One of the most exciting facets of the horticultural scene in Colorado has been the rise of specialty "micronurseries", rather like our famous microbrews, these are a breed apart from the generic box stores and our (albeit) excellent garden centers. One of the best of these is Perennial Favorites, an enchanting destination in a wonderful setting. Diana Capen and Merrilee Barnett began growing a broad spectrum of perennials, herbs and annuals several decades ago: in recent years they have added lots of vegetables and woody plants into their mix. I make a point of dropping by their wonderful garden center any time I drive near Rye, Colorado: they are open from Wednesday through weekends for the rest of this month, and they will have a blowout Fall Sale with plants 25% off their very reasonable prices on September 9-11. Do click on this URL if you haven't already..Perennial Favorites' website has an extremely informative blog well worth bookmarking. And why did I begin this blog with a picture of an ice plant? That is no ordinary</em> ice plant, it is the only plant in the entire genus (and possibly in the family of thousands of species) that approaches blue in coloration: Lavender Ice occurred as a sport on 'John Proffitt' at their nursery almost a decade ago. This was introduced into Plant Select in 2009, and has provided a dramatic new color for the genus. If you are growing any ice plant, I can assure you that this would be an ideal companion for almost any color they come in. Check out how fabulous Lavender Ice</strong> looks alongside Colorado Gold Gazania in our Plant Select garden at DBG: May I suggest a road trip down to Rye? Why not take a jaunt up to Lake Isabel, or a weekend visiting Cripple Creek or the Wet Mountain Valley? Come back through Rye and drop in on these wonderful growers. You have time next weekend, or for their fall sale. I have obtained countless treasures from them over the year including several extremely durable Origanums ('Kent Beauty' and hybridinum</em> to be precise). They often sell at the Rock Garden sale in April, which is where I purchased this stunning miniature Balloon flower from them this year: I can assure you that if you visit them, you will find lots of goodies there you will not find in any other nursery! </p>
</p> Are you familiar with Denver Botanic Gardens Research & Conservation department? Have you ever wanted to know more about the type of research we do? We currently have ten staff in our Research & Conservation department with a lot of scientific expertise; we have three PhD and five MS degrees between us. In addition to our core staff, we have seven adjunct researchers collaborating with us on various projects ranging from curating our ethnobotanical collection, to evaluating revegetation practices after removal of invasive species. Our new brown bag series: Re-search the Gardens: Meet Our scientists will provide you with the opportunity to meet the Gardens’ scientists and learn about the great work we do to protect our region’s natural heritage.</p> The first talk in the series will be held on Wednesday July 13 in the Waring House Great Room from noon – 1 p.m. The opening talk in the series ‘Conservation genetics at the Gardens: Using DNA to protect our rarest plants,’ will cover how and why we are using DNA to help conserve some of our rarest plants. For more details on the series visit our website.</p>
</p> I'm sure that if you told the next fifty people you met that "there are trillium growing wild in Colorado", I'm sure not one in a hundred would believe it. The picture above was taken last weekend north of Steamboat. Oh, so many stories! I had camped in this area for the first time nearly half a century ago. A bear tried to get in our tent (we kept the bear prints for years on the outside of the tent.) I went back many times since then. Early in this decade a colossal wind knocked down tens of thousands of trees in the Zirkel Dome area. Spruce beetle populations skyrocketed, killing all the healthy trees, and subsequent fires wrought havoc as well: I wondered if our trillium survived there?</p> </dt> Western white trillium (Trillium ovatum) last weekend near Steamboat.</dd> </dl> Many did! I could have spent days looking through the woods and tabulating trilliums. They are really quite common in the Montane and Subalpine forests of northern Routt county. As I peered from a distance at the remembered hills, I saw that much of the range of this plant is indeed changing: one of the hills near Slavonia which was filled with unusual treasures had burned just a few years ago... Unlike the eastern white trillium (T. grandiflorum</em>) which looks so similar, this trillium grows in very cool areas, often blooming near snow. Not a plant to grow in gardens, but a treasure to find again in the wild.</p> </dt> Trillium with snow (Trillium ovatum)</dd> </dl> </p> </dt> Three leaf bitterroot (Lewisia triphylla)</dd> </dl> There are no end of special plants in Moffat and Routt counties: this looks very much like pygmy bitteroot (Lewisia pygmaea</em>) only it comes from a bulb and grows at lower elevations. The only place in our state where you will find this miniature bluebell is in Northwest Colorado: the blue is piercing. What a cute miniature. We did not have time to seek out our native Rhododendron albiflorum</em>: next time... It would take a good many blogs to do justice to our state. This weekend it will be Central Colorado, with some tundra time: maybe I'll bump into you? Have a fabulous Fourth of July!</p>
