Blog

Join your community in documenting biodiversity during the 10th anniversary of the City Nature Challenge! City Nature Challenge is a yearly event for folks in cities all over the world to observe and

The Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi is the largest macrofungal collection of mushrooms found along the Southern Rocky Mountains. How did this collection rise to fame? What are its origins? Let us begin

From sweet and floral to skunky and funky scents, the fragrance of a flower is unique. Certain floral scents are hypothesized to attract pollinators, defend against herbivores or act as a mode of

It always starts out as such a good idea. A redesigned home is the fulfillment of dreams. That new raised bed vegetable garden is perfection. A few decades ago, the channelization of creeks and rivers

Last year we initiated a study on a rare and Federally listed plant, Penstemon penlandii, in partnership with colleagues from the Gardens’ Horticulture Department. We tested the suitability of

Natural history collections have served as libraries of our world’s biodiversity for centuries. These libraries—holding plants, fungi and insects—are known as herbaria. There are over 3,565 herbaria

Last month I had the pleasure of moderating a symposium at the Society for Ecological Restoration North American Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The theme of the conference was Cross-Biome

Mushrooms can be poisonous. That is one of the first things we are taught as kids. Even though plants produce more detrimental toxins than mushrooms, society, rightly or wrongly, tends to teach the

If you’ve been on a hike and seen a pinedrop, you might have thought, “Hey, why isn’t that green? Isn’t it a plant?” Well, it is! But it doesn’t do the one thing that makes plants so unique – it

Botanic gardens are wonderfully vibrant places where we connect people to plants in myriad ways. Not only do gardens provide respite and beauty to our visitors, but they play an important role in

When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when on a field expedition in Colorado, do as the local flora do! Colorado is home to an impressive diversity of geographies and environments, from prairie to

The Research & Conservation Department at the Gardens has two main branches: conservation/ecology and biodiversity. As a 2021 scientific article from scientists at the Gardens describes, floristic