Dicentra
As much as we are looking forward to summer heat and sun, we will be equally grateful for a bit of cool, shady respite. Many of us living in older neighborhoods enjoy mature trees that provide quite a bit of shade. These present a challenge: what plants will thrive beneath them and in their shadow? Right now, Harlequin’s has our biggest selection of plants for dry shade, moist shade, and moderate shade.[Read More]
Mikl with Desert willow
Desert willow in bloom
Harlequin’s Gardens is famous for our selection of Native Shrubs. Not only do we have them when few other nurseries do, but we know them and we have mature specimens planted in our display gardens. These woody plants that are so well adapted to Colorado conditions are often drought tolerant, low maintenance, bee and pollinator-supporting, wind-tolerant, cold-tolerant and good-looking. Like many shrubs, some benefit from a once-a-year pruning to remove dead flowers before they make seeds. This will make them more tolerant to drought and snow and wind, but seeds can be left for the birds and pruned late fall.
Native shrubs can be grown together for a very water-wise and low maintenance garden that is tied together visually with a fine woodchip mulch.
Fernbush (Chamaebatiaria millifolium) is a beautiful Plant Select® shrub that is usually 4’- 6’ tall and wide with fern-like leaves that come out in mid January or February. It is very tolerant of dry conditions, heat and bright sun. In summer, clusters of small white flowers cover the bush densely and often bloom a little more in fall. These flowers are extremely attractive to beneficial insects, especially native, non-aggressive wasps which help keep down populations of pests and are intent on pollen, not people. This shrub is tough enough for the back 40 and attractive enough for the front yard. It can be sheared (or pruned) lightly after blooming for a tidier appearance and to encourage rebloom. Fernbush is native to Idaho, Utah and northern Arizona.
Fernbush
Chilopsis linearis is called Desert Willow because it has narrow, willow-like leaves and is very drought-tolerant. It is a small tree 6’-15’ with an open structure and does not leaf out until May, even late May. It is related to Catalpa tree and Trumpet Vine. The orchid-like flowers are so surprising and breath-taking; ruffled, trumpet-shaped, pink to red-purple, striped purple inside. Chilopsis prefers dry, loose soils, but clay is OK if it is seldom watered. At night it is visited by hawkmoths and is scented of violets according to Bob Nold. He also says it “…is the toughest shrub that can be grown in our garden…I have never watered my plants.” The flowers bloom for a long time and are followed by narrow pods that are not messy. Chilopsis is native to New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Books often say it is hardy to zone 7, but we have specimens over 10 years old at Harlequin’s and Denver Botanic Gardens has many older trees. Often, the flowering tips die and look better pruned off.
Dwarf blue rabbitbrush
Dwarf Rabbitbrush (Ericameria or Chrysothamnus) has been called The Gem of the Tribe. It is a compact shrub 1’-2’ high and 2’-3’ wide with short and narrow bluish leaves and clouds of golden yellow flowers in throughout autumn. The flowers are very attractive to pollinators; it is a crucial late-season food source, supplying nectar and pollen for native bees, honeybees, Monarch and other butterflies, moths and even hummingbirds. Once established, this shrub thrives with little or no watering. It also provides a welcome display of color in the late season and if it is sheared after flowering, will stay compact and attractive enough for the front yard. It is native near Harlequin’s in the open and dry high desert and steppe, and in much of Colorado.
Palmer’s Beardstongue
2-5’ tall x 1-2’wide, Full Sun
Hardy to 6500’
Deer-resistant
Stop the car! What’s that mass of pink soaring above the roadside slopes? The largest of the hardy Penstemons, both in plant size and flower size, Palmer’s is a magnificent plant with a commanding presence. Above the substantial and attractive serrated, fleshy gray, evergreen leaves, towering flower spikes from 2 to 5’ tall display large, wide-mouthed light pink flowers marked with darker veins, and exuding a sweet fragrance.
These are specifically adapted to accommodate larger pollinators, particularly bumblebees, carpenter bees and hummingbirds. Butterflies and moths also visit them. Native to dry washes, sandy plains, and canyon slopes of the Intermountain West and Southwest, including Colorado and Wyoming, Palmer’s Penstemon colonizes open, well-drained soils from desert foothills to about 6,500 feet elevation. Adaptation
to poor, gravelly soils and periodic drought makes it a perfect choice for xeriscape and low-water gardens. Widely adapted and requiring minimal care, it will thrive and naturalize from seed, and can form impressive colonies.
Brewing Compost Tea
You can think of compost tea as vitamins for plants; they are a great overall plant health booster. In turn, healthy plants are better able to resist pests and diseases. Our customers have told us that our compost tea has very clearly strengthened and improved the growth of their plants. Benefits associated with compost tea include:
Improves soil health. If soil is nutrient-rich, the need for fertilizer is minimized.
Improves water retention. This reduces the need for frequent watering.
Improves soil structure. The biological components in a soil are what create its structure. For
good soil structure, all organism groups in the food web – bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes
and micro arthropods – need to be present. By using compost tea you are adding this large
spectrum of beneficial microbes.
Stimulates plant root growth. Deeper roots retain moisture better and help reduce runoff.
The Rocky Mountain Native Plant Primer: 225 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden
by Lauren Springer and Bryan Fischer
The great Colorado gardening book we’ve been waiting years for is HERE AT LAST! Over the years, Colorado’s best and brightest garden writers, including Lauren Springer, have produced excellent books to help gardeners understand and work with the weather, soils, plants, pests and peculiarities of gardening here in the Rocky Mountain region. But before long, they were all out of print! With so many new gardeners, ‘new-to-Colorado’ gardeners and ‘new-to-natives’ gardeners needing expert advice for gardening HERE, in our various situations, from the urban-suburban metro area, to the plains, foothills, steppe and mountains, the lack of good resources in print was a big problem.