</p> We have some exciting news to report from the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium and Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi. Each collection has added a type specimen of a species new to science. A type specimen is a specimen selected to serve as a reference point when a plant or fungal species is first named. As a result, these specimens are extremely important to botanists and mycologists who are attempting to determine the correct application of a name.</p> The new fungal specimen is Smithiomyces crocodilinus</em>, only the third known species of this rare genus. The specimen was collected during a 2009 bioblitz at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area by Jack Jones, with Ed Lubow, Marc Donsky, Nora Jones and Rob Hallock, members of the Colorado Mycological Society. The specimen was first mistaken as a member of the genus Amanita</em>. Once examined at our Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi, curator Vera Evenson knew this specimen was different. Through the collaborative efforts of Dr. Bradley Kropp of the Intermountain Herbarium and Utah State University, and Dr. Timothy Baroni, a distinguished professor and fungal geneticist at State University of New York, Cortland, it was determined that this was a new species. This finding is exceptionally unique in that the only other known members of the genus are tropical. While it was documented that the species occurs with Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus</em>) species, additional work will investigate the ecology of this species. Amazing as it may seem, there are new plants being discovered in Colorado. Native plant enthusiasts Al and Betty Schneider of Cortez, Colorado have been instrumental in finding and naming two new species since 2008. The most recent find is Packera mancosana</em>, a member of the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). Recent botanical exploration of Lone Mesa State Park in the Southwest corner of Colorado has revealed new species. Gardens’ Adjunct Researcher Loraine Yeatts and the Schneiders collected the new species in 2009 and have spent the last two years working to identify and name the new find. For more photos and the full description of the species see Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Stop by our herbaria to see these new species in person. We are open to the public Mon - Thur 9:00 am-2:00 pm.</p>
Funny to think there was a time when an agave blooming in Denver was front page news in the papers! Today I noticed a SIXTH agave sending up a stalk here at the Gardens: yes, I said sixth! I remember when the very first one bloomed here a few decades ago. We were all so excited and it seemed so miraculous. Now I notice agaves here and there around town in people's gardens, and I've seen several sending up stalks out and about as well. Of course, with the Allan Houser exhibit there are whole new layers of meaning in agaves blooming: the Apache tribe in particular had such a strong predilection for harvesting agaves for food that one of their tribes (the Mescalero Apache) got their very name from the mescal, the common Spanish name of Agave</em> in much of its range due to their dependence on agaves for food. Most of us only sample agave through the distilled Tequila, which is only derived from a tender, Mexican species. Watching the terrible symmetry of the foliage is ample fare for many of us. But when the crown swells in April or May, and the stalk begins to shoot up like a gigantic asparagus, you would have to be a mugwump or an all out bona fide muggle not to be enchanted with the spectacle. This time of year, now that the temperature is rising, you can practically watch the stems grow. Five or six inches a day is not impossible. I shall give you a hint: there are three agaves budded up to bloom in one garden alone (in the southwest corner of the Gardens) including both Agave parryi</em> and A. neomexicana</em>. Next door, Agave havardiana</em> is sending up not one, but two stalks from a single colony. This is the first time it has deigned to bloom for us at the Gardens, although I did see a fine specimen bloom close to my home a few years ago. I will not tell you where the last one is: that is my secret. One hint....it is by far the loftiest of all agaves at the Gardens! One thing you can be sure of: a lot of us will be monitoring these awesome plants all summer long. What a delightful way that nature has of reminding us that sculpture was not invented by the ancient Greeks or Egyptians: nature has been sculpting from time immemorial. Agaves are some of her supreme expressions, don't you agree?</p>
</p> There's so much to see west of York Street at Denver Botanic Gardens visitors can almost be forgiven for missing out on the Children's Garden. WRONG! It's not just for kids! Many of our best specimens of native plants are found there. Because of the fresh soil and brisk breezes, many plants thrive here that are difficult to grow in the rest of the Gardens.. There are lots of AVALANCHE Sun Daisy (Osteospermum</em> above) around the Gardens, but on the Alpine Garden section of the Children's garden it is already in full glorious bloom (elsewhere just budded)...This is this year's star entry in Plant Select: I am quite sure you've never seen this gem before! Bring sunglasses, however: the glare is awesome! I am astonished how well such a wide variety of plants have performed on this Green Roof: the horticulturalists who did the work are truly to be commended!</p> </dt> Phlox grayi</em> (vivid pink individual)</dd> There are some wonderful specimens of this phlox elsewhere at the gardens, but the colonies and masses of this rare phlox from Northern Arizona are simply breathtaking right now all over the Children's garden. It is fascinating to see how much each plant varies in flower color: this clone is especially a brilliant pink. This has to be one of our finest native plants for gardens. I can't think of another Public Garden in the world you'd be apt to see this plant, and certainly none with so many thriving specimens!