Orange Emperor Tulip
Bulb. Z3. 14-16” tall. Blooms early-mid spring. Compost-improved soil.
A feast for winter-weary eyes, the petals of Orange Emperor are a blend of tangerine, orange, pale yellow and apricot. This tulip brightens up your spirit along with your rock garden or perennial bed! Huge bowl-shaped blooms create a stunning display if planted in mass. Marvelous cut flower. Grows well in containers. Gorgeous planted under quince or forsythia shrubs.
Tulip ‘Lasting Love’
Extend the tulip season with this elegant beauty. Lasting Love’s dramatic deep burgundy petals are edged with softer red tones. The slightly recurved petals give it a very sophisticated look. Blooming in late spring (May) atop 18-20″ sturdy stems, it’s a beautiful cut-flower, too. The foliage on this variety is also notable, in an attractive blue-green hue. Lasting Love is a perennial tulip that returns year after year. Tulips perform best when planted in well-drained soil and in full sun to partial shade. Hardy in Zones 3-8.
This is a soft-neck silverskin variety. Rose-colored cloves in very smooth bright-white bulbs. Beautiful garlic to braid! This is a longest-storing garlic. Like all fast-growing Silverskin garlic, this type is frequently planted in the spring. Very popular in Western and Southern US and in France and Italy. There are 12-15 cloves per head.
Photo Credit, Irish Eyes Garden Seed
This vigorous, easy-to-grow heirloom variety arrived in the US over 100 years ago. It is famous for its classic rich, complex ‘true garlic’ flavor and is one of the most popular with restaurants/chefs. The large, purple streaked bulbs often reach three inches in diameter and typically have seven to twelve large tan cloves. Spanish Roja peels easily and keeps for up to 4-6 months when properly stored (the outer bulb wrappers are thin and flake off easily so be careful to keep them intact to prolong storage). Like all hard-neck garlic, Spanish Roja will produce curly ‘scapes’ (flowering stems), which can be snipped off and used for another culinary treat in late spring. This variety grows well in cold winter areas, and is cold-hardy to Zone 3.
A gorgeous, sturdy, low-growing (8”) naturalizing tulip, perfect for the rock garden, meadow or perennial border. ‘The First’ is very early, blooming in March or April. When closed, the red and white outer petals present a candy-cane striped effect. On sunny days, they open wide (~4″) and look like single waterlilies, revealing an ivory white interior with a bright yellow center and, sometimes, small coral-red markings.
Hardy to Zone 3. Plant 6” deep, 6” apart. Zone 3, 4” tall.
Photo Credit, Irish Eyes Garden Seed
A late-season Porcelain-type, Svea is the ‘chunky tuna’ of Porcelains, producing large, flattened bulbs with 5 to 8 fat, easy-to-peel cloves. The colorful bulbs show red and purple stripes on their skins and clove wrappers. Blessed with strong, spicy-hot flavor when raw, the flavor mellows to a tasty nuttiness when roasted or baked.
NEW for 2019!
The darkest Triumph tulip, dramatic purple-black with a straight-sided shape. Earlier than ‘Queen of Night’ but a very similar color. Contrasts wonderfully with any color of tulip, whether your garden plan is classic or goth. Triumph tulips perennialize well in the garden if left uncut and fertilized after blooming. 16–18″ tall. Mid Spring blooms, Z3-7
These adorable Species Tulips have reddish-pink petals with glowing, blue-eyed centers.
Plant 3” deep in full to part sun. Lightly fragrant. Grows 4-6” tall. Zone 3.
Muvota Triumph Tulip
Bulb. Z3. 16-18” tall. Blooms mid-spring. Compost-improved soil.
A show-stopper! The striking contrasting petals of dark red/maroon petals with dusty orange/rose edges will give your garden plenty of second glances. Plant in masses and close to walkways to maximize visibility. Stunning cut flower. Plant with large solid swatches of forget me nots, candytuft or basket of gold.
Mystic Fantasy Tulip Blend
Bulb. Z3. 20-24” tall. Blooms late spring. Compost-improved soil.
Unbelievably evocative combination of maroon, wine, mahogany, yellow, red and white petals on tall, graceful tulips. A gorgeous blend lovely against early green foliage emerging on shrubs and trees. Makes nice bouquets of cut flowers. Attractive interplanted with candytuft, garden thyme, and white alliums.
These are among our favorite fragrant roses. While we grow and sell many of these, they are not always ready to be put out for sale, and quantities are always limited! Come by and view our current selection, and check our 2024 Rose list.
