GREETINGS to our Friends and Fellow Gardeners!
The weather this spring has been so uncharacteristically gentle, cool and moist – archetypal Spring, making all the plants so full and floriferous. One of the silver linings of my injury is that I get to spend a lot more time in my home garden – not working in it, just enjoying. Hardy cacti have been displaying their brilliantly colored and exotic-looking blossoms during the sunny hours (they close up at night), and this year, I get to see them. I get to watch the bumblebees, those impossible aviators, clutching and nuzzling for nectar and pollen from the sage blossoms, larkspurs, Jerusalem Sage, Lemon Drops, Penstemons, and Skullcap, as honeybees and many small wild bee species intently work the Thyme, Milkweed, Lamb’s Ears, Horehound (Marrubium rotundifolium), Sage, Catmint, Poppies, hardy Geranium and Erodium, Cacti, Allium, Roses, Clematis, Corydalis and more. I’ve seen a few butterflies in my garden, Painted Ladies and Tiger Swallowtails, and where do you supposed they alighted? Yup, on the dandelion flowers.
The moist air also carries scents better than our usual dry atmosphere, and since the theme of my garden is fragrance, it has become a heady experience to be anywhere within a block of our house. The perfume of roses – especially the heirloom varieties – Stanwell Perpetual, Banshee, Desiree Parmentier, Darlow’s Enigma, Alba Semi-Plena, Marchesa Boccella, Louise Odier, Sydonie, Scotsbriar, fills the garden and beyond, joined by Serotina honeysuckle, Hall’s honeysuckle, Mock Orange, Lemon Lilies (Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus), and now the native Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa). In a few days the Regal Lilies will open and send powerful scent-waves through the air. Heaven!
ROSES
Right now is the VERY BEST time to come and choose roses for your garden. We offer an extraordinary selection of beautiful, hardy, disease-resistant, own-root, colorful, fragrant roses – more than 200 varieties of all shapes, sizes, colors and types! The majority of them are in full, glorious bloom now, so you can see and smell them.
TRELLISES
Support your Climbing Rose, Honeysuckle vine, Clematis, etc. on one of our handsome and sturdy trellises. We have both flat and 3-D selections, ranging from those small enough for containers to those tall enough for robust climbing roses. And they are attractive all year.
POLLINATOR WEEK
June 16 through 22 is designated Pollinator Week, a great time to learn about our pollinators, why they are so important, what kind of support they need, how to avoid endangering them, how to plan your garden to attract and support them, etc. From 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday June 21st we will have a special Pollinator table where you can get answers to your questions and literature about supporting pollinators.
We stock a great many wonderful ornamental and culinary plants that will enhance your garden and support butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators. Our pollinator-friendly plants are FREE OF NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES. Neonicotinoids are a class of long-lasting systemic pesticides commonly used in the nursery industry, and are implicated in the decline of honeybee and wild bee populations. All of the plants we grow ourselves, from seed, cuttings or liners, are grown organically, and we have gone to great lengths to research the ‘chemical history’ of the plants we bring in from wholesale growers. Currently, at least 90% of our plants are neonicotinoid-free, and we aim to increase that to 100%.
Harlequin’s Gardens will also hold two excellent Pollinator-Related classes on Saturday June 21st: PLEASE VISIT or CALL 303-939-9403 to PRE-REGISTER
SAT. 6/21
10:00 am:
NATIVE BEES with Kristina Williams:
Learn about some of the most interesting of the more than 500 species of bees native to Boulder County, why they are important, and learn how to make your garden friendly to them. Kristina combines her background as a scientist with a passion for observing insect life, and in particular, native bees. You will gain real insight into many aspects of native pollinators. $15
SAT. 6/21
1:00 pm:
GARDENING for BEES, BIRDS and WILDLIFE with Alison Peck
Learn easy ways to provide food and shelter for wildlife, how to include plants that are particularly important for wildlife, and how to discourage ‘urban wildlife’ such as deer, raccoons, and skunks. Alison Peck is a highly respected Landscape Designer with over 25 years experience specializing in Permaculture, Xeriscapes, native plant landscapes and other earth-friendly landscapes. She is founder and owner of Matrix Gardens. $15
The WESTERN GARDEN
Our newest Display Garden, located along 26th Street at our entry drive, is maturing and filled-in, bursting with color, and absolutely gorgeous! We call it the Western Garden because it includes both native and non-native plants that not only thrive in our tough arid Western conditions, but also look appropriate and express the character of our region as well.
On Sunday, June 22nd at 1:00 p.m., Eve and Mikl will present a tour of the Western Garden in our class ‘A Garden for Colorado Conditions’. We will discuss soil preparation, native and non-native shrubs, trees and perennials, and how the garden survived, even thrived, even though much of it was planted in the heat of mid-summer. $15
Please PRE-REGISTER at the nursery or by calling 303-939-9403.
SAT. 6/21, 10:00 am: MEDICINALS AS ORNAMENTALS in a XERISCAPE – A TOUR with herbalist Leslie Lewis.
Tour Leslie’s beautiful low-water front yard in Old Town Longmont. See how she is using medicinal herbs ornamentally in a very public front yard, and learn medicinal uses of ornamentals you probably never suspected. Try delicious herbal teas made from plants in her garden. Leslie also keeps bees in the garden. Last year’s tour was a blast! $15
This is an OFF-SITE class. PRE-REGISTRATION is REQUIRED – Visit the nursery or call us at 303-939-9403 during business hours to register and receive address and directions for the class/tour. Please BRING CASH PAYMENT to the class.
OUR GRATITUDE
We continue to be deeply grateful for all the care, concern, prayers and generosity we have been receiving from you on my behalf. It lifts our spirits and aids enormously in my recovery. You’re the best!!!
We look forward to seeing you soon at Harlequin’s Gardens, where we invite you to stop and smell the roses – lots of them!
All the best,
Eve & Mikl Brawner and the fabulous staff at Harlequin’s Gardens