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Xeriscape sometimes summons images of oceans of gravel and harsh, stickly, pointy plants that stab, slash and terrorize homeowner associations. A primrose? Really? Well, there are even primroses that

First of all, it's not really a rose. Helleborus niger is now put in its own family (Helleboraceae), although still allied with the buttercups. Although seemingly innocent with that ghostly whiteness

You have to be a real Scrooge not to love Poinsettia this time of year (and it's OK to say "Poinsetta" in my opinion!)...that RED--it's a red even redder than Santa's suit when Mrs. Claus brings it

With this remarkable string of warm days in November, we can hardly be blamed for thinking summertime, and summertime is fast approaching in the foothills of South Africa, where the spectacular genus

Every so often a plant comes along that surprises you: I never thought one had to "improve" the ubiquitous and abundant blue gramma grass that occupies almost every patch of prairie remnant left

With the summer heat finally having subsided (after setting new records for the number of +90-degree days), Denver’s water use has started to wane. Landscapes that had relied on irrigation through the

The fruit is strangely lurid. Medlar is a European tree in the Rose Family that somehow exudes an air of strangeness. I have read accounts of how terrible it is to taste fruit before hard frost: we

People ask me all the time "When is the best time to visit Denver Botanic Gardens?" I confess here and now, I find this question annoying. Denver Botanic Gardens is simply gorgeous every minute and

Why yes we do, and we have for several decades. The last weekend in August, over fifteen citizen scientists and several mycologists braved the wee hours of the morning and one of the driest summers in

When members take the time to let us know about their feelings or experiences, those of us in Denver Botanic Gardens' Membership Department pay close attention. Member feedback is one of the most

No, Virginia! Those are not flowers,but the seedheads on one of the most remarkable and beautiful shrubs (or is it a tree?) from China. Heptacodium miconioides was discovered by E.H. Wilson in Hubei

Anyone who has managed to grow "Red birds in a tree" knows that few plants are more attractive to hummingbirds. Scrophularia macrantha is a very local plant endemic largely to a few mountains in