‘Hameln’ is a smaller and hardier variety of fountain grass with three distinctive seasons of attractive displays. Green, fine-textured grass blades up to 2 feet tall are tipped with soft, foxtail-shaped seed heads. Foliage turns rust gold in autumn and pale blonde in winter, and is a favorite stopover for birds. Taking moderate watering, it’s great match for late-season perennials and colorful shrubs in the sunny mixed border.
Hardy to Zone 5.
Native! Little Bluestem is very erect to 24”-30” with fine foliage and blooms in late summer-early fall. Blooms turn white and catch the early morning and late afternoon sun beautifully when back-lit. The foliage turns copper and looks good for a long time. Very drought-tolerant. Selections ‘The Blues’ and ‘Prairie Blues’ have very blue foliage during the growing season. ‘Blaze’ is a colorful selection of the common native in this region.
Hardy to Zone 3.
Native! The ‘little brother’ of Giant Sacaton. The foliage mass is about 2’x2’, with the large, pinkish airy bloom/seed plumes rising to 40-48″ tall. For a ‘warm-season’ grass, Alkali Sacaton gets growing quite early in spring, so prune it back in February. A robust native, Alkali Sacaton flowers for many months, beginning in June. Deep rooted, this grass grows well in all soil types including sand, loam and clay as well as alkaline and salty soils, and prefers moderate to low moisture. On the prairie Sporobolus is used by animals for forage, cover and nesting. Its seeds are relished by birds.
Hardy to Zone 4.
Historically February is one of Colorado’s snowiest months, and finally we’re beginning to see evidence of that this year! Additionally, the forecast indicates more to come. It remains to be seen how some of our marginally hardy garden plants have suffered from the below zero temperatures.
Many of us may have the tops of ornamental grasses and various perennials peeking out of the blanket of the snow, which provides habitat for overwintering beneficial insects and it helps to keep the plant roots and crowns warmer. But very soon it will be time to cut back Cool-Season ornamental grasses before their active growth begins, which will allow light to penetrate the entire clump. See Eve’s instructions, below. [Read More]
We are all enjoying and appreciating the exceptional fall colors this year. The yellows are especially rich, and the reds are especially vivid. What is going on when the green leaves turn colors and why are the colors so spectacular this year?
We know that the green color of the leaves comes from the pigment chlorophyll that makes it possible for plants to capture energy from sunlight and use it to make the sugars that feed the whole planet. When the long days of summer get shorter and shorter, highlighted by the fall equinox this year on September 22, the plants get less and less sunlight and less and less energy to make chlorophyll. When leaves contain less chlorophyll, other pigments become more dominant. [Read More]
Native! Silver Beardgrass is a native perennial clump-grass with fuzzy, light-gathering, white fruiting heads atop tall, slender, stiff stems and narrow blades. At first glance it looks like foxtail grass, but up close you see that instead of the flower head being compact and spike-like, as in the foxtails, it’s a narrow, branched panicle. It occurs along roads, in spots in fields of Big Bluestem, on the rocky slopes of hills, and it’s a very tough grass specializing in dry, open places from South America to Colorado. It’s not flamboyant-looking until those slender, white heads catch the back-lighting sun in late summer; then they are very eye-catching.
Our 2022 Fall Members-Only Sale has finished, and now our Big Fall Sale has begun, with 20% off for everyone! Plants included in this week’s sale are:
Allium caeruleum (syn. A. azureum) (Blue Globe Onion)
Found on dry slopes, plains, and steppes of Central Asia, this Allium offers 1.5” spherical clusters of tiny flowers of a startling true sky blue in late spring and early summer and complement all of the warm colors perfectly. Tuck them among clumps of summer-flowering perennials where the Alliums’ withering foliage will be hidden by the expanding perennials, or plant a mass of them in a larger garden. Long-lived, drought tolerant and deer and rodent resistant, this species is hardy to Zone 4 and attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
A most surprising, outrageous flower for xeriscapes! The giant globes, to 10” diameter or more, are held on fairly short stems, 8”-18” tall, blooming in mid-spring. The hundreds of starry, silver-lavender florets each have a green ‘eye’ are arranged so that their petal-tips touch to form a perfect sphere. This easy naturalizer has been highly successful in our xeriscape display gardens, eliciting lots of interest. Also spectacular in large flower arrangements, fresh or dried.
