Two quotations greet me every morning, posted on our bathroom mirror: “Tell me. What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” (poet Mary Oliver) and “I wake up each morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it very hard to plan the day.” (author/editor E. B. White). The first inspires me to define my priorities, while the second, which perfectly describes my daily dilemma, allows me a little slack and sense of humor in the midst of my personal chaos and the chaos of life on Earth in this time. Perhaps you can take some inspiration and comfort from them, too.
Among the thousands of seedlings that we are propagating is a special new Plant Select® addition: Guernsey Green Juniper, WINDWALKER® Series (Juniperus horizontalis ‘Guernsey Green’). 
With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, we’d like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for another great year, our 30th!, at Harlequin’s Gardens.
Still looking for the Perfect Gifts for Gardeners?
We are coming to the end of Harlequin’s 30th year in business and in service to the community. We are so grateful that you have supported us all these years. You have found us in our hidden location, told your friends about us, planted our native flora, xeriscape and pollinator-supporting selections and organic veggie starts, and supported your soil life with our help. This partnership over 30 years has made a difference in our local ecology and in people’s individual lives. Our dedication to organic gardening has been multiplied by thousands of you. 
We are thrilled to announce that a little miracle has occurred, thanks to our amazing network of friends in the community!
The 2023 calendar marks the eighteenth year that Boulder artist Theresa has been designing, carving and creating her block print scroll calendars. It has become an annual tradition for her to make the calendars, and for many people, a tradition to buy them for themselves and to give as gifts. The theme for this year is some of the many houseplants she, and many people have around their homes. 
As the holiday giving season steadily approaches, we invite you to consider our very special selection of wearable local-artisan creations that range from practical to luxurious, including:
This week is your last opportunity to pick up unique, thoughtful, useful, delicious and beautiful handmade gifts from local artists and artisans. Some have re-stocked with new additions you may not have seen yet!
We have 4 featured books, lots of Mikl’s hand-picked Children’s Books, plus an ENORMOUS INFLUX of other new books and puzzles! Our Featured books are:
We know our customers have beautiful gardens (some have even shared them in our 
In tandem with the close of October, our 2022 Fall Sale will end this Sunday at 5pm. Before then, be sure to take advantage of our Fall Sale Discounts, which can help you achieve your end-of-season gardening goals with plants and soil products that are 30% off! (Sale exceptions listed below.)
This is such a nice time of the year to putter in the garden! It’s also a good opportunity to look ahead and amend your planting beds and lawn for Spring 2023. Our Fall Sale Discounts can help you achieve your end-of-season gardening goals with plants and soil products that are 30% off! (Sale exceptions listed below.)
Autumn is Here!
Regrettably, we need to let you know that we have had to cancel our 2022 bulb order. We spoke with the company’s shipping director yesterday and she informed us that the containers were still on the ship and had not yet even been placed on the trucks that would take them to distribution centers. When asked if there was any chance our order would reach us by the end of this week, she said ‘No’. With so few days left to sell our large order of bulbs before we close for the season at 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 30th, it no longer makes sense to bring them in. 
Our 2022 Fall Members-Only Sale has finished, and now our Big Fall Sale has begun, with 20% off for everyone! Plants included in this week’s sale are:
We propagate and grow a lot of great plants here at the nursery, which gives us (and you!) an advantage when the wholesale suppliers run short in mid and late summer. We’re very pleased to have beautiful stock of some highly desirable and hard-to-find shrubs and perennials right now, including some choice native plants, Plant Select® winners, and customer favorites. 
Daylilies are old favorites for good reasons. They are:
Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) is a majestic, slow-growing tree reaching 60 to 70’ in height and spread, and is typically very long-lived (think 200, 300+ years!). It’s the sort of tree you plant for the benefit of the generations to come. Many oak species don’t thrive in Colorado’s alkaline soils, but Bur Oak is a happy exception. It is also drought-tolerant once established, even in dry clay, and can handle city conditions quite well. Bur Oak’s strong wood and strong, almost right-angled branch connections resist breakage in wind and snow. 
Monarch butterflies previously considered Threatened, have now been classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world’s most comprehensive scientific authority on the status of species. Two major driving factors are habitat loss (and thus, food loss), and climate change. 
In late June Eve and Mikl attended two inspiring events that are related in that both organizations / institutions are concerned with researching, trialing, and introducing plants that are resilient in the face of the challenges presented by Climate Change, especially increasing heat and long-term drought. 
