, Sept.22,23, 24, 25, 26, 27, take 30% off perennials, shrubs and trees and 20% off roses, and 10% off books and soil products in big bags.

The sixth week, Sept.29, 30 and Oct.1,2,3,4, there will be a 35% discount off perennials and shrubs, 20% off roses and 50% off trees. And 25% off soil products in big bags.

We will continue to offer these prices every Thursday, Friday & Saturday in October.

Gift certificates will be available for the holidays and year-round by calling the nursery, 303-939-9403.

Open: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9-5; Thursday 9-6

October: Thursday,Friday and Saturdays only 9-5

www.harlequinsgardens.com 303-939-9403

Sincerely,

Mikl and Eve Brawner

Here is a sampling of the great plants you will find at our Fall Sale:

Excellent Xeriscape Perennials:

Hidcote Lavender-rich, purple flowers; 16″ high, very fragrant; one of the hardiest

Veronica oltensis-evergreen, thyme-like leaves, ½” mat x 24″, blue flowers, low water

Cold-hardy Ball Cacti-7 species including Mt. Ball, Claret Cup, the local Coryphantha etc

Papaver pilosum-toughest of the soft orange poppies, self sows but not suckering

Salvia grandiflora-4′-6’tall native, true sky blue flowers, late summer, xeric

Thymus ‘Clear Gold’-4″ tall creeping thyme, beautiful golden leaves, lavender flowers

Penstemon Pikes Peak Purple-purple flowers on 16″ stems, long-blooming, Plant Select

Russian Sage-3′-5′ tall, blue-violet flowers in summer, long-blooming, xeric & easy

Reiter Thyme-Rich green, 2″x30″ steppable ground cover, or “lawn”; lavender flowers

Penstemon pseudospectabilis-Nevada/NM native, hardy, hot pink flowers, 3′, hummers

“Tough As Nails” Paronychia-1″ high groundcover; like thyme, more xeric, white bracts

Teucrium cossonii-very silver Germander is evergreen, 8″x14″; purplish-pink flowers, xeric

Silver Edge Horehound-M. rotundifolium: beautiful foliage, 8″x24″, very xeric, behaves

GRASSES: Not rootbound. Many reports of success with Sept. planting of our grasses.

Blue Grama-CO State Grass, 1′-2′ clumps, seed heads curl downward like eyelashes, xeric

Little Bluestem- 2′-3′ tall native, blue-green foliage turns copper-red in fall, xeric

Alkali Sacaton- 2′ tall with bluish foliage and airy seed heads, good in dry, poor soil

Wrights Sacaton-very ornamental native grass, 4′ with showy seed heads to 6′, xeric

Sand Love Grass-Lovely, native 3′-4′ tall with showy reddish pink seed heads, xeric

Miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’ (Maiden Grass)-narrow leaves arching 5′-6′, coppery tassels

Pennisetum ‘Hameln’-perennial fountain grass, 2′-3′, white, foxtail seed heads, showy

Eragrostis ‘Wind Dancer’-graceful 2′-3′ narrow bluish foliage, airy seedheads , xeric

Sideoats Grama-curly 3″-6″ leaves; delicate pendant seed heads; xeric native

Calamagrostis brachytricha-3′-4′ arching form,large purple-pink plumes, ’09 Plant Select

Boulder Blue Fescue-the bluest 12″ fescue, selected in Bldr Co., very attractive

NATIVES

Gayfeather-Liatris punctata-spikes of feathery lavender flowers 16″ draw butterflies

Wine Cups-trailing stems from big taproot, wine-red poppy-like flowers all summer

Clematis ligusticifolia-10′-20′, masses of white flowers, showy seed heads, tough

Agave parryi-bold blue-green blades, 12″x18″, dark maroon spines, sculptural

Cercocarpus intricatus-Littleleaf Mt. Mahogany, fabulous dwarf 5′ xeric evergreen

Aster porteri-showy white flowers in fall, 12″-24″, xeric aster, grows around Boulder

Chocolate Flower-copious yellow daisies with dark eyes, chocolate aroma, 12″x30″, xeric

Sphaeralcea sp.-upright very xeric perennials, 3′-5′, soft orange, pink or lavender flowers