Deer and rabbit resistant, and very drought-tolerant. If you don’t want it to naturalize, dead-head before the seeds mature.
Zone 4. 14”- 24” tall. Plant 6”-8” deep and 8”-10” apart.
Allium
A lovely mix of purple, lavender and white tall, hardy, medium-sized, globe-shaped ornamental onions that bloom together in mid-spring.
Allium New York
Allium ‘New York’
This delightful new flowering onion presents lilac-pink flattened globes of star-shaped florets dotted with green eyes floating above the foliage on strong stems 20” to 28” tall. Plant Allium ‘New York’ with some of the classic blue Alliums for sparkling color contrast. Blooming just when spring Daffodil and Tulip bulbs are finished for the season, their beauty supplies color with interesting flower shapes to create a garden design with texture and depth. They are equally lovely when they dry on the stems and go to seed. Even smaller gardens can accommodate their vertical presence. Flowering Onions provide loads of nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies. Cold-hardy to Zone 4.
Allium rosenbachianum (Showy Persian Onion)
A hard-to-find heritage species of ornamental onion found in the Himalayas of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Showy Persian Onion blooms in late spring, about 2 weeks earlier than other large-flowered onions, atop strong 24-30” stems. The 4” diameter dark violet spheres are packed with florets that are rich in nectar and pollen, making them favorites of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. They work well planted in a perennial bed where the perennials will grow in and cover the allium’s aging foliage. Plant 6 to 8” deep and 6” apart in groups of 3 or 5 in sunny or part-shade locations in enriched, well-drained soil. Hardy to Zone 4.
An enchanting, early-blooming member of the Buttercup family that grows from a tuber. Where happy, it spreads to form a carpet-like groundcover with ferny deep green foliage and 1”- wide open-faced sky-blue daisy flowers with yellow eyes. Provides a long-lasting display in early spring.
Works well under daffodils and tulips, in rock gardens, or in masses under deciduous shrubs and trees. Prefers a humus-rich soil, average moisture and good drainage in a sunny or partly shaded location.
Hardy to Zone 5, 3-4” tall.
Blue Melody Camassia
Bulb. Z4. 12-18” tall. Blooms late spring to early summer. Compost-improved soil.
Blue Melody camassia is native to the Pacific Northwest and appreciates fertile, moist soil in full sun or part shade. Place in a low spot in your garden or near a downspout’s output to provide sufficient moisture without needing to water frequently. Excellent cut flower. Deer and rabbit resistant. These incredibly showy, lapis-colored blooms open sequentially from the bottom of the stem up to the top. Naturalizes well and fills in the gap between the bloom of Daffodils and Tulips. Looks terrific interplanted with candytuft and snow in summer.
Waterlily Autumn Crocus
Bulb. Z5. 6-8” tall. Blooms mid-autumn. Compost-improved soil. Heirloom.
Adds plentiful, brilliant color to your fall garden. Large 3” silky, lilac-pink flowers will naturalize in your garden over the years. 1-6 flowers rise from each corm. Very hardy plant. Foliage appears in early summer, and flowers in the autumn. Toxic to dogs and cats. Wash hands after handling. Deer and rabbit resistant. Beautiful in front of shrubs, along pathways and patios and around low-growing perennials.
“The less biodiverse any system is, the greater the potential for its collapse.” Janisse Ray, from The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food.
