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.
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]
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]
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.
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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!).
Some customers wonder why we are selling starts of self-sowing hardy annuals like Larkspur, Rocky Mt. Beeplant, California Poppy, Peony-flowered Poppy, Sweet Alyssum and Desert Bluebell. Shouldn’t they be grown from seed sown directly in the garden? The answer is Yes, they certainly can be, and if you find a source for the seeds and sow them at the optimal time, usually in the fall, you can get great results. But some gardeners report having little or no success with direct sowing: their timing is off, the seeds are watered in and then dry up and are no longer viable, critters eat the seeds, etc. [Read More]
Did your roses take a hit from the unusually cold winter 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]
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!
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.
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.
Freshly dug Dahlia tubers
For our Dahlia fans, there’s still time to dig and save your best-performing varieties from 2022 for next season. Our friends at Arrowhead Dahlias, Harlequin’s supplier of dahlia tubers, have easy instructions for harvesting your tubers.
Tuber Harvest:
After the first frost of the season, it is time to dig your dahlias. Dahlia tubers will not survive if they freeze so they must be dug in cold climates, including Colorado. Dividing takes practice and patience, but it is well worth the hassle! [Read More]
We are thrilled to announce that a little miracle has occurred, thanks to our amazing network of friends in the community!
For 3 days, Artemis Flower Farm, located just outside Boulder, will be setting up a tent here, selling high-quality bulbs that their Dutch family imports directly from Holland. Happily, you will notice that there is some overlap with the list of bulbs we had intended to bring in!
We look forward to seeing lots of our customers come out to buy beautiful hardy bulbs and support both Artemis Flower Farm and Harlequin’s Gardens!
And you can still shop our fantastic Holiday Gift Market at the same time!
Here is a list of varieties they will offer: [Read More]
Regrettably, we need to let you know that we have had to cancel our 2022 bulb order. We spoke with the company’s shipping director yesterday and she informed us that the containers were still on the ship and had not yet even been placed on the trucks that would take them to distribution centers. When asked if there was any chance our order would reach us by the end of this week, she said ‘No’. With so few days left to sell our large order of bulbs before we close for the season at 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 30th, it no longer makes sense to bring them in. [Read More]
BULB ALERT
We have a wonderful selection of bulbs coming; the problem is they aren’t here yet. And we were just notified yesterday that the broker in Holland failed to notice that our requested delivery date was the first week of September, so our order is packed in a shipping container on the docks in the Netherlands waiting to be loaded onto a slow boat to Michigan. There is simply nothing to be done but wait. We are told that our order will hopefully ship from Michigan in the first week of October.
This situation leaves us with only a few weeks before we close on October 30th to sell thousands of dollars of bulbs. We know that in the meantime you could buy your bulbs elsewhere, but we are hoping you will wait for their arrival at Harlequin’s. In the meantime, we encourage you to peruse the BULBS page on our website, with photos and descriptions of all our offerings and plan your bulb purchases in advance.
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]
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)
Our Big Fall Sale continues with many fresh, new plants added. We are continually propagating and potting up plants, and some of them are just ready now, just in time to go on sale at 25% off!
Our 2022 Deep Discount Area opens today & our Big Fall Sale continues, with 25% off for everyone! Included in this week’s sale are:
Sept. 6 thru 11 Enjoy:
Our 2022 Big Fall Sale continues, with 30% off most plants!
Sept. 13 thru 18 take 30% off perennials, shrubs, and trees, and 20% off roses, soil products in big bags, books, and 20% off Compost Tea. (No discount on fruit trees, veggie starts, bulbs, and 2023 seeds).
We’ve added lots of timely COVER CROP SEEDS and BEEKEEPING SUPPLIES to our DEEP DISCOUNT offers!
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: Sedum “Matrona”)
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]
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]
We propagate and grow a lot of great plants here at the nursery, which gives us (and you!) an advantage when the wholesale suppliers run short in mid and late summer. We’re very pleased to have beautiful stock of some highly desirable and hard-to-find shrubs and perennials right now, including some choice native plants, Plant Select® winners, and customer favorites.
Here are some brief profiles of some of our best current offerings. And this week, Harlequin’s Members can buy them for 20% off! [Read More]
Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) is a majestic, slow-growing tree reaching 60 to 70’ in height and spread, and is typically very long-lived (think 200, 300+ years!). It’s the sort of tree you plant for the benefit of the generations to come. Many oak species don’t thrive in Colorado’s alkaline soils, but Bur Oak is a happy exception. It is also drought-tolerant once established, even in dry clay, and can handle city conditions quite well. Bur Oak’s strong wood and strong, almost right-angled branch connections resist breakage in wind and snow. [Read More]
At this time of year, when the weather is hot and mostly dry, it can be easier to establish transplants that already have a larger, deeper root system. Another very important factor in successful transplanting in this heat and drought is the quality of the potting soil the plant was grown in. Harlequin’s Gardens doesn’t use a commercial, lightweight, soil-less mix, designed for using chemical fertilizers and for minimizing shipping costs. [Read More]
Hardy Geraniums are some of the most versatile an adaptable perennials for our area! Available in many colors and habits, they can be useful in sun and shade, moist and dry, as individual specimens, companion plants and ground covers.
These are not to be confused with Pelargoniums, the popular house plant, container and bedding plant Zonal “Geraniums” and Ivy “Geraniums,” which are not cold-hardy outdoors in Colorado. The name “geranium” is derived from a Greek word meaning little crane, hence the common name “cranesbill” which refers to the appearance of the seed heads. [Read More]
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had to forego some of my morning rituals to make time to reap the bounty from my garden these last couple of weeks. I fully expected the temperatures in the 90s and occasional triple digits to stall the production of my tomatoes, but somehow the blossom-drop and lack of fruit-set experienced in previous very hot summers never materialized, and now I’m bringing in armloads every few days! And how about them eggplants! Swiss Chard, Collards and Kale abound, and my Tromboncino climbing Zucchini is feeding the neighborhood.
I have two new tomato varieties to add to my list of top favorites: Tidy Treats and Tasmanian Chocolate (I’m a sucker for anything with chocolate in the name or ingredients list).
As temperatures rise and we begin to wilt from the heat, many plants rise to the occasion and burst into bloom! Many of these summer stalwarts have spent the cooler, wetter months developing root systems or taproots that delve well below the hot, dry surface soil. Pollinators depend on finding pollen and nectar sources through the entire summer, so it’s important to include mid and late-summer bloomers in your garden.
Picture above: Rudbeckia hirta ‘Rustic Colors’ (Native Black eyed Susan selection).[Read More]
We would like to invite you to visit the Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse Rose Garden in downtown Boulder across from the city park. The unique treasure of an intricately handcrafted, traditional Tajik Teahouse was gifted to the city of Boulder by the citizens of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, one of Boulder’s Sister Cities, in 1988. In time, the design of the structure was amended to be able to house a restaurant business, construction was completed, and the Teahouse opened in spring of 1998. Both the inside and outside of this fabulous building are elaborately adorned with colorful carved, painted and sculpted elements, mostly traditional, plus some contemporary artistry.
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And Other broccoli-like vegetables:
