The art of viewings stones, previously associated with bonsai in the United States, is gaining in popularity with a small but enthusiastic group of practitioners. Viewing stones are valued based on their physical characteristics with a focus on stability, longevity and immortality. These stones, sometimes formed by wind and water, are appreciated for both their beauty and the story that they tell. </p> Viewing stones are often collected and brought home to display and admire. Many of the most popular stones have striking similarities to natural landforms including mountain ranges, plateaus and other stunning landscapes. The stones can also take the shape of man-made objects, figures and natural forms. They are great for conversation, creativity and appreciation of the natural world. From June 8-11, Denver Botanic Gardens, in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society and the American Bonsai Society, will host a learning seminar symposium</a> featuring workshops, demonstrations and free seminars focused on the art and craft of bonsai including programming on viewing stones. Much of the symposium will be open to general admission including a bonsai show in the Bill Hosokawa Bonsai Pavilion, a viewing stone exhibit and a vendor area with bonsai supplies. </p> Get details and register for bonsai-related programming</a>.</p>
Since 2019, the Diversity in the Arts (DITA) has been an internship program focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion, bringing these values within the arts and humanities industries. For 10 weeks during the summer, interns are placed at their host sites where they engage in various work tasks and learn the importance of how art connects with people. As a double major in art practices and ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, I knew this internship program would be a great fit to gain real experiences doing what I love.</p> Throughout the summer, I worked closely with the volunteer services and learning engagement teams, completing various tasks, activities, and events. With volunteer services, I co-managed the Summer Teen Volunteer Program with Maureen Igoe, assistant manager of volunteer services. With 76 teen participants, my role on this team included engaging and setting up volunteers for Evenings al Fresco, Summer Concert Series, Lavender Festival, and daily horticulture and guest engagement shifts.</p> With volunteer services, I facilitated painting classes for the teen volunteers, where they learned about Mexican magical realism and participated in a painting activity focused on storytelling through the inspiration of plants. I had the opportunity to curate the annual Art on the Prairie Show at Plains Conservation Center</a> in Aurora, utilizing my artistic knowledge to identify and organize common themes, colors, and mediums in the artworks submitted. In addition, I was scheduled as a visitor experience associate where I welcomed guests entering the Contemporary Fiber: Botanicals</a> exhibit.</p> With the learning engagement team, I focused on bridging art and science at Denver Botanic Gardens. My projects included conducting research on the most commonly asked plants' peak bloom and designing flashcards using the principles of art on display. I appreciated connecting with staff whose roles incorporate diverse groups of people and plants. They shared their career paths, successes, and challenges, providing me valuable guidance as I continue to navigate my future career in the art industry.</p> My experience interning at Denver Botanic Gardens has taught me the importance of connecting people with plants, collaborating with others, independent projects, leadership, and community engagement. I plan to utilize and expand these skills as I wrap up my undergraduate studies at CU Boulder. The Gardens inspired me to showcase my diversity and apply my creative skills to projects that celebrate the experiences of everyone.</p> This article was contributed by volunteer services and learning engagement intern Juni Balderas</strong>. </em></p>
Denver Botanic Gardens strives to be ever more sustainable and conserve our precious water resources in the state of Colorado. With the recent passing and approval of House Bill 22-1151</a>, the Turf Replacement Program</a>, new incentives will be available starting this year for Colorado businesses, nonprofits and HOAs to remove unused turf areas and replace them with more drought tolerant landscapes that are appropriate for our semi-arid climate. In response to this, the Horticulture Department combined forces with the Gardens’ Green Team to reimagine the turf areas along York Street and create a modern and innovative demonstration garden. In March, we started removal of turf along the east side of York Street, which was then replaced with a stunning and drought-tolerant garden that will showcase the use of native and xeric perennials, ground covers and bulbs. The area will fill in quickly and prevent the unwanted heat island effect. A squeegee gravel mulch was used to allow for ideal drainage while also retaining soil moisture. This new feature will not only look incredible as it formally greets visitors but will also reduce water consumption in the area by up to 100,000 gallons per year once it is fully established. </p> In addition to conserving water, this project aims to inspire visitors and the public to take on similar projects in their home and business landscapes to conserve valuable water resources while simultaneously enhancing aesthetics without the use of artificial turf or excessive rock, which can be ecologically and environmentally counterproductive. </p> The entire project will be documented using time-lapse cameras recording each step. Signage will educate the public on the steps involved and the plants selected to create this new roadside display. </p> This exciting endeavor is one of many that Denver Botanic Gardens is currently spearheading to make Colorado greener and protect our natural resources. Stay tuned to see this amazing transformation and visit the Gardens to learn more about these drought tolerant and tough plants for your home garden! </p> </p> Explore more water conservation resources</a>. </p>