Banshee Rose
“Banshee” (found) Z 4, dbl pink 2″ early & long-blooming May-June, rich sweet damask fragrance; large shrub or climber, no die-back, very disease resistant, very tough & tolerant of low water, poor soil, shade, once established. Distinctive matte foliage, fall color- purple, orange. Common in old neighborhoods all along the Front Range.Not terribly prickly. Cut armloads for big fragrant spring bouquets!
Fairmont Proserpine, courtesy High Country Roses
“Fairmount Proserpine” (found, Denver)
Darlow’s Enigma
Darlow’s Enigma (Cl. Hyb. Musk ?) Vigorous large shrub or climber of unknown origin with very disease-resistant, handsome glossy foliage. Small white semidouble flowers in clusters, borne throughout the season , are very sweetly scented. Very shade-tolerant. Zone 4.
Golden Wings
Golden Wings (Shrub) A healthy, vigorous, open shrub to 5-6’ tall and wide, with large, almost single lemon yellow blossoms accented by showy dark red stamens. The petals fade quickly to white in our strong sun. Blooms all season. Keep dead-headed ‘til August , then allow it to form attractive red hips. Hardy to Zone 5, maybe 4.
Morden Sunrise
Morden Sunrise (Canadian Shrub) A compact shrub, to about 3’x3’. Seems pretty tough in our test/display garden. Semi-double flowers open from orange buds, are 2 1/2 to 3″wide and shade from soft, tawny yellow to apricot pink, to orange. Moderately strong Tea rose fragrance is unusual for a Canadian rose, which are generally scentless. Hardy to Zone 3, almost continuous blooming.
Rosa spinosissima
Rosa spinosissima (Scotsbrier) (Species) My favorite species rose, as it perfumes my gardening hours with its strong, very sweet scent – one of the few fragrances that really carry in our dry air. The 4’ tall shrub is shade tolerant, and has very small leaves on gracefully arching canes that are covered with the lovely pure white single blooms for about 2 1/2 weeks in May. Hardy to Zone 3.
Rose de Rescht
Rose de Rescht (Portland or Damask Perpetual) A very distictive Old Rose, supposedly discovered in Iran. The flowers are small, 1 1/2″ or slightly larger, rich fuschia-red with strong purple tints, aging to magenta, very double, tightly formed rosettes, almost pom-poms, produced in small clusters amid lots of foliage. Exceptional strong Damask fragrance. Excellent repeat. The shrub is healthy, compact and bushy, to 4-5’ tall and wide. Canes are quite prickly. Hardy to Zone 4.
Sharifa Asma
Sharifa Asma (English) Slow to establish, but worth the wait. Blooms are large, double, delicate shell pink, cupped, and blessed with a strong Old-rose and fruity (litchi) fragrance. Leaves are dark green, slightly leathery, and healthy as long as the shrub is not in too much shade. Growth is upright to 4’.
Some fragrant roses to try at higher elevations:
Alba Semi-plena
Alba Suaveolens
Maiden’s Blush
Chloris
Konigen von Danemark
Rosa spinosissima
Rosa rugosa alba
Rosa rugosa ‘Magnifica’
Metis
Banshee
Gallica roses
Centifolia roses
Therese Bugnet
Morden Sunrise
Rugosa roses
Tulipa Persian Pearl
Persian Pearl Wildflower Tulip is uniquely colored with showy purple-red petals and a bright yellow center. Like most of the wildflower tulips, Tulipa h. ‘Persian Pearl’ multiplies itself readily. Fragrant. Said to be deer-resistant!
Early to mid-spring bloom. Full sun to part shade. Thrives in moderate to low-water gardens.
Prinses Irene Triumph Tulip
Bulb. Z3. 14-16” tall. Blooms mid-late spring. Compost-improved soil.
Bold orange and purple flowers on very sturdy stems successfully brave the worst weather spring can throw at them. Grow well in containers or outside in perennial beds. Great for forcing indoors. Gorgeous in bouquets of cut flowers. Combine with grape hyacinths for a stunning effect. Fragrant.
Purple Pride Tulip
Bulb. Z3. 20-24” tall. Blooms mid-late spring. Compost-improved soil.
A Darwin hybrid with multiple lilac-purple petals that have a pink sheen. Has huge 5” blooms. Plant in mass for eye-catching color in your spring garden. Sturdy stems withstand snow and wind. Lovely cut flower. Grows well in containers. Gorgeous when planted with coral-colored tulips
The full petals of this bright and stylish Amaryllis are a saturated red, overlaid with a white star and accented by stippled veining and a light green throat.
Available in our decorative gold-boxed holiday sets, which include the bulb, a white plastic growing pot, soil disc, and planting instructions.
Photo Credit: DeVroomen
The jumbo bulb of Black Pearl produces well-proportioned plants with up to 5 bloom stalks, each crowned with a cluster of velvety deep wine-red blooms, each flower up to 8” across!