We’ve been reading headlines stating that 93% of seed varieties available in the early 20th century had disappeared from commerce by 1980. The biggest factor in this drastic decline in diversity is consolidation of the industry. The big multi-national corporations have systematically bought up smaller companies and in so doing have ended production of vast numbers of time-tested open-pollinated and older hybrid varieties and prioritized the production of new patented proprietary hybrids. [Read More]
Basil is one of the great culinary pleasures of summer, and it’s definitely NOT TOO LATE to plant Basil and enjoy a good crop! Basil plants are beautiful, grow equally well in the ground or in pots, thrive in hot weather, provide a continuous, bounteous crop, and Basil’s many different flavors are essential to a variety of distinctive cuisines. It can be used fresh, dried, or frozen in oil or as pesto. Though basil leaves lose most of the aromatic oils when dried, we have still found that basil dried from your garden is so much more flavorful than commercial dried basil.
ALL of our Basil plants are organically grown! [Read More]
We’re excited that the City of Boulder is gathering feedback from the community about how we use our yards, preferences for landscaping and interest in a citywide effort to create pollinator habitat patches and pathways. Pollinator pathways connect safe, pesticide-free native plant patches of habitat for bees, birds, butterflies, and other wildlife to provide food and nesting sites. Native pollinators are vital to our ecosystems and pathways support pollinator populations, as well as safe passage for movement across the city.
Sow Fall Crops and be ready for the 2022 growing season! We’re bringing in fresh seeds, packed for 2022, from our local Botanical Interests Seed Company, and should have them on display sometime this Thursday. Most of these seeds are certified organic.
Now is a great time to plant seeds for fall crops such as spinach, lettuce, mesclun, kale, swiss chard, arugula, mustard greens, and watermelon radish. Sow seeds this fall for mache, which will provide tasty salad greens in late winter, before the more conventional spring greens are ready. Fall sowing is also ideal for hardy, drought-tolerant annual flowers like borage, California poppies, cornflower, larkspur, love-in-a-mist, breadseed poppies, and Shirley poppies.[Read More]
Yes, you can still plant many vegetables and annual flowers, now at greatly reduced prices! If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse, you can grow most peppers, eggplants and tomatoes year-round. In the open garden, look for vegetable varieties that mature the fastest – cucumbers and summer squash, tomatoes, and peppers at 75 days or less. And Kale can still be planted in locations with afternoon shade.
Our best selection of plants for the 2021 season is here now! Our selection of plants for shade and part shade has never been better, including Hosta (many kinds!), Ferns (5 kinds!), Bergenia, Hellebore, Foxglove, Geranium (many), Coral Bells (many), Monkshood, Persicaria, Pulmonaria, Golden Wood Poppy and Clematis (lots!), and some new selections, like Solomon’s Seal (2 kinds)!
Keep it Covered: Exposed soil is vulnerable to water loss, microbial die-off, erosion and degradation. Use mulch or cover crops to protect it.
Amend Responsibly: Improve soil quality by adding compost or decomposed organic matter, rather than relying solely on chemical fertilizers.
Minimize Disturbance (No-Till): Avoid unnecessary tilling or digging, which disrupts the soil microbiome and structure.
Avoid Compaction: Never walk on, drive on, or store items on garden beds. Compacted soil prevents air and water from reaching plant roots.
Harlequin’s has all your soil needs so that you can maintain and increase your soil’s health and potential.
Just as we were beginning to think that Spring was here to stay, a brief return to a winter that never was! It is always wise to prepare for a potential cold snap in the Front Range! According to BoulderCast weather, a strong cold front arrives Friday; a colder Canadian trough with potential for accumulating wet snow at ALL elevations.
A Friday night freeze is likely, with lows in the 20s for the Plains and teens in the Foothills. Another freeze may occur Saturday night. Since it is still early in the season, you have have not planted many tender plants yet, but Harlequin’s has both the protocol and the tools that you need to protect your plantings. From in-stock row covers to time-tested strategies, Harlequin’s can help.