In this period of high heat, it makes sense to water more often than usual. We water twice as much in July as we do in other months. BUT REMEMBER that plant roots need air, too. And if the soil is continually wet, plant roots won’t be able to use the water, and may rot. The best approach is still to water deeply, but not too frequently. The best time to water is in the early morning when less water will evaporate, and water droplets can dry from plant leaves early in the day, certainly before evening when fungal diseases can take hold on wet foliage. What does that mean, “water deeply”? It means that when you irrigate by hand or sprinkler or drip, the soil should be moist to a depth of at least 4”. Moisture meters and the old ‘screwdriver test’ are not as accurate as digging a small hole 4 to 6” deep and feeling the soil. If it is dry at 4” just after watering, you will need to water longer. 
Hardy Geraniums are some of the most versatile an adaptable perennials for our area! Available in many colors and habits, they can be useful in sun and shade, moist and dry, as individual specimens, companion plants and ground covers.
The Good News is that out of about 900,000 insect species currently living on our planet, only 1% to 3% are pests. We do not need systemic neonicotinoids (neonics) or any toxic pesticides to grow plants well. The solution is to employ human attention, biodiversity, nutrient-dense soils, application of nontoxic management, and tolerance.
As temperatures rise and we begin to wilt from the heat, many plants rise to the occasion and burst into bloom! Many of these summer stalwarts have spent the cooler, wetter months developing root systems or taproots that delve well below the hot, dry surface soil. Pollinators depend on finding pollen and nectar sources through the entire summer, so it’s important to include mid and late-summer bloomers in your garden. 
Okay, you prepared your soil and planted your vegetable garden with all kinds of wonderfully flavorful, nutritious foods, you’re watering and watching them grow, and wondering ….. When can I start to eat them, how do I harvest them, and how do I get the most out of these plantings? Here are some tips on vegetable crops harvest timing and techniques that may not be self-evident. Even if you’re a seasoned gardener, you may not be aware of some of these procedures! 
With great sadness, we share the news that the pioneering plantsman David Salman passed away on the fifth of June. David was a dedicated, passionate, and articulate educator and proponent of sustainable gardening, a plant explorer with a gift for selecting and introducing exceptional plants for western landscapes, and the founder of Santa Fe Greenhouses, High Country Gardens, and Waterwise Gardening. 
Pollinator Month is a special time for Harlequin’s Gardens – a time when we celebrate the hard work of bees (honeybees, solitary bees, bumblebees) wasps, ants, flies and bee flies, butterflies and moths, beetles, some bats and birds, and some mammals. They’re all around us, connecting the dots between flowers and food.
We would like to invite you to visit the Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse Rose Garden in downtown Boulder across from the city park. The unique treasure of an intricately handcrafted, traditional Tajik Teahouse was gifted to the city of Boulder by the citizens of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, one of Boulder’s Sister Cities, in 1988. In time, the design of the structure was amended to be able to house a restaurant business, construction was completed, and the Teahouse opened in spring of 1998. Both the inside and outside of this fabulous building are elaborately adorned with colorful carved, painted and sculpted elements, mostly traditional, plus some contemporary artistry. 
If you’re looking for inspiration for your garden, a great place to begin is in other people’s gardens. Take a break from your trowel and spade to inspect and enjoy a wide variety of mostly private gardens made available for public viewing for just a day. Usually, the gardener is present to talk with you about their vision and their process and can identify the plants and features that catch your attention. To participate, some tours require membership in an organization, some sell tickets, and others are more free form. Two of the upcoming tours include Harlequin’s Gardens – Colorado Native Plant Society Garden Tour and the rescheduled Rocky Mt. Chapter Rock Garden Society Garden Tour, both on Saturday June 4th. Following are several garden tours to consider participating in. 
Our best selection of plants for the 2022 season is here now! Even though record numbers of customers have poured in this month and left with record numbers of great plants and products, we STILL have tons and keep bringing out more!
We were just getting comfy and confident in the progressing spring weather, when Mother Nature reminds us that She is in control!
We’re close to Boulder Valley’s “average last frost” date, and except for being windy and dry, it sure feels like Spring! Lots of gardeners are asking whether it’s safe to prune now, especially roses and shrubs. The answer is YES! But…..