Fortunately, Lauren Springer returns, partnering with colleague Bryan Fischer, with an essential resource for gardening successfully and beautifully with native plants to attract and support pollinators and beneficial wildlife, and reduce maintenance at the same time! The wonderful photographs, the organization and presentation of accurate, practical growing information, and the solid decades of experience behind this book make it a treasured resource you will refer to for a lifetime. And remember – Harlequin’s Gardens members get 25% off books all year long!
This Weekend! New Perennials, Vines, and Annuals
Here’s a glimpse of some of the influx of plants we expect to have ready for you by this weekend! Some are rare finds in limited quantities, so try not to miss out! .
Agastache cana – Double Bubble Hummingbird Mint
Artemisia frigida – Fringed Sage
Asclepias incarnata – Rose Milkweed
Dalea purpurea – Purple Prairie Clover
Engelmannia peristenia – Engelmann’s Daisy
Iris missouriensis – Native Wild Iris
Liatris pychnostachya – Prairie Blazing Star
Nepeta x faassenii -‘Walker’s Low’ Catmint
Tradescantia occidentalis – Western Spiderwort
Dahlia – Bishop’s Children
Dahlia – Short Mix
Nasturtium – Alaska Mix
Nasturtium – Jewel
Nasturtium – Ladybird
Nasturtium – Peach Melba
Nasturtium – Tall Mix
Nasturtium – Tiptop
Pansy – Velvet Mix
Poppy – Lauren’s Grape
Poppy – Mission Bells
Poppy – California Orange
AND MORE!
Cold-Season Vegetable Starts – March
We’re very excited this week to debut spring vegetable starts that MASA has grown for us! These bioregionally-adapted varieties are so robust and full of vitality, and so irresistible! They are also selected for resilience in our wide weather swings. If you can water your garden, these plants will give you a bountiful head-start on home-grown, delicious, nutritious, greens! We’ll be bringing in more each week.
Arugula Astro
Broccoli Nutribud
Broccoli Umpqua
Cabbage, red Amarant
Cabbage, green Tendersweet
Cabbage, green Tiara
Chard Bali Red
Chard Bright Lights
Chard Fordhook
Collards, Flash
Kale, curly purple Redbor
Kale, lacinato Black Magic
Kale, curly DarkiborCo
Lettuce, butter Adriana
Lettuce, Romaine Forellenschluss
Lettuce, dwf Rom. Spretnak
Lettuce, red leaf Hyper Red Rumpled
Lettuce, green leaf Winter Density
Tufted hairgrass
Trees:
Amelanchier alnifolia (native)
Shrubs:
Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Regent’ (native)
Peraphyllum microphyllum (native)
Prunus besseyi ‘Pawnee Buttes’ (native)
Prunus besseyi ‘Flatiron’ (native)
Syringa vulgaris – Common Lilac
Viburnum x ‘Sarcoxie’
Cotinus coggygria ‘Winecraft Black’ – Purple Smokebush
Raspberries:
Heritage and Polana red raspberries
Grasses:
Deschampsia caespitosa – Tufted Hairgrass (native)
Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ – Red Switchgrass
Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Prairie Blues’ – (native)
Perennials:
Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’
groundcover – Ephedra minima
There is nothing like a homegrown tomato! Here they come, Harlequin’s’ fabulous and enormous selection of tomato starts, and some of the first peppers, too! We cover all the bases, including varieties of many uses, sizes, colors, flavors, days to maturity, origins and special qualities, but they are time-proven and resilient in
Colorado.
Tomatoes:
[Read More]
TREES & SHRUBS: To avoid breakage from heavy snow, periodically put on your boots, heavy coat, and a hat with a brim, and gently shake snow off trees and shrubs that are already in leaf.
ROSES: If you have not already pruned them, now is the time to remove canes that are dead,
damaged, crossing and rubbing, or growing out of bounds. Make clean cuts with a good, sharp
pair of clippers. Avoid cutting back roses that only bloom in spring until after they’ve bloomed.[Read More]
Tomatoes: We’ve always started bringing out our outstanding selection of tomato varieties in the second week of April, but a little glitch with our new grower has caused a slight delay…we expect them to arrive starting the week of April 21st. So please hang in there with us – our exceptional, locally adapted varieties are truly worth waiting for!
Anasazi
Aurora det.
[Read More]
Planting a vegetable garden provides access to fresher, more nutritious, and organic produce while also cutting down on grocery bills. It acts as a therapeutic, stress-relieving activity that offers exercise and sunshine, alongside positive environmental impacts like lowering your carbon footprint and supporting local pollinators.
The list of magnificently MASA started veggies is updated to incude:
Arugula – Astro
Arugula – Surrey
Broccoli – Happy Rich
Broccoli – Nutribud
Broccoli – Spring Raab
Broccoli – Umpqua
Cabbage (Green) – Tendersweet
Cabbage (Green) – Tiara
Cabbage (Red) – Amarant
Chard – Bali Red
Chard – Bright Lights
Chard – Fordhook
Collard Greens – Cash Crop
Collard Greens – Flash
Kale (Curly) – Rainbow
Kale (Curly) – Redbor
Kale (Lacinato) – Black Magic
Kale (Lacinato) – Darkibor
Kale (Lacinato) – Mamba
Lettuce (Butterhead) – Australe
Lettuce (Butterhead) – Nancy
Lettuce (Green Leaf) – Green Pack
Lettuce (Little Gem) – Spretnak
Lettuce (Oak Leaf) – Oscarde
Lettuce (Red Butter) – Alkindus
Lettuce (Red Leaf) – Hyper Red
Lettuce (Red Leaf) – Ruby Sky
Lettuce (Red Romain) – CalShot
Lettuce (Romain) – Solid Green
Onion (Cippolini) – Gold Coin
Onion (Grilling) – Red Bottle
Onion (Keeper) – Front Range Globe
Onion (Keeper) – Rosa Milano
Onion (Keeper) – Valencia
Pac Choi – Little Shanghai
Pac Choi – Mei Quing
Pac Choi – Tatsoi
Pac Choi – Win Win Choi
Radicchio – Indigo
Spinach – Hammerhead
Spinach – Kolibri
Spinach – Rangitoto
Dill – Bouquet
Cilantro – Calypso
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” This famous quote, often attributed to Martin Luther, symbolizes hope, faith, and the importance of stewardship. It highlights that planting a tree is a proactive, hopeful act for the future, regardless of current circumstances.
If you are wondering what the best fruit trees are to plant in your yard, join Mikl Brawner’s class this coming Saturday, Best Fruit Trees for Colorado REGISTER HERE
Indigenous scientist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer tells us that the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of interconnectedness and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth of berries to meet the needs of its natural community, and this ensures its own survival.
This is the ethic of reciprocity that that lies at the heart of the gift economy, in which wealth and security come from the quality of our relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.
Aquilegia chrysantha
Blossoms are blooming, fruit trees are full of promise, perennial flowers (both natives and non-natives) and vines are emerging from their seasonal slumber. Some new perennial arrivals that are available include:
Natives:
Aquilegia chrysantha, Yellow Columbine
Aquilegia barnebyi, Barneby’s Columbine
Ribes aureum, Golden Currant
You have likely been seeing delightfully spectacular shows of blooms around the Front Range these past couple of weeks. There are currently many gorgeous spring blooming shrubs to choose from at Harlequin’s -your trusted source for native and waterwise shrubs. In stock and ready to plant are:
Amelanchier alnifolia, Saskatoon serviceberry
Amelanchier regent, ‘Regent’ serviceberry
Artemesia ludoviciana, White sagebrush
Our healthy, overwintered and water-wise shrubs are waking up! Choose from hardy Manzanita, Banana Yucca, Creeping Mahonia and Western Sagebrush.
Who doesn’t love houseplants? Here a few that make perfect gifts.
Ceropegia woodii ‘Variegata’ (Variegated String of Hearts). The heart shaped leaves boast greens, creams, and blushy pinks. While this plant may look delicate, it’s hardy, needing bright indirect light, and little water. Let it dry out completely between waterings. This variegated version of the “String of Hearts” vine displays beautifully cascading in a hanging basket. Its petite heart-shaped leaves boast greens, creams, and blush pinks, along with small mauve pipe-shaped flowers. While this wonderful Valentine’s day gift looks delicate, the care is quite easy. It requires bright indirect light and because String of Hearts is a succulent, let it dry out completely between waterings, generally about 2-3 weeks during the growing season and every 4 weeks during the dormant season. Make sure the pot has plenty of drainage so the roots don’t rot.
Stromanthe ‘Triostar’ (Triostar Stromanthe). This striking tropical plant’s long leaves are green and cream, with magenta undersides. The leaves change position throughout the day. They prefer to have more consistent water, generally water thoroughly when the top inch or two of soil is dry. An occasional misting benefits this plant as it helps mimics its natural jungle-like habitat.
Ficus ‘Ruby’ (Ruby Rubber Tree). This pink-tinged variety of the standard Rubber Tree adds an interesting splash of color to any space. They typically grow with multiple stems each with multi-colored leathery leaves, with the newest growth showing the most intense red/pink coloring. The Ruby Rubber Tree prefers bright indirect light with moderate moisture. Generally, they prefer a thorough watering when the top 2 inches of soil is dry.
Roses primarily symbolize love, passion, admiration, and beauty, with specific meanings varying by color and culture. At Harlequin’s we take pride in our excellent selection as well as the confidence that you will take home a healthy and robust rose for your garden. We currently have a spectacular selection in a rainbow of colors. Listed by Name, Height, Color, and Fragrance.
AC Navy Lady– 2-3′, Dark red, Light
Autumn Sunblaze– 1-2′, Orange blend, None
Awakening– 10’+, Light Pink, Moderate
Whiskbroom Parsley
In spite of the drought, rambles in local open space parks reveal the early signs of spring. Now showing at a park near you, a conspicuous star is Whiskbroom Parsley (Harbouria trachypleura), a genus with just a single species. Native to Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico, we’ve encountered it from the lower foothills to subalpine locations, on dry, sunny, rocky slopes, but it is even more at home in moist meadows, grasslands and under trees.
Many ‘wild parsley’ species are highly toxic, but this one is edible and was commonly used in culinary and medicinal ways by native Americans. The very fine, bright green dill-like foliage is surprising for a dryland plant, and the umbels (heads) of tiny, bright yellow flowers are an important nectar source for many native pollinators and beneficial insects. This plant is not in commerce, as it spends years developing its deep soil-stabilizing taproot before producing much top-growth, let alone flowering. Enjoy it in the wild!
Hapet Daydream Dahlia
Colorado gardens provide just the right amount of heat and sun that our locally-sourced dahlias need for spectacular summer shows. Our selection of tubers is especially strong this year!
Choose from: Bracken Palomino, Brookside Snowball, Hapet Daydream (pictured above), Kara Sangria, Mondriaan, MM Buttercream, Mikayla Miranda, PG Woodhouse, Robann Creamsicle, Tanita, Orange Symphony.
Descriptions:
Bracken Palamino -Large 6-8″ Orange Sherbet blooms. 5′ tall.
Brookside Snowball – 4″ pure White blooms, 4′ tall.
Hapet Daydream – 3-4″ wide ball form, blend of Pink, Yellow and White.
Kara Sangria – Brilliant combination of Salmon, Pink and vibrant Yellow in a cactus form, 4′ tall.
Snake Plant, Sansevieria spp.
When the world outside turns dormant, houseplants become essential indoor companions Bringing greenery into your home during the winter offers several science-backed benefits:
This week we have a wonderful selection. Here are a few of our favorites:
Another January day in the 50s? The buds are swelling, crocus are blooming. Only one other recorded winter was this warm and dry. Will these extreme conditions be harmful to our trees and shrubs? We don’t need to panic; our care can help.