We were just getting comfy and confident in the progressing spring weather, when Mother Nature reminds us that She is in control!
According to the NOAA extended forecast for Boulder, CO, there is a Hazardous Weather Outlook for northeast and north central Colorado later this week. Our weather is expected to shift beginning Thursday night into Friday when a cooler and wetter pattern moves in. Night temperatures Thursday are forecast to drop to about 40˚F, and day temperatures will hover in the low 50s. Friday and Saturday could bring even lower temperatures, with highs of only 45 and lows of 33, possibly accompanied by strong winds, rain, snow and/or H_ _L! It appears that this weather pattern could continue through Sunday / Monday. Temperatures in your garden will depend on your elevation and exposure, and could drop below freezing.
What this means for your plant care, especially tender vegetables, and annuals, is that it’s time to prepare to bundle them up later in the week before the cold snap arrives. Here’s how you can best do so. [Read More]
In mid-August, Mikl and Eve had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful, newly created and planted Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens in central Lyons, CO. Envisioned and designed by herbalist, botanist, and educator Garima Fairfax (a beloved former Harlequin’s staffer!) and brought to fruition with a team of dedicated volunteers and grant money, the non-profit botanic garden is a delightful and educational display of native annuals, perennials, shrubs, vines, and trees. It is easily accessed along popular walking and cycling trails. [Read More]
RUSSIAN HAWTHORN
Very tough and xeric, grows 15’ high and wide, white flowers and red berries, loves Colorado conditions!
ROCKY MT. MAPLE
Native to our foothills, likes to grow in the protection of other trees, red fall color, 10’-15’.
GAMBEL OAK and WAVYLEAF OAK
Both natives that grow 10’-15’, with little water and poor soil, support birds.
HACKBERRY
Good shade tree to replace an ash, a fast-growing hardwood, the most drought tolerant shade tree.
WHITE MULBERRY
The hardiest mulberry, 25-30’ tall and wide, very xeric, white fruit is tasty and does not stain. Brings Western Tanagers, Orioles to your garden!
GOLDEN RAIN TREE
25′ xeric tree with golden flowers in July, orange lantern-like pods, orange fall color, seeds abundantly.
CHOKECHERRY
Native, suckering tree to 15′-25′ with white flowers, edible fruit; great for birds and butterflies.
SUCKER PUNCH CHOKECHERRY
Leaves start green then turn red all season, non-suckering, white flowers, berries.
SILVER BUFFALOBERRY (Shepherdia)
10′ native small tree with edible red fruit on female plants,, silver leaves, very xeric, few thorns.
MAYDAY TREE (Prunus padus)
20′-30′ with clusters of white flowers, then bird fruit, fast screen.
WESTERN CATALPA
40′-50′ with vertical habit, fragrant orchid-like flowers, huge heart-shaped leaves, 12″ beans, xeric and special.
ARIZONA CYPRESS
20′-30′ hardy evergreen, blue foliage is fragrant, not scratchy, quite fast growing, bird favorite.
Plus, Honeylocust, Crab Apples, Silver Maple, Bur Oak, Thornless Cockspur Hawthorn, Aspen, Ptelea, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Ohio Buckeye, Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, Hot Wings Maple, Alder, Native Birch, Bigtooth Maple, and More!
We have to suck carbon out of the atmosphere naturally — by planting trillions of trees…
– Senior Climate Scientist Brenda Ekwurzel
This includes Amorpha, Manzanitas, Mt. Mahoganies, Big Sage, Fringed Sage, Sand Sage, Lilacs, Butterfly Bushes, Pea Shrubs, Gambel Oak, Viburnums, Spireas, Potentillas, Sand Cherry, Rabbitbrush, Fernbush, Mountain Ninebark, Cliff Rose, Lewis Mockorange, Mikl’s Pick Mockorange, Boulder Raspberry, Boxwoods, Cotoneasters, Honeysuckles, New Mexican Privet, Flowering Quince, Ephedra, Euonymus, Sumacs, Currants, Yuccas, and many more!
