We Have What You Need!
As fall approaches, the nights get cooler and pests like Powdery Mildew begin showing up on your favorite squash plants. Or maybe the flea beetles have made a comeback in your garden. Whatever the problem, we likely have a safe, non-toxic solution! See our pest management solutions below.
There are no classes this weekend, but come in an check out our new selection of cool-season veggie seeds from Botanical Interests. Now is the time to start planting these fall crops by seed! We still have some 2018 seeds on sale that are now 50% off! Look for the green dot on the package.
If seeds aren’t for you, our cool-season veggie starts will begin arriving in about a week. In the meantime, we still have a full nursery of beautiful perennials, groundcovers, grasses, shrubs, trees, and roses.
Bee Barn Buzz: Honey and Mites
Bee season is beginning to wind down. Many areas are experiencing what beekeepers call dearth, which is a shortage of nectar and pollen. Sometimes we get a fall flow and sometimes we don’t. Bees are aware that winter is approaching and they’re getting anxious. You may have noticed that your previously sweet, gentle ladies are now quite testy. Watch for robbing when you work your bees and especially when pulling honey supers. Harlequin’s has bee escapes to help clear the bees from supers without exposing honey. We also have capping scratchers, buckets with honey gates, filters, and containers for your honey.
PEST MANAGEMENT SUPPLIES
Insects
We have pest management strategies for spider mites, white flies, flea beetles, and many others! 
We recently got in Semaspore Grasshopper Bait (same as Nolo Bait), which contains Nosema locustae, a naturally occurring single celled protozoan that infects all stages of developing grasshoppers, mole crickets, Mormon and black field crickets. Nosema when ingested creates a disease that is specific to these pests. It will not harm any other living species.
Many of you are in various stages of despair about the invasive Japanese Beetle. If this voracious insect is bugging your plants, you might try luring the Japanese Beetles to a different part of your yard using Safer Brand’s Japanese Beetle Bait. Slap it on the inside of a 5-gallon bucket with soapy water in the bottom, and your beetles will drown themselves.
Veggie Pharm will kill Japanese Beetles when sprayed directly onto them, but we recommend doing so in the evening to avoid leaf burn. Garlic Pharm and Rose Pharm are also excellent, OMRI certified insecticides.
Fungal Diseases
Are the leaves on your squash, zucchini, cucumber, or melon plants turning grey? Does your Monarda have white spots on its leaves? If so, you have a case of Powdery Mildew, a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants especially at this time of year, when nights are cool. Never fear; although all of our fungicides work better when used preventively, Green Cure actually kills Powdery Mildew. Neem and Fungus Pharm are also effective against it.
Weeds
We also carry non-toxic weed-killers, such as horticultural vinegar and a citrus oil-based product called Avenger.
8th ANNUAL TASTE OF TOMATO
A Scrumptious, Home-Grown Community Event!
Saturday August 25th, from 10 am to 1 pm
at our New Location, GROWING GARDENS BARN!
Are you
r tomatoes healthy and productive in spite of weather and pests? Did you grow some fabulous favorites this year? The local gardening community wants to know, and wants to taste them to see if your favorite varieties should be growing in their gardens next year! Some of you have endured hail-storms and record heat, but for many, this has been a terrific tomato year. If you’re among the lucky ones whose tomatoes are producing a bounty, please bring some nice ripe ones to share (see Entry Instructions below), and you’ll get in free!
And if you don’t have any to share, come anyway! For a nominal entry fee of $5, you’ll make lots of delicious new taste discoveries, learn how to save seeds from your best tomatoes, and have an excellent chance of winning one of the valuable door-prizes we give away every half hour!
We’ve always had between 65 and 100 different varieties to taste, including heirlooms, hybrids, cherry tomatoes, honkin’ big ‘beefsteaks’, slicers, and paste types – amazing! And they’re labeled, so you know what variety and type they are, where they were grown, and more.
This year, we are excited to be collaborating with Growing Gardens, and using their beautiful new ‘Barn’ for our Tomato Tasting! And there will be fresh, local summer produce for sale to support the Cultiva Youth Program.
So, Y’all come! See you soon!
TOMATO TASTING ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS
Saturday August 25th, from 10 am-1 pm
at the new, modern GROWING GARDENS BARN
1630 Hawthorn Avenue, Boulder 80304
(Please note the NEW location)
If you bring 3 or more medium to large tomatoes (or 10+ small or cherry tomatoes) of one named variety, with its variety name on a card, to donate to the tasting you will get in FREE. You are encouraged to share more than the minimum, and enter more than one variety! NOTE: If the correct name for your tomatoes is unknown we cannot use them in our tasting.
If you have no tomatoes to bring, come anyway, for an entrance fee of $5.
Volunteers will be cutting tomatoes for your tasting. The samples will be grouped by type: Cherry, Beefsteak, Paste, and Slicing/Salad and will be labeled by name. In past years we’ve had from 65 to more than 100 different varieties to taste!
You will be able to vote for 6 of your favorite tomatoes. Voting results will be assembled and emailed to participants. Results will also be posted at www.HarlequinsGardens.com
Valuable DOOR PRIZES will be awarded every half hour!
Two demonstrations of Tomato Seed-saving procedures will take place during the tasting, at 10:30 and 12 noon.
This is always a lot of fun, and educational, too! Master Gardeners and Harlequin’s Gardens staff will be on hand to answer your tomato questions.
Children are welcome with adult supervision. Please do not bring dogs.
UPCOMING CLASSES LIST
Sat, Aug 25 from 10 AM to 1 PM – EIGHTH ANNUAL TASTE OF TOMATO
Don’t miss our 8th annual ‘Taste of Tomato’ festival & tasting event along with Growing Gardens and Slow Food Boulder! There are always exciting new varieties to taste and learn about. The location is not yet decided. See above or our website for more.
Sat, Aug 25 at 1 PM – GARDENING WITH MUSHROOMS – THE MAGIC OF MYCELIUM w/ Zach Hedstrom
Join Zach for a class about the many ways you can incorporate mushrooms and fungi in your garden and lifestyle. You will learn the basic techniques for growing mushrooms, how to encourage fungal activity in your soil, and about the health-giving properties that you can experience from eating more mushrooms! $15
Sun, Aug 26 at 1 PM – LOW TECH GREENHOUSE DESIGN & OPERATION with Mikl Brawner
Mikl has been researching, building, and using simple greenhouses for 20 years. This class will focus on five designs on site at the nursery. $15
Sun, Sep 9 at 1 PM – HOW TO MULCH with Mikl Brawner
Weedbarrier, wood chips, straw, fine gravel, bark? Which mulches should be used and where? Why is mulching so important? What’s wrong with redwood and cedar? Mikl will discuss these questions and suggest solutions. $15 (Photo Credit: The Rock Place)
S
at, Sep 15 at 1 PM – FORAGING ROCKY MOUNTAIN MUSHROOMS: REGIONAL MUSHROOM ID with Zach Hedstrom
In this class, you will learn the basics of mushroom identification and what you should know before going out on a hunt. We will also introduce a variety of local mushrooms and their identification features. A good class for beginners as well as those who have done some foraging before. $15
Sun, Sep 16 at 1 PM – PRUNING FOR STRENGTH, HEALTH, AND BEAUTY with Mikl Brawner
Learn how to train young trees, restructure shrubs and trees damaged by storms, and to prune roses. Mikl has over 35 years of experience in pruning. (Repeat of Aug 5.) $15
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Eve, Mikl and the super hard-working Staff at Harlequin’s Gardens