Trees and shrubs do have energy reserves; they have evolved to be capable of living through difficult conditions. Many shrubs need less water and can regrow from their roots. It is normal for buds to be swelling somewhat in January. Trees and shrubs are making leaf buds all winter so that when the day length and warmth of spring arrive, the leaves can unfurl and start photosynthesizing. And if temperatures drop dramatically or suddenly and kill buds, a healthy tree has “back-up” buds and enough energy to develop a new set of buds. However, multiple successive seasons of stressful conditions can cause serious damage or death. Here’s how we can help trees get through difficult times:
Grocery prices are projected to rise even more this summer. You can save, by planting your own veggies for storage. These delicious, hardy varieties are some of the longest-storing, and can be enjoyed for most of the winter, and even into spring.
Potatoes: While all the potatoes we offer (usually available in March) are delicious and hardy, these are the best ‘keepers’: HARVEST MOON -85-100 days. Round tuber with purple skin and deep yellow flesh. Firm texture after cooking, with a nutty taste. Good for roasting, baking, soups, and chips; NICOLA – 85 – 105 days. Early. Thin skinned, yellow inside and out. Good for winter storage; SANGRE – 80-90 days. Midseason. Beautiful red skinned variety with shallow eyes and medium-sized oblong tubers. Originally released by Colorado State University in 1982, Sangre ranks high in taste tests with creamy white flesh that is especially delicious boiled or baked.
The benefits of gardening on mental and physical well-being are renowned. But here across the Front Range gardening isn’t just laying around in the hammock! (although there is that, too.) For gardening to truly increase your quality of life, a bit of pre-season preparation pays off.
Skin Care: Stock your cabinet with special skin-saving products now. Our continued dedication and commitment to sustainability extends to what you put onto your body. This season, our excellent selection of body care products that are completely non-toxic and chemical-free. We offer our favorite small-batch, local artisan-crafted products including soaps, lotions, specialty herbal salves, facial toner, lip balms, and our exclusive, famous Dr. Brawner’s Aftershave! [Read More]
At Harlequin’s Gardens, we love to celebrate May Day. It is an ancient festival welcoming Spring and celebrating the beauty, fertility, and abundance of the earth.
At our May Day Festivals, we bring you beautiful, authentic music and dance that you’re unlikely to hear elsewhere, all from top-notch, talented local players including the Maroon Bells Morris Dancer, Benjamin J. Allen, Nicolette Andres, and Tea at Six!
[Read More]
Officially, Earth Day is April 22nd and Arbor Day is April 24th, but since the Earth is our Mother, on whom we depend for our Life, we must protect and support her every day. And Trees are our lungs, providing oxygen, our shelter from heat, and primary support for soil biology, so we need to plant them and continue to care for them. Progress may be slow, but humans are evolving to see individual trees and individual people as partners in communities.
[Read More]
Update: Our GoFundMe appeal has brought in important support for Harlequin’s Gardens, and we deeply appreciate your generosity. We are a little over half-way to our goal of $35,000. We are working to make this a successful year in spite of challenges. Harlequin’s Gardens is not just a store; we are a lot like a farm. We grow thousands of plants with challenges of supply, heat, cold, drought and wind, not to mention rising costs. [Read More]
Welcome to a Glorious Early Spring. It’s warm; everything is growing and there are masses of blossoms and fragrance. Please, do enjoy. Our tax dollars are funding wars our Congress did not approve and more than a majority do not want. This is not representative government. What can we do? We have to celebrate The Good, even while enduring the unbearable. We can grow healthy food and both eat it and share it.
Thank you for the donations coming in to our GoFundMe appeal; it is so important now, and we are so grateful. You are confirming that the values we represent and work for every day are important to you. You recognize what the community would be missing without Harlequin’s Gardens. Of course we already know this. We would not be here without your support. We started promoting and selling native and water-wise plants 35 years ago.
How are we supposed to live our normal lives, going to the grocery store, preparing our garden, when our own government is causing so much death and suffering? It is obvious that our lives will also suffer as a result. We cannot ignore this and we can do little about it right now. Yet we cannot freeze up; we have to go forward. We can support change and we can radiate love and kindness in our lives. Being in Nature and gardening has always been healing for people in painful circumstances. Caring for our children, our loved-ones, our neighbors, our pets and plants, is life-affirming and good medicine. In spite of everything, Life is good. And when we support Life, we are sharing in genuine goodness, and it feels good.
Now that we’ve arrived in early March, seed-planting time is here! We’ve got a great selection of vegetable, herb, flower, cover crop and native grass seeds, plus the durable tools, seed-starting and potting soils, perlite, and all the other seed-starting supplies you need. And we have the mild temperatures that make gardening easy; now we just need to add soil fertility amendments and water!
By Eve Reshetnik Brawner
Yikes! The ground at Harlequin’s and at home has, so far, remained frost-free through fall and winter. With the exception of one brief dip into single-digit temperatures, our winter weather has been abnormally warm and dry. We are hoping that an El Nino scenario will replace this pattern soon, but it doesn’t look very likely. If it continues, the current pattern will have implications for many aspects of our lives. Municipalities are considering imposing restrictions on landscape watering. Farmers are worried that water supplies will dry up early in summer. Smaller harvests can create food scarcity and force prices to soar. Wildfires will be a constant threat. Plants that are adapted to dependable moisture will suffer. We can help you garden successfully in these conditions, even with watering restrictions!
Come, on, now – confess! We know you’re thinking about your upcoming garden, probably poring over glossy, color seed and plant catalogs and websites, some of them looking so luscious and tempting that we call them ‘garden porn’. We’ve all indulged in this guilty pleasure. But when it comes to choosing the most appropriate and successful seeds and plants for your garden, the best place to shop is close to home, down a quiet gravel road, next to the Boulder Circus Center.
