‘Tis the season of mailboxes stuffed with seed and nursery catalogs, and we know all too well the temptations therein! Our gardens may be dormant, but our plant lust is not, and haven’t we all been sucked in by glossy photos of sexy new must-have plants, even though we haven’t a clue where we’ll put them? We recommend that you try to resist, at least long enough to evaluate your existing garden.
Winter is actually a great time to turn a critical eye to your garden and see what works and what doesn’t. What is the main purpose of your home landscape, and how can it be enhanced? Were you disappointed with plant performance in certain areas? Does your soil fertility need a boost? Does your garden’s system of pathways take you where you want to go, and accommodate that wheelbarrow? Are there areas with drainage problems where water sits too long, or runs off too quickly? Is there enough autumn and winter interest and wildlife habitat? Is your water bill too high because your garden irrigation is inefficient? Do you need screening from the neighbor’s new patio or second story addition? Has your sunny garden gradually become shady, and what needs to change now? Do you still have the time and energy to maintain your garden as it is, and what changes will reduce maintenance without sacrificing your other goals? Is your garden child-safe? Is your vegetable garden in the right place? Are there times during the growing season when nothing in your garden is blooming? Can you interest your neighbors in gardening to create a safe, non-toxic corridor of pollinator and/or wildlife plantings?
Harlequin’s Gardens will re-open for the 2022 season on Thursday, March 3rd. Once you have examined your yard and answered questions like the ones above, we’ll be able to help you find practical solutions and choose the soil products and plants for a successful garden. We are not here just to sell you something, whether you need it or not. We are committed to your gardening success!
When we open, our seed racks will be full of carefully curated selections for gardening here in Colorado, with our short growing season and wild weather. We’ll have the best locally sourced composts, mulches potting soils and organic fertilizers.
Our plants will come out for sale as weather permits, beginning with the many hardy plants that we intentionally over-winter outdoors to assure that they are ready for you to plant in early spring. Newly propagated plants from our own production, our custom propagators and our local wholesale growers will follow soon after. We’ve been gathering and cleaning seeds we can legally and responsibly collect in the wild, as well as the seeds we gather from our own plantings. These always include a great many local wildflowers that one can rarely (or never!) find for sale anywhere else! And, of course, we are ordering seeds to grow starts for everything from Artichokes to Zinnias. And ALL of the plants we offer are grown without bee-killing systemic neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics, for short), and all of our Harlequin-grown plants are completely free of chemical inputs.
We hope you will find us worth waiting for!