Spring is a time of renewal, and what better way to celebrate the season than by visiting the beautiful gardens at York Street. As the tulips begin to bloom, the birds start singing and new plants sprout from their frosty beds, it’s a perfect opportunity to take a break from the daily grind and appreciate the small things in life that bring so much joy. </p> If you’re looking for a unique way to treat your employees or clients, consider hosting an event at one of our remarkable venues</a>. Our team can help you plan a company lunch, employee appreciation or even an evening event. With several options to choose from, we’ll work with you to create an unforgettable experience. Our caterers</a> can provide delicious appetizers or meals for your team to enjoy, whether they prefer to have a picnic among the gardens or dine in one of our event spaces. </p> For an extra special experience, consider visiting us during Evenings al Fresco</a>, a unique event that takes place on select summer evenings. Stroll through Denver Botanic Gardens at dusk and listen to talented local musicians perform acoustically. With music of all genres, it’s a lovely way to enjoy time with your colleagues in the beautiful weather. </p> If you’re interested in hosting an event at the Gardens, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. We’d be more than happy to work with you to plan a memorable experience for you and your guests. </p> Private Events: 720-865-3551, private.events@botanicgardens.org</a>.</p> Fill out our rental inquiry form</a> for pricing and date availability. Grow with the Gardens by becoming a Corporate Member! Check out all the benefits</a>. </p>
As the days grow longer and warmer, we start looking for the telltale signs that spring is arriving – birds chirping, trees leafing out, lilac buds, bulbs emerging out of the damp soil. As you observe nature around you, why not start taking pictures, recording your observations and contributing to large projects as a community scientist? April is the perfect month to join community science efforts across the globe. </p> At Denver Botanic Gardens, our scientists are particularly interested in studying patterns and processes of biodiversity. One way we do this is through community science (also known as citizen science</a>) initiatives such as the Denver EcoFlora project. These initiatives allow participants to connect with plants by making observations of biodiversity patterns in their environment. EcoFlora is based on the traditional flora concept, a list or inventory of plants in an area or period of time. We run the Denver EcoFlora project</a> on the iNaturalist platform</a> where we engage the community in documenting plants living in the Denver-metro area. Our goal is to document all plants living in the seven-county area (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson) using the iNaturalist app. Why? Well, understanding the flora of an area is the best way to protect it.</p> As part of the EcoFlora project, we send out monthly challenges, “EcoQuests,” to engage participants in documenting a specific species, group of plants or theme. April’s EcoQuest has two-parts, the first is focused on some of the first flowers to emerge in spring, the pasque flowers (Pulsatilla nutalliana). Then starting April 28, a global competition begins with the City Nature Challenge</a> – a challenge to document the most biodiversity within cities. Using the iNaturalist app you can make observations of any wild organism: plant, bird, insect, fungi. Observations made between April 28 – May 1 count toward the competition. Last year we had nearly 400 participants observe more than 600 species. Our goal is to surpass those numbers this year. Many local partners are organizing hikes or bioblitzes during the City Nature Challenge. Check our website for details on events and how to register.</p> You can contribute to scientific studies by downloading the iNaturalist app and using it to take photos of the nature around you. We encourage you to get outside, feel the sun on your face and contribute to science while you’re out there.</p> </p> This article first appeared in the April issue of Life on Capitol Hill. </em> </p>
One of my favorite places during spring at Denver Botanic Gardens is Oak Grove. It represents everything I love about spring: the color green, rebirth and colorful flowers, just to name a few. When I was assigned this garden many years back, it was a mix of hybrid oaks and ground covers surrounding a circular concrete pad. I thought to myself about all the potential this garden had, and my head started filling with ideas. One of those ideas was how beautiful Oak Grove could be in spring. So, I brought my ideas to reality over the next decade by installing a mulched path that would lead visitors on a walk through the woods, where they would be greeted by beautiful understory perennials, shrubs and trees along their journey.</p> The blooms in Oak Grove will start looking their best starting in mid-April. In the meantime, be sure to see Chionodoxa forbesii </em>Blue Giant’ and ‘Pink Giant’ (also called glory-of-the-snow), along with a few of the primroses that are just coming up. The Chionodoxa forbesii</em> are all along the southwest edges of Oak Grove.</p> Starting in mid-April:</p> One of the first things you will notice when you enter Oak Grove during spring is sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum</em>), a lush, green groundcover that is topped with tiny white flowers. The flowers are fragrant and edible and have a sweet, nutty flavor. The leaves smell like freshly mowed hay when dried.</li> Next, you will probably see the sprays of small, intense blue flowers atop the green, velvety leaves of Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla). As you wander around the inner circle you will encounter brightly colored primroses (Primula vulgaris</em>) and the dainty, fairy-like flowers of barrenwort (Epimedium</em> × rubrum</em> and E.