</dd> </dl> </dt> Penstemon eatonii</em></dd> If I had not taken this picture myself, I'd think it had been shot at Moab or the Colorado National Monument where I have seen this penstemon looking just like this about this time of year. But no! It's in the Canyonlands section of our very own Children's Garden.</dd> </dl> </dt> Oxytropis besseyi v. besseyi </em></dd> </dl> I was really astonished to see many clumps of this rare native milkvetch blooming all over the North part of this garden. Most forms of O. besseyi</em> are a screaming magenta in color. Yellow is a rather rare color for the Astragalus</em> group, and a soft primrose yellow like this one is very unusual. Now to go find this in nature...</p> The Childen's garden is brimming with color and wonderful vistas and vignettes. I make a point of visiting once a week: judging by all the giggling kids by the water feature, I'm not the only delighted visitor: make sure you come by soon and check it out. You won't regret it!</p>
</p> Did you know that more than 1350 species in the US are protected under the Endangered Species Act? A whopping 792 (57%) of them are plants. Today is the sixth annual Endangered Species Day, a day to celebrate our endangered species. There are 29 species in Colorado listed as Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Thirteen of them are plants and we at Denver Botanic Gardens are working to conserve each of them.</p> Through our partnerships with the Center for Plant Conservation and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, we are working to collect seed of all of our listed species. Once seed are collected some is germinated for grow-out at the Gardens while the majority is sent to the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation for long-term storage. In addition to conserving our rarest plants through seed collection, we are partnering with the Bureau of Land Management to track life-history data for the Colorado hookless cactus (Sclerocactus glaucus</em>). Our monitoring work which began in 2007 tracks more than 700 individual cacti across the species’ range from Delta to DeBeque, Colorado. We are studying how long this species lives and how often new seedlings are found. We are also using molecular genetic tools to determine if this threatened species is crossing with a more common cactus.</p> </p> </p> The skiff milkvetch (Astragalus microcymbus</em>) was listed as a candidate species for protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2010 largely due to data we collected during the 16 years we have been studying the species. The small member of the pea family is found in a single drainage outside of Gunnison, Colorado. Our first 9 years of data documented decreases in population size across our monitoring plots. We suspect the decrease was largely due to low seed production which might be made worse by rabbits eating the plants before they produce seeds. In recent years, populations are rebounding slightly. We are working with the Bureau of Land Management and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to learn as much as we can about this rare species and its life-history so we can help keep it off the Endangered Species list. Here at the Gardens we are celebrating Endangered Species Day by educating the more than 400 school kids who are visiting today about Colorado’s rarest plants and how to help conserve them. To learn more about Endangered Species Day and ways you can help conserve our nation’s rarest species visit: the Endangered Species Coalition or the US Fish & Wildlife Service.</p>
In the Dakotas they call them "prairie crocus'. Elsewhere you usually hear them called pasqueflowers, although I think the ones this year at the Gardens will mostly be done blooming by Easter...these near relations to Anemone</em> are irresistible to anyone who loves puppies, kittens and things that are cuddly, adorable and soft. One or another kind of pasqueflower is found on plains, tundra and mountain meadows across the northern hemisphere: dozens of names can be found in floras, and hundreds of variants in every color from yellow and vermilion through the spectrum of lavenders, purples and near blues and of course crystalline whites. You can't beat the furry lavender of our native Pulsatilla patens</em>, which ranges across much of the central and northern United States and Canada. Alas, our native gem is hard to grow. But this nearly twin plant from eastern Europe has graced my garden for nearly ten years. Pulsatilla halleri</strong></em> also comes in a violet purple shade: although that is a dazzling color, I go for this lavender any time! I've heard it said that Horticulture is the slowest of the performing arts, and watching this furry diva emerge in late winter, gradually come into bloom and finally sport its shimmering head of seeds (you shall have to take that on faith: I don't have pix of that yet!)...well that's part of the magic of gardening, don't you agree? Denver Botanic Gardens has exemplified transformation in recent years. what plant better embodies the magic of change more elegantly than pasqueflower? We can enjoy this spectacle from March in the lower foothills all the way to July when I have found vast fields of pasqueflowers in full bloom on Medicine Bow Pass in Wyoming, or on the high tundra of the Collegiate Peaks in central Colorado. I have more pictures of true crocuses and pasqueflowers and maybe snowdrops than any kind of plant: each spring comes and I have to get just a few more pictures, maybe these will be the ones that capture that incredible furry beauty on the petals, on the leaves. There are societies for roses, carnivorous plants, alpines: heck, even gladiolus and daffodils have their society. Let's declare a society of Pasqueflower devotees, and I'll sign up right away!</p>