VINES
Honeysuckle, Trumpet Vine, Wisteria, Silver Lace, Clematis, Euonymus and MORE!
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
– The Lorax (Dr. Seuss)
Papaver ‘Lauren’s Grape’
Some customers wonder why we are selling starts of self-sowing hardy annuals like Larkspur, Rocky Mt. Beeplant, California Poppy, Peony-flowered Poppy, Pheasant’s Eye, Sweet Alyssum, Nodding Dragonshead, Bee’s Friend, 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]
Eriogonum umbellatum var. aureum ‘Psdowns’ (Kannah Creek® buckwheat). Photo Credit: Plant Select
SULFUR FLOWER KANNAH CREEK
Mahogany fall color. Eriogonum allennii – 3′ wide, very xeric, yellow flowers, a winner. Eriogonum umbellatum – yellow blooms cover xeric native mat, feeds butterflies, bees.
ASCLEPIAS INCARNATA
1′-3′ Full Sun, Attracts butterflies, native and honeybees, hummingbirds.
ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA
Butterfly Weed, orange flowers, 1’-2’ high, essential Monarch food and nectar.
NATIVE PUSSYTOES, ASTER, Arnica, Skyrocket Ipomopsis, Blazing Star, Navajo Tea, Prairie Sundrops (Calylophus serrulatus)
NATIVE BEE-BALM
–Monarda fistulosa: Showy purple blooms bring bees, hummers, butterflies; deer-resistant.
MANY PENSTEMONS INCLUDING P. VIRENS
2”x 8”, short spikes of blue flowers; shiny, dark evergreen leaves.
MANY COLUMBINES INCLUDING
Rocky Mt., Denver Gold, Western Red, Barneby’s
Dalea purpurea (Purple Prairie Clover)
PURPLE PRAIRIE CLOVER
Long lived xeric native loved by many bee species, bright purple-pink, nitrogen-fixing.
GAILLARDIA ARISTATE – BlanketFlower
LIATRIS PUNCTATA – Gayfeather
OENOTHERAS – Evening Primroses
CHOCOLATE FLOWER
12″ x 24″ wide, yellow daisies with chocolate fragrance, very xeric native.
SPHAERALCEA MUNROANA
Hardy, 18” vivid orange blooms all spring, bee-loved, low-water, silver leaves, rare.
ERYSIMUM WHEELERI/WHEELER’S WALLFLOWER
Tall, long-blooming biennial, vivid burnt-orange flowers, exclusive!
GEUM TRIFLORUM/PRAIRIE SMOKE
Colorado native, handsome foliage, reddish flowers, feathery seedheads, sun/part shade.
Engelmannia peristenia (Engelmann Daisy)
ENGELMANNIA PERISTENIA/ENGELMAN DAISY
Plant Select, neat golden daisies all summer, 18”h low water beauty
TOWNSENDIA HOOKERI & KIN
Native ‘Easter Daisies” grow dry, begin bloom super-early in neat little clumps.
ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA/NARROW-LEAF CONEFLOWER
Premier immune herb, large pink or white summer blooms.
MANY AGASTACHES
Blue Fortune, Coronado, Black Adder, A. rupestris.
SAGE
Culinary, Purple, Berggarten, Blue Hill, May Night, Caradonna, Furman’s Red, Mojave, S.azurea, S. argentea.
Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’
DIANTHUS
Tuscan Honeymoon – grassy foliage, 2’-3’ stalks of pink flowers late summer D. gratianopolitanus – very tough groundcover. very fragrant pink flowers, durable. D. Blue Hills – the bluest foliage, fragrant flowers, 12” diam. D. Firewitch – fragrant; D. petraeus noeanus – Jasmine Dianthus, powerfully fragrant.