</em> × versicolor</em> ‘Sulphureum’) along with the pink heart-shaped flowers and golden leaves of bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis</em> ‘Gold Heart’, formerly known as Dicentra</em>) amongst the fresh, new fronds of various ferns.</li> As you head up the mulched path passing the new leaves of emerging hostas and various wood ferns, you will immediately notice the blue and pink blooms of hundreds of Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica</em> ‘Excelsior’ and ‘Queen of the Pinks’). These colorful bulbs have naturalized and hybridized throughout the garden creating different shades of pink, blue and white. Continuing along the path, you are sure to see the bright yellow flowers of Oregon grape (Berberis repens</em>) and the brilliant, scarlet-purple flower buds of the Forest Pansy redbud (Cercis canadensis</em> ‘Forest Pansy’). These shrubs and trees are perfect understory plants because they grow well in shade and dappled sunlight.</li> As you head up the path and through the woods you will reach a clearing with wooden benches where you can enjoy sitting under the trees and listening to the rushing waterway behind the benches. If you look closely ahead, near the split rail fencing, you may notice an unusual dark rose-colored blossom hanging like a pendulum from a medium sized tree. You have found our pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba</em>). These unusual flowers will eventually develop into a large, delicious fruit that tastes like a cross between a banana and a mango.</li> </ul> I hope that you have enjoyed our walk through the woods. Whenever you need to relax and de-stress, come back and visit us anytime.</p>
A gorgeous garden flush with leafy greens, aromatic herbs and colorful vegetables bursting with flavor is a wonderful thing. There is nothing like picking a ripe tomato right from the vine and carrying it into your kitchen to slice up into a salad with a little drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And veggies grown in your own garden just taste better than storebought, too. Plus, as the gardener tending your plot—whether in containers, raised beds or in a swath of land—you are in control of what goes into your food. </p> Maybe this sounds like a dream come true, but you have no idea where to start. Or maybe you’ve tried gardening in some form before only to feel like it’s harder than it looks. Just how do you get from seed or seedling to great big, glorious plants? What’s the best place for your garden? How much water do plants need? How do you fertilize them and treat pests? Help!</p> A New Gardener Boot Camp</strong> will help you with all of these questions—and more. We’ve taken our best beginner classes to equip you with all the tools you need to master your garden! Even better, this is an online class, so you can work at your own pace and then join a live Q & A session at the end via Zoom. </p> Course registration opens April 20. On April 22, all course direction and videos will be emailed to participants. From there, you have one week to watch all four courses. Join instructors on April 29 at 10 a.m. for the live Q & A session. The cost is only $46 or $42 for Gardens members. </p> Get full details and register — and get ready for your best garden yet.</p>
This past December I had a unique opportunity to travel to Puerto Guadal, Chile, and visit two farms in the area. The first farm I visited was called Huerto Cuatro Estaciones, a farm growing mixed vegetables, herbs and flowers using biointensive, low-tillage methods on a scale similar to Chatfield Farms. I attended a five-day course covering tools, techniques and team and workflow organization methods used at this farm. I also visited Raices Floridas, another farm nearby growing a variety of medicinal plants, herbs and flowers using hoop houses and no-till beds to create value-added products. </p> Farmers in this region experience similar geographic challenges to Front Range farmers such as high winds, unpredictable and extreme weather, pests and disease. They also share a similar history of agricultural practices and land management programs that have degraded soils and ecosystems. Their solutions to these challenges reflect current movements in small-scale agriculture towards more regenerative systems.</p> Both farms focus on and teach about encouraging and protecting biodiversity as a key part of maintaining a healthy agricultural system. They also focus on sustainability by minimizing external inputs by necessity as they are in rural areas, several hours of rugged driving from any city. I was inspired by their focus on good land stewardship, their dedication to the improvement of soil health through closed-loop composting systems and no-till practices, their focus on supporting pollinator and beneficial insect populations, their innovative wind and weather protection structures and commitment to community building.</p> Our goal is to demonstrate many of these same practices at Chatfield Farms, and to continue to be a great educational resource for our guests, local producers, and members of our community supported agriculture program. Through this opportunity I was able to make new connections and widen our net of information sharing helping keep Denver Botanic Gardens and our members apprised of current agricultural movements, tools and techniques used all over the world.</p>
