Dear Friends & Fellow Gardeners,
Thank you so much for hanging in there with us this year as we scrambled to adjust to new circumstances and new protocols! We are truly grateful for your patience and loyalty, which made it possible to help so many people, many of them new to gardening. In fact, one of the nursery trade magazines reported that in the US this year, there were 19 million new gardeners. There were days this spring when it felt like they were all coming to Harlequin’s! We have the hang of it now, and if the pandemic is still a threat in spring 2021 (which is probable), we will be able to build and improve on what we learned this year, adding Zoom classes and more efficient on-line ordering and pick-up.
In the meantime, we are planning to rebuild the covered Ramada, the plant house just north of the open lath area that is in front of our store. The design features include a roof that doesn’t leak (Halleluja!), a large open space without columns, and a heat pump for fossil fuel-free temperature control. We are just waiting for the building permit from Boulder County. Fingers crossed!!
Take advantage of the warm weather this week to water your gardens. And if your apple, pear, mountain ash or hawthorn trees have fireblight, now is THE BEST time to remove affected branches because you can still see which ones to cut out, and the sap is down, so you won’t be spreading the infection and won’t need to disinfect your tools between cuts. Read more in our Autumn Garden Cleanup blog.
We’re taking a break for awhile and will check in with you again in December.
Wishing you a beautiful, safe, healthy, happy autumn and an election outcome that reinforces our Democracy and our collective wisdom and compassion, and lifts up all of our rainbow population!
Eve & Mikl Brawner and the Awesome Staff of Harlequin’s Gardens!