New Mexican Privet (Forestiera)-8′-12′ shrub/tree; beautiful screen or specimen, xeric

Tall Blue Rabbitbrush-blue foliage, yellow flowers in late summer, dramatic, xeric

Desert Mahonia-M.haematocarpa-blue, evergreen foliage, yellow flowers, red fruit, 6′-8′

Fern Bush-4’x5′ shrub with fern-like leaves, clusters of creamy flowers, very xeric

Apache Plume-4′ high, spreading, white flowers with plume-like seed heads, very xeric

Sand Cherry-3′-5′ high with white flowers-spring; black fruit, reddish fall color, xeric

Douglas Hawthorn-25′ tree, white flowers-spring; red fruit, red fall color, low water

Penstemons:pseudospectabilis, linarioides, strictus, secundiflorus, pinifolius & Mersea Yellow, rostriflorus, mensarum, nitidus, eatonii, clutei, cardinalis, jamesii and more

GREAT PLANTS FOR DRY SHADE:

Geranium cantabrigiense-weed smothering, xeric, beautiful; fragrant foliage turns red

with medium pink flowers, ‘Biokovo’ with light pink, ‘St. Ola’-wine buds, white flowers

Geranium m. ‘Bevan’s Variety’-12″ high, deep magenta & red, fragrant foliage-deer resist

Anemone tomentosa-rose pink flowers in fall on 2′-3′ stems, good cut flower

Euonymus f. ‘Kewensis’-compact dwarf, mounding, can climb, tiny evergreen leaves

Plumbago-true blue flowers in summer, great red fall color, spreading ground cover

Hardy Boxwoods-evergreen, round leaves; compact to 3′, deer and rabbit resistant

Plus: Geranium “Johnson’s Blue”, Sweet Cicely, Coral Bells, Baltic Ivy

VINES

Honeysuckle Lonicera ‘Old Dutch’-vigorous to 15′; fragrant pink and gold trumpets

Monkshood Vine-20′, very attractive cut leaves, fast growing, orange berries, at Teahouse

American Bittersweet- woody, vigorous, xeric, grows in any soil, to 20′, showy orange fruit

‘Aunt Dee’ Wisteria-hardy, drought-tolerant, blooms more reliably than others, violet-blue

AND dozens of varieties of Clematis grown tough at Harlequin’s Gardens

And more vines

TREES

Hackberry, Burr Oak, Western Catalpa, May Day Tree, Thunderchild Crab, Scotch Pine; Radiant & Spring Snow Crabs, Aspens, Arizona Cypress, etc.(Apples, Plums and Peaches are available now, but Not On Sale)

We have the best selection of hardy ROSES on their own roots in the state with too many varieties to list here: Heirloom, Shrub, David Austin, Minis, Species and Canadian

PLUS: many, many other great plants like: New colored Echinaceas, Gambel Oak, Red Kansas Hawthorn, Cutleaf Black Elderberry, Solidago rigida from Boulder County, Eight kinds of Sedums, Goldflame Honeysuckle, 2 kinds of miniature yuccas, a low-water Black-Eyed Susan, Norton’s Gold Oregano, Organic Herbs, Native Asters and more and more.

And we have: great tools, gloves, books, organic supplies and seeds for fall-sown, cool-weather greens like kale, chard and lettuce

Landscape Consultations:Eve and Mikl are available for consultations year-round. If you schedule a consultation to take place between Nov 1 and Feb 28, we will give you 15% off a one-time purchase of plants at Harlequin’s Gardens.

We can help you to 1) clarify the use of the space 2) identify site opportunities and limitations 3) evaluate health and value of existing landscape and make non-toxic recommendations for pest and disease problems 4)make plant lists for specific areas 5) make design suggestions with rough sketches 6)help to xeriscape and save water 7) identify, evaluate and make recommendations for tree care. We do not do complete garden designs or installations. Call 303-939-9403 or 720-291-7826 to schedule.

Visit five of the best private gardens in the Denver Area (including Marcia Tatroe’s, Rob Proctor’s, Dan Johnson’s): Sept. 12, 10am-4; 1-888-842-2442; www.opendaysprogram.org