A seed doesn’t need to be enchanted by a sorcerer to be magic. Every viable (fully developed and not damaged) seed is, to my mind, magical. That a Eucalyptus seed the size of a speck of dust provides the spark of life to create a tree hundreds of feet tall seems like the stuff of fairy tales. Plants have devised an astounding array of ingenious designs for their seeds, how they are housed, and methods for their dispersal in the right place and time and conditions.
Here in the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on Sunday, December 21st. After that, our daylight hours grow longer, lighting the path to Spring. For millennia, humans have noticed and tracked this cycle, and celebrated the return of the light. We can take heart and inspiration from this cosmic phenomenon and light the way in this dark time by growing our connections to the earth, its inhabitants, and its wonders.
You may have heard about bio-regional seed and plant adaptation, and you’ll be hearing a lot more about it in the future! This movement, led across the Front Range by MASA Seed Foundation, supports gardening with seeds and starts that have been grown and carefully selected for multiple years in our Boulder County environment. Plants from these seeds have adapted to our specific, challenging growing conditions, and they thrive vigorously here.
They are demonstrably better able to handle heat and drought, and still perform. They’ll increase your gardening success!
Harlequin’s Gardens now carries an expanded selection of MASA seeds, and we plan, in a few months, to bring you vegetable starts grown by MASA from their bio-regionally-adapted seeds! Our favorites include:
Carrots: Kuroda Orange and Purple Dragon. These germinate quickly and successfully, unlike seeds from wetter places. And they’re delicious!
Mikl highly recommends these excellent weeding and planting tools, and staff concurs – these tools outlast all others!
This week we are highlighting Wilcox Tools: Iowa-made, stainless steel trowels and weeders; it won’t bend or rust, made to last a life-time, with a life-time guarantee. They are sharp, so they can cut through hard Colorado soils and dig around rocks. And they are economical.
The 10” trowel is Mikl’s favorite weeder for getting very close to a plant with the least root disturbance; our sharpest digger, won’t bend; great design[Read More]
Stumped for Gift Ideas? We Can Help!For Hosts and Hostesses:
Bring a special (but not expensive) gift with you to holiday parties. Foodie gifts are always appreciated, and we’ve curated a wonderful group of locally crafted specialty foods, some of them Harlequin’s Holiday Market exclusives! View the temptations here.
I recently attended a public conversation on the subject of ‘Avant Gardening’ at the Longmont Museum. Host Emily Maeda, co-owner of Tree of Life Landscaping, conversed with accomplished front range horticulturists and landscape designers Bryan Fischer and Kevin Phillip Williams about what constitutes the current avant-garde in gardening. I didn’t really feel that their discussion was conclusive, but the question has been in my thoughts. I now realize that in my mind, the definitive answer is habitat gardening.
We are grateful to have one day to acknowledge the value of the Earth. Wendell Berry said, “Earth is what we all have in common.” Pope Francis said we all have a shared responsibility for protecting the Earth, our common home, and he urged us to care for the environment. It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?
If we poison our water, choke our air with carbon dioxide, kill off the diversity of beings, and in general make our living environment weak and unhealthy, we won’t have a decent home for our children and our children’s children.[Read More]
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye Tomato
These are the plants we’re expecting this weekend. They may not all arrive when we expect them – but there are so many great plants to choose from that we’re sure you’ll be satisfied with the selection in store!
TOMATO
Extreme Bush
Carmello
Gold Medal
Magic Bullet
Orange King
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye
PEPPER
Capriglio Rossa
Gatherer’s Gold
King of the North – Sweet
Marconi Red
Poblano
Beaver Dam
Anaheim
Pueblo/Mosco
NuMex 6-4
Sweet Banana
Surmeli
TOMATILLOS
Grande Rio Verde
Purple Blush
Aster x frikartii ‘Monch’
We now have a Big Influx of native plants, including many Penstemon species!
PERENNIALS, etc.
Achillea mil. ‘Paprika’
Agastache cana
Agastache ‘Firebird’
Agastache foeniculum, Anise Hyssop (native)
Agastache rupestris
Agastache ‘Sinning’
Akebia quinata – Chocolate vine
Alcea rugosa
Alchemilla mollis
Allium cernuum
Allium Millenium
Anemone ‘Cinderella’, ‘Honorine Jobert’, multifida ‘Rubra’, ‘September Charm’
Antennaria dioica ‘Rubra’
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’
Asclepias incarnata ‘Cinderella’
Aster ‘Alert’, ‘Lady in Black’, oblongifolius (native), obl. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’
Aster x frikartii ‘Monch’
Astilbe chinensis ‘Pumila’
Baptisia minor
Begonia grandis v. Evansiana
Berlandiera lyrata – Chocolate Flower(native)
Callirhoe involucrata – Poppy Mallow (native)
Campanula rotundifolia
Centaurea montana, Mountain Cornflower
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, Plumbago
Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’
Corydalis ochroleuca
Creeping Thyme, Red, Wooly, White
Delosperma nubigenum dwarf, ‘Granita Orange’, ‘Gold Nugget’, ‘Granita Raspberry’, ‘Red Mountain’
Delphinium ‘Millenium Dwarf Stars’, ‘Summer Blues’
Dicentra eximia (dwarf), ‘King of Hearts’, ‘Luxuriant’, spectabilis ‘Alba’
