Autumn Greetings to our Friends and Fellow Gardeners,
This week I cleared the remains of frost-stricken summer vegetable plants from my garden and started harvesting some of the frost-kissed kale and collard greens (they taste sweeter now). And I brought my bulbs out to the garden and planned their placement – there is now a small stone marking the place where each one will be planted.
FLOWER BULBS
Bulb-planting time has arrived for those of you gardening in the foothills, and is about to begin for the rest of us in the valley. The window for bulb-planting is pretty long – late October and November planting is ideal, but provided the soil is not frozen, you can plant bulbs through December. Indoors, I am starting my fragrant Paperwhite and Grande Soleil d’Or Narcissus so that they will be in bloom for the Holidays. We still have lots of wonderful bulb selections for outdoor and indoor planting – check our bulb page at https://www.harlequinsgardens.com/plants/bulbs-2012/.
GARLIC BULBS
Right Now is the time to plant garlic. We have lots of Inchelium Red, our favorite soft-neck variety, with large, easy-to-peel cloves, great flavor, great cold-hardiness and exceptionally long storage capability. For a full description and planting instructions, go to the link above.
WINTER HOURS & HOLIDAY GIFTS
In December, Harlequin’s Gardens will Re-Open for Holiday Gift Sales, after having been closed for November.
We will be open from 10 to 4 on FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS from December 1st through December 23rd.
You are invited to ourHoliday Open House, Saturday & Sunday December 1st & 2nd
We will have refreshments and music, and we’ll introduce our full array of wonderful, affordable local art, craft and products, along with many other wonderful gifts for gardeners and their non-gardener friends and relatives. Plan on doing a lot of your holiday shopping at Harlequin’s, where you will find dozens of special gifts for less than $25. For great gift presentation, we can pack our lovely baskets with the gift items of your choice. Beautiful, sustainable gift packaging will be available for your individual purchases as well. Please BRING YOUR FRIENDS, and spread the word.
DOOR PRIZES !
Each day we are open in December, anyone who comes to the nursery and makes a purchase will be entered in our DAILY PRIZE DRAWING for a $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE! You do not have to be present for the drawing at the end of the day to win – we will call the winners.
We already have some of these gift items in our store, so you are welcome to come and shop early. We’ll be open 9 to 5 through October 30th.
Here are descriptions of many of our special gift ideas.
Gift Certificates
Harlequin’s Gardens gift certificates are always a perfect gift for any Front Range gardener (okay, maybe not perfect for someone who only grows a water garden) and are always available. If you need a gift certificate during the months when we are closed (November, January, February) you are welcome to order it by mail or phone. See Gift Certificates at HarlequinsGardens.com.
Hand-Dipped Beeswax Taper Candles
For decades, our friend Tom Theobold of Niwot Honey Farm has been nurturing bees, harvesting honey, and crafting the finest, most elegant, romantic, hand-dipped taper candles you’ll find anywhere. They are naturally dripless and smokeless, and infuse the room with the gentle, warm fragrance of honey. They are a perfect fit in any décor, from Shaker to Rococco. Available in pairs, either clear-wrapped or gift-boxed.
Super Illuminated Loupe
This very small, extremely high quality 12x power magnifier is great for getting a closer look at what’s bugging your plants, taking out splinters, or helping to identify flowers.
Telescope
A toy that’s not a toy. 15x magnification enables you to see that bird or butterfly up-close and personal without scaring it away. Folds to only 7.5”, extends to 14”.
Mini Microscope
With 40x magnification, this amazing compact, hand-held, illuminated microscope allows you to examine the scales of a butterfly wing, detect spider mites, see fungal threads, etc. Very useful and fun!
Silly Putty
The original toy play-plastic; remember the fun? Comes in a 2.5” egg-shaped container. Non-toxic! For children age 5 to 85.
Shortbread Cookies
Eve can’t eat anything made with gluten. But she wasn’t about accept a life without great cookies, so she started baking these divine, rich, nut shortbread cookies, based on almond flour, nuts, and butter, subtly sweetened with a little honey or maple syrup. You don’t have to be gluten-sensitive to adore these cookies. Want to make sure your sweetheart accepts your proposal? Give her a box of Eve’s Pecan Shortbread cookies. And maybe a ring.
Engrid’s Fine Colorado Fruit Preserves
Our own Engrid Winslow makes the kind of jams, jellies and chutneys that make you close your eyes and sigh with pleasure. Engrid uses fresh, organic Colorado fruit, and very little sugar, so the fruit flavors shine. She makes the classics as well as many delicious originals like Pear& Vanilla, Hand-picked Strawberry-Raspberry, and Pear & Peach Chutney, to name only a few. You’ll find delicious uses for Engrid’s preserves, from breakfast to hors d’oevres, to salad dressings, to glazes for meats, to desserts.