Falling on Saturday, April 22 this year, Earth Day</a>’s theme has been announced as “Invest in our Planet.” A celebration of environmental action and protection, Earth Day serves as a call to all citizens to do their part for the planet. To invest in the planet is to invest in a healthy and sustainable future for generations to come. Earth Day is an opportunity to cherish the time spent in nature, and Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms</a> is the perfect immersive setting. </p> Nestled in the foothills south of Denver, Chatfield Farms serves as a working farm, an oasis of ornamental gardens and a refuge for multiple species of wildlife and pollinators. When visitors arrive, they may first notice the wide-open, wild spaces of the Platte River Valley, followed by acres of sustainable agriculture and ornamental horticulture over gentle grades in the shadow of the Dakota Lyons hogback. There are also walking trails, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. Throughout the gardens, plants will be awakening from their winter slumber, and spring bulbs and flowering shrubs and trees will be making their presence known with fragrant blooms. </p> This year, Chatfield Farms is hosting several Earth Day-related educational opportunities and demonstrations for all ages on April 22 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.:</strong></p> Sustainable agricultural demonstrations such as planting, composting and vermiculture will be taught by skilled farmers.</li> Irrigation audits and water quality demonstrations will cover the topic of water scarcity and conservation of resources.</li> Educational staff will be stationed across the property to teach the young and young at heart about the wonders of the planet and Chatfield Farms’ ecosystems.</li> Barrel train rides will be available for those who want to take a spin around the property.</li> </ul> April 22 is an SCFD Free Day, so admission to Chatfield Farms is free all day! Earth Day activities take place 10 a.m. – 2p.m. and are also free. Snacks and refreshments will be available for purchase. The site has numerous shaded picnic tables and sunny picnicking areas for those who choose to bring their own food. Advanced registration is required. Get tickets.</a></strong></p> Celebrate Earth Day outdoors this year with likeminded peers, learn how to invest in our planet and behold the sights and sounds of nature at Chatfield Farms. </p> Chatfield Farms is located at 8500 W Deer Creek Canyon Road in Littleton, just off of C-470 & Wadsworth Blvd. </p>
Gardens are especially exciting in the early spring. While much of the landscape remains dormant, bulbs erupt in vibrant displays of life that fill us with anticipation of the transition of seasons. Spring in Colorado is erratic, often filled with wintry weather and deceivingly warm days. Months before it is safe to plant tender annual flowers, there are bulbs that flourish in the chaos of our spring. </p> Rock gardens provide a perfect sanctuary for these determined little flowers, and there are bulbs that thrive in every habitat, from dry and exposed gritty spaces to shaded woodland environments. </p> Lenten rose, snowdrops, dwarf iris, cyclamen and crocus all begin to bloom late in winter. These are followed in the early spring by daffodils, hyacinths, anemones and pasqueflowers. Eventually we see ornamental onions, grape hyacinths and tulips. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it does include a few of my favorite varieties blooming this time of the year:</p> Helleborus angustifolius</em>. The dark, evergreen leaves are a foundation plant in the rock garden. Its pale green flowers bloom throughout the late winter and cool spring. It reseeds sporadically throughout the garden, which is a welcome gift for an ever-changing garden. Typically, 1 to 1.5 feet tall and wide, it is large for a rock garden plant, but smaller than most woody foundation plants, and offers a different color and texture than other evergreens in the rock garden. It performs best in shade to part-shade areas that hold a bit more moisture. </li> Iris reticulata</em>. Most of the dwarf cultivars come from the reticulate species of Iris</em>, but there are many similarly early flowering and dwarfed species. These bulbs perform exceptionally in well-drained, sunny locations. They’ll bloom for several weeks in February or March depending on the weather. Beloved by bees, these flowers also hold up in snowstorms. </li> Tulipa humulis</em>. The best tulips for rock gardens are called species tulips. Tulipa humulis</em> is just one of many ‘species tulips’ that are perfect in a rock garden. They are later blooming, in April and May, when the threat of snow and frost still looms. </li> </ul> Bulbs inspire the feeling that spring has come, offering a new and fresh start. Hold on to that inspirational feeling; the bulbs you see in the early spring are best planted in fall. Not much else in gardening is as satisfying as experiencing the bulbs you planted last year emerge and signal the transition of seasons. </p> </p> This article was contributed by Erik Howshar</strong></em>, </strong>horticulturist at Chatfield Farms.</em> </p>
When designing your own garden, the practical considerations are the most important decisions. The creative aspects of your design are more nuanced and may be where you need the most help. Here are some design principles to keep in mind. You certainly do not need to use all these concepts, but they’ll give you some food for thought.</p> Primary Design Principles </h4> Style, atmosphere, surroundings</strong>: What style/feeling are you aiming for? A low-stimulus and relaxing retreat, an inspiring entertaining area or a diverse habitat for pollinators? Are you in the city or the mountains? What style harmonizes with your surroundings?</p> Lines: </strong>Do you want straight lines or curves for your garden beds? A combination? If you are going to do curves, make sure they are strong, purposeful curves, not arbitrary wiggly edges. Sight lines are important in a garden—you don’t want your eye drawn straight to a utility box!</p>