Hello Friends! Brrrrrrrr! It sure was chilly this morning when I woke up. The Children’s Garden looked much different today than it did when I woke up yesterday morning. The ground was covered with just a hint of snow and the trees and daffodils were covered in just enough ice to make them sparkle.</p> </p> I have been a very busy Marmot these last few weeks! I’ve made two new friends named Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. I often run into the Mallards early in the morning and late in the afternoon when they stop by Pipsqueak Pond for a snack. Watching them dunk there heads under water to search for food is always so interesting to watch. I didn’t see my friends this morning, but I did see the foot prints in the snow they left behind. I hope I will run into them this afternoon.</p> </p> I have been busy overseeing construction of the Home Harvest Garden. Our gardeners and amazing group of volunteers have been working hard building new raised beds for the garden. I’ve also been trying to decide which vegetables we should plant in the garden once construction is finished. Do you grow any vegetables at home? What is your favorite type of vegetable to grow? The warm sunshine is quickly melting away any sign of yesterday’s spring snow. I’m off to enjoy this nice sunny day. Hope to see you soon! Your Friend, Digger</p>
</p> So begins a poem by the great 20th Century French Poet Guillaume Apollinaire (see below). I hasten to point out that the plants depicted (blooming right now at Denver Botanic Gardens) are technically not heathers (Calluna vul</em>garis--a single species from Northern Europe) but heath (Erica</em>--an astronomically larger group with hundreds of species mostly in South Africa). They're all very closely related, so let's not get too technical with common names, now. The pictured species from central and eastern Europe (Erica carnea</em>) is notable for many reasons: it is by far the hardiest of heathers, the one that loves limy soils and thrives in Colorado with only a modicum of supplemental irrigation: and best of all it blooms much of the late winter and spring. </p> </p> Erica carnea 'Vivelli' in Rock Alpine Garden</p> I've been disappointed in a few plants this spring: some of the bulbs have passed too quickly, and with our polar cold (-22F at my house) there has been winter damage, albeit far less than I feared. But the winter heaths are simply spectacular. I am distressed that plants that thrive so manifestly, that we have shown off so superbly at Denver Botanic Gardens for so many decades have literally languished in undeserved and pitiful obscurity, while Box Stores and even our noble local garden centers stock so many plants (how shall I put it tactfully?) of lesser merit. Considerably</strong> lesser</em> merit....ahem!</p> Fear not! You can buy these from many sources mail order! A great way to get plants, by the way (and with Paypal and the new convenient computer programs, you can be bankrupt in no time at all!). If you didn't get it, I linked the very best source subliminally at the start of this paragraph...</p> Now let's get back to literature: clear your throat, lean back and proclaim (in your very best French):</p> L’adieu </strong> </p> J'ai cueilli ce brin de bruyère L'automne est morte souviens-t'en Nous ne nous verrons plus sur terre Odeur du temps Brin de bruyère Et souviens-toi que je t'attends</p> Farewell</strong></p> I have plucked this sprig of heather / Remember herein that autumn has died / We shall never again see one another / Whiff of that time--a sprig of heather / And I still wait for you--remember! </p> Guillaume Apollinaire</p> </p>
</dt> </dl> </dt> </dl> </p> Closeup of star magnolia blossoms (Magnolia stellata)</dd> </dl> Aside from Townsendias and spring beauty (Claytonia</em>) the bulk of our native wildflowers are smart enough to wait until May, June or even later summer to bloom. Natives know that frost in Colorado can happen late in spring and early in autumn. But plants from Maritime climates have evolved where spring comes and stays. Such is the case with the fabulous spring flowerin g magnolias: these largely come from China and Japan where winter can be harsh, but spring usually arrives for good. Most years we are lucky to have a week of magnolia flowers before a hard frost turns the white or pink petals into brownish orange sludge...two springs ago, and last spring as well we had light frosts for weeks through March and April before summer made a definite arrival. Three springs of magnolia bloom is almost unheard of! Will we keep dodging the frost bullet?</p> </dt> Magnollia stellata</em></dd> There are two stunning magnolias on the southwest corner of Denver Botanic Gardens' Waring house. They have been coming into bloom for several weeks, and the white star magnolia is in peak bloom as I type this. I have used these as "Poster Girls" of how NOT</em></strong> to plant magnolias: do NOT</em></strong> put them on the hot south side of your house (except, that is, for the evergreen sorts--these are summer bloomers that need extra heat to thrive here). Spring blooming magnolias are understory trees that do best on the NORTH</em></strong> Side of your house where their flowering is often delayed several weeks and they are less apt to freeze. It is also easier to keep their roots cool and moist, since these are emphatically not xeriscape trees...</dd> </dl> </dl> That said, our star and saucer magnolias bloomed through last year and the year before. And perhaps this year they shall dance their way past yet another volley of frosty bullets to delight and entrance us with their enormous, waxy, fragrant chalices! Get ye hence! And get more of these treasures to brighten up our springs, O Front Rangers! Our springs merit a lot more bulbs and gorgeous trees like this to celebrate the new growing season!</p> </p>
