• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Harlequins Gardens

Harlequins Gardens

Boulder's specialist in well-adapted plants

We Are Open Tuesday – Sunday, 9 – 5 for the season

Gift Memberships & Gift Certificates  – available online!
See our seasonal hours and address, below.

Read our latest e-newsletter!

  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Staff
    • Display Gardens
    • Why the Name “Harlequin’s” Gardens?
    • Sustainability
    • Policy on Pesticides Including Neonicotinoids
    • Careers
  • What We Offer
    • Products
    • Plants
    • Retail Plant Pre-Ordering is Closed for the 2025 Season!
    • Gift Certificates
    • Membership
  • Plants
    • Annuals
    • Bulbs
    • Fruits
    • Groundcovers
    • Herbs
    • Natives
    • Ornamental Grasses
    • Perennials
      • Plants for Pollinators List
    • Roses
    • Vegetables
      • Tomato Starts
      • Pepper Starts
      • Other Vegetable Starts
      • Fall Vegetable Starts
      • Garlic
    • Xeriscape
  • Resources
    • Mikl’s Articles
    • Plant and Cultivation Information
    • Newsletters
    • Links
  • Garden Tours
  • Events
  • Classes
  • Blog
  • Wholesale
    • Who Qualifies
    • Wholesale Terms and Conditions
    • Wholesale Pricing & Sizes
    • Wholesale Log In
  • Contact
Home | OLD-Blog

OLD-Blog

Avant Gardening

April 29, 2025

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.

[Read More]

Cheerful Earth Day!

April 22, 2025

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]

We’re Expecting These New Plants!

May 12, 2025

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!

This Weekend’s New Plants!

April 22, 2025

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plant More Bulbs!

April 1, 2025

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]

New Plants – This Weekend!

April 1, 2025

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

 

 

 

 

 

New In Store – This Weekend!

March 16, 2025

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’

 

 

 

The Blooming Begins!

March 28, 2025

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….

Spring – The Garden Awakens!

March 19, 2025

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]

You Can Plant These in March

March 11, 2025

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]

Getting Ready! by Eve Reshetnik Brawner

March 4, 2025

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]

Get a Jump on Spring!

February 25, 2025

Welcome to Harlequin’s Gardens’ 33rd year! We care about your gardening success, your health, and our planet. We have spent the winter planning, planting, ordering, cleaning, repairing and getting ready to host you, and we have seeds, seed-starting supplies, gardening tools, books, soils and soil-nourishing amendments, and a great line-up of empowering classes!

And with the arrival of warm weather, our plants are coming; in fact, our hardy over-wintered plants can be planted in March! ALL of our plants are free from bee and insect-killing neonicotinoid pesticides! Our vegetable and herb starts are grown organically and all Harlequin-grown plants are Pesticide -Free.

NEW THIS YEAR:  We have been working hard to upgrade your experience at Harlequin’s Gardens Nursery and Harlequin’s Wholesale.

[Read More]

Evergreen, Eversilver & Beyond! By Eve Reshetnik Brawner

February 18, 2025

Harlequin’s Silver Germander

If you’re a transplanted gardener from a different region of the country or the world, you may not yet be aware of the amazing plant palette at our disposal for providing lively winter presence in the garden. With our treasury of native flora and plants from analogous temperate-region steppe, desert, and montane parts of the world, we can easily bring wonderful color, texture and form to our winter gardens. These ‘broadleafed’ evergreen, ever-silver, ever-blue, white, and even orange, red, yellow or purple plants tend to serve as mats or spreading ground-covers, or as ‘sub-shrubs’ – mounding plants with  woody structure.

If you’re looking for beautiful, hardy, water-wise plants to carry your ornamental garden through all four seasons, here’s a taste of the possibilities from Harlequin’s Gardens:

EverGREEN:
Bear-Claw Hellebore –  Helleborus foetida
Creeping Mahonia
Creeping Thyme (many varieties)
Daphne varieties
Delosperma selections
Dwarf Broom (Genista lydia)
Ephedra minuta (minima)
Evergreen Candytuft
Geranium x cantabrigiense selections
Hardy Manzanita (Arctostaphylos) – ‘Chieftain’, ‘Panchito’ ‘Mock Bearberry’ and uva-ursi(Kinnikinnick) Hen & Chicks – green varieties

Agave

Jasmine Dianthus (Dianthus petraeus ssp noeanus)
‘Marion Sampson’ Hummingbird Coyote Mint
Narbonne Flax
Paxistima canbyi
Penstemon – Pine-leaf, Bridge’s, Tushar Mountain, Palmer’s, Desert, Blue Mist, many others!
Prickly Thrift (Acantholimon sp.)
Sunrose (Helianthemum varieties)
Sulphur Buckwheat species
Teucriums: Round-leaf Germander, Wall Germander
Veronica – Wooly, Thyme-leaf, Prostrate, Turkish, Crystal Rivers, Snowmass, Tidal Pool

 

Frost on the Lambs Ears

EverSILVER or GREY:
Bell’s Twinpod
English lavender varieties
Filigree Daisy
Fringed Sage
Grey Santolina
Harlequin’s Silver Germander
Hen & Chicks- cob-web varieties
Lamb’s Ears
Mojave Sage
Prairie Sage

Pussytoes
Sand Sage
Seafoam Sage
Silver-edge Horehound
Partridge Feather
Prickly Thrift (Acantholimon sp.)
Wisley Pink Sunrose