Paper Mache Bowls
Our friend Kelly makes these delightful flower bowls from paper mache pulp that began as junk mail in her mailbox. She molds and hand-paints the small bowls in the shapes, colors and patterns of some of her favorite garden flowers – poppy, morning glory, anemone, evening primrose, tulip. The petal and sepal details are painted on the outsides of the bowls as well as the insides.
Chinook Book Sustainable Local Coupons
This coupon book makes a great gift (and do keep one for yourself!). Focusing on the Denver Metro and Boulder areas, it’s full of discount coupons (430 of them!) for environmentally conscious, organic, healthy and fair-trade products, stores, eateries and services you will really use, such as Boulder County and Denver Farmer’s Markets, Natural Grocers, Rally Sport, McGuckin, Ace Hardware, Harlequin’s Gardens, Butterfly Pavillion, Colorado Music Festival, RTD, Ben & Jerry’s, Meininger, Denver Center Theater, Boulder Phil, Art Cleaners, Rags Consignment, Grant Family Farms, all kinds of organic foods and personal care products, pet foods and services, chocolate, stuff for kids and moms, gluten-free foods, dance, music and yoga classes, sporting goods, gyms, chocolate, massages, cleaning services, espresso, chocolate, pizza, granola bars, etc., etc. And, did I mention chocolate?
Both the paper coupon book ($14.95) and the mobile app ($10) are available. Trust me – you or the lucky recipient will easily make back the cost of the book many times over.
Cards
Notecards of vibrant paintings by Boulder watercolor artist and muralist Kathleen Lanzoni feature floral and local landscape subjects.
Botanical Interests Seeds
Botanical Interests is a local seed company we have come to love and trust. Their seed quality is excellent, and their packets are not only beautiful, featuring illustrations by many of Colorado’s best botanical artists, but incredibly chock full of information.We are partially re-stocked with seeds packaged for 2013; we will have themed ‘sets’ of seed packets available, with varieties pre-selected to make a xeriscape flower garden, native flower garden, a great beginner’s veggie garden, an annual herb garden, an heirloom garden, etc. These sets will make great gifts and stocking-stuffers.
Beauty Beyond Belief Seeds
BBB is another great local seed company, offering wildflower mixes (Rocky Mt. natives), and flower seed mixes for supporting honey bees and wild bees. We have their Honey Source and Bee Rescue seed mixes in small tins that are perfect for gifts or holiday party favors.
Quilted Pot-holders
Our dear friend Lynn Mattingly is a renowned fiber artist, and has been practicing and teaching quilting for decades. An exceptional sense of color-combining, a fabulous collection of fabrics and a mastery of design and craftsmanship make Lynn’s work really special. We love seeing her beautiful pot-holders hanging on our stove, and they have held up in our kitchen for a very long time. Lynn lives just over the hills in Paonia.
Peace Garlands
Our friend Lynn also makes these artful painted fabric garlands or ‘prayer flags’ with the always-appropriate message of Peace. Drape them on your holiday tree, across the top of a doorway or window, or any place where you’ll enjoy their beauty and soothing sentiment. 3” high.on silk ribbon approx. 48” long.
William Blake Stained-Glass Coloring Book
Sixteen illustrations adapted from the art of William Blake. Use crayon, felt-tip pen, acrylic, watercolor or tempera paints to color one or both sides. Place in windows for a stained-glass effect.
Amber Lights Cast Beeswax Candles
Our friend Clark and his grand-daughter spend quality time together making delightful cast beeswax candles in a variety of shapes and sizes including simple pillars (several sizes), patterned pillars, pine cones (several sizes), honey-bears, and angels. They are highly decorative, naturally endowed with a heavenly honey scent, and burn clean and smokeless.
Colorful Petrified Wood Specimens
Our friend Fred is a dedicated ‘rock hound’, with a special passion for meteorites and petrified wood. His expeditions in Utah have yielded some wonderful specimens from the Jurassic era, including segments of small branches in which the exterior bark texture has been preserved, and the interiors have been replaced with vividly multicolored agate. Fred has polished the top surface of each specimen to reveal the beauty of the agate. Each piece comes with an identification tag and a text explaining the process by which petrified wood was formed. Sizes will probably range from 1” to 5” in height, varying widths.
Rosemary plants
Enjoy cooking with fresh rosemary year-round! Grow these hardy ‘Arp’ Rosemary plants indoors in a sunny window this winter, then transplant into the garden in spring. Planted in a warm, sunny spot in a Boulder Valley or Denver garden, they can thrive for a long time (a friend has had hers for 10 years so far – mine lasted 5 years). Each robust, bushy plant is potted in an attractive faux terracotta 10” plastic pot. Detailed indoor and outdoor growing instructions are included.
Basil plants and Basil Bundles
Just because summer has ended, there’s no reason to do without fresh basil! We have potted basil plants to grow in a sunny window, and we have fresh-cut basil for immediate culinary ecstasy.
Potted Succulents
Aloe, Echeveria, and ‘Elk Horn’ Cotyledon – great low-water houseplants for a sunny window.
Smudges
Made with reverence, skill and healing intention by our friend Furry Foote, the elder who lives in the foothills, these traditional Native American smudge sticks are finely crafted of aromatic herbs (mostly natives) grown in her own organic garden. Each herb is included for its specific medicinal and/or spiritual qualities: purifying, giving thanks, cleansing, infection-fighting, head-ache relief, etc.
Air plants (Tillandsias)
These remarkable tree-dwelling plants from South America don’t need to be potted, so you can put them almost anywhere in the house – even on a refrigerator magnet. And all they require is an overnight soak once every few weeks. Like little living sculptures, with great textures and colors!
Kisu Neroli Lip Balm
Created by Plum Botanicals, a small fair-trade organic skin-care line based here in Boulder. This long-lasting lip balm is based on wild-collected African shea butter from a women’s cooperative, and scented with the marvelous, unique, citrus-y essential oil of neroli. Shea butter is a natural sun-blocker, so it really helps prevent chapping in all seasons. Kisu is, by far, Eve’s favorite lip balm.
Lavender Skin-Care Products by Colorado Aromatics
Mikl and Eve have been using ‘Mountain Mist’ lavender hand & body lotion from Colorado Aromatics for a long time. The quality of the lavender scent is exceptional, and the lotion is so soothing and moisturizing to dry, abused gardeners’ skin. We will have individual products, and gift sets in lovely mesh bags.
2013 Stella Natura Astrological Planting Calendar
The Stella Natura Wall Calendar is an easy-to-use, informative and beautiful planting and gardening calendar that shows the best times to take advantage of the cosmic influences of the moon, sun and planets. This is a research-based system that is used by Biodynamic farmers and gardeners. We have been using this calendar for 21 years and believe it has helped with germination of seeds, root development of cuttings, and healthy plant development. More than just a calendar – it’s packed with valuable information and insights for successful growing, from seed to harvest. Mikl will be giving a class in Planting by the Moon in March 2013.
Landscape Watercolor Paintings by Eve Reshetnik Brawner
Eve began painting small plein-air watercolors when she and Mikl made the decision to take their honeymoon in Italy. She wanted to spend some time really looking at the landscape there and bring home more than snapshot photos, and she had a year to get good at painting fast and small before the trip. At the end of the vacation she had 12 good paintings, and when she got home she just kept painting, focusing on landscapes closer to home. These originals are all small and affordable; most are museum matted, a few are framed.
Botanical Watercolor Paintings by Eve Reshetnik Brawner
Eve Reshetnik Brawner is an award-winning botanical artist whose work has been exhibited around the US and abroad, and is represented in the permanent collection of the prestigious Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation. All of Eve’s paintings are executed in watercolor, a challenging but preferred medium for capturing the silky and vibrant translucency of flowers. In her paintings she has tried to combine minutely accurate scientific detail with the grace and character of each subject. Framed original paintings, as well as matted and un-matted prints are available.
Gardening and Nature Books by Local Authors
Winter is the season when most gardeners get to read gardening books to help them plan and dream their next gardening season. For the most accurate gardening advice for your Colorado garden, look to our local garden writers!
The new ‘Organic Gardener’s Companion’ by Jane Shellenberger, editor & publisher of the Colorado Gardener magazine, offers up-to-date Colorado-specific advice on every aspect of organic vegetable gardening.
We will also have recent books from Colorado’s ‘garden-laureates’ Lauren Springer Ogden & Scott Ogden, including the new revised ‘Undaunted Garden’.
And we have other great books by local garden and nature experts:
Gwen Moore Kelaidis (Hardy Succulents), Marcia Tatroe (Cutting Edge Gardening in the Intermountain West), Bob Nold (Columbines), Jim Knopf (Waterwise Landscaping), Tammi Hartung (Homegrown Herbs),
Steve Jones and Jan Chu (Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range), George Peknik (The Meaning of the Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse)
‘Butterflies of the Colorado Front Range’
The perfect gift for anyone who enjoys butterflies or appreciates the natural world, and great for children, too! We have plenty of signed copies of this wonderful recent book by Janet R. Chu and Stephen R. Jones, two of Boulder’s most dedicated naturalists and foremost experts on our local butterflies. This guidebook offers a page for each of the 80 species covered; each includes superb photographs taken in the field by the authors, and descriptions of the butterfly’s appearance, host plants, life cycle, habitat, behavior, identification tips, and descriptions of similar species. The book also covers the anatomy, ecology and life-cycle of butterflies, useful charts, and great advice on watching and photographing butterflies. Slim enough to slip in the back pocket of your jeans, (or a Christmas Stocking), with a durable cover and binding. Chu and Jones say it best: “We watch butterflies because they’re exquisitely beautiful, have magical life cycles, and teach us about intricate and life-sustaining relationships among plants, insects and their host ecosystems.”
If you live outside the metro area and would like us to mail this book to you or a friend, please contact us by phone for details.
St. Claire’s Organic Mints, Candies, Pastilles & Lozenges
Yea! Totally organic! Made in Boulder! No corn syrup! Delicious! Packaged in pretty tins! Incredibly cheap!
West County Gardening Gloves
We love West Count gloves! They are made from recycled plastic bottles, are very durable and stand-up to several seasons of tough gardening. They are machine washable and retain their shape. And they come in great colors! We carry their Work Glove, Landscaper Glove, Waterproof Glove, Rose Gauntlet, Mud Glove and Grip Glove, all in a range of sizes. If you give these gloves as a gift, be assured that the recipient is welcome to exchange them for a different in-stock size, as long as they are still unused and in their original packaging.
Fine Art Photography by Britt Ripley
We are excited that Eve has arranged for Harlequin’s Gardens to offer Britt’s lyrical and compelling photographs! Enthralled with photography ever since he was given his first camera 47 years ago, Britt continues to be fascinated with capturing the forms, textures, and patterns of the natural and built world and the play of constantly changing light. Britt’s background as a landscape architect and his passion for music inform his work. His award-winning photographs have been featured in solo exhibitions, group shows and prestigious fine art festivals, and his work is found in private collections across the US.
Britt is known for his beautiful high country horse portraits, composite images combining horses and ranch architecture, floral portraits, and intimate highly textured landscapes.
Matted and un-matted prints, as well as framed pieces, will be available.
Matted & Un-matted: $25 to $140
Framed: $95 to $300
Ceramic Garlic Keepers
These beautiful glazed stoneware garlic-keepers, hand-crafted by Boulder potter Cathy Abelson, have perforations to keep garlic fresh as long as possible on the kitchen counter or in your pantry. They are big enough to keep up to a pound of garlic at your fingertips. Cathy’s work is sold in fine galleries around the nation.
Mason Bee Nest Boxes
Mason Bees are small, docile, solitary, wild bees that are many times more effective than honeybees for pollinating early and mid-spring bloomers, most notably our fruit trees. They do not sting. These fascinating creatures will find your nest box and will busy themselves with gathering pollen and depositing it, along with their eggs, in the precisely drilled holes, sealing each chamber with mud (try to keep a dish of mud near the nest box in spring). The new generation of bees will emerge at just the right time to pollinate the following spring’s blossoms. Beautifully hand-crafted in Washington State from reclaimed fir by Andrew’s Reclaimed, this new design features stacking trays from which you can extract the cocoons for safe winter storage. Adorned with their attractive bee logo.
Our Favorite Gardening Tools
Japanese Knife-Weeders (see below)
Radius Trowels (ergonomic)
Radius Pro Spade (ergonomic)
Radius Pro Garden Fork (ergonomic)
Radius ‘Garden Shark’ Ergonomic Rake
World’s Best Trowel
Garden Bandit Weeders
Kneeling Pads
High-quality clippers, shears and loppers
Japanese Knife-Weeders
Reviewed by our Deb: This is the best all around tool ever! Whenever I go out into the garden with no particular task in mind (other than peace of mind putzing) I grab this tool. It can dig, saw into fat roots, slice into bindweed roots with the pointed tip, it’s wonderful. I have a sheath for it which slides nicely onto a regular belt or garden-tool belt. I love using if for planting bulbs as I can make a deep, small hole. If I could only have one tool forever…I would choose this one.
Eco Skin Sunscreen
Top-rated. Zinc oxide UV protection; no titanium dioxide, non-nano, no fragrances; good moisturizer, ideal for sensitive skin; does not sting eyes; very effective and Now Less Expensive. The only sunscreen Mikl will use.
‘Big Green Purse’
By Diane MacEachern, environmental advisor to the EPA, World Bank, Old Wildlife Fund, etc. 400 pages of powerful advice for women to use their purchasing power to clean up and protect our environment and the planet.
Examples:
25 commodities where your dollars have the most impact
Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down ratings to shift to eco products and services
Eco-cheap strategies
Tricks for seeing through ‘green-washing’
Regularly $17.95, on sale for $12.00
Thank you for your support. We will be thrilled to see you in December!
Mikl & Eve Brawner and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens