The Garden Center at Harlequin’s Gardens is stocked with amazing items to enhance your garden and allow you to grow organically. These include local bagged composts, mulches, garden tools, fertilizers and minerals, seeds, organic pest repellents, pots, compost tea and so much more! Below are descriptions of many of the products we have available only at our store. It’s best to call us directly at 303-939-9403 to check on availability.
Watering in a Heatwave
In this period of high heat, it makes sense to water more often than usual. We water twice as much in July as we do in other months. BUT REMEMBER that plant roots need air, too. And if the soil is continually wet, plant roots won’t be able to use the water, and may rot. The best approach is still to water deeply, but not too frequently. The best time to water is in the early morning when less water will evaporate, and water droplets can dry from plant leaves early in the day, certainly before evening when fungal diseases can take hold on wet foliage. What does that mean, “water deeply”? It means that when you irrigate by hand or sprinkler or drip, the soil should be moist to a depth of at least 4”. Moisture meters and the old ‘screwdriver test’ are not as accurate as digging a small hole 4 to 6” deep and feeling the soil. If it is dry at 4” just after watering, you will need to water longer. [Read More]
Caring for our Winged Friends
It’s nesting time for many of our little birds, and they are out there house hunting! Providing housing opportunities for them will bring benefits to your garden as birds eat large numbers of insects like mosquitos, scale, various larvae, etc., and give you the pleasure of watching them raise their broods.
We have two styles of birdhouses for cavity-nesting birds like chickadees, wrens, nuthatches, and downy woodpeckers. These are locally made, designed to Audubon Society specifications, and are easy to clean at season’s end. Keep some of the small stems, twigs, dead blades of grass, combings from your shaggy dog, etc. from your spring garden clean-up in a corner of your yard for nesting material. Be sure to locate your bird houses where roaming cats can’t reach them. [Read More]
Spring Weather Protection Tools
We know Mother Nature is teasing us with these delightful warm weather days, and they give us hope for the warm spring days ahead! However, snow and cold temperatures are again forecast to arrive this weekend, a pattern that will continue through March, and into April.
If you’re eager to get your garden started here are tools that you can gather now, which will help your plants succeed during the turbulent early spring transition period. [Read More]
Very Special Products to benefit Your Soil Life and Your Plant Life, 2022
It all starts with the Soil, and we have some very special products to benefit your Soil Life and Your Plant Life!
All of these are sold pre-packaged, and we bag many of them ourselves in refundable, reusable plastic bags. Our Compost Tea is sold in refundable, reusable 1-gallon jugs, or you can bring your own.[Read More]
Get a Jump on Spring 2022!
Spring is Not here. But it is coming.
Under the snow the plants are beginning to wake up. As the days get longer and lighter, buds grow, getting ready to be leaves and flowers. Inside our greenhouses, heated mostly by the Colorado sun, seeds are sprouting or getting ready to sprout, and last year’s plants are really growing. In here it Is Spring.
We’ll be opening Harlequin’s Gardens on Thursday, March 3 – just over a week away!
Will we have plants to sell? Well, yes, and no, not yet. [Read More]
Botanical Interests Seeds
Botanical Interests goes to great lengths to provide all the information you need, and more (like an illustration of what the seedling looks like when it emerges), on both the outside and the inside of the packet, plus stunning, botanically accurate illustrations by highly skilled local artists adorning the front of each packet! We have carefully selected varieties from their catalog that will thrive in Colorado’s short season, early heat, cool nights, etc.
Enjoy them in your own garden and share them with a friend.
Boulder Mushroom Growing Kit
We are offering Boulder Mushroom’s kits for growing your own delicious and highly nutritious mushrooms at home! They take up very little space, though these kits are bigger than most and will yield 2 to 4 times as many harvests! The main requirements are that you need to check on your mushroom log daily and provide a humid environment. Full instructions are included in each kit.
Our current stock includes Blue Oyster, Phoenix Oyster, and Red Reishi mushroom kits. When your kit has finished producing, the remaining mycelium makes a great addition to your compost pile or can be used to inoculate wood-chip mulch to produce more mushrooms!
A Ruby Moon
Jen Grant creates these cheerful and artful flags with her original designs. Display your affection for wildflowers, bees, birds, bicycles, etc. by garlanding a doorway, deck, porch, window or wall. Her original block-printed designs are made in Lafayette, CO.
Q: Can I plant now?
Q: Can I plant now?
A: It depends!
Yay! For those of us gardening at about a mile high, the threat of frost is nearly gone! If you’re planting hardy perennials, shrubs, vines, grasses or trees, you’re good to go now (as long as your soil isn’t too wet to work), and we have a remarkable selection! Our stock of seeds and starts for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, summer & winter squash, melons, pumpkins, and watermelons are excellent. We also have plenty of seeds for beans – bush, pole, runner, and dry. A hint about bean seeds: white-seeded beans are more tolerant of cool soils, so they can be planted sooner. [Read More]
Solar Caps – A Cozy Sweater for your Veggies!
We’ve passed the average last frost date but know that unexpected cold snaps can still occur. Just as we need to add another layer of clothing during cold snaps, our warm-season veggie starts also need additional insulation as the spring season and soil slowly begin to warm up. This layering can come in several forms, each with their own advantages and applications: low-tech overturned plant pots, row cover anchored over wire or plastic pipe frame (as illustrated in the “Hardening-Off” portion of this article), and Solar Caps.
Because of their versatility and re-usability, Solar Caps have been one of our favorite garden tools for over a decade. [Read More]
Tips for Root Vegetable Success
Some veggies seem to shy away from the limelight, flourishing underground to provide a surprising, beautiful, and nutritious surprise later in the season. Growing root vegetables is generally easy, and can be a fun way to engage children in gardening. In addition, mountain gardeners often find that root veggies thrive in their cooler conditions.
Once planted, root veggies do not like to be disturbed and therefore are best planted by seed. (We do sell Bull’s Blood Beets as a starts, but these are generally grown for their greens.) We have Botanical Interests, Masa, and Seed Savers Exchange seeds for many root veggies including: [Read More]
SOIL LIFE PRODUCTS – 2022 Newsletter
VERY SPECIAL PRODUCTS TO BENEFIT YOUR SOIL LIFE & YOUR PLANT LIFE
The Garden Center at Harlequin’s Gardens is stocked with the best products to enhance your garden and allow you to grow organically. These include local bagged composts, mulches, garden tools, fertilizers and minerals, seeds, organic pest repellents, pots, compost tea and so much more! Below are descriptions of many of the products we have available only at our store.
PRODUCTS – 2021 Newsletter
VERY SPECIAL PRODUCTS TO BENEFIT YOUR SOIL LIFE & YOUR PLANT LIFE
Products from PAONIA SOIL COMPANY
This company located in Paonia, Colorado uses more than 20 products in their soil blends, scientifically designed and balanced to provide organic minerals, organic matter, and beneficial biology. We welcome your feedback and experience with Paonia Soil Company products. [Read More]
Snow and Soil!
Wow! That was an impressive snowstorm, even if it did arrive several days later than predicted. We know how hard many of us have had to work to clear paths through it. And we hope everyone stayed safe, warm, healthy, and well-fed throughout. Colorado has been experiencing a long-term regional drought, so this addition to our mountain snowpack couldn’t be more welcome. Just think what a difference all this snow can make for Colorado’s farmers, many of whom have seen their ditch water allotments disappear in early July for the past several years.
Ready, Set, Plant!
Even though we are about to receive our biggest snowstorm of this winter thus far, you can still make great progress on your garden by starting seeds indoors or even outside if your garden is prepared and you’re quick and can sow them tomorrow morning! You can also plant our hardy perennials, vines, shrubs and trees that have overwintered outdoors ahead of the storm. And our Onion plants – they’re very cold-hardy, and the earlier they’re planted, the larger their bulbs at harvest time! And, if you can plant in a cold-frame, or under a low tunnel of sheet plastic or Row Cover Fabric, you can plant our spring vegetable starts! Heading varieties like Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower will give you [Read More]
Harlequin’s Garden Fertility Mix
Harlequin’s blend of certified organic fertilizer, humate, rock minerals, dry molasses, land: sourced coral calcium and mycorrhizae. Great for veggie gardens and all plants. Increases root mass, top growth, soil life, and productivity naturally. This is not just a fertilizer. The combination of ingredients and mycorrhizae act synergistically to support fertility.
Harlequin’s Gardens Compost Tea
We are making compost tea with a biodynamic compost, a mineral concentrate, kelp extract, molasses, etc., and it is being made in a Vortex brewer. Compost tea increases the soil life (beneficial micro-organisms), which can bring more nutrients and water to the plants and make them stronger and better able to cope with stress. It can be used full-strength as a mild organic fertilizer, or it can be diluted in water up to 3 times as a soil inoculant. It can also be used to inoculate compost piles to make materials break down faster. We have observed some very good results and received positive reports from customers who have tried it. Bring your own jugs, or use ours for a $1 deposit (refundable upon return).
Bagged Composts
These are the composts we carry during the season, although we don’t always have them all in stock at the same time:[Read More]
Bagged Mulches
Fine Woodchip Mulch: Mats tight to prevent blowing by the wind, and lets less light get to weed seeds, has more nutritive potential than cedar or redwood, decomposes rapidly against the ground.
Soil Pep: Partially composted fine bark mulch, dark and beautiful, ideal for rose gardens, shrubs and perennials, premium quality for front entrances and high visibility.
Age Old Organics Fertilizers
We carry a range of Age Old Organics products in both liquid and dry (granular) forms with good history of success in Colorado gardens.[Read More]
Alaskan Humus
From our friends at Cocorado, a highly biologically active compost from Alaska with high levels of humic & folic acids, which improve nutrient uptake and water retention. More concentrated than regular compost, use sparingly. We use it as an ingredient in our compost tea. Alaskan Humus is teeming with beneficial microbes.100% Organic
Alpha One
A locally made organic fertilizer: 7-2-2. It is an alfalfa-based product with a high organic matter content, very high humic acid value, low pH for Colorado alkaline soils, and is non-burning. It also contains blood meal, cottonseed meal and bone meal. Excellent for vegetable gardens and lawns. Slow releasing over a long time. Feeds soil microbes.
Big Foot Mycorrhizae
The Soil Food Web is an important component for healthy plants. This concentrate has not only outstanding Mycorrhizae but also carriers of Biochar, kelp and worm castings. Improve water and nutrienet uptake, root growth and plant growth while reducing transplant shock and drought stress.
Bone Meal
A natural source of phosphorus which is responsible for root development, fruiting and flower production in plants.
Bush Doctor Sledgehammer
encourages water movement through soil and soilless media. High fertilizer use can compromise plant growth over time due to concentrated mineral salt deposits. This product is a unique rinse formula designed to remove fertilizer buildup which may relieve nutrient lockout. Derived from saponin, an extract of the Yucca schidigera plant. Can be used for both hydroponic and soil applications
Corn Gluten Meal
A non-toxic, weed-and-feed with 9% nitrogen. It inhibits seed germination, but is harmless to plants with root systems, people, worms, and microorganisms. The effect can last up to 6 months and is especially useful in lawns.
“Applied in September / October, and again in late February / March it will prevent the majority of existing weed seeds from germinating. By doing this every year, you can virtually eliminate your weed problem.”
Kelly Grummons: Timberline Gardens, July 2010
Dave Thompson’s Organic Healthy Grow
Organic Healthy Grow Plant Food for Acid-Loving Plants: Derived from composted chicken manure from an egg farm, feather meal, and sulfate of potash (non-synthetic mined mineral-Sul-Po-Mag)
Organic Healthy Grow Plant Food for Tomatoes: Derived from composted chicken manure from an egg farm, feather meal, & sulfate of potash (non-synthetic mined mineral – Sul-Po-Mag)
Expanded Shale
Mined south of Boulder, then fired. A superior clay buster, loosens and aerates clay soils, holds water & air, and supports microorganisms. Excellent for Roses and Fruit Trees. Used at Texas A&M and recommended by Joan Franson, Rosarian.