EverWHITE:
Hen & Chicks – cob-web varieties
Teucrium gnaphalodes
Eriogonum ovalifolium

 

Eriogonum ‘Kannah Creek’ in Winter

EverBLUE:
Stonecress – Aethionema grandiflora, A. schistosum
Rue (Ruta graveolens)
Blue Avena grass
Blue Fescue grass

Evergreen with Winter-RED, PURPLE, or ORANGE color:
Hen& Chicks – red, purple, pink varieties (color deepens in winter)
Creeping Sedum varieties – Dragonsblood, Red Carpet, VooDoo, , album,
Yellow Hardy Iceplant (red), Table Mountain Hardy Iceplant (purple)
‘Kannah Creek’ Sulfur Buckwheat (deep red)
Opuntia basilaris (purple)
Sedum ‘Angelina’ (orange)

 

Tending a Changing World

January 21, 2025

As gardeners, and in community, we can make a real difference to protect and support the planet. We are living in very challenging times. Uncontrolled assaults on our planet’s resources and inhabitants, climate crisis, a political culture of runaway collusion and corruption, our personal safety and our personal freedoms under threat, perpetual wars, etc., etc. And what’s propelling it all is the power of Big Money. And Big, Corporate Money has been behind virtually all of our social, economic and environmental ills. For a very long time, corporations and their allies in power have spent vast fortunes to manipulate us in ways that separate us from each other, make us fear each other, pit us against each other. This is all for the purpose of distracting us from the power we could exert if we came together in community.

[Read More]

Fire-Wise Gardening, for Safety and Renewal

January 14, 2025

Fire is on our minds. How to prevent it. How to curtail or control it. How to live with it. How to use it constructively. We remember the early winter Marshall Fire at the end of 2021 with feelings of grief and
anxiety, and watch in horror as fires ravage Los Angeles and beyond. Folks living in the relatively wild foothills and mountains have always been aware of their vulnerability to wildfire.

But now city-dwellers and people in close-in suburbs are awakened to the threat facing them (us). We are offering guidance through education, and have scheduled a Fire-Wise Landscaping class with professional landscaper Bill Melvin in April. Watch for details as our 2025 class schedule, including winter classes, develops.[Read More]

New Year’s Greetings, and Welcome to our 33rd Season!

January 7, 2025

Time flies, don’t you think? Do you remember when people throughout the “developed world” anxiously awaited the arrival of the new millennium, worried by predictions that Y2K would bring a collapse of technical systems – the internet, banking, stock trading, communications – and throw everything else into chaos? And there was nothing we could do about it? It didn’t take long to see that the world as we knew it did not fall apart. Twenty-five years later, perhaps you’ve been nervously awaiting the advent of 2025 and are scared of what the new year, on many fronts, could bring. Completely understandable!

But in difficult times, fear is not the best guide. We have to believe in ourselves and our communities, and always bring our best efforts forth to build a habitable, sane, safe, peaceful, just, generous, healthy world. [Read More]

Love Your Mother, By Eve Reshetnik Brawner

February 4, 2025

Fragrant Chinese Witch Hazel, blooming now at DBG, courtesy Mike Kintgen

It’s February already! It’s when we celebrate Black History month, and Saint Valentine’s Day. We would like to concentrate on the LOVE angle today. No doubt about it, there’s plenty to be upset about, and we encourage you to take every opportunity you can to protest and to work to right the wrongs you see. Our actions can stem from love and have the healing power of love. We can find joy in every act of love we offer or receive. We all need that to keep us connected to one another and to our Mother Earth.

Planting seeds is an act of love, and of forward vision. Our 2025 Botanical Interests seeds are in stock, along with seeding pots, trays and soils.  And our MASA, Seed Saver’s Exchange and BBB seed orders are on their way. And for Valentine’s Day, we also have in stock a great array of traditional and novel gift items,

[Read More]

Fall Pruning for Health and Beauty

November 12, 2024

Pruning is the art and science of removing or shortening branches of a tree or shrub. If done correctly, it can prevent breakage, increase beauty and increase flowering and fruiting. To learn how to make a healthy cut, study the Shigo method of pruning, or come to one of Mikl’s pruning classes.

What follows is some general guidance:

  • Prune shrubs that flower in late summer and fall  

[Read More]

Save those Pumpkin Seeds!

November 26, 2024

If you’re baking a delicious pumpkin pie, or making a warming squash soup, don’t throw away the seeds.

Our friends at Seed Savers have put together everything you’ll need to know on growing, and saving squash and pumpkin seeds for next year’s garden! You’ll want to identify the species first.

[Read More]

Fall is the Time to Catch Yourself

November 12, 2024

by Dan Brawner

Mikl’s brother, Dan, has been writing a weekly, mostly humorous, column for a small-town Iowa newspaper for 33 years. Here’s his latest.

Just because it says so doesn’t mean you have to do it. Fall, I mean. We probably wouldn’t even think about seasonal expectation except now we’re in one of the imperative seasons whose name sounds like a command; the other one being spring.

Spring is a joyful season – and I don’t mean merely happy. To call spring “happy” is to miss the entire point of the thing. Like calling a Ferrari “good transportation”. Or a hot-air balloon ride over the Grand Canyon “sightseeing”. Spring is spring because following a long, cold winter after we’ve been Houdinied up in wool coats and throat-choking serpentine scarves with the frigid air hurting our faces and the ice-covered roads telling us we’d better stay home if we know what’s good for us, we can get wound pretty tight by around the first of March. When that first actually warm day comes to us with the sun like butterscotch, we are ready to spring, and nothing can stop us!

But fall is the season of stumbling. [Read More]

Gifts for, and from, Gardeners!

December 3, 2024

Are you beginning to think about giving gifts of appreciation and love to your friends and family?

We know that these gifts don’t have to take physical form; what we do for our loved ones and how we express and demonstrate our love all year long – this is what really counts.

 HOWEVER…. it can be a lot of fun to search out just the right gifts to delight and support your favorite people! And since we know that our customers care about the natural world, sustainability, health, creativity, quality and beauty, we have worked hard to assemble a remarkable and diverse array of fantastic gift items, mostly made by highly skilled local Colorado artisans and producers, that are in line with your values and ours.

If you are attending holiday parties, you could bring the hosts a gift of some of our exclusive locally handcrafted specialty foods.[Read More]

Planting Seeds of Abundance and Generosity

December 10, 2024

Here we are in the season of giving generously. Not all of us can afford to give lavishly, but even the humble gift of seeds can create enormous abundance. We’re talking about both literal and figurative seeds here.

On the literal plane, a $2.69 packet of our Botanical Interests certified organic Red Russian Kale seeds (~190 seeds) can yield an abundant and highly nutritious crop of either ‘cut & come again’ baby greens or mature leaves over an exceptionally long season. Friends of ours in Boulder are still harvesting this easy-to-grow, delicious vegetable, rich in minerals and antioxidants. How’s that for a stocking-stuffer with abundant potential?

[Read More]

Season of Gratitude

November 26, 2024

The more challenging life becomes, the more I remind myself of what’s good and beautiful and wondrous and nourishing in life, what I can be deeply grateful for and what I will stick my neck out to protect. The list is long!

Harlequin’s Gardens is a business that has, over 32 years, grown beyond Mikl’s and my dreams, assisted by our fabulous staff and our wonderful customers and allies, guided by our love of people, plants, gardens, gardeners, wild things and the connections between them, sharing good information, good products and good news. There is so much beauty and richness in all of this interconnectedness and possibility and we will always thank our lucky stars that we have had the opportunity to spread it around. And we couldn’t have done it without YOU!  From all of us: Our deepest gratitude! May all of you enjoy a meaningful, joyful and delicious Thanksgiving celebration!

Eve’s Embarrassment of Riches Sale is Delayed!

November 5, 2024

Eve’s “Embarrassment of Riches” Garage Sale Is Delayed

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the sale, originally scheduled for this weekend,  will be rescheduled! 

Eve’s Embarrassment of Riches Sale!

October 29, 2024

At Harlequin’s Gardens Nursery

4795 N.26th St., Boulder

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

NOVEMBER 9th & 10th, 10 am to 5 pm

It’s that time – time of year and time of life – when having too much stuff, even beautiful stuff and quality stuff and useful stuff, is making me feel claustrophobic. My mother taught me to be an astute shopper, and I’ve spent my life as a treasure hunter, seeking beauty, quality, authenticity and value, in every realm, from experiences to plants to art to earrings.
[Read More]

Winter Solstice Greetings

December 17, 2024

WINTER SOLSTICE GREETINGS!

Winter Solstice, the day when we in the Northern hemisphere experience the shortest day and longest night of the year, falls on Saturday, December 21st. After that, the tilt of the earth will reverse direction, lighting the path to Spring north of the Equator. And because Spring is coming, once again, I’ve got seeds, my favorite subject!, on my mind, on my desk (dining table), in bags and boxes all around the room, and seed order invoices are crowding my inbox.[Read More]

Open (almost) Year-Round!

October 22, 2024

At this time of year, many of you probably share with me the bittersweet feeling of closure drawing near. It’s been another immensely rewarding growing season at Harlequin’s, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to introduce hundreds of new Colorado gardeners to appropriate and successful materials and methods, as well as helping so many longtime, like-minded sustainable gardeners. For 32 years we have been providing pollinator-safe Colorado-appropriate plants, products, information and advice based on our ongoing research and long experience, and we look forward to carrying this service well into the future. Thank you all for your support! But we’ve extended our season and we’re not done yet!

This week we are still open Tuesday through Sunday, 9am to 5pm and we still have beautiful plants (30% off), fantastic spring-blooming bulbs to plant now (20% off), seeds (many 60% off), composts and mulches, fertilizers and pest repellents, houseplants and much more.

We’ll be closed briefly for inventory, from Oct. 31st through Nov. 6th.

We will RE-OPEN November 7th and remain open from 10am to 5pm through December 22nd, every Thursday through Sunday.

 Our 13th Annual Holiday Market opens Thursday Nov. 21st and runs through December 22nd.

 After the winter holidays, we’ll RE-OPEN AGAIN from On January 2nd, 2025 for 3 days a  week (Thursday through Saturday) from 10am to 4pm until we start over on Saturday March 1st!

Don’t be a stranger! Come and see what we have to offer year-round.

 

Books We Love

December 3, 2024

This week’s warm weather aside, December is the time we cozy up indoors to dream about next season’s garden, and to decide what new techniques to try and which plants to grow. Winter is for gardening books, and we have quite a few in stock that we’d like to suggest for you. Whether you have a book club or just a comfortable chair to curl up into, these titles are sure to fire your imagination.

[Read More]

Strategies for a Dry Fall

October 15, 2024

FALL GARDEN CARE

In the ‘Old Normal’, by now, we would expect to have had some light frosts and maybe some killing frost in the Denver-Boulder area. And some rain, and even snow. And lots of leaves would have fallen from the trees and shrubs. Most of us with irrigation systems would have had them blown out and turned off.  But this long extension of summer heat and drought is definitely not the Normal we used to rely on. As gardeners, we have to adapt. Here are some suggestions for fall garden maintenance under these new conditions.

PLANTING
Perennials, Trees & Shrubs: This fall we have a great opportunity to continue planting! We’ve had some of our best successes with transplanting hardy roses, shrubs, trees and perennials in October. There is enough time for new plants to establish before the soil freezes. Do mulch your new plantings (see mulching section below), and water thoroughly and frequently while daytime temperatures remain above 40 degrees and the soil has not yet frozen. We still have a lot of really great plants in great condition, and nearly all of them are on sale! See our Fall Sale details below.[Read More]

Bulbs for Every Garden, by Eve Reshetnik-Brawner

October 1, 2024

Every garden should include some spring-blooming bulbs. And some fall-blooming bulbs as well. “But” you say – “my entire garden is devoted to native plants to support native pollinators and other native critters; and hyacinths, crocus, tulips and daffodils are not even native to the North American continent”.

While growing an all-native garden is a great idea, and supporting our local ecosystems is an important endeavor, there are good reasons for including some non-native plants, especially plants that extend the flowering season at either end. They will attract and support honeybees, bumblebees, mason bees, and other pollinating insects at times of the year when flowers are relatively scarce.

If deer roam in your yard, we offer a lovely assortment of highly deer-resistant (toxic to deer) spring-flowering Narcissus (daffodils) that span from early to late spring, in many sizes and color combos, some of them quite fragrant. [Read More]

Seedy, by Eve Reshetnik-Brawner

September 17, 2024

I have a passion for seeds, for the elegant and endlessly diverse designs of their natural packaging, their fascinating distribution and germination strategies, and for the astonishing emergence of exuberant life from even the most minute speck of a seed. I once grew a Eucalyptus gunnii tree from seed the size of a dust mote. It grew, outdoors (in Eugene, Oregon) for several years, reaching 16’ tall until an unusually heavy snowstorm broke all the branches off. And in its native Tasmania it could have reached 135 feet! In addition to collecting seeds from plants in the wild and in my pollinator garden at home, I collect seeds at this time of year from my vegetable garden to enable Harlequin’s Gardens to offer unique and commercially unavailable varieties of tomatoes (“Anasazi”) and peppers (Lanterna Piccante), wild perennial arugula, and perennial Caucasian Spinach vine.

When planning for garden seed-saving, remember these basic guidelines:[Read More]

What’s Blooming Now In Eve’s Garden

September 10, 2024

Unruly. Out of control. Overgrown. That’s my garden this year. But it’s still beautiful in its own wild way, and it’s hosting more beneficial insects and pollinators than ever. One of the things I love about both the natural landscape and my own garden is the constant evolution, the sequence of growth and bloom and seed formation, the ever-changing scene.

Some elements in nature and in the garden are quite ephemeral; if you look away, you might miss them altogether. But it’s so exciting to be present, to be looking when, for example, the Angel’s Trumpet (Datura meteloides or wrightii) flowers unfurl, and to breath their intoxicating fragrance in the night. Some

Colchicum cilicicum

appear on the scene with no prior notice, like the Colchicum flowers that just appeared this morning, as if by spontaneous generation, bursting through the Plumbago, or in spots that were bare yesterday!

By the way, Waterlily Colchicums, Autumn Crocus and fall-blooming Saffron Crocus bulbs are here, and ready to plant now![Read More]

Recipe – Nourishing Warming Bowl with Garden Veggies

October 29, 2024

With cold on the way, the sun going down before 5pm when we turn back the clock this weekend, and Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time for nourishing food to support our immune system and to support the body against Seasonal Affective Disorder, often triggered by changing seasons and decrease in sunlight. This recipe is a great way to use the last of the fall vegetables that you might have rescued before tonight’s freeze, from our friend and nutritional coach Mitten Lowe.[Read More]

Perfect Fall Recipe from the Apple Gleaners at GrowLocal

October 15, 2024

In the late 1800s Colorado was one of the top apple-growing states in the country.  Many of these ancient apple trees still exist, and together with trees planted this century, are producing more fruit than homeowners alone can harvest.

Enter GrowLocal Colorado, and their ever-growing effort to keep fruit in the food system. Largely volunteer-run, this year they harvested and distributed 11,652 pounds of fruit from across the Front Range!  

We connected with GrowLocal Colorado’s Co-Director Barbara Masoner to see what she likes to make from Colorado-grown apples. She graciously shared her recipe for Pistachio and Apple Cake (below).

Read more about GrowLocal’s 2024 gleaning here.

If you have a fruit tree and would like to get on the list for next year’s gleaning, or would like more information on GrowLocal, click here.

Fruit & Pistachio Holiday Agave Cake

2 Granny Smith apples (chopped fine)
1 T Lemon juice
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 c veg oil
1 c Agave Nectar
3/4 c dried cranberries
3/4 c pistachios (coarsely chopped)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 11-cup Bundt Pan.