Penstemons, also called beardtongues, are an incredibly gorgeous and diverse genus of flowering plants. They are only native to North America, making them a wide-reaching yet still unique treasure. These wildflowers find homes across many ecosystem types, from the prairie and steppe to foothills and alpine to moist meadows and rocky crevices. Structurally, they range in height from a few inches to several feet. They bloom in a colorful array as well: pink, red, orange, violet, white and sometimes yellow. There truly is a penstemon for every niche. </p> With their diversity in size, color and range – one will find that penstemons enhance numerous garden styles: native, pollinator, prairie, rock and alpine, crevice, romantic, cottage and naturalistic to name a few. In the garden, penstemons will thrive in full to partial sun and they prefer well drained soil. Many species like P. pinifolius</em> and P. pseudospectabilis</em> thrive in xeric conditions, and most can handle medium watering schedules. With some sun, water and a little love penstemons are sure to enhance your garden.</p> Humans are not the only species that enjoy these lovely perennials. Hummingbirds have a haven in the tubular penstemon flowers, especially orange and red species like P. cardinalis</em> and P. eatonii</em>. Native bees also love blooming penstemon as a nectar and pollen waystation, and songbirds delight in the forb once it goes to seed. Their foliage can provide cover for small mammals and birds, as well as diversifying the plant communities and habitats overall.</p> At Chatfield Farms</a>, visitors can find penstemons in almost every garden</a> – a testament to their versatility and lovability. Some beardtongue hotspots to enjoy are the Prairie Garden, Carol Gossard Colorado Native Plant Garden near the Green Farm Barn and the garden around the yurt. Penstemon’s peak bloom time is right around the corner, so come on down for a show!</p> Learn more about penstemon by perusing the American Penstemon Society website</a>. </p> This blog post was contributed by Horticulturist Abigail McLennan</strong>.</em></p>
If you’re going to be planting plants, you are going to need seeds. Do you know where your seeds come from? When land managers consider putting native plants into natural landscapes to restore degraded areas, deciding where to get seeds is an important step in this process. </p> Seeds can be acquired in different ways, and scientists increasingly agree that wild-collected seed (seeds collected directly from plants in their natural habitat) from native plants is best. When native, wild-collected seed is used, there is a higher chance that those plants will already be well adapted to the environment they will be grown in. This makes it important to collect seed as close as possible to the area being restored. </p> Ensuring large amounts of wild-collected native seed is available to land managers is critical as events like wildfires become more destructive. After a wildfire, it can take thousands of pounds of seeds to restore native plants to the landscape. Acquiring this much seed is challenging as it requires a lot of time and people to collect. Experts in the field are addressing this need by creating programs such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Seeds of Success and implementing plans like the National Seed Strategy</a>. </p> At the Gardens, members of our research staff – including myself – are contributing to research on this topic so restoration efforts in Colorado are improved using native seed. As part of obtaining my master’s degree through the University of Colorado Denver, I worked with researchers at the Gardens to study local adaptation and the importance of seed sourcing for restoration in two common native grassland species: Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama) and Ericameria nauseosa (rubber rabbitbrush). Conducting a large common garden experiment at Chatfield Farms, I researched whether plants did better depending on their seed collection source site. </p>
In winter, the collection of new plant and fungal specimens stops altogether. However, the collectors of specimens made the previous summer are still working hard to prepare these for incorporation into the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium of Vascular Plants</a> and Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi</a>. It takes a considerable amount of work to process a collection to become a herbarium specimen. Thus, after the busy specimen collection season ends, collectors finally get a chance to take stock of their recently collected riches.</p> Last year, we began the use of digital field notebooks to streamline specimen collections and ensure that the data collected are of the highest standards. Digital field notebooks use templates to prompt collectors to record all the relevant data for each specimen. Plant and fungi data collection templates contain different data fields because these organisms have such different morphologies. </p> Winter is a great time for collectors to identify their specimens. Collectors utilize many different resources, such as dichotomous keys to identify specimens, and often need to look at their specimens under a microscope to examine specific, tiny features that will help determine an accurate identification – something that isn’t easily done in the field. Without a name, the specimen cannot move forward through processing.