Greensand
New Jersey Greensand: An organic source of 3% Potassium that holds moisture, has a high cation exchange capacity, and contains many trace minerals. It is a slow release product.
Texas Greensand: Texas’s finest source of organic greensand, contains 3% Potassium. This slow release product holds moisture, has a high cation exchange capacity, and contains many trace minerals.
Humate
this is a mined carbon concentrate that multiplies microorganisms and has the effect of making nutrients in the soil available. We have been using this for years in our potting mixes and gardens.
Hydrosource
This is a water-absorbing gel that absorbs 200-400 times its density in water. It is used as a soil amendment to increase the water-holding capacity of soils, reducing watering frequency by 20-40% in the ground and 50-75% in containers and hanging baskets. It greatly aids establishing of young plants, and improves soil structure, staying effective for 8 years. It has been used to help trees in drought and to reduce the water requirements of lawns. I have used this product for 12 years in producing plants from seed and found it very useful, needing very little in the soil. It is a synthetic polyacrylamide polymer that has been determined nonhazardous by OSHA, but has not passed organic standards by OMRI.
Kelp Meal
This seaweed product holds moisture, improves soil structure, provides a wide range of naturally chelated (available) minerals, adds organic matter, helps plants in stress, supports soil life and adds vitamins and plant hormones. It has been reported to help prevent fungus diseases. For roses half a cup is recommended two times a year (with the Rose Feed). Also recommended for vegetables, perennials and shrubs.
Khala Cloths
We love using Khala cloths, the original Beeswax Wraps in the US. They are the creation of Asa and Tamar McKee, who now reside in Boulder, where they produce their environmentally responsible alternatives to plastic wrap and plastic bags. Khala Cloths can be used to cover and seal a bowl of left-overs, and make the best wrapping for keeping cheeses, breads and vegetables fresh longer.
Every Khala Cloth comes in zero waste packaging and the cloth used is organic cotton and hemp grown in North America – no bleaching, no chemicals! Khala Cloths will have a long life (several years) when properly cared for.
Liquid Fence
100% Guaranteed to work to repel deer and rabbits with once a month application. If they are really hungry, or if it rains more than 1″ per week, spray more often. It does not have a strong odor after it dries, is environmentally safe and also stimulates growth. NOW there is a formulation for moles and voles.
Mile-Hi
Mile-Hi Rose Feed: Roses that bloom more than once a year need extra support if you want good repeat. This mostly organic rose fertilizer, formulated for Colorado soils,has proven itself for 10 years at the Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse garden and at the private gardens of many rose society members. Its primary ingredients are alfalfa, kelp meal, bone meal, blood meal, cottonseed meal and fish meal. We recommend one cup per plant only twice (or 3 times) a year. For busy people twice a year is far better than the every few weeks for chemical fertilizers, and way better for the soil life.
Mile-Hi Alfalfa Meal: Alfalfa was called the “In food for roses,” by famous rosarian Howard Walters. It is high in protein, acts as a powerful plant growth stimulant, and supports soil microbes, releasing soil nutrients in plant-available forms. Although it is an ingredient in Mile-Hi Rose Feed, many rose growers like to use one cup of Rose Feed with one cup of Alfalfa.
Gardening Tools
Plants are, of course, the main thing every gardener wants in their garden. But to garden, one also needs some tools, and the quality of those tools makes a BIG difference in the comfort, ease, and speed of getting those garden chores done. Durability, reliability, precision, and ergonomic design don’t generally come cheap. A quality handsaw or pole-saw, a pair of pruning shears, loppers or hedge-trimmers will, with a little maintenance, last a lifetime.
Did someone you love just plant a home orchard? A berry patch? A new landscape? They’re going to need some good tools, and we’ve got them!
Harlequin’s Gardens Gift Certificate
Any gardener will be thrilled to receive a Gift Certificate to Harlequin’s Gardens! Our Gift Certificates are available in any denomination. With a gift certificate, your recipients can select from our wide array of neonic-free plants, soil products, gardening and bee-keeping tools and supplies, and more!
Visit our store, our website, or call 303-939-9403 and have your credit card handy!
Mineral Boost
Mineral-rich fertilizer containing trace minerals in a form that is readily available to plants at any soil pH. Feeds plants and soil life.
Myke Mycorrhizae
Myke has two different blends of mycorrhizae to help when transplanting. One for vegetable gardens in the green bag and one for tress and shrubs in the blue box. Both stimulate root development and phosphorous uptake while reducing watering needs.
Neptune’s Harvest Organic Fertilizers
We like these fertilizers derived from the mineral rich North Atlantic Ocean and carry several of their different dry and liquid fertilizers. [Read More]
Planters II
Rock dust fertilizer containing over 30 trace minerals. Great for clay, rock gardens, natives, cacti, and vegetables. Especially good for penstemons & wildflowers. Best for soil prep or side-dress every 2 years.
Rich Lawn
a 100% organic product made in Platteville from dehydrated poultry manure and beetle-kill wood wastes. Excellent for shrubs and trees and is recommended for raspberries and other small fruits. Economical and is effective for fertilizing lawns. Listed by OMRI for organic use. Ideal for lawns, trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, vegetables and roses. Covers 2,000 sq. ft. for turf. 5-3-2.
Rock Phosphate
a natural source of phosphorus and calcium, immediately available over a long time. Does not reduce mycorrhizae like petroleum-derived phosphorus.
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.
Schwegler Insect-Saver
Catch wasps, bees, moths, flies, spiders, beetles, and even earwigs one-handed, swiftly, easily, without hurting them. Then observe them closely through the clear container, before releasing them outside.
This is the German-made Schutzgreifer that we have been searching for. They operate one handed like scissors: simply open, place over the insect, and gently close. Even works on drapes and upholstery.
As far as we know, we are the only source for this tool in the whole of the United States!
Rocky Mountain Minerals
This is a rock dust product containing over 30 trace minerals. When there is not a proper balance of trace minerals, deficiencies will cause problems with plant growth. In heavy clay soils, movement of these minerals is difficult. Therefore it is good to add Planters II when doing your soil prep. It can also be broadcast around established plants every two years. Very beneficial for vegetables, native plants, cacti and succulents and for supporting a healthy soil life.
Symbiosis Organic Living Soil Blend
Cocorado a local woman owned business provides us with a potting soil made from coconut coir, perlite, azomite minerals, calphos, rock dust, kelp meal, oyster shell, dolomite lime, earthworm castings, mycorrhizae and Alaska humus.
Worm Castings
Worm castings are soil or compost that had passed through an earthworm. What comes out contains 5x more nitrogen, 2x more calcium, 7x more phosphorus and potassium and many minerals and beneficial microorganisms all in water-soluble and plant-available forms. Worm “manure” will not burn and is safe for all plants, including houseplants. Worm castings support growth, root development, and disease resistance.
Yum Yum Mix
A 2-2-2 organic fertilizer formulated in New Mexico for alkaline, nutrient-poor Western soils like ours in Colorado. It is made from alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, kelp meal, rock dust, greensand and soft rock phosphate. It feeds the plants and the beneficial microbes that feed the plants. Far more effective than its 2-2-2 formula implies, especially when used in conjunction with humate. Vegan: no animal ingredients.
West County Gardening Gloves
We love West County 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 and patterns! We carry their Work 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.
St. Clair’s Organic Mints, Candies, Pastilles & Lozenges
Yea – totally organic! Made by herbalist Debra St. Claire! No corn syrup! Delicious! Effective! Packaged in pretty, reusable tins! Incredibly inexpensive! Lots of flavors! Great stocking stuffers!