Toss apples, lemon juice in one bowl.
In another bowl, combine dry ingredients:  flour, soda, powder, salt & cinnamon.
In mixer, beat eggs with oil and Agave until well blended and smooth.  Slowly beat in dry ingredients. Stire in apples, cranberries & nuts.
Bake 45-50 min, or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to cake plate.
Serve with Agave Cream Cheese Cinnamon Glaze.

Agave Cream Cheese Cinnamon Glaze

1 (8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Agave Nectar

In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla and cinnamon. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Add agave nectar, blending until fully incorporated. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until ready to use, up to 1 week.
Drizzle glaze over top of cake just before serving.

Some Late-Season Surprises

October 8, 2024

Sometimes we are running so fast that we forget to slow down and see what’s ready to come out for sale. This week we are happily surprised to see that we have fresh stock of lots of premium native shrubs that we grew in convenient, affordable 2-gallon pots. We’re making them available at regular price (not discounted for our fall sale) – read more below.

And these perennials ARE on sale – a new infusion of hardy, water-wise, native Penstemons has been brought out, including P. clutei, P. glaber v. alpinus, P. palmeri, P. virgatus, P. grandiflorus, and P. angustifolius. I have planted many Penstemons in October and November in past years, with great success.[Read More]

Fall is for Seeding Meadows!

September 3, 2024

One of the beautiful alternatives to a standard, water-thirsty, solid green, mowed Kentucky Bluegrass lawn is a naturalistic meadow composed of low-water clumping grasses and wildflowers.

This approach offers plant diversity, an ever-changing, dynamic sequence of colors and textures throughout the seasons, and provides sustenance and habitat for beneficial insects, pollinators, birds and other small critters. If this sounds good to you, now is the time to plan and prepare, and buy grass seed mixes on sale for 15% off! We also have lots of wildflower seeds to add to the grasses – mixes for specific pollinators and situations, as well as individual species.[Read More]

Time to Dig the Dahlias!

October 29, 2024

We cut, dig and store our dahlia tubers just after the first frost – so we know what we’ll be doing this weekend!  Our friends at Arrowhead Dahlias have easy instructions.

Dahlia tubers will not survive if they freeze, so they must be dug in cold climates like ours.

You can divide in spring or fall – it takes practice and patience, but it is well worth the trouble.[Read More]

11 Steps to Designing a Garden Bed

August 20, 2024

Designing a garden or planting bed can be a daunting project without the knowledge of where to start. These steps can help you develop a successful planting design for your garden the first time around. And if you’ve taken these steps, we can give you optimal assistance when you come to Harlequin’s for your plants, soils and products. Please note that larger spaces, new builds or landscapes that need full renovations will need more preliminary work to determine placement of areas for people moving through the yard, retaining or screening views, hardscape design (patios & walkways) and other important planning steps.[Read More]

Special Selection of Native Shrubs – Available Now!

October 8, 2024

Native Currant

Normally, we would hold onto these beautiful, hard-to-find native shrubs through the winter, and offer them for sale in spring. But we looked around at our Native Shrubs sales area, and the few plants still there looked a little lonesome. So we decided to bring out our fresh, new crop of native shrubs to join them! Most are in easy-to-plant “2-gallon” pots.  Not discounted.

Curlleaf Mt. Mahogany
Fernbush
Apache Plume
Lewis Mockorange
Gwen’s Buffalo Currant

[Read More]

Good Golly, Great Bulbs of Garlic! (and Shallots)

October 1, 2024

We’ve got both Hard-neck and Soft-neck varieties! Get your garlic ‘seed’ bulbs NOW for planting from mid-October to mid-November!

SOFT-NECK Varieties:
If you’d like to be eating your own home-grown organic garlic for 9 months (or more!) after harvesting, you should be growing some of our excellent Soft-Neck varieties.
All of them are very flavorful without being excessively hot, they are cold-hardy and easy to grow here, and produce large, easy-to-peel outer cloves. [Read More]

What to Plant Now for Fall Garden Color!

August 20, 2024

The end of summer doesn’t mean the end to color in the garden, on the contrary, you can plan and plant now for a vibrant wave of color, and habitat for our insects and birds, that continues all the way to frost!  From native and water-wise perennials, to trees (including fruit trees), shrubs and grasses, the selection is nearly endless.

Our Fall sale is a great opportunity to extend color and interest well into autumn.

[Read More]

Recommended Landscapers 2024

August 7, 2024

Recommended 2024 Gardeners Landscapers

What to do with all the Cherries? Make a Pie!

July 2, 2024

We’re seeing cherries everywhere we go this summer! There were so many on the trees in the Harlequin’s Wholesale area that our Retail Manager Beth just had to make a pie for our co-workers.

We love the pie she made, and we’re sharing the recipe with you.

[Read More]

Watering in July

July 2, 2024

We generally agree that the term “Xeriscape” (water–conserving landscape) applies to plantings watered deeply one a week. However, in July it’s safer to water twice a week. At Harlequin’s Gardens, some of our shrubs and trees are only watered once a month, and twice in July. One of our gardens of mostly native shrubs and trees is never watered. 

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. 

You can water less frequently if:

1-You have added compost to your soil 

2-You have added expanded shale (10-20% by volume) to your soil 

3-You have inoculated your plant roots (especially at planting time) with beneficial mycorrhizal fungi 4- you have covered your soil with mulch, or if your plants cover and shade the soil. 

Do not:

1-Water lightly every day (except if temperatures exceed 95 degrees); it encourages shallow rooting and evaporates rapidly. 