Dictamnus a. ‘Purpureus’ – Gas Plant
Digitalis grandiflora, x mertonensis – Foxglove varieties
Draba aizoides
Echinacea pallida, Pale Coneflower, purpurea, angustifolia (native), ‘Cheyenne Spirit’
Engelmannia peristenia (native)
Epimedium v. ‘Sulphureum’
Eriogonum ‘Kannah Creek’
Gaillardia ‘Kobold’
Gallium odoratum, Sweet Woodruff, shade
Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ – sun
Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Geum coccineum ‘Koi’, triflorum
‘Goldie’ Golden Creeping Jenny
Helleborus x ‘Orientalis’
Herniaria glabra – Rupturewort
Heuchera ‘Caramel’, ‘Forever Red’, ‘Melting Fire’, ‘Palace Purple’, ‘Ruby Bells’, ‘Silver Scroll’
Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’, ‘Blue Angel’, ‘Blue Mouse Ears’, ‘Dream Queen’, ‘Earth Angel’, ‘First Frost’, ‘Patriot’, ‘Francee’, ‘Guacamole’, ‘Praying Hands’, ‘Rainforest Sunrise’, ‘Regal Splendor’, ‘Royal Standard’
Iberis ‘Autumn Beauty’
Ipomopsis aggregata
Iris pallida ‘Aurea Variegata’
Jovibarba hirta s. arenaria
Lamium ‘Purple Dragon’ – shade
Liatris aspera, ligulistylis
Linum perenne ‘Lewisii’
Lysimachia nummularia ‘Goldie’
Nepeta ‘Jr. Walker’ – catmint
Oenothera ‘Silver Blade’
Origanum ‘Amethyst Falls’, ‘Herrenhausen’, ‘Kent’s Beauty’ – ornamental oregano
Orostachys iwarenge, spinosus
Othonna capensis
Paeonia ‘Duchess De Nemours’, ‘Flame’, ‘Karl Rosenfield’, ‘Red Charm’, ‘Red Sarah Bernhardt’ – Peony, perennial
Papaver ‘Patty’s Plum’, ‘Allegro’, ‘Royal Wedding’, ‘Beauty of Livermore’, Pizzicato – Oriental poppies
Penstemon pinifolius ‘Steppe Suns’
Phlox div, ‘Louisiana Blue’, ‘Pink’, ‘White’
Phlox paniculata ‘Super Ka-Pow Coral’
Polygonatum m. ‘Variegatum’- shade
Pulmonaria ‘Coral Springs’, ‘E.B. Anderson’ – Lungwort – shade
Thymus – Red Creeping, Wooly
Veronica Waterperry Blue
Rosularia chrysantha, serpentinica
Rudbeckia ‘Blackjack Gold’, fulgida v speciaosa, missouriensis, subtomentosa
Salvia azurea ‘Grandiflora’, greggii ‘Furman’s Red’, pachyphylla
Scabiosa caucasica ‘Fama’
Scutellaria ‘Smoky Hills’
Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’, glanduliferum, spurium ‘John Creech’, ‘Matrona’, spectabile ‘Neon’, spurium ‘Tricolor’, tetractinum, f. ‘Weihen. Gold’
Sempervivum ‘Classic’, arach. ‘Cobweb’, cal. ‘Mrs. Giuseppi’, mixed, ‘Red Heart’, c. mon. ‘Red Tips’, ‘Twilight Blues’
Silphium laciniatum, perfoliatum (native)
Solidago ‘Crown of Rays’, speciosa’Wichita Mtn’ (native) – goldenrod
Thalictrum aquilegifolium, rochebrunianum
Trifolium r. ‘Pentaphyllum’
Verbena canadensis
Vernonia lettermannii
Veronica ‘Crystal River’, oletnsis, ‘Purpleicious’, ‘Snowmass’, ‘Tidal Pool, ‘Illumination’
Vinca minor ‘Bowles Variety’, ‘Ralph Shugert’
Viola corsica – corsican violet
Viola wickroti ‘Ultima Morpho’
Zauschneria – ‘Orange Carpet’
Zizia Aptera
AND EVEN MORE!
Nasturtium
New Plants!
ANNUAL
Calendula: ‘Indian Prince’, ‘Lemon Cream’, ‘Pink Surprise’; Cleome ‘Rose Queen’, ‘Violet Queen’, Coleus ‘Black Dragon’, ‘Rainbow Mix’, ‘Sunset’; ‘Purple Globe’ Amaranth; ‘Dakota Gold’ Helenium (Native); Nasturtium: ‘Alaska Mix’, ‘Black Velvet’, ‘Cherry Rose’, ‘Gleam Mix’, ‘Jewel Mix’, ‘King Theo’, ‘Ladybird’, ‘Moonlight’, ‘Peach Melba’, ‘Salmon Baby’, ‘Tom Thumb’; Nicotiana alata ’Crimson’, ‘Lime’; Nigella ‘Miss Jekyll’ Love in a Mist; Desert Bluebells, Phacelia (Native); ’ Sweet Alyssum ‘Carpet of Snow’; Tanacetum ‘Tetra Wonder’ Double-flowered Feverfew
BIENNIAL
Asphodeline damascena, Ithuriel’s Spear; Digitalis purpureus ’Apricot Beauty’ Foxglove; Eryngium creticum; Erysimum capitatum, Western Wallflower (Native); Thelesperma filifolium, Greenthread, Navajo Tea (Native); Townsendia eximia, Rocky Mt. Townsend Daisy (Native)
PERENNIAL
Achillea ‘Golden Fleece’; Alcea rosea ‘Jet Black’ Hollyhock; Dianthus nardiformis; Draba rigida, Whitlow Grass; Erigeron compositus ‘Lavender’ (Native); ’Pink’ (Native), Erigeron lineaeris, Yellow Fleabane (Native); Erigeron pumilum, Alpine Fleabane (Native); Erigonum jamesii v jamesii (Native); Geum ‘Mrs. Bradshaw’; Hedysarum boreale, Northern Sweetvetch (Native); Heliomeris multiflora, Showy Goldeneye (Native); Leucanthemum x supubum ‘Becky’, ‘Snowcap’, Compact Shasta Daisy; Lupinus perennis; Lupinus polyphyllus ‘Chatelaine’ (pink/white); ‘My Castle’ (red/white), ‘The Governor’ (Blue/white), Monarda didyma ‘Balmy Purple’, ‘Jacob Cline’ Tall Scarlet Bee balm; Oenothera berlandieri ‘Siskyou Pink’; Oenothera caespitosa, Tufted Evening Primrose (Native); Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’, ‘Laura’, ‘Nicky’, ‘Red Riding Hood’, ‘Starfire’; Physaria bellii, Bell’s Twinpod (Native); Physostygia ‘Summer Snow, White Obedient Plant; Polemonium viscosum ‘Blue Whirl’; Sagina sublata, Iris Moss; Salvia ‘Blue Hill’; Salvia ‘East Friesland’; Salvia hypargeia; Salvia nemorosa ‘Cardonna’, ‘Rose Marvel’, Scabiosa ‘Flutter Blue’, ‘Flutter White’, ‘Pink Mist’; Solidago ptarmicoides (Native); Sphaeromeria capitata, Rock Tansy (Native); Stachys lanata ‘Helene von Stein’; Symphyotrichum laeve, Smooth Aster BoCo (Native); Thums praecox ‘Coccineus’, Red Creeping Thyme; Thymus pseudolanuginosus, Wooly Thyme; Veronica tauricola, Turkish Rock Speedwell; Verinica ‘Waterperry Blue
Lately, I’ve been taking most of my walks in my Longmont neighborhood. It’s rather charming, with impressive mature trees and mostly older homes, some (like ours) a hundred-year-old or older. Nearly all the houses are what my cousin Charlie, when he visited us from the East Coast, called ‘right-sized’ – neither big nor tiny. A few historic homes that belonged to bankers and wealthy merchants are the exceptions. And with these mostly modest homes, there are a surprising number of quite nice gardens.