Available as individual bulbs.
A gorgeous, bright red flower with wide petals. A perfect holiday decoration!
Available as individual bulbs, and in our decorative gold-boxed holiday sets, which include the bulb, a white plastic growing pot, soil disc, and planting instructions.
The Canadians, like their English and French ancestors, have a great love of roses. However much of Canada is in zones 4, 3 and even zone 2. Therefore many of the hybrid tea and floribunda roses bred in modern times have not been tough enough for Canadian gardeners. So the Canadians set their own federal agriculture department to work on breeding roses that succeed in Canada. Not only do these roses do well north of our border, they are very successful in Colorado, even in our higher elevation environments. Our 10-20 below zero winters and dramatic temperature changes can kill or significantly injure more tender roses like the hybrid teas and floribundas. So gardeners in Colorado who don’t have time to remove large masses of dead canes, hill soil around the canes to protect them for winter, and who have less inclination to spray and fertilize frequently, find the Canadian-bred roses provide a rewarding and easy-care alternative.[Read More]
Many Colorado gardeners have been frustrated in their attempts to grow climbing roses. The main problem seems to be that the tall canes die back and though they may bloom, they look like shrubs, not climbers. We are green with envy of the European and Californian gardens with roses cascading over and festooning pillars, walls and bowers. Why can’t we achieve this? I think we can, but not without a very discriminating approach. First of all we must realize that our cold temperatures and especially the rapid cold-hot-cold changes, and our drying winter winds are death to all but the hardiest rose canes.
Henry Kelsey (1984 Kordesii cross) is an Explorer Series rose from Ag. Canada that is hardy to Zone 3 and is considered by many to be the best red-flowered climber for cold climates. It is very vigorous and grows strongly even in lean soils. Whereas it can be grown as a low arching shrub to 4’, it excels as a short climber to 8’-10’ and looks especially good trained down a split-rail fence. The flowers are semi-double with prominent golden stamens, opening a luscious deep red and fading to a pinker medium red. The fragrance is light but pleasant and the clusters of flowers repeat from June until frost. Where I have grown it in a very low water area over the last five years it has performed well and has not died back on the trellis, but repeat flowering is intermittent rather than continuous. One of the truths of xeriscape is that not all plants that grow well on low water, flower as well. Sometimes just one or two deep waterings during bloom time will make a big difference in flower production.[Read More]
At the end of last season I wrote about how to succeed with climbing roses in Colorado. Besides winter watering and careful siting out of the worst wind, the most important factor is the choice of very cold hardy roses that are grown on their own roots. The books may say we are zone 5 but when the temperature drops from 50 at noon to 5 at two a.m., we better hope our rose is zone 4 or even zone 3 hardy. With climbers this is even more true because if the canes die back to two feet the rose may still bloom but it won’t function as a climber that year. Here are a few of the toughest and most cold-hardy climbing roses for Colorado. [Read More]
Baby cucumber
Soil temperature—not the calendar—is the real signal for when seeds will sprout. Soil warms up far more slowly than the air. Many garden crops can be direct-sown this month when your soil is sufficiently warm to support germination and ensure survival of tender seedlings.
Prominent among these are all the vegetables in the group known as Cucurbits, including cucumbers, melons, summer and winter squashes, pumpkins and gourds.
After last November’s 77 degree cold plunge to 13 degrees below zero, most roses suffered die-back, some died to the ground and some died completely. But there were roses that had only minimal damage and some that will bounce back with a good show of vigorous growth and generous flowering this year. Here are some observations and conclusions about growing sustainable roses in Colorado.
Roses are cane shrubs, similar to blackberries and raspberries. Their wood has a pithy center and is not as hard or as strong as a lilac. Consequently roses are more vulnerable to insects, diseases, desiccation and cold, but another consequence is that they can grow and regrow much faster than woody shrubs like lilac and viburnum.[Read More]
Boulder Valley Rose Society
Hardy Roses Demonstration Garden
1770 13th St. Boulder, Colorado
This garden, planted in 1998, is both the Hardy Rose Demonstration Garden of the Boulder Valley Rose Society and an environment that delights the senses and calms the spirit, such as you might find at a teahouse in Tajikistan.
Designed by Eve Reshetnik-Brawner and Mikl Brawner, the garden includes 43 varieties of roses of many types, including Old Garden roses, Species roses, Canadian, Modern Shrub and David Austin’s English roses. These roses were chosen for their Old World Character, cold hardiness and disease-resistance. In addition, these roses are not grafted, but grown on their “own roots” which makes them tougher and longer-lived. These qualities have allowed the Boulder Valley Rose Society to maintain this rose garden without the use of chemical fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides. These roses are examples of how successful roses can be in Colorado.[Read More]