2-Water deeply more than twice a week, creating saturated soil that excludes air (plants and beneficial soil life need air as much as they need water). 

3-Plant too close together, creating competition for water. It’s better to mulch the gaps between plants while you wait for them to fill in. 

4-Mix plants with high and low water needs in the same planting bed. 

When you plant in July:

1-Prepare the soil well, incorporating 30% compost (a 1-2” layer spread on top and then dug in to a depth of 6“) 

2-Inoculate the roots of the new plants with mycorrhizae, which will vastly improve transplanting success of most species 

3-Treat your new ‘babies‘ as if you’d just brought them home from the hospital, i.e. water them frequently, shield them from hot sun with shade cloth or another source of shade until you see new growth. Then you will know that their roots have reached into the surrounding soil. 

4-Place a ‘flag‘ next to every new plant so you can quickly see which plants need the most attention. 5- If your soil is very dense clay (a 10“-deep hole holds water for 30 minutes or longer, add expanded shale (10-20% by volume) along with compost. 

6-If you’re leaving town, even for just a few days, give your special watering jobs to someone you would trust with your life. 

Fire-Wise Landscaping

June 25, 2024

Fire-wise landscaping should focus on creating a ‘defensible space’ around your home. In “Firewise Plant Materials,” a fact-sheet for the CO Cooperative Extension, F. C. Dennis defines this: “Defensible space is the area between a structure and an oncoming wildfire where nearby vegetation has been modified to reduce a wildfire’s intensity,” and therefore, reduces risk to property.

These modifications could be accomplished by: increasing moisture content, choosing the most fire-resistant plants, spacing plants in smaller, disconnected groups, and proper maintenance and clean-up.

Some specific suggestions:[Read More]

High Spring Walks on the Wild Side

May 28, 2024

Yesterday we managed to sneak away from work and visit a couple of the fabulous Open Space parks in the foothills. We were too late to see the Pasque Flowers in bloom, but we were surrounded by botanical treasures, nonetheless. A picture is worth a thousand words, so this will be mostly a photo essay of most of the species we encountered. However, you might want to know that in spite of being difficult or impossible to find in nursery production, quite a few of these native treasures have been offered or are currently offered at Harlequin’s Gardens this year.

[Read More]

Successful Container Gardening

May 7, 2024

We know that not all of customers live in a house with a yard. Many of you live in apartments or condominiums or townhomes and have only a balcony or a very small patio on which to grow anything outdoors. We would love to help you make the most of your outdoor space, even if it’s tiny.

Many vegetables, ornamental annuals, and most culinary herbs can be planted in almost any kind of container as long as there’s sufficient width and depth to accommodate the roots and enough soil mass to hold sufficient water. That means that you should be sure the pot is big enough to hold the roots and potting soil. There should be enough room for potting soil so that when you water, it can be absorbed into the soil around the roots. Make sure your container has at least one drainage hole, and won’t require watering more than once a day. DO NOT fill the base of the pot with gravel, rocks, Styrofoam, or any material other than soil. This creates a perched water table and will be harmful to plant roots.

Sungold Tomato

Best Vegetables for Containers

The following types and varieties of vegetables that we offer this year can do very well grown in pots. Varieties requiring extra- large or specialty containers are listed with an (L) after the name. Read their descriptions in the PLANTS section of our website.

GREENS: Arugula, Sorrel, Kale, Mizuna, Shiso, Mustards, Lettuce (especially when heavily seeded and treated as cut-and-come-again through spring), Watercress, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Scallions, Endive

POTATOES: In large fabric grow-bags or half-barrels (plant tubers by end of April)

PEAS: Dwarf varieties (plant seeds of this cool-season veggie early in the spring, or in August for fall peapods)

CUCUMBERS: Spacemaster, Bush Champion, and Mexican Gherkin are successful in containers. Provide stakes for the relatively short vines, or allow the Mexican Gherkin to hang down from a container atop a wall.

TOMATOES
:
Dwarf and micro-dwarf varieties: Jochalos, Pinocchio Orange, Tasmanian Chocolate, Vilma.
Cascading varieties: Hundreds and Thousands or Rosy Falls.
Determinate varieties: Black Sea Man, Burrell’s Special, Bush Early Girl, Glacier, Gold Nugget, Healani, Juliet, Lemon Drop, Martino’s Roma, Mountain Delight, Native Sun, Orange King, Red Robin (in shade or indoors), Stupice, Sunrise Sauce, Super Sioux, Taxi, Tidy Treats, Tumbling Tom.

Note: Larger indeterminate varieties can be grown in Earth Box self-watering planters or other large containers if support trellising is provided. Transplant by June 15 to ensure a crop from these long-season vegetables.

PEPPERS: All peppers can be grown in containers, but varieties over 16” tall should have support. Peppers appreciate a bit of shade, especially in the afternoon, to prevent sunscald. Especially well suited to containers are Shishito, Jalapeno, Adaptive Early Thai, Aurora, Mini Bell, Purple Cayenne, Fish, Lanterna Piccante (L), Cambucci (L), Bishop’s Hat (L), Gypsy Queens. Transplant by June 15 to ensure a crop from these long-season vegetables.

EGGPLANTS: Asian varieties like Orient Express, Pingtung Long Purple Comet, and shorter classic varieties like Morden Midget do very well. And all eggplants do well in containers with rich soil and consistent watering. Provide support, specially for heavy-fruited varieties. Eggplants like heat, so dark pots in a sunny location work well. Transplant by June 15 to ensure a crop from these long-season vegetables.

STRAWBERRIES: Most Strawberry varieties can grow well in containers, especially if protected from critters. If the container is large enough, like a wooden half-barrel, they should overwinter successfully. We do not recommend using ‘strawberry pots’ with multiple side ‘pockets’ because they are difficult to keep watered in our climate conditions.

CARROTS: Most carrots are not good candidates for container growing. The exceptions are varieties ‘Little Fingers’ and ‘Tonda di Parigi’ (Round of Paris). These are meant to be harvested small and are fairly quick to mature, leaving room for a late crop, like basil or kale.

VEGETABLES NOT SUITED TO CONTAINER GROWING
The following are less likely to grow well in containers: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Celery, Celery Root, Artichoke, Asparagus, full-sized Carrot, Beet, Turnip, Rutabaga, Parsnip, Squash, Melon, Watermelon, most Cucumber, Onion, Leek, Garlic, Shallot, Bean, Corn.

ANNUALS IN CONTAINERS

Nasturtium, ‘Orchid Flame’

Nearly all annual flowers can be grown in containers. If you want to grow it in a pot, give it a try! If you are planning to mix annuals in a pot, be sure to do a little homework to find out what each variety’s soil, fertilizer, light and water needs are, and group them accordingly. For example: In rich soil, Nasturtiums grow lots of leaves and few flowers, while Petunias bloom well.

You can crowd plants closer together in a container of Annuals, but don’t overdo it. We usually plant them 4” apart. Some annuals can grow exceptionally tall, like Lion’s Mane (Leonotis nepetifolia or L. leonurus) and could be vulnerable to breaking and spoiling the display. If you are using trailing plants, choose a pot that is tall enough to let the trailing plants trail.

Ocean Forest Potting Soil

POTTING SOILS: We recommend Ocean Forest and Coco Loco potting soils for most container plantings. See product descriptions here.   We add Harlequin’s Fertility Mix or Age Old ‘Grow’ or one of Thompson’s Organic Fertilizers to most vegetable and ornamental containers. When transplanting into the container, we use a mycorrhizal inoculant product.

A valuable product to add to you potting soil is Hydrosource. It can save you a lot of time and worry by holding more water and holding it longer, making it available to you plants throughout the day. This can be especially helpful when you are growing multiple plants together in a pot. Don’t use more than the recommended amount (too much of a good thing can be very bad!).

Annual Culinary Herbs such as basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, Mexican Oregano, Chives, and Vietnamese Coriander appreciate rich soil.

Perennial Herbs like Rosemary, Oregano, Sage, Savory and Thyme do better with Yum Yum Mix fertilizer, which offers trace minerals, phosphorus and potassium but not much nitrogen.

Succulents and Cacti are better grown in a mix that is composed of about two-thirds granular material (gravel, scoria, tufa, coarse sand) and the remainder organic material (conventional potting mix of peat moss and perlite. Our Crump’s Cactus Succulent Potting Mix does well. Do not add compost or worm castings.

YEAR-ROUND PLANTINGS IN OUTDOOR POTS

A good rule of thumb: If you are planning to grow perennials, roses, shrubs or trees in them year-round, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens recommend that your plants should be cold-hardy to three USDA zones colder than the zone where you are gardening. This is because the roots are above the ground, exposed to much more cold than if they were planted in the earth. When looking at USDA hardiness zone ratings, the lower the number, the colder the winter temperature the plant can withstand. In the cities of Boulder and Denver, our USDA hardiness zone changed several years ago from Zone 5 to Zone 6 because our low temperatures in winter have been less cold than they used to be. So here in Zone 6, plantings in pots that remain outdoors all year should be rated as hardy to USDA zone 3, 2 or 1. Most outdoor pots or planters offer little or no insulation from cold air temperatures. If it is possible to move the container for winter against a north-facing wall and pack sealed bags of loosely-packed leaves around them, the insulation can add an extra zone or two. Against a north wall, temperatures will fluctuate less and snow, which is a very good insulator, will stay on and around the pots much longer. If there isn’t consistent snow-cover, be sure to water pots a couple of times per month.

Our personal experience: At Harlequin’s, we have successfully grown some shrubs and small trees in very large pots. A small ‘character’ Russian Hawthorn, which is hardy to Zone 2, has lived for about 10 years in a big, thick stoneware pot. We move it every winter and pack shredded leaves all around it. A ‘Walker’ Weeping Peashrub, hardy to Zone 3, lived in a 24” diameter foam pot at the nursery for about 5 years, but died from lack of winter watering. Eve used to successfully grow a few roses in wooden pots, moving them to a sheltered north wall and packing bags of leaves around them until mid-April.

There are other factors to be considered, namely your micro-climate, and the size, material and thickness of your container. If your pot is very large, say at least 24” diameter, and at least 18” deep (unlikely on a balcony!), you can plant in the center and the surrounding mass of soil will give the plant roots extra insulation. As for materials, ceramic, metal, concrete, resin and plastic conduct cold readily. Wood and double-walled plastic or resin pots do not conduct cold so they offer some insulation. Fabric pots are too thin to function as insulators.

TERRACOTTA (unglazed, low-fire clay)
Terracotta pots are the classic flower pot. They look great. They work very well in places like England, southern Europe, the Middle East, Southern California and Mexico. But because the humidity here is usually very low and the wind is so often present, unglazed terracotta clay pots, which are fired at low temperatures and are quite porous, dry out quickly and draw moisture out of the potting soil within. So they are only suitable for desert plants. Even cacti and desert succulents will need more frequent watering if placed outdoors in a terracotta pot. Large terracotta pots are fairly heavy, are easily broken or cracked, and cannot withstand the freezing and thawing of winter weather. They will need to be brought indoors to a frost-free space for the winter.

STONEWARE (high-fired clay, unglazed or glazed)
Stoneware pots can usually be left outdoors year-round if the plantings in them are very hardy. The glazed stoneware pots we carry are considered ‘frost-resistant’. Pots with soil in them should be covered (with an overturned saucer or similar) or brought indoors for winter, and empty pots should be overturned or covered.

 PLASTIC or RESIN
These cast pots have the advantage of being very light-weight, but they can differ widely in their durability. Try to assess the outside finish, whether it will chip or scratch easily. Thin plastic can crack, but Resin seems stronger. Make sure the pot has drain holes or that holes can be drilled in the bottom of the pot. We offer used large black plastic nursery pots (#7 and #10) for sale a t very reasonable prices. These are economical, perform very well, but are not ornamental or stylish. We used to have a source for wonderful, clay-toned double-walled cast resin pots The 3/8” air space between the inner and outer walls provided excellent insulation and the finishes held up for many years. Covid put an end to our supply, and we haven’t been able to find any since. Keep an eye out for them at yard sales!!

FABRIC
We are carrying a very economical fabric pot by Root Pouch. These are practically weightless, the color of the felt-like fabric is a neutral gray. They have two well-attached handles for ease of moving the pot. And under normal use, they will last for three or four years. The dimensions are 12” high and 14” diameter, making them large enough for growing a tomato, pepper or eggplant. At only $7.50 each, they are a great bargain and a very practical choice for growing plants on a balcony.

WOOD
Wooden planters are usually not as heavy as ceramic, have some insulation value and hold moisture in. They will usually fall apart within about 10 years, depending on how well they are made. Half-barrels from whiskey distilleries are heavy-duty (and heavy!) and can last longer. They are some of the best containers for planting shrubs or trees.

CONCRETE & HYPERTUFA
Concrete containers are expensive, extremely heavy and difficult to move. They conduct cold and heat. However, if they are large enough and you get help placing them, they can be very durable and have good potential for long-term plantings.

Echinocereus viridiflorus in trough garden

HyperTufa is made from a concrete mix with peatmoss, and often perlite and fiberglass added. They are thick-walled and insulating, and are durable if made well and are not as heavy as concrete. One of the best things about them is that they look a lot like stone. Hypertufa containers are usually called ‘troughs’ because they imitate ancient stone troughs from Europe. Because they are made with concrete, they offer an environment that is perfect for rockery plants that grow in limestone formations.

How to Plant in the Heat

June 4, 2024

It’s not ideal, but sometimes you have to plant in the middle of a heatwave. Fortunately, it can be done successfully, even here in the high, windy and dry zone. High temperatures, wind and strong sunlight cause water to evaporate from plant leaves faster than the roots can take up water.

The key to survival of new plantings is shade – for the plant and for the soil.  Here are some tips:[Read More]

A Penstemon Primer, by Mike Kintgen

May 14, 2024

Penstemon virgatus

Few genera are as synonymous with Western North America as penstemons or beardtongues. The genus is almost entirely native only to North America with the center of diversity falling west of the 100th meridian. Over 250 species are found in North America with one outlier in
Japan. The outlier is often placed in its own genus. Penstemons are native to every state in the union except Hawaii and almost every Canadian province besides Nunavut.

[Read More]

A Few Sought-After Native Plants

May 21, 2024

Right now, we have our biggest selection of highly desirable plants for the season. Some of them are unusual and available in limited quantities. This includes a number of very choice native perennials that are very hard to find and will sell out fast, like:

Scrophularia macrantha (Red Birds In A Tree) – This rare New Mexico wildflower was first brought into cultivation, and given its delightful common name, by the late, great plantsman David Salman, only a couple of decades ago. Subsequently promoted by the Plant Select program, it won the hearts of native plant gardeners and pollinator gardeners, and is a great favorite of hummingbirds. [Read More]

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 7
  • Go to Next Page »

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Sign-up for E-Newsletters!

Sign-up for our weekly e-newsletters to receive empowering gardening tips, ecological insights, and to keep up on happenings at Harlequin’s Gardens — such as flash sales and “just in” plants. We never share customer’s addresses!

We do not ship plants!

Our plants are for sale ONLY at our Boulder location. We DO NOT ship plants or any other products.  Come visit us!

Hours by Season

SUMMER HOURS
Tuesday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM

 

Footer

Contact Us

303-939-9403 (Retail)
staff@harlequinsgardens.com

4795 North 26th St
Boulder, CO 80301

Sign-up for E-Newsletters!

Sign-up for our weekly e-newsletters to receive empowering gardening tips, ecological insights, and to keep up on happenings at Harlequin’s Gardens — such as flash sales and “just in” plants. We never share customer’s addresses!

Map

Our Hours

Seasonally, MARCH to OCTOBER.
MARCH HOURS:
Thursday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM

APRIL-OCTOBER HOURS:
Tuesday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM

JANUARY - FEBRUARY HOURS
Thursday-Saturday, 10AM-4PM

Mondays, CLOSED

The plants we grow are organically grown. All the plants we sell are free of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides.