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This past year I was the recipient of a Chanticleer Garden Scholarship awarded to professionals in Public Gardening, in my case to do a floristic and cultural comparison of two mountains in Greece and

Iris 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' As I was driving home yesterday I passed a house which boasted a narrow bed along its north side with hundreds--maybe thousands of snowdrops. I began looking intently

Salvia indica The first salvia to bloom at Denver Botanic Gardens every spring is actually from Western Asia and Turkey rather than India as the name would imply. It shows one extreme of the range of

Aloe polyphylla at Semonkong Lodge Few plants better epitomize the quandaries of plant conservation than this iconic aloe, endemic to the heights of south-central Lesotho, South Africa. Once

Delosperma floribundum 'Starburst' There have been a veritable flood of hardy ice plants on the market in recent years, to the point where we have forgotten about some of the worthy old timers. This

Hydrangea quercifolia This time of year I am amazed to see spectacular mounds of Hydrangea 'Annabelle' glowing around the metro area. That is one cultivar that has certainly made its mark, although

Winecups in Watersmart Garden Strolling around York Street gardens this time of year, you are apt to see a bright rose red plant that resembles a geranium in many gardens. It is apt to be winecups (

Purple Mountain sun daisy at City and County Building For over a decade the Master Gardeners of Denver and I maintained a low water garden in front of the City and County Building in the Civic Center

Fraxinus americana 'Autumn Purple' (White Ash) "Disaster in slow motion" is a phrase that has been applied to many phenomena including global warming, the collapse of biodiversity, chronic drought

Young Siberian larch ( Larix sibirica) You have probably walked by this willowy sapling many times--although I suspect if it were not in fall color, you would have walked by it barely noticing it

Asian dogwood ( Cornus kousa) "Asian dogwood? Surely photographed in Oregon, or perhaps New Jersey?" Nope--taken at Denver Botanic Gardens last June. There are several specimens--this one in the Rock

Scott Skogerboe and mystery maple... Everyone should have a hero. Scott Skogerboe has always been one of mine: Head of propagation at Fort Collins Nursery Wholesale, he and his boss, Gary Epstein have