HARDY GERANIUMS
Biokovo, Splendens, St. Ola, Crystal Rose, Cambridge, Ballerina,G. macrorrhizum, G. sanguineum
ECHINACEA
purpurea, Magnus, White Swan, E. tennesseensis, E. pallida, E. paradoxa, Cherokee Sunset
ROSEMARY
Arp, Madeline Hill, Tuscan Blue, Prostrata.
HARLEQUIN’S SILVER GERMANDER, T. rotundifolium, T. chamaedrys
MANY LAVENDERS
Royal Velvet, Grosso, Twickle Purple, Munstead, Hidcote, Thumbalina Leigh, Vera, Wee One.
ORNAMENTAL OREGANO
Kent’s Beauty, Amethyst Falls, etc, cascading groundcovers, long blooming, bee-loved.
PLUS
Scabiosa Fama, Sedum nevii, Corsican Violet, Limonium gmelinii, Lallemantia canescens, Firefly Coralbells, Fancy Heucheras, many Hostas, and many, many more!
Datura meteloides
Snapdragons, Zinnia, Lauren’s Grape Poppy, Petunias, Datura, Pansies, California Poppy, Nicotiana, Salvias, Larkspurs, Peony-flowered Poppies, Swan River Daisy, Sweet Alyssum, Calendula, Kiwi Blue Honeywort, Cleome, Cuphia, Dahlia, Sacred Datura, Gomphrena, Marigolds, Nasturtiums, Baby Blue-Eyes, Love-in-a-Mist, Sun Rose, California Bluebells, Wax Begonia, Blackeyed Susan Vine, Annual Periwinkle, Canterbury Bells, and more!
Some veggies seem to shy away from the limelight, flourishing underground to provide a surprising, beautiful, and nutritious surprise later in the season. Growing root vegetables is generally easy, and can be a fun way to engage children in gardening. In addition, mountain gardeners often find that root veggies thrive in their cooler conditions.
Once planted, root veggies do not like to be disturbed and therefore are best planted by seed. (We do sell Bull’s Blood Beets as a starts, but these are generally grown for their greens.) We have Botanical Interests, Masa, and Seed Savers Exchange seeds for many root veggies including: [Read More]
One of our specialties is fruiting plants that are adapted to Colorado conditions. All the apples we carry are resistant to fireblight and good tasting. And the cherries we sell are all proven successful in Colorado. Our grapes are the hardiest of any you will find, delicious fresh, in juice and a few are good for wine. And we have productive & good tasting currants, gooseberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries including: [Read More]
At least 14 countries have now given legal rights to rivers and other ecosystems.
– The Sierra Club
Do you have plants that you like, but that need to be moved to a different location in your garden? Or has your clump of Shasta Daisy, Daylily, Hardy Geranium, etc. become too wide and now needs to be divided? By dividing your mature perennials, you get free plants to expand your garden, to give to neighbors, or pot up and donate to a fund-raising event like KGNU FM Community Radio’s Spring Plant Sale! The next couple of weeks bring the very best opportunity to accomplish these moves without stressing your plants too much. Search the web for instructions from a trusted source for dividing the specific plant you’re working with.
Q: Can I plant now?
A: It depends!
Yay! For those of us gardening at about a mile high, the threat of frost is nearly 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), and we have a remarkable selection! Our stock of seeds and starts for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, summer & winter squash, melons, pumpkins, and watermelons are excellent. We also have plenty of seeds for beans – bush, pole, runner, and dry. A hint about bean seeds: white-seeded beans are more tolerant of cool soils, so they can be planted sooner. [Read More]
COOL SEASON VEGGIESWe have a Fantastic Selection, too many to list!
ARUGULA
Wild Arugula, Astro, (spring), Ice-Bred (fall)
BROCCOLI
Fiesta, Nutribud, Leaf Broccoli, Spigariello di Liscia Leaf Broccoli, Aspabroc
Purple Majesty when cooked
Yellow Finn, Purple Majesty, Harvest Moon, and Norland Dark Red.