But in the past two months, I’ve been searching the neighborhood in vain for displays of spring-blooming bulbs in front yards. A little clump of daffodils here, two or three hyacinths there, and an almost complete absence of crocus, snowdrops, glory-of-the-snow, Siberian squill; no ‘botanical’ iris, no species tulips (except at our friend Leslie’s place). What gives?
[Read More]
Penstemon ‘Silverton’
New Plants!
PERENNIALS
| Achillea | mill. ‘Paprika | ||
| Agastache | aurantiaca ‘Coronado’ *Plant Select | ||
| Allium | ‘Millennium’ | ||
| Aquilegia | barnebeyi | ||
| Aquilegia | chrysantha | ||
| Aquilegia | coerulea | ||
| Aster | alpinus ‘Goliath’ | ||
| Aubrieta | deltoidea ‘Purple Gem’ | ||
| Aurinia | saxatilis ‘Gold Ball’ | ||
| Callirhoe | involucrata | ||
| Campanula | cochleariifolia | ||
| Campanula | poscharskyana | ||
| Centranthus | ruber | ||
| Cerastium | tomentosum | ||
| Coreopsis | verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ | ||
| Delosperma | ‘Firespinner’ *Plant Select | ||
| Delosperma | ‘Mesa Verde’ *Plant Select | ||
| Delosperma | nubigenum | ||
| Delosperma | ‘Red Mt. Flame’ *Plant Select | ||
| Delosperma | ‘Table Mountain’ *Plant Select | ||
| Dianthus | grat. ‘Firewitch’ | ||
| Epilobium | canum garrettii ‘Orange Carpet’
*Plant Select |
||
| Erigeron | formosissimum ‘Rambler’ *Plant Select | ||
| Eriogonum | umbellatum | ||
| Eriogonum | umbellatum v aureum ‘Kannah Creek’ *Plant Select | ||
| Erodium | chrysanthum *Plant Select | ||
| Fragaria | vesca americana – Wild Strawberry | ||
| Gaillardia | aristata | ||
| Galium | odoratum, Sweet Woodruff | ||
| Gaura | lindheimeri ‘Summer Breeze’ | ||
| Geranium | macrorrhizum ‘Bevan’s Variety’ | ||
| Geranium | viscosissimum | ||
| Geum | triflorum | ||
| Gypsophila | repens ‘Rosea’ | ||
| Helianthemum | ‘Wisley Pink’ | ||
| Heuchera | sanguinea ‘Splendens’ | ||
| Heuchera | micrantha ‘Palace Purple’ | ||
| Iberis | sempervirens | ||
| Liatris | ligulistylus | ||
| Liatris | punctata | ||
| Lupinus | polyphyllus ‘The Governor’ | ||
| Mirabilis | multiflora | ||
| Monarda | fistulosa v menthifolia | ||
| Monarda | ‘Gardenview Scarlet’ | ||
| Nepeta | x faassenii | ||
| Nepeta | x faassenii ‘Six Hills Giant’ | ||
| Nepeta | x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ | ||
| Oenothera | fremontii ‘Shimmer’ *Plant Select | ||
| Oenothera | macrocarpa | ||
| Origanum | levigatum ‘Herrenhausen’ | ||
| Paxistima | canbyi, Mountain Lover | ||
| Penstemon | linifolia coloradoensis ‘Silverton’
*Plant Select |
||
| Penstemon | mensarum | ||
| Penstemon | rostriflorus | ||
| Penstemon | xylus, Tushar Penstemon | ||
| Potentilla | neumanniana ‘Nana’ | ||
| Prunella | laciniata | ||
| Pulsatilla | vulgaris | ||
| Pulsatilla | vulgaris ‘Red Clock’ | ||
| Rudbeckia | fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ | ||
| Salvia | azurea grandiflora, Pitcher Sage | ||
| Salvia | daghestanica, Platinum Sage
*Plant Select |
||
| Salvia | x lemmonii ‘Windwalker Desert Rose’
*Plant Select |
||
| Salvia | reptans ‘Autumn Sapphire’
*Plant Select |
||
| Salvia | ‘Windwalker Royal Red’ | ||
| Santolina | chamaecyparrissus, Lavender Cotton | ||
| Saponaria | ocymoides, Rock Soapwort | ||
| Scrophularia | macarantha, Red Birds in a Tree | ||
| Sedum | acre, Evergreen Stonecrop ‘Goldmoss’ | ||
| Sedum | hybridum, Oakleaf Stonecrop | ||
| Sedum | rupestre ‘Angelina’ | ||
| Sedum | spurium ‘Red Carpet’ | ||
| Sedum | spurium ‘Voodoo’ | ||
| Sisyrichium | montanum, Mountain Blue-Eyed Grass | ||
| Solidago | canadensis ‘Golden Baby’ | ||
| Solidago | rugosa ‘Fireworks’ | ||
| Sphaeralcea | coccinea, Cowboy’s Delight | ||
| Sphaeralcea | munroana, Orange Globe Mallow | ||
| Staychs | lavandulifolia, Pink Cotton Lamb’s Ear | ||
| Teucrium | chamaedrys, Wall Germander | ||
| Thermopsis | divaricarpa, Golden Banner | ||
| Thermopsis | lupinoides ‘Golden Candles’ | ||
| Thymus | praecox ‘Albiflorus’, White Creeping Thyme | ||
| Thymus | praecox ‘Coccineus’, Red Creeping Thyme | ||
| Thymus | praecox ‘Minus’, Dwarf Creeping Thyme | ||
| Thymus | praecox pseudolanuginosus, Wooly Thyme | ||
| Tradescantia | occidentalis, Western Spiderwort | ||
| Veronica | x ‘Crystal River’ *Plant Select | ||
| Veronica | liwanensis, Turkish Speedwell | ||
| Veronica | pectinata, Wooly Speedwell | ||
| Veronica | prostrata, Prostrate Speedwell | ||
| Veronica | x ‘Snowmass’ Speedwell *Plant Select | ||
| Veronica | specata incana, Silver Speedwell | ||
| Veronica | ‘Sunny Border Blue’ | ||
| Vinca | major, Big-leaf Periwinkle | ||
| Vinca | minor ‘Bowles Variety’ | ||
| Viola | corsica, Corsican Viola | ||
| Waldesteinia | ternata, Barren Strawberry | ||
Pansy Ullswater
New Plants!
PANSY, VIOLA
Pansy – ‘Alpenglow’, ‘Beaconsfield’, ‘Claret’, ‘Silver Bride’, ‘Ullswater’ (pictured)
Viola – ‘Bambini’, Johnny Jump-Up, ‘White Perfection’
PERENNIALS
Achillea – ‘Little Moonshine’, ‘Paprika’
Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’
Ajuga – reptans ‘Black Scallop’, ‘Bronze Beauty’, ‘Burgundy Glow’, ‘Catlin’s Giant’; A. tenorii ‘Chocolate Chip’
Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’
Delosperma (Iceplant) – ‘Firespinner’, ‘Garnet Jewel of the Desert’, Yellow Hardy Iceplant, ‘Ruby Jewel of the Desert’
Ibiris ‘Purity’
Lamium ‘Orchid Frost’
Oenothera ‘Siskyou Pink’
Phlox – ‘Crimson’s Beauty’, ‘Drummond’s Pink’, ‘Purple Beauty’, ‘White’, ‘Rose Marvel’
Sedum – ‘Angelina’, ‘Dragon’s Blood’
Stachys ‘Helen von Stein’
Thyme – ‘Pink Chintz’, Red Creeping Thyme, Elfin, Wooly Thyme, albiflorus
HERBS
Lavender – ‘Hidcote’, ‘Munstead’, vera, ‘Grosso’
Mint – Peppermint, Spearmint, ‘Kentucky Colonel’
Oregano – Greek Oregano
Sage – Green and Purple Culinary sage
Thyme – Lemon thyme, German Winter thyme
FRUIT
Strawberry – Fragaria vesca ‘Alexandria’, ‘Yellow Wonder’
Townsendia hookeri, pictured above, is already supporting butterflies! Also known as the Easter Daisy, it blooms for a long time – often through May. This Rocky Mountain native is drought-tolerant, is found in gravelly areas and grasslands, can withstand freezing conditions and snow, and thrives in crevice gardens. This particular one bloomed this weekend in Eve’s garden in Longmont!
That’s a Milbert’s Tortoiseshell butterfly – the larvae can be found on stinging nettle. Milbert’s Tortoiseshell’s habitat includes most of North America, extending all the way into Canada and Alaska (south of the tundra). We’re delighted to see these harbingers of spring. We usually carry stinging nettle and Townsendia hookeri later in the season, if you’re of a mind to create this habitat in your garden. For a list of natives we often carry, Read More….
This Thursday, at 3:01AM RMT, is the Spring Equinox. When you wake up Friday, Spring will be here. For gardeners, this moment when night and day, light and darkness, are exactly in balance marks the beginning of our season of hope, and lengthening days. It’s when we spend our time looking closely for the signs of new growth, and beauty. We find it in the hellebores flowering among last season’s leaves (pictured above), the crocus and early species iris, the earliest daffodils, and fragrant hyacinths.[Read More]
Ribes aureum, Currant
We have shrubs and Perennials you can plant NOW!
If your soil is thawed and you can dig a planting hole, now is a great time to plant our hardy, over-wintered shrubs and perennials!
These shrubs have been over-wintered outdoors, not inside greenhouses or shipped from the west coast. So they don’t have leaves yet (unless they are evergreen), which is a really good thing; it means that they will settle into your garden and leaf out when the time is right, preventing freeze-damage to prematurely forced foliage. They have also been grown in our own excellent potting soils, which contain mycorrhizae, organic matter, and nutrients, which will help them adapt quickly to your garden soil. In addition, we have lots of perennials that were over-wintered in an unheated structure. These, too, are ready for planting if you are! Here are profiles of a handful of the shrubs ready now![Read More]
For me, there are no more satisfying late-winter activities than sowing seeds and nurturing seedlings. Preparing, choosing, watching, and waiting offer a quiet form of excitement that grows gradually to a joyous crescendo when robust home-grown seedlings are ready for transplanting into the garden or larger pots. I hope many of you will get to experience this pleasure. Our seed selection this year is excellent, and now is the time to begin your indoor seed-sowing. [Read More]
