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.
Plants
Great Selection of Dwarf Native Conifers
We finally got a chance to bring out our excellent and unique selection of Native Conifers! Most of them are special dwarf forms that can easily fit in a home garden. These accent plants can give structure and winter interest to elevate your garden design in all seasons.
What’s special about our dwarf conifers? First of all, most of them are Colorado and regional (CO, UT, NM) native species. This makes them easy to grow in Colorado gardens.
Second, most are selections made by the late, great plantsman Jerry Morris, who devoted his career to searching out the dwarf forms of conifers in our forests.
Successful Container Gardening
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.
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Sungold-Tomato-West-Coast-Seeds-162x159.jpg)
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
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Nasturtium-cropped-162x159.jpg)
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.
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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.
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Echinocereus-viridiflorus-in-trough-2-162x159.jpg)
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.
A Penstemon Primer, by Mike Kintgen
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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.
A Few Sought-After Native Plants
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]
2024 Roses are In!
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fairmont-Proserpine-Rose-courtesy-High-Country-Roses-194x194.jpg)
Fairmount Proserpine, courtesy High Country Roses
This is the week we begin to bring you the Roses! From healthy over-wintered Harlequin’s roses in gallon pots, to beauties in ‘quart’ pots like the ‘Fairmount’ Proserpine pictured here – we have a selection like no other nursery – with 99% of our roses being own-root and able to take the Colorado weather.
Here’s the ‘big list’ of what we’ll have for you this season – many of them will be available for the May Day Celebration!
Rosa eglanteria (rubiginosa)
Rosa foet. Bicolor (Austrian Copper)
Scarlet meidiland
Sunbeam Veranda
The Gift
Victorian Memory
Westerland
White Dawn, Climbing
White Meidiland
Winner’s Circle
Gourmet Popcorn
Harrison’s ellow
Henry Kelsey
Iceberg (climbing)
Jeanne Lajoie
JoAn’s Pink Perpetual
Lady in Red
Lavender Jewel
Lemon Fizz Kolorscape
Mandarin Sunblaze
Millie Walters
Mountain Mignonette
Petite Peach
Polka
Red Ribbons
Carefree WonderCelestial Night
Champlain
Cinco de Mayo
Complicata
Cream eranda
Denvers Dream
Desiree Parmentier
Dortmund
Ebb Tide
Emily Carr
Fairmount Proserpine
Fire Meidiland
Firecracker Kolorscape
Flamingo Kolorscape
Fred Loads
Golden Opportunity
Adelaide Hoodless
AUSblush
AUSbord
AUScat
AUScot
AUSlot
AUSmary
AUSmound – Lilian Austin
AUSpeet
Autumn Sunblaze
Awakening
Ridal Sunblaze
Brilliant Veranda
Burgundy Iceberg
Canyon Road
Carefree Delight
Carefree Spirit
Water-Wise Trees and Shrubs for Sunny Locations
XERISCAPE TREES AND SHRUBS for SUN
Harlequin’s Gardens 303-939-9403 www.harlequinsgardens.com
Note: plants listed in bold are native to our region
TREES
Acer ginnala / Amur maple
Acer ginnala ‘Compacta’ / Dwf. Amur Maple
Acer grandidentatum / Bigtooth Maple
Acer negundo / Boxelder
Acer negundo ‘Sensation’ / ‘Sensation’ Boxelder, male selection
Acer tataricum ‘Hot Wings’ / Hot Wings Tatarian Maple
Aesculus glabra / Ohio Buckeye
Amelanchier utahensis / Utah Serviceberry
Catalpa speciosa / Western Catalpa
Celtis occidentalis / Western Hackberry
Celtis reticulata / Netleaf Hackberry
Crataegus ambigua / Russian Hawthorn
Crataegus crus-galli / Cockspur Hawthorn
Crataegus mollis / Downy Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna / Singleseed Hawthorn
Crataegus phaenopyrum / Washington Hawthorn
Cupressus arizonica / Arizona Cypress
Gleditsia triacanthos inermis / Honeylocust
Gymnocladus dioica / Kentucky Coffeetree
Juniperus monosperma / One-seed Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum & selections / Rocky Mt. Juniper
Koelreuteria paniculata / Goldenrain Tree
Malus species / Flowering Crabapple selections
Morus alba / White Mulberry
Pinus aristata / Bristlecone Pine
Pinus cembroides edulis / Pinyon Pine
Pinus contorta v. latifolia / Lodgepole Pine
Pinus flexilis / Limber Pine
Pinus ponderosa / Ponderosa Pine
Prunus americana / American Wild Plum
Prunus padus / Mayday Tree, Bird Cherry
Prunus virginiana / Native Chokecherry
Prunus virginiana ‘Shubert’ / Canada Red Chokecherry
Prunus x virginiana ‘Sucker Punch’ / Non-suckering Chokecherry
Pseudotsuga menziesii v. glauca / Rocky Mt. Douglas Fir
Ptelea trifoliata / Wafer Ash, Hop Tree
Pyrus ussuriensis / Ussurian Pear
Quercus bicolor / Swamp White Oak
Quercus gambelii / Gambel Oak
Quercus macrocarpa / Bur Oak
Quercus muehlenbergii / Chinkapin Oak
Quercus undulata / Rocky Mt. Scrub Oak
Robinia neomexicana / New Mexico Locust
SHRUBS
Agave parryi ssp. neomexicana
Amelanchier alnifolia / Saskatoon Serviceberry
Amelanchier aln. ‘Regent’ / Regent Serviceberry
Amelanchier canadensis / Shadblow Serviceberry
Amelanchier laevis / Allegheny Serviceberry
Amorpha canescens / Great Plains Leadplant
Amorpha nana / Dwarf Leadplant
Artemisia cana / Silver Sagebrush
Artemisia filifolia / Sand Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata / Tall Western Sagebrush
Artemisia versicolor (canescens) / Seafoam Sage