</p> Once all the specimens have been identified in the herbarium, the result is a spreadsheet with all relevant collection data for each specimen. The specimen data help place the specimen at a specific place in space and time. Collection data include the name(s) of the person or people who collected it and any other ecological, morphological, cultural or other notes the collector(s) may have made. The specimens and their associated collection data are then uploaded and available for view on our free, publicly available, online databases</a>.</p> Winter gives our scientists the time they need to sit down, make identifications, type up all the wonderful data they recorded over the field season and push it out onto the world wide web for all to see! </p> Check out the images below in the gallery. </strong>Figures 1, 2 and 3 show some example pages of a plant collection field notebook. There are reference sheets that show the collector how to use the field notebook, data sheets where they record the actual specimen data and a metadata dictionary at the back of the which defines all the terms used. Figure 4 shows an example of a more straight-forward fungal collection field notebook data sheet. These collection templates now exist in our digital field notebooks, so recording the data is a breeze. </p>
Now that I might have your attention, the answer is no way, no how! What I’m really talking about is new kinds of trees we can bring into our urban forests to make them more resilient in the face of the increasing challenges of the Front Range climate. Over the past decade, experts have recommended new tree species for the Denver area, but only a dozen or so trees we all know well continue to make up most new plantings. The pace of change is glacial. </p> To help move the needle a tiny bit, I’d like to highlight one tree species that I think could have a good future here—the blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica</em>). First, its name is really appealing, with a rather rakish and even outlaw connotation. It reminds me of casinos, of the hand-held weapon often carried by Dick Tracy’s criminal enemies, of that unusual anise-flavored chewing gum and of former First Lady Jackie O’s father John V. “Black Jack” Bouvier III, who was noted for drinking, gambling and philandering. (More on that last quality in a moment).</p> I’m also very fond of blackjack oak’s tough, leathery leaves, which unlike almost all oaks in temperate North America have a wedge shape, their widest point found at the slightly undulating, sometimes nearly blunt end. Being an oak it possesses longevity and the strength to tolerate snow loads. Having a relatively modest stature, it’s more suitable for smaller city properties than its taller brethren like the bur or northern red oaks. Perhaps even better for our area, blackjack oak handles drought and heat with ease and if asked will grow uncomplainingly in some of the poorest soils. I will admit, however, that it’s not the fastest-growing tree, but good things come to those who wait, no?</p> Now let’s talk about the all-important issue of the blackjack oak’s fall foliage color, one of the key factors in assessing a tree’s marketability. Renowned tree authority Dr. Michael Dirr gave the underwhelming review that its fall color is “at best yellow-brown, occasionally flashes of bronze-red.” However, many of my contacts in the Midwest, where the tree is a fairly common native, say it almost always colors pleasingly in the fall, from orange to red to purple. In support of their position, we now have the experience here of three blackjack oaks purchased in the spring of 2011 from a Missouri nursery for the Regis University Arboretum. Two of them have reliably displayed very bright red-orange fall color, and the third so far has had a refined maroon-wine color. </p> The foliage of the first two blackjack oaks—but not the third—has a mixture of leaf shapes, some with lateral lobes, which could indicate they are hybrids with another oak species such as black oak (Quercus velutina</em>). This is possible given that oaks are the biggest philanderers of the northern hemisphere temperate trees. Collecting acorns to grow pure species of oaks can be a daunting task because if there are several species in an area, they may eagerly interbreed (if I can be pardoned for attributing eagerness to trees) so the offspring may be surprisingly different from the seed parent. This can work to our advantage, though, as in the case of the two Regis trees where hybridity seems to have conferred on them not only greater vigor but also brighter fall color than the third one that has the purer genetics. For me both the pure species of blackjack and the hybrid deserve more planting in our region, and we shouldn’t shy away from exploiting the benefits many oak species provide with their philandering ways.</p> The ninth annual Tree Diversity Conference Friday, March 10. </strong>Learn more about attending the conference in person</a> or joining online</a>. </p> This article was contributed by Sonia John</strong>, chair of the organizing committee of the Tree Diversity Conference, a joint program of Denver Botanic Gardens and the University of Denver Arboretum.</em> </p>