Heirloom Tohono O’odham Multiplier Onion plants
Patterson Red, Redwing, Walla Walla, Ailsa Craig, Red Long of Tropea, Red Geneva, Gladstone, Borrettano, Dakota Tears, Bianco di Maggio.
ALSO, Leeks and Shallots.
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.
EGGPLANTSGALINE
72 days, F-1 hybrid
Early, dependable Italian-style eggplant, mild, creamy-fleshed fruits averaging 1 lb., with glossy black skin.
80 days, Open-pollinated
Golden Treasure is a very tasty and sweet Italian heirloom frying/stuffing pepper, growing to 9” long, with juicy flesh and thin skin. It is also delicious roasted, or raw as a snack or salad pepper. Golden Treasure peppers ripen from green to a glossy golden yellow on very productive plants 2-3’ tall
Even though we are about to receive our biggest snowstorm of this winter thus far, you can still make great progress on your garden by starting seeds indoors or even outside if your garden is prepared and you’re quick and can sow them tomorrow morning! You can also plant our hardy perennials, vines, shrubs and trees that have overwintered outdoors ahead of the storm. And our Onion plants – they’re very cold-hardy, and the earlier they’re planted, the larger their bulbs at harvest time! And, if you can plant in a cold-frame, or under a low tunnel of sheet plastic or Row Cover Fabric, you can plant our spring vegetable starts! Heading varieties like Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower will give you [Read More]
Native! A lovely small grass found here in the foothills and eastward across the Western prairies. Growing to 1-2’ tall and wide, it makes an elegant, fine-textured, emerald green fountain, suitable in many garden styles. The fine-textured plumes that rise above the foliage clump are attractive in bloom and in seed, and are favored by songbirds. The inflorescences are pleasantly fragrant – some say they smell like burnt buttered popcorn. Plains Indian tribes ground the seeds to make a tasty flour.
Prairie Dropseed is also drought tolerant and turns a nice russet brown in fall. Hardy to Zone 4.
Photo Credit: Plant Select
Native! Comes up earlier in spring than most other warm season grasses. It also flowers earlier than most other warm-season grasses. This huge S.W. native grass grows to 6-10’ tall and 4-6’ wide, tolerates most soils and is very drought-tolerant. Huge airy flower/seed panicles are ornamental well into winter.
Hardy to Zone 5. Cut back to 2-3” in late winter.
Despite the access we have right now to our snow-free gardens, in general it’s not time to begin garden clean up. Undoubtedly (hopefully!) we will receive more snowfall in February and March and it is beneficial to keep leaves on the ground and last-year’s stalks on our perennials because this cover provides habitat for overwintering beneficial insects and it helps to keep the plant roots and crowns warmer.
In late February and early March it will be time to cut back certain Clematis vines, depending on their category. Here is an in-depth guide to the three Clematis Pruning Groups. [Read More]
Attractive Evergreens for Colorado Gardens
At the time of the Winter Solstice, we can be grateful for the evergreens in our Colorado gardens. Not every region of the temperate northern hemisphere can grow so many different beautiful plants with year-round presence.
There are so many evergreen (and eversilver, everblue, red and purple) hardy perennials, groundcovers, shrubs, herbs, and trees (and not just conifers!) we can grow here. They go above and beyond in their service as ornamental plants in all four seasons. [Read More]
This fall-blooming crocus emerges as a cheery surprise in October or November with bright violet-purple open cupped petals and brilliant orange stigmas, the source of the precious spice, saffron. The blooms are accompanied by short blades of dark green, grass-like foliage which elongates after the flowers have finished and may re-appear in spring.
Wonderful in the sunny rock garden, and among low, xeric groundcovers such as Turkish Veronica or ‘Tough-as-Nails’ (Paronychia kapela). Saffron Crocus prefers a location that is warm, sunny and dry, with very good drainage and only wants moisture when it is in flower and active growth.
PLANT THESE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE to enjoy flowers this fall! Plant 2-4″ deep, 3″ apart. Zone 6. 4”-5” tall
Blue Marlin Crocus
Bulb. Z3. 2-4” tall. Blooms late winter/early spring. Compost-improved soil.
The Blue Marlin species crocus is one of the earliest to flower. Pale lilac blossoms with a small golden-yellow center. It is quite hardy, surviving very cold weather and heavy snowfall. Good for forcing indoors. Deer and rabbit resistant. Lovely in rock gardens and along pathways or on borders. Early fodder for hungry bees. May interplant in lawns. In a perennial garden, best planted in drifts of 20 or more. Lovely with iris reticulate.
Crocus x luteus ‘Golden Yellow’, courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden
Crocus x luteus ‘Golden Yellow’
The 4” – 6” tall fragrant flowers of ‘Golden Yellow’ Giant Crocus are a rich buttercup hue. The corms are incredibly floriferous, producing 4 to 12 flowers per corm the first-year, in April. Plant in a sunny or partly sunny area, 4” apart. This excellent heirloom variety has been a garden favorite since 1600. The corms multiply rapidly and naturalize beautifully. Cold-hardy to Zone 4.
Crocus Specie – Snow Crocus ‘Aqua’
This charming new crocus can begin blooming as early as February here in sunny Colorado. With a shade of blue-violet blooms quite different from typical ‘purple’crocus, ‘Aqua’ is a heavy bloomer and exceptional naturalizer, and it attracts early pollinators to the area. Low growing (4-6″ tall), it is versatile enough to add color and style to front borders, containers, rock gardens, between deciduous trees and shrubs. Plant in full to part sun, 3-4” deep and 3-4” apart. Cold-hardy to Zone 3
Crocus Specie Mixed
A lovely mix of ‘snow crocus’, spring’s earliest jewels, so cheery and so welcomed by gardeners and honeybees! Colors range from pure white to rich purple, with bright yellows, lavenders, bicolors and stripes included. Depending on their location, they can begin to bloom as early as the beginning of February! Tuck them into rock gardens and under deciduous shrubs and trees, edge a shrub or perennial border, plant large drifts, or force them in pots for indoor pleasure! Mostly native to the Balkans and Turkey, these diminutive gems are hardy to Zone 3. Plant in full to part sun, 4” deep and 3-4” apart in well-drained soil.
Crocus sieberi ‘Tricolor’ (‘Tricolor’ botanical Crocus)
One of the most striking and earliest crocuses to flower, Tricolor’s graceful, 4”-tall blooms have a big garden impact. The fragrant flowers have rich purple petals and golden throats beautifully edged with a prominent pure white band. The golden anthers and orange stigma are prominent in the center. Born in March or early April on sturdy stems, the blooms open with the narrow, dark green leaves. Plant 4″ deep and 3″ to 4″ apart in a sunny or lightly shaded location.
The superb blue Autumn Crocus, blooms in early to mid-autumn, arriving to brighten the garden at a time when many other plants have finished blooming. Autumn Crocus has large, sky-blue to purple flowers with golden-orange stigmas and anthers. They stand 4” tall and emerge without the narrow grassy foliage that will follow bloom. They will naturalize, and over the years, the clumps increase in size and duration of bloom.
Autumn Crocus provides a stunning surprise rising out of a mass of perennial groundcover such as Plumbago, Evergreen Candytuft, ‘Harlequin’s Silver’ Teucrium, or any of the Geranium x cantabrigiense selections!
Average soil and moisture, full to part sun, most soils except heavy clay, cold hardy to Zone 4.
PLANT THESE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE to enjoy flowers this fall! For drifts, plant 10 bulbs per square foot.