Atriplex canescens / Four Wing Saltbush
Atriplex confertifolia / Spiny Saltbush
Buddleia alternifolia ‘Argentea” / Silver Butterfly Bush
Buddleia dav. nanhoensis cultivars / Compact Butterfly Bush
Buddleia davidii cultivars / Butterfly Bush
Caragana arborescens / Siberian Peashrub
Caragana pygmaea / Pygmy Peashrub
Caryopteris x clandonensis cultivars / Blue Mist Spirea
Ceanothus fendleri / Mountain Lilac
Ceratoides lantana / Winterfat
Cercocarpus brevifolius / Little-flowered Mt. Mahogany
Cercocarpus intricatus / Littleleaf Mountain Mahogany
Cercocarpus ledifolius / Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany
Cercocarpus montanus / Common Mountain Mahogany
Chamaebatieria millefolium / Fernbush
Chrysothamnus n. ssp. graveolens / Tall Grn. Rabbitbrush
Chrysothamnus naus. ssp. albicaulis / Tall Blue Rabbitbrush
Chrysothamnus naus. ssp. nauseosus / Dwf. Blue Rabbitbrush
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus / Dwf. Grn. Rabbitbrush
Cotinus coggygria / Smoke Tree
Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ / Royal Purple Smoke Tree
Cotinus x ‘Grace / ‘Grace’ Smoketree
Cotoneaster divaricatus / Spreading Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster lucidus / Peking Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster multiflora / Big-flowered Cotoneaster
Cowania mexicana (Purshia stansburyana) / Cliffrose
Cytissus purgans ‘Spanish Gold’ / Andora Broom
Cytissus scoparius ‘Moonlight’ / Moonlight Broom
Ephedra americana / American Ephedra
Ephedra viridis / Mormon Tea
Fallugia paradoxa / Apache Plume
Forestiera neomexicana / New Mexico Privet
Genista lydia / Lydian Broom, Dwarf Broom
Genista tinctoria / Woadwaxen
Hesperaloe parviflora / Red Yucca
Hippophae rhamnoides / Sea Buckthorn
Holodiscus dumosus / Rock Spirea
Ligustrum vulgare ‘Cheyenne’ / ‘Cheyenne’ Privet
Ligustrum vulgare ‘Lodense’ / Lodense Privet
Lonicera k. v. floribunda ‘Blue Velvet’ / Blue Velvet Honeysuckle
Lonicera syringantha v. wolfii / Tiny Trumpet Honeysuckle
Lonicera tatarica selections / Shrub Honeysuckle
Mahonia aqu. Compactum / Compact Oregon Grapeholly
Mahonia aquifolium / Oregon Grapeholly
Mahonia fremontii / Fremont’s Mahonia
Mahonia haematocarpa / Desert Holly
Opuntia species / Cholla Cactus
Perovskia atriplicifolia / Russian Sage
Philadelphus lewisii / Lewis Mockorange
Physocarpus opulifolius cultivars / Ninebark
Juniperus communus/Common Juniper selections
Prunus besseyi / Western Sandcherry
Prunus besseyi ‘Pawnee Buttes’ / Pawnee Buttes Sandcherry
Prunus besseyi ‘Boulder Weeping’ / Boulder Weeping Sandcherry
Prunus tenella / Dwarf Russian Almond
Purshia tridentata / Antelope Bitterbrush
Pyracantha coccinea / Firethorn
Rhamnus smithii / Smith’s Buckthorn
Rhus aromatica / Fragrant Sumac
Rhus glabra / Smooth Sumac
Rhus glabra v. cismontana / Rocky Mt. Sumac
Rhus trilobata / Threeleaf Sumac
Rhus typhina / Staghorn Sumac
Rhus typhina laciniata / Cutleaf Staghorn Sumac
Ribes aureum / Native Golden Currant
Ribes cereum / Wax Currant
Ribes odoratum / Golden Currant
Robinia neomexicana / New Mexico Locust
Rosa ‘Alba Maxima’
Rosa ‘Alba semi-plena’
Rosa ‘Alba Suaveolens’
Rosa ‘Felicite Parmentier’
Rosa ‘Fruhlingsgold’
Rosa ‘Golden Wings’
Rosa ‘Harison’s Yellow
Rosa ‘Henry Kelsey’
Rosa ‘John Cabot’
Rosa ‘John Davis’
Rosa ‘Konigen von Danemark’
Rosa ‘Lawrence Johnston’
Rosa ‘Maiden’s Blush’
Rosa “Banshee”
Rosa arvensis
Rosa ‘Complicata’
Rosa eglanteria / Sweetbriar
Rosa foet. Persiana / Persian Yellow Rose
Rosa foetida bicolor / Austrian Copper Rose
Rosa glauca (rubrifolia) / Redleaf Rose
Rosa hugonis / Father Hugo’s Rose
Rosa woodsii / Wood’s Rose
Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Arp’ / Arp Rosemary
Shepherdia argentea / Silver Buffaloberry
Robinia neomexicana / New Mexico Locust
Spiraea ‘Cheyenne Snowmound’
Spiraea jap. ‘Goldflame’ / Goldflame Spirea
Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’ / Miss Kim Dwf. Korean Lilac
Syringa prestoniae cultivars / Canadian Lilacs
Syringa vulgaris cultivars / Common Lilacs
Yucca baccata / Banana Yucca
Yucca filamentosa / Adam’s Needle
Yucca glauca / Native Soapweed, Narrowleaf Yucca
Yucca harrimanii / Harriman’s Dwf. Yucca
Water-Wise Perennials and Biennials for Sun
XERISCAPE PERENNIALS & BIENNIALS for SUN
Harlequin’s Gardens 303-939-9403 www.harlequinsgardens.com
Note: plants listed in bold are native to our region
Acantholimon (hohenackeri, glumaceum, etc.)
Achillea ageratifolia
Achillea filipendula ‘Moonshine’
Achillea lanulosa
Achillea millefolium ‘Cerise Queen’
Achillea millefolium ‘Paprika’
Achillea serbica
Aethionema grandiflora
Agastache aurantiaca ‘Coronado’
Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’
Agastache cana
Agastache foeniculum
Agastache neomexicana
Agastache rupestris
Agastache urticifolia
Agastache x ‘Ava’
Agave parryi selections
Alcea rosea
Alcea rugosa
Allium altaicum
Allium cernuum
Allium flavum
Allium geyeri
Allium ‘Millenium’
Allium senescens
Allium senescens ‘Glaucum’
Allium tuberosum
Alyssum oxycarpum
Anacyclus depressus
Anchusa azurea
Antennaria ‘McClintock’
Antennaria parviflora
Antennaria rosea
Argemone hispida
Argemone polyanthemos
Artemisia frigida
Artemisia ludoviciana
Artemisia ludoviciana‘Powis Castle’
Artemisia ‘Silver Frost’
Artemisia ludoviciana ‘Valerie Finnis’
Artemisia stelleriana ‘Silver Brocade’
Artemisia ’Leprechaun’
Asclepias tuberosa
Asphodeline demascena
Asphodelus albus
Aster ericoides
Aster porteri
Aster (Symphiotrichon) laevis
Aster (Symphiotrichon) sericeus
Astragalus sps.
Aurinia saxatilis
Baptisia australis
Baptisia minor
Berlandiera lyrata
Betonica foliosa
Cacti, various hardy
Callirhoe involucrata
Calylophus hartwegii
Calylophus serrulatus
Calylophus serrulatus ‘Prairie Lode’
Catananche caerulea
Centranthus ruber
Cerastium candidissimum
Cerastium tomentosum
Clematis scottii
Coreopsis lanceolata
Coreopsis lanceoplata ‘Sterntaler’
Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’
Coreopsis verticillata ‘Zagreb’
Crambe cordifolia
Crambe maritima
Dalea (Petalostemon) purpureum
Delosperma ‘John Proffitt’(‘Table Mountain’)
Delosperma ‘Kelaidis’ (Mesa Verde)
Delosperma cooperi
Delopserma dyeri
Delosperma ‘Firespinner’
Delosperma ‘Granita Orange’
Delosperma ‘Granita Raspberry’
Delosperma ‘Lavender Ice’
Delosperma ‘Red Mountain Flame’
Delosperma nubigenum
Dianthus barbatus
Dianthus ‘Blue Hill’
Dianthus deltoides varieties
Dianthus gratianapolitanus
Dianthus gratianapolitanus varieties
Dianthus nardiformus
Dianthus petraeus noeanus
Dianthus ‘Tuscan Honeymoon’
Dianthus ‘Tiny Rubies’
Dictamnus albus purpureus
Dracocephalum ruyschianum
Ephedra minuta
Erigeron compositus
Erigeron linearis
Erigeron speciosus
Erigeron caespitosa
Eriogonum jamesii
Eriogonum ovalifolium
Eriogonum umbellatum
Eriogonum umb. v ‘Kannah Creek’
Eriogonum umb. v majus
Eriogonum umb. v porteri
Erodium chrysanthum
Erodium manescavii
Erodium petraeum hybrids
Euphorbia polychroma
Foeniculum vulgare
Foeniculum vulgare ‘Bronze’
Gaillardia aristata
Gaillardia aristata ‘Meriwether’
Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Goblin’
Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Burgundy’
Gaura lindheimeri
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Summer Breeze’
Geranium sanguineum
Glaucium acutidentatum
Globularia cordifolia
Goniolimon tataricum
Gutierrezia sarothrae
Gypsophila paniculata
Gypsophila repens
Helianthemum nummularium varieties
Herniaria glabra
Heterotheca pumila
Heterotheca ‘Gold Hill’
Hymenoxys (tetraneuris)acaulis
Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris)argenteus
Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris)scaposa
Iberis sempervirens
Iberis sempervirens ‘Little Gem’
Ipomopsis (Gilia) aggregate
Ipomopsis rubra
Iris (tall, medium and miniature) Bearded
Iris pallida ‘Variegata’
Lavandula ‘Provence’
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead Strain’
Liatris punctata
Limonium latifolium
Limonium gmellinii
Linum flavum compactum
Linum lewisii
Linum narbonense
Linum perenne
Lithospermum multiflorum
Lychnis chalcedonica
Lychnis coronaria
Malva alcea fastigiata
Malva sylvestris mauritania
Marrubium globosum
Marrubium rotundifolium
Melampodium leucanthum
Mentzelia decapetala
Mentzelia nuda
Mirabilis multiflora
Nepeta x faassenii
Nepeta x f. ‘Six Hills Giant’
Nepeta x f. ‘Walker’s Low’
Nepeta ‘Little Trudy’
Nolina microcarpa
Oenothera howardii
Oenothera berlandieri ‘Siskyou’
Oenothera caespitosa
Oenothera caespitosa ‘Marginata’
Oenothera fremontii
Oenothera fremontii ‘Shimmer’
Oenothera macrocarpa
Oenothera m. incana ‘Comanche Campfire’
Oenothera fremontii
Oenothera macro. incana ‘Silver Blade’
Oenothera pallida
Oxytropis lambertii
Oxytropis sericea
Oxytropis splendens
Papaver orientale varieties
Papaver pilosum
Papaver triniifolium (biennial)
Penstemon ambiguus
Penstemon arenicola
Penstemon auriberbis
Penstemon barbatus
Penstemon brandegei
Penstemon cardinalis
Penstemon caespitosus
Penstemon clutei
Penstemon crandallii
Penstemon cyananthus
Penstemon eatonii
Penstemon grandifloras
Penstemon hallii
Penstemon linarioides
Penstemon linarioides coloradoensis
Penstemon mensarum
Penstemon x mexicale hybrids
Penstemon palmeri
Penstemon pinifolius and selections
Penstemon pinifolius compactus
Penstemon pseudospectabilis
Penstemon richardsonii
Penstemon rostriflorus
Penstemon secundiflorus
Penstemon strictus
Penstemon strictus ‘Bandera’
Penstemon superbus
Penstemon teucroides
Penstemon virens
Penstemon virgatus
Penstemon xylus (tusharensis)
Perovskia atriplicifolia
Petalostemon (Dalea) purpurea
Phlomis russeliana
Physaria bellii
Physostegia virginiana ‘Summer Snow’
Platycodon grandiflorus
Potentilla neumanniana ‘nana’
Ratibida columnifera
Ratibida column. pulchella
Ratibida pinnata
Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Arp’
Rosmarinus off. ‘Madeline Hill’
Rosularia sp.
Rudbeckia hirta
Rudbeckia triloba
Rudbeckia maxima
Rudbeckia missouriensis
Rudbeckia fulgida’Goldsturm’
Ruellia humilis
Ruta graveolens
Salvia argentea
Salvia azurea grandiflora (S. pitcheri)
Salvia nemorosa ‘Blue Queen’
Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night’
Salvia nemorosa ‘Rose Queen’
Salvia officinalis
Salvia officinalis ‘Purpureus’
Salvia officinalis ‘nana’
Salvia sclarea
Salvia transylvanica
Santolina chamaecyparissus’
Saponaria lempergii ‘Max Frei’
Saponaria ocymoides
Satureja montana
Satureja montana ssp illyrica
Scabiosa caucasica
Scabiosa lucida
Scutellaria resinosa
Scrophularia macrantha
Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
Sedum ‘Matrona’
Sedum ‘Lidakense’
Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’
Sedum ‘Vera Jameson’
Sedum album
Sedum hybridum
Sedum lanceolatum
Sedum sexangulare
Sedum spurium varieties
Sedum tatarowinii
Sempervivum sps.
Sphaeralcea fendleri
Sphaeralcea coccinea
Sphaeralcea munroana
Stachys byzantine ‘Helene Von Stein’
Stachys byzantine ‘Silver Carpet’
Stanleya pinnata
Talinum calycinum
Tanacetum densum ‘Amani’
Tanacetum niveum
Teucrium chamaedys
Teucrium cossonii
Teucrium ‘Harlequin’s Silver’
Teucrium rotundifolium
Thelesperma filifolia
Thermopsis lupinoides
Thymus ‘Back Wall’
Thymus ‘Clear Gold’
Thymus ‘Elfin’
Thymus ‘Minus’
Thymus ‘Reiter’
Thymus ‘Pink Chintz’
Thymus ‘Ohme Garden’
Thymus baeticus
Thymus citriodorus ‘Argentea’
Thymus pseudolanguinosus
Thymus ‘Magic Carpet’
Thymus nieceffii
Thymus praecox ‘Albiflorus’
Thymus praecox ‘Coccineus’
Thymus praecox ‘Pink Chintz’
Thymus praecox “Minus’
Thymus praecox pseudolanguinosus
Thymus serphyllum varieties
Townsendia hookeri
Tradescantia occidentalis
Verbascum bombyciferum
Verbascum olympica
Verbascum wiedemannianum
Verbena bipinnatifida
Verbena wrightii
Veronica allionii
Veronica ‘Crystal Rivers’
Veronica cuneifolia
Veronica liwanensis
Veronica macrostachya
Veronica oltensis
Veronica pectinata
Veronica prostrata
Veronica tauricola
Viola cornuta
Zauschneria garrettii ‘Orange Carpet’
Zauschneria californica ‘Etteri’
Zinnia grandiflora
Note: Plants listed in bold type are native to our region.
2024 Harlequin’s Gardens’ Roses
2024 Rose Availability List
-
Austrian Copper
Above and Beyond
- Austrian Copper – (f. bicolor)
- Autumn Damask
- Autumn Sunblaze
- Banshee
- Bridal Sunblaze
- Brilliant Veranda
- Burgundy Ice
- Campfire
- Carefree Delight
- Carefree Spirit
- Carefree Wonder
- Celestial Night
- Champlain
- Charles Darwin
- Coral Cove
-
Darlow’s Enigma
Cream Veranda
- Darlow’s Enigma
- Denver’s Dream
- Dortmond
- Double Knockout
- Earth Angel
- Emily Carr
- Fairmount Proserpine
- Felix Leclerc
- Fire Meidiland
- Firecracker Kolorscape
-
Golden Wings
Fred’s Loads
- Gertrude Jekyll
- The Gift
- Golden Opportunity
- Golden Wings
- Gourmet Popcorn
- Henry Kelsey
- Heritage
- Hope for Humanity
- Iceberg
- Jeanne Lajoie
- JoAn’s Pink Perpetual
- John Davis
- Lady In Red
- Laguna
- Lemon Fizz Kolorscape
-
Morden Sunrise
Lilian Austin
- Mandarin Sunblaze
- Mary Rose
- Millie Walters
- Morden Sunrise
- Mountain Mignonette
- Petite Peach
- Quadra
- Red Ribbons
- Robusta
- Scarlet Meidiland
- Sophy’s Rose
- Sunbeam Veranda
- Sweetbriar Rose
- Sweet Chariot
-
Victorian Memory
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
- Valentine’s Day
- Victorian Memory
- White Meidiland
- William Baffin
- Winchester Cathedral
- Winner’s Circle
- Zephirine Drouhin
New In Store April 23 2004
The Peppers are Coming!
This week it’s too early to plant peppers outdoors, but if you can protect them until the soil and air have warmed up, come and shop our first round of Pepper Starts! Lots more tomatoes are here, too!
Also many culinary and medicinal herbs, flowering annuals and perennials, shrubs, trees, berry bushes and fruit trees!
Eggplant Starts 2024
HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS 2024 EGGPLANT STARTS
Black Beauty
Black Shine
Diamond
Galine
Listada di Gandia
Orient Express
Pingtung Long
Purple Comet
Purple Pickling
Rosa Bianca
Tomato Starts – 2024
HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS 2024 TOMATO STARTS
“Anasazi” |
Aunt Ruby’s German Green |
Beam’s Yellow Pear |
Better Boy hyb. |
Big Rainbow |
Black from Tula |
Black Krim |
Brown Sugar |
Black Sea Man |
Blush |
Burrell’s Special |
Bush Early Girl |
Carbon |
Carmello hyb. |
Cascade Village Blue |
Cherokee Purple |
Chianti Rose |
Chocolate Cherry |
Cosmonaut Volkov |
Early Girl Hyb. |
Flaming Burst |
Floradade |
Garden Peach |
Glacier |
Gold Medal |
Gold Nugget |
Green Zebra |
Isis Candy cherry |
Japanese Blk Trifele/Black Truffle |
Jaune Flamme |
Juliet hyb
Large Red Cherry |
Maglia Rosa |
Martino’s Roma |
Matt’s Wild Cherry |
Mexico Midget |
Moskvitch |
Mountain Delight Hyb |
Native Sun |
Orange King |
Paul Robeson |
Peacevine cherry |
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye |
Pink Brandywine, Sudduth Strain |
Pink Bumblebee |
Principe Borghese |
Pruden’s Purple |
Red Robin |
San Marzano II |
Sasha’s Altai |
Striped German |
Stupice |
Sun Gold hyb |
Sunrise Sauce |
Super Sioux |
SuperSweet 100 hyb |
Sweetie |
Tasmanian Chocolate |
Taxi |
Thessaloniki |
Tidy Treats hyb |
Custom Grass Seed Mixes!
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Sorghastrum-nutans-Indian-Grass-2-194x194.jpg)
Sorghastrum nutans
Instead of maintaining a Kentucky Bluegrass lawn, why not try an area of Natural Meadow, combining well-adapted grasses, wildflowers and perhaps some shrubs too. Such a Meadow can conserve water and fertilizers and should not require pesticides or herbicides. Like all gardens, the first 2-3 years will require more weeding, then less after plants grow together. It can be beautiful, provide habitat for birds, butterflies and beneficial insects, while taking water into the ground, preventing erosion and capturing carbon. [Read More]
POTATO, ONION & ASPARAGUS STARTS – 2024 Newsletter
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Purple-Potatoes-cooked-e1648157735487-162x159.jpg)
Purple Majesty when cooked
POTATOES
Yellow Finn, Purple Majesty, Harvest Moon, and Norland Dark Red.
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Heirloom-Tohono-Oodham-Multiplier-Onion-plants-scaled-e1648573000503-162x159.jpg)
Heirloom Tohono O’odham Multiplier Onion plants
ONIONS –
Patterson Red, Redwing, Walla Walla, Ailsa Craig, Red Long of Tropea, Red Geneva, Gladstone, Borrettano, Dakota Tears, Bianco di Maggio.
ALSO, Leeks and Shallots.
ASPARAGUS
JERSEY KNIGHT (roots, 5 per bundle)
All male hybrid with big spears. Does not make seed, so doesn’t become weedy. Best selection for dense clay soils. Very productive and disease resistant. Hardy to Zone 2.
PURPLE PASSION (roots, 5 per bundle)
Beautiful deep burgundy-colored spears with high sugar content, delicious, tender, less fibrous, great in raw salads.
This Week’s Featured Plants
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Viola_corsica_portrait-D._Johnson-194x194.jpg)
Viola corsica, courtesy D. Johnson
You’ll be delighted with this week’s featured plants – water-wise, regionally-adapted and beautiful.
Choose among Corsican Violets (pictured), Tansy, Rosemary, native Prairie Winecups, and more![Read More]
2024 Vegetable Starts
HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS 2024 TOMATO STARTS
“Anasazi” |
Aunt Ruby’s German Green |
Beam’s Yellow Pear |
Better Boy hyb. |
Big Rainbow |
Black from Tula |
Black Krim |
Brown Sugar |
Black Sea Man |
Blush |
Burrell’s Special |
Bush Early Girl |
Carbon |
Carmello hyb. |
Cascade Village Blue |
Cherokee Purple |
Chianti Rose |
Chocolate Cherry |
Cosmonaut Volkov |
Early Girl Hyb. |
Flaming Burst |
Floradade |
Garden Peach |
Glacier |
Gold Medal |
Gold Nugget |
Green Zebra |
Isis Candy cherry |
Japanese Blk Trifele/Black Truffle |
Jaune Flamme |
Juliet hyb |
Large Red Cherry |
Maglia Rosa |
Martino’s Roma |
Matt’s Wild Cherry |
Mexico Midget |
Moskvitch |
Mountain Delight Hyb |
Native Sun |
Orange King |
Paul Robeson |
Peacevine cherry |
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye |
Pink Brandywine, Sudduth Strain |
Pink Bumblebee |
Principe Borghese |
Pruden’s Purple |
Red Robin |
San Marzano II |
Sasha’s Altai |
Striped German |
Stupice |
Sun Gold hyb |
Sunrise Sauce |
Super Sioux |
SuperSweet 100 hyb |
Sweetie |
Tasmanian Chocolate |
Taxi |
Thessaloniki |
Tidy Treats hyb |
HARLEQUIN’S GARDENS 2024 PEPPER STARTS
SPICY PEPPERS
Anaheim |
Adaptive Early Thai |
Aji Cristal |
Ancho Poblano ‘Bastan F1’ |
Big Jim Anaheim |
Chimayo |
Czech Black OG |
Early Jalapeno |
Fish |
Hot Red Cherry |
Hungarian Hot Wax |
Jalapeno TAM (milder) |
Korean |
Lemon Spice Jalapeno |
Long Red Narrow Cayenne |
Caribbean Red Habanero |
NuMex 6-4 (milder Anaheim) |
NuMex Sandia |
Pasilla Bajio |
Mosco (Pueblo) Mirasol |
Purple Tiger |
Santa Fe Grande |
Serrano Tampiqueno |
SWEET and MILD PEPPERS
Aurora |
Biquinho, red |
Italian Pepperoncini |
Lanterna Piccante |
Shishito |
Aconcagua |
Buran |
California Wonder |
Cambuci |
Cubanelle |
Golden Treasure |
Gypsy Queens |
Habanada |
Healthy |
Jimmy Nardello’s |
King of the North |
Carmen F-1 |
Marconi Red |
Mini Belle |
Purple Beauty |
Sheepnose Pimento |
Sweet Chocolate |
Sweet Pickle |
Sweet Red Cherry |
Yankee Bell |
Onions on the Way!
We just received word that our onion plants were shipped today and should arrive and be ready for sale by Friday or Saturday! We’ll be offering onion plants in bundles of approximately 60 to 70 plants, and half-bundles of approximately 30-35 plants.
Save the Date – Opening Day March 1st!
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Helleborus-niger-Christmas-Rose-2-13-24-194x194.jpg)
Helleborus niger
February is always an exciting time for me. The snow is melting in my south-facing front yard, revealing the first few spring blooms and rekindling my passion for gardening. In my garden, the Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger) and Crocus ‘Firefly’ and our tiny but hardy and tough native treasure Townsendia hookeri are the earliest flowers this year. And at the warmest part of the day, I’ve also seen a few honeybees visiting them. They are the unmistakable, irrepressible signs of spring!
In just a couple of weeks, there will be a lot more flowers blooming , and Harlequin’s Gardens will be open for the 2024 season! We’ll be opening through March in Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning on Friday, March 1st. Classes, soil products, seeds, seed-starting supplies, tools and houseplants await you![Read More]
Strawberry Fields Forever!
We’re pleased to bring you a wonderful selection of Colorado-adapted strawberries with real strawberry flavor! You can choose Ogallala, Earliglow, Ft. Laramie, and Yellow Wonder Alpine. March is the perfect time to prepare your bed for planting these delicious fruits that will come back for several years. [Read More]
The Path to your Summer Garden Begins Here
With some deeply chilling temperatures on the near horizon, gardeners can gain a little comfort by fast-forwarding to spring in our minds as we plan for our 2024 gardens. The predictable and unpredictable consequences of climate change call upon us to observe our gardens more closely, revise our expectations of our gardens, broaden our vision of what makes a garden, and make our gardens more resilient and less dependent on uncertain resources.
We have been absorbed in seed catalogs; the past couple of nights my bedtime companion has been has the always-fascinating J.L.Hudson Seed Catalog, which is much more interesting in print than it is online. Our seed orders have been arriving and our propagators have been cleaning our precious wild-collected seeds, applying treatments to break dormancy (mostly hot water, physical scarification, and refrigeration), and making new plants from old by division and cuttings.[Read More]
The Beauty of Winter Gardens
As the year is drawing toward a close and much of the garden and natural landscape is dormant, we can still appreciate the beauty and interest of plants: the silhouetted structure of our leafless trees and shrubs, the textures and colors of their bark, the berries and seedpods ornamenting their branches, and likewise the colors and textures of dry grasses, cattails and sedges. We can also admire the color and form of our evergreen trees and shrubs, and realize how many of our favorite perennial flowering plants and groundcovers provide evergreen (or red, or silver, or purple) foliage through the winter!
The Winter Solstice season is a time for celebrating the return of the light, both literally and figuratively, and as our daylight hours increase in the outer world, we will also try to keep our inner light burning for love, justice, and compassion for all life on earth. It’s a time for generosity, opening hearts, kindness, sharing, and spreading good news. Here are a couple of our suggestions for valuable gifts you can share:
[Read More]
Late Fall Musings
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Agave-seed-stalk-2-194x194.jpg)
Agave seed stalk
The day before Thanksgiving in the Reshetnik-Brawer home was largely spent cleaning the house, but we also decided it was time to cut down the towering inflorescence of our Century Plant (Agave utahensis x parryi v. couesii). I held the 3”- thick stalk while Mikl cut through it with his folding hand-saw (a great tool!), then we laid it down on a ground-cloth to catch the copious seeds that fell out of the hundreds of pods. To me it felt as if we had just felled a large and noble animal or tree, and there were several quiet minutes of awe and reverence. Now that it was horizontal, we were able to get an accurate measurement of the bloom stalk’s height, 14.5 feet, and I counted 34 branches! We will be planting the hundreds (or thousands?) of seeds to produce new plants for you.
Our 32nd Gardening Season Begins March 1st!
As I write, the ground and rooftops are blanketed in snow, and the sun is streaming in the windows. Gotta love the Colorado winter! In less than a month, we’ll be open for our 32nd year as a nursery and garden center, and we are quite excited!
I don’t think we’ve ever had an easy year, but ‘easy’ isn’t an option in this business. So many aspects of running a nursery have never been predictable, and we’re always relating with thousands of details and challenges.
BUT we have a great crew and there are many things you can always count on finding when you visit Harlequin’s Gardens, and we hope you will appreciate the value you receive when you shop at our big little nursery.
For 31 years, we have always been committed to non-aggression, health and environmental stewardship in horticulture and all other spheres of Life. And this commitment will always continue!
We’ll never use toxic pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers.
We are the best source for Colorado and regional Native Plants on the Front Range.
We have and will always specialize in Water-Thrifty plants, Native and Colorado-adapted plants and Pollinator-Supporting plants.
We are always broadening our plant offerings, often bringing into cultivation wonderful local wild plants that were previously unavailable in commerce. (*see below for examples)
Our staff, e-newsletters, classes, and hand-outs offer empowering, cutting-edge organic and environmental gardening advice and education gained from our 31 years of research and experience.
Our customer service team is exceptionally knowledgeable, helpful and accessible.
We grow most of our own plants and supplement with plants from other local and regional growers that never use neonicotinoids.
We grow our plants in our own carefully formulated potting soils that grow healthier, stronger, more resilient plants that will establish successfully into your garden.
Our pest management products are always non-toxic, child-safe and pollinator safe.
We compost and make our own powerful Compost Tea.
We aim to be a zero-waste business: we bag compost and mulches in returnable plastic bags that we reuse to reduce plastic in the environment. We also reuse nursery pots, and sell our compost tea in returnable/reusable jugs.
We offer superior, CO-specific resources and advice for supporting bees, butterflies, birds and other pollinators and beneficial insects.
We test and evaluate our soil products (composts, organic fertilizers, mulches and other amendments), and most of them are sourced locally.
We recycle and use recycled materials for our building projects.
Our greenhouses don’t use fossil fuels; our heat and energy come mostly from the Sun, with a little electricity from renewables. And this year we are installing a heat-pump system for our store!
We are located in unincorporated Boulder County, where sales taxes are only about half the rate of those in Front Range cities.
We support local growers, artists, artisans and musicians as well as non-profit environmental efforts.
We connect our customers with events and other educational and activist opportunities related to environmental, agricultural and horticultural issues.
———————————————————————————————————————————
Wild Plants we are Propagating in 2024. We have our fingers crossed that good germination and growth on the unique native plants described below will allow us to bring them to you this season.
The plants we offer will contribute to a beautiful, thriving garden that will be a joy to behold, but they can also provide so much more than a pretty picture to look at. The ecosystem services that our plants provide add much more value to your gardens.
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Celtis-reticulata-courtesy-Oregon-State-U-162x159.jpg)
Celtis reticulata, courtesy Oregon State University
Celtis reticulata, Netleaf Hackberry
You may be familiar with the larger Celtis occidentalis or Western Hackberry, which makes an excellent long-lived, water-wise deciduous shade tree. Netleaf Hackberry is substantially smaller, fairly slow-growing to 15’ to 25’ with a spreading canopy, interesting sculpted bark, an attractive twisting branch pattern, rough green leaves and reddish brown or purple berries. The leaves support the caterpillars of Mourning Cloak and Hackberry Emperor butterflies and a number of moths, which in turn, along with the sweet berries, attract and feed many birds. In Colorado, Netleaf Hackberry occurs in the wild in the Front Range foothills and on the western edge of the plains. It is rarely available in nurseries. We’ve seen some handsome specimens growing around Lyons. Cold hardy and highly adaptable to many soils, moisture levels and exposures, it can be grown as a small to medium-sized tree that will not require any supplemental watering after initial establishment.
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Mertensia-lanceolata-Chiming-Bells--162x159.jpg)
Mertensia lanceolata
Mertensia lanceolata, Prairie Bluebell, Languid Lady
Dropping way down in scale, we are hoping for good germination on this lovely local spring wildflower that inhabits a wide range of Rocky Mountain habitats and elevations, from the plains to alpine habitats, in dry partial shade under deciduous shrubs and trees, on north-facing slopes, near rock outcroppings and in sunny meadows. In mid to late spring (May and June in Boulder) the delicate bell-shaped flowers nod from slender stems, opening from plum-colored buds and maturing to blue. The leaves are blue-green due to a waxy coating, with a prominent center vein. Prairie Bluebells are in the Borage family, prized for its many striking blue-flowered constituents. The plants can produce sizeable colonies, several feet across and can range from 6 ” to 14” tall. Prairie Bluebell goes dormant by early summer, dying back to its substantial roots.
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Argemone-hispida-courtesy-Mik-Kintgenjpg-162x159.jpg)
Argemone hispida, courtesy Mik Kintgen
Argemone hispida, Rough Prickly Poppy
This is one of my favorite local wildflowers. It took me awhile to notice that it was different from the Prickly Poppies I had met before (Argemone polyanthemos), being more stout and shrubby, with grey-green foliage and much more dense, numerous and slender golden prickles on all parts, from stem to bud to seed-pod. The fabulous silky white flowers are just as big (4” wide) and just as stunning as the more commonly found Argemones, but the plant is more compact, up to perhaps 15” tall where I’ve seen it growing. They both grow in the same habitat, so Rough Prickly Poppy is also happy growing dry and hot, and blooms at the same time – May to August. Found in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming.
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Astragalus-utahensis-courtesy-James-L.-Reveal-162x159.jpg)
Astragalus utahensis, courtesy James L. Reveal and the LadyBird Johnson Wildflower Center
Astragalus utahensis, Utah Milkvetch
Utah milkvetch is in the legume family (Fabaceae). One finds quite a few plants in this family in the arid west. They are probably making life better for themselves and the plants around them by fixing nitrogen from the air and transferring it to their roots and the soil. Native to Utah and several adjacent states, this very pretty spring-blooming milkvetch is particularly abundant in the Wasatch Mountains. Its typical habitats include rocky hillsides, sagebrush openings, and pinyon-juniper areas. A rock garden, crevice garden, or the front of a Xeriscape garden with excellent drainage will suit it well. The plant is lovely even after bloom, with its wavy silvery pinnate leaves.
Yours in support of abundant Life,
Eve Reshetnik Brawner & Mikl Brawner
Homemade Elderberry Syrup
A healthy herbal remedy used for centuries, we love making this from berries harvested from the gorgeous elderberry shrubs and trees we can grow right here in Colorado!
This easy-to-make syrup recipe comes from Boulder wellness coach and herbalist Mitten Lowe.
20% Off Trees!
For our Fall Sale
Harlequin’s is offering an exceptional variety of trees, mostly in easy-to-plant 5-gallon sizes and some larger in 10 or 15 gallon pots. Our container-grown trees have complete root systems, unlike most big trees sold that have most of their roots left in the field when they are dug. Our trees start growing right away and they don’t need staking or excessive watering. Some of our hard-to-find varieties are in short supply, with only 1 or 2 specimens available.
Patio Trees
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Purple-Smokebush-macro-bonsai-162x159.jpg)
Purple Smokebush
MIKL’s ‘MACRO BONSAI’ PATIO TREES FOR YOURSELF!
Every so often, one of the trees or shrubs we’ve grown or received from a grower displays interesting twists, bends, curves or dwarfing that suggest the character of Bonsai specimens, but much bigger. Mikl has been collecting and cultivating these ‘Macro Bonsai’ for quite a few years. We have some available for sale right now.
Help Fall Plantings Beat the Heat
Fall is among the best times to plant perennials. While we may begin to wilt from late summer heat, many plants rise to the occasion and burst into bloom! As days begin to grow shorter, perennials spend the next few months developing root systems or taproots that delve well below the hot, dry surface soil. Pollinators depend on finding pollen and nectar sources through the entire summer, so it’s important to include late-summer and autumn bloomers in your garden.
Here are a few suggestions for successful planting.
Versatile Vines for Colorado Gardens
![](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sweet-autumn-clematis-194x194.jpg)
Sweet Autumn Clematis
Vines are very valuable for their versatility, variety and vigor, especially in the vertical plane. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Many of us live in urban environments full of walls and fences, and closely packed homes with narrow side-yards. Those of us in townhomes, condos or apartments have only tiny patio gardens or balconies offering little opportunity for greening our outdoor spaces. Or, we live in new developments built on open farmland without mature trees and shrubs for shade or screening. In all of these situations, vines can quickly provide short-term or long-term solutions to provide privacy or shade, maximize our connection to the earth, block unpleasant views, cover ugly surfaces, or add a vertical dimension to the garden. And some vines can also work as groundcovers in tough situations, like under evergreen trees.
More About Vines
We’ve got a wonderful selection of vines right now! Last week we gave you an overview of vines and how to use them, based on their mechanisms for climbing. This week, let’s get into the details of some individual varieties.
Summer Garden Beet Salad Recipe
from Mitten Lowe at Journey to Wellness
I love beets and beet greens for how grounding and nutritious they are – providing folate, dietary fiber, manganese, potassium, iron, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and more! This wonderful garden beet salad is a perfect way to utilize all parts of the beet plus it’s versatile and so incredibly satisfying.
Ready Now
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Geranium x cantabrigiense
Remember Spring of 2023? Cool, rainy and cloudy? We had many thousands of plants coming along from seed, cuttings and plugs. And under these challenging conditions, some of them took a very long time to reach the point when they became ready for sale. But they’re ready now! And some of our best groundcover plants for dry shade or part sun, Plumbago and hardy Geraniums (Cranesbills) are among them!
Here’s a list of some of the great plants, including many native plants (noted with an asterisk), we now have in stock.
It’s Garlic Season!
GARLIC HARVESTING, CURING & STORAGE
Now is the time to check your garlic plants to see if they are ready to dig up. The ‘rule of thumb’ is to harvest when the lower one third or half of the leaves on the plant have turned yellow. So, if your plant has 8 leaves, harvest when the 3 or 4 lowest leaves have turned brown but there are still mostly green leaves higher on the plant.
Time to Sow for Fall Harvests
The next few weeks are the perfect time to sow arugula, beets, small carrots, lettuce, kale, radish, and more!
You’re looking to sow veggies that will be harvestable before our first big frosts – often in early October.
We’re proud to bring you seeds from Botanical Interests. They say, “Nurturing seeds in the garden slows us down to reconnect to nature and earth, develops bonds in a community, and creates family traditions and memories. We’re so happy to be a part of that!” And we are, too!
Another Spring Wildflower Ramble
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Mertensia lanceolata
In spite of cloudy skies and not-so-distant rumblings of thunder, Mikl and I had another opportunity to ramble among the wildflowers last week. This time, we chose the easy Lichen Loop trail at Heil Ranch, just off Lefhand Canyon Road. It’s amazing how long we can take to walk a mere 1.3 miles! Our excuse was the amazingly rich floristic display brought on by the combination of copious rain and wood ash from the Calwood Fire.
[Read More]
Lovely Lilacs: A Few Recipes
Lilac time is a very special and very short sweet time for us here in Colorado. Here are a few ways to use these flowers for health and well-being, from Mitten Lowe at Journey to Wellness.
We recommend harvesting lilac flowers while they are in full bloom, and making delicious medicine to enjoy through the rest of the year.
[Read More]
Fruit Trees for Your Yard
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW.” While this ancient Chinese proverb still rings true, fruit trees can begin to bear at a pretty young age, bringing satisfaction much sooner than a tree planted for shade or major presence in the landscape. We carry a wide selection of fruit trees proven to thrive and produce here in Colorado and taste great, and the apples, pears, cherries and plums on the list in the link below are in stock right now so that you can plant your own for years of enjoyment. (We don’t have peaches out at the moment – ask when you come in).
Beautiful, Bountiful Biennials
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Digitalis purpurea – photo courtesy First Nature
Does everyone know what a biennial plant is? It’s a plant that spends its first year of life building a substantial root system and a basal rosette of foliage. In its second year, it will have the resources to support a season of massive blooming and seeding. After having done its job, it dies away, leaving the future of its kind to the new generation of seedlings it has created.[Read More]
Benefits of the Beautiful Dandelion
Thinking this cheery yellow-flowered plant is a weed? Think again.
First of all, dandelions provide much needed early-season nutrition for the bees. If that wasn’t enough of a reason to let them into your garden, every part of this plant is good for you. Since ancient times dandelion has been used as a spring tonic. (That’s right, we’re suggesting eating the weeds!).
Blooming Without a Care
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Argemone polyanthemos
by Mikl Brawner
DitchWeeds, Wildflowers, Native Forbs
Call them what you will: when Nature chooses, She knows what She’s doing. And She doesn’t need a human audience. Nature is happy playing to the bees, wasps, butterflies, moths and beetles. We humans can learn a thing or two just by noticing and appreciating Nature’s perfect performance. And that’s just what we gardeners do.
[Read More]
Own-Root Roses
Did your roses take a hit from the winter cold and strong winds we just experienced? Perhaps they look as though they didn’t make it, showing brown, shriveled canes and no new growth above the ground. Or maybe there are no signs of life on the canes, but there is new growth just coming up from the ground. Either way, if your roses are growing on their own roots, you’re in luck. If they were grafted onto a rootstock, the prospects are not so good.[Read More]
Trees for a Changing Climate and a Resilient Urban Forest
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Serviceberry
by Mikl Brawner
If you look at old photos of Colorado Front Range cities, you won’t see many trees. And if you look up native trees of Colorado, you will find a lot of mountain-growing conifers and just a few deciduous trees that grow natively along streams. And yet the quality of life for us humans depends on trees.
Thanks, Volunteers!
![Gary Meis teaching](https://harlequinsgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_7887-1-194x194.jpg)
Gary Meis teaching
Last Saturday a group of dedicated plantspeople came in from the cold to learn and volunteer with Harlequin’s Gardens’ expert propagator Gary Meis. We’re passing a few of his native plant seeding and propagation tips along to you.
Warming Herbal Tea Recipe
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Herbal Tea
Herbal Teas are some of the best home-grown medicines! This time of year infusions of herbs from Harlequin’s Gardens plants you’ve grown can keep you well, and warm.
Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’ (Giant Purple-flowered Onion)
Purple Sensation Allium
Bulb. Z3. 24-36” tall. Blooms late spring to early summer. Compost-improved soil.
Really a garden standout. It’s the statuesque spring blooming bulb that your neighbors always admire and ask about. 4-5” spherical flowerheads are deep purple and attractive to pollinators including bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Deer and rabbit resistant. Gorgeous in flower arrangements cut fresh or dried. Easily naturalizes throughout your garden. Wonderful planted with Moonshine yarrow, artemisias with grey foliage, and orange-flowering geums like ‘Mrs. Bradshaw’.
Q: Can I plant now?
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Spinach Start
Q: Can I plant now?
A: It depends!
Yay! Warm days remind us that the threat of frost will soon be gone! If you’re planting hardy perennials, shrubs, vines, grasses or trees, you’re good to go now (as long as your soil isn’t too wet to work). Our stock of seeds and starts for cool-season greens like arugula, spinach, chard, kale and lettuce are in and ready to plant. And you can get a head start on tomatoes!
Allium amplectens ‘Graceful Beauty’
Circa 1857, this delicate-looking yet easy-growing North American native has composite 3″ globes of star-shaped, sparkling white flowers with pale lavender stamens tipped with purple anthers and sturdy stems.
Bloom time: May/June. 12″ to 16″ tall. Zone 4-8.
2023 Garlic List as of September 2023
Garlic & Shallots Are Here!
It’s time to buy your ‘seed’ garlic, which you should store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place until planting time, from mid-October to mid-November. Seed garlic bulbs are specifically chosen for planting because they are the healthiest bulbs with the largest cloves, and they are intact. By planting the largest cloves, you’ll be rewarded with a harvest of big, juicy bulbs.
Garlic has been cultivated since very ancient times. The varieties that developed in different areas express the terroir of their locale, greatly influencing the local cuisines.[Read More]
Second Chance Shrubs
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Photo credit: Plant Select®
Our shrubs are all given great care here at the nursery, but occasionally we find some that have a little damage or are sulking because they really want to get out of the pot and into the ground. To help them all find good homes where they will grow and prosper, we are bringing out these ‘seconds’ at substantially discounted prices. We will continue to bring out more as they sell.
Right now, we are offering: [Read More]
Fall Sale Continues!
Our 2022 Big Fall Sale continues, with 30% off most plants!
Sept. 20 thru end of the season take 30% off perennials, shrubs, roses, and trees, and 30% off soil products in big bags, and Compost Tea. (No discount on fruit trees, veggies, bulbs, 2023 seeds, or Holiday Market Books).
In our experience, fall is the most successful time to establish most plants, especially when mycorrhizae are applied to the roots during planting (and we’re well stocked with several types of mycorrhizae!). We have a large and diverse selection of perennials, particularly in larger quart and gallon sizes, that are ready for planting. (Photo: Grass Calamagrostis brachytricha)
Daylilies Shine in Mid-Summer
Daylilies are old favorites for good reasons. They are:
Low maintenance
Cold hardy (to USDA Zone 3)
Moderately drought-tolerant
Very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds
Adaptable to a variety of soil conditions
Disease-free and pest-free
Graceful, eye-catching, and long-blooming
Available in a very wide range of colors and sizes
Rabbit-resistant
Fast-growing
Good for erosion control
Edible and tasty
And we still have some wonderful varieties in stock! And they are in bloom! [Read More]