As staff and volunteers at the Helen Fowler Library begin to sort through and pack the library collections in preparation for the move to the Freyer – Newman Center, we are uncovering some remarkable things from Denver Botanic Gardens’ past.</p> The archival collections need to be sorted and packed with extra care, and during this process some hidden gems have been unearthed, among them a visitors register book and a ledger for the library from 1947—the earliest days of the Helen Fowler Library. At this point in its history, Denver Botanic Gardens still existed under the precursor organization, the Colorado Forestry and Horticulture Association, located at the Horticulture House on 1355 Bannock Street.</p> The visitors log tracked guests of the library, and the ledger tracked expenses and revenue of the library, including donations from multiple figures with historically significant relationships to the Gardens. Among them were Kathryn Kalmbach, for whom the herbarium was named; Ed White, the architect of the Boettcher Memorial Conservatory; S.R. DeBoer, the designer of the original plan of the Gardens; and many more.</p> It is wonderful to see the evidence of support that the library has been given in the past. Through it, the Helen Fowler Library has been able to provide research materials and information to staff and guests for more than 70 years. Today, with the ongoing support of members and individuals, and funding through grants from organizations like the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the library and our other non-living collections continue to grow and have the resources necessary to make the move to the new facility.</p> If the history of Denver Botanic Gardens and its founding figures is of interest to you, schedule an appointment to do research with the archival materials when the Helen Fowler Library reopens in the Freyer – Newman Center in 2020.</p>
When their gardens are blanketed in snow, what do the horticulturists at Denver Botanic Gardens do? Well, for starters, they still garden! When the temperature is above freezing, our dedicated horticulturists are still pruning, removing plant debris and impeccably maintaining gardens for the coming spring. During the winter, horticulturists also expand their job descriptions immensely. Allow me to share just a few examples.</p> First and foremost, horticulture at the level we strive for requires meticulous planning and preparation. This consumes a large portion of a horticulturist’s time during the winter. They synthesize observations and data recorded throughout the growing season. Understanding how plants, design schemes and watering regimen affected their garden, they can continuously improve from each year to the next.</p> The horticulturists create comprehensive designs for every garden and order and propagate plants during this time to be ready for the first sign of spring. Horticulturists really tap into their creativity to try new plants, new designs or new planting techniques to keep Denver Botanic Gardens one of the best botanic gardens in the country.</p> The Gardens’ horticulturists here aren’t satisfied with only expanding their own knowledge. They take their expertise and share it with the Colorado community. This information is provided through symposia, conferences, classes, presentations and career fairs.</p> One of the best parts of this time of year is the ability for our staff to really work with other departments at the Gardens, such as education, research or marketing, to develop workshops, tours and interpretation to make a patron’s visit more educational and interesting.</p> Beyond all this, winter provides time for some very interesting work – plant exploration. Botanic gardens are first and foremost living museums of plants. We are constantly striving to expand collections, both for horticultural interest and conservation. Winter here in the northern hemisphere means the growing season in the southern hemisphere. It provides a great opportunity to observe plants in their prime and collect seed around the globe. During these winter months, while our plants lie dormant, we can collect and add more unique and interesting plants for you to see on your next visit! A few past trips we have undertaken in the southern hemisphere include plant exploration and collecting in South Africa, Lesotho and Argentina (Patagonia).</p> Now when the gardens are covered in snow and the horticulturists hard to find, I hope you have an idea of the work they are engaged in.</p>
</p> While the Gardens offers magnificent venues for all kinds of private events, it really shines for weddings. Happy couples have been choosing to spend their special days at our York Street location for decades, surrounded by lush foliage, unique architecture and stunning arrays of floral beauty.</p> Our Private Events team works with each couple to help create an utterly unforgettable experience, some of which stick in our minds as much as in the minds of their wedding guests. These are some of our favorite memories from weddings hosted at York Street last year.</p> Ruthie and Erik</strong></p> </strong></p> After holding a ceremony at a local church, this pair hosted their reception in the Annuals Garden and Pavilion, one of our newest and most breathtaking venues. With the garden in full bloom, and the September air still warm enough for an evening affair, the couple entertained their guests with a square dance caller and a live acoustic band.</p> Emmanuel and Jeremy</strong></p> </strong></p> This dapper couple tied the knot in South African Plaza, a small but stunning venue that has been a favorite for wedding ceremonies for many years. Though they hosted their dinner reception offsite, they took advantage of their ceremony’s lush surroundings by treating their guests to a cocktail hour in the Gardens prior to departing.</p> Lillian and Donald</strong></p> </strong></p> Rather than caravanning their guests from one destination to another, Lillian and Donald hosted their entire wedding at the Gardens. Romanic Gardens provided a stunning backdrop for their ceremony and cocktail hour, and they partied the night away with a reception in Mitchell Hall. Instead of spending the photo break in transit between the ceremony and the reception, their wedding guests had the chance to explore the Gardens in the golden, evening light.</p> These stories capture just a few of the thousands of memories made at York Street during wedding season. Whether a couple is hosting a large gathering or a small party, a traditional wedding or an out-of-the-box experience, one element of their wedding or the entire affair, the diverse array of rental venues at the Gardens offers something for everyone.</p> We’d love to learn more about your wedding dreams to help you find a site in the Gardens that fits you perfectly. To learn more and to set up a tour appointment, contact us at private.events@botanicgardens.org</a> or call 720-865-3551.</p>
Flowers are always a great way to tell someone how much you love them, but this time of year it’s almost impossible to find locally grown, fresh flowers. Nearly all bouquets that you can buy during the winter have travelled a long way to reach the U.S.</p> There is good news for this sustainable floral challenge. A growing movement called Slow Flowers</a> promotes and supports American-grown flowers. The purchase of locally-grown flowers support the local economy, create a smaller carbon footprint and the flowers are truly fresh and smell better (often cut to order).</p> Many local farms and local floral designers offer seasonal bouquet subscriptions. You can often choose if you want weekly, biweekly or monthly bouquets and they sometimes deliver. This is truly the gift that keeps on giving throughout the growing season. Denver Botanic Gardens Community Supporting Agriculture (CSA)</a> offers a summer flower share that can be purchased with a vegetable share.</p> To get you excited about the fast-approaching local flower season, here are some romantic flowers that you may see in your bouquets this year!</p> Love in a Mist (Nigella damascene</em>)</a> – The romance of this flower is in its name. Love in a Mist gets this steamy name from the cloud of bracts that dance around the star shaped flower. If the flower is left to go to seed it will produce very dramatic black seed pods. Both the flowers and the seed pods are used in arrangements. </li> Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus</em>)</a> – </em>This delicate vining plant blooms in the early spring and is a great addition to any bouquet. The flowers come in an array of soft pinks, whites and purples and are graced with the softest sweetest sent. </li> Dahlia</a> – Dahlias always create a bold statement in an arrangement and come in a rainbow of colors and styles. Café Au Lait is a commonly used dahlia that screams romance with its creamy pink huge flowers</li> Love in a Puff (Cardiospermum halicacabum</em>)</a> –</em> This is a vining plant that produces small white flowers and very delicate paper lantern seed pods. The best part about this plant is that when you break open the seed pod you see little black seeds imprinted with perfect white hearts. This is where the name Cardiospermum</em> comes from meaning, Heart Seed.</li> </ul>
“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it and really look after it and nurture it.” -- John Lennon</p> </blockquote> The Shop at the Gardens has a wonderful selection of gifts that can nurture a loved one this Valentine’s Day.</p> The Shop has a large selection of fashion accessories, including these garden-inspired earrings that are lovingly handmade in Longmont, Colorado. Hypoallergenic ear wires, 18K gold-filled or sterling with semiprecious stones. $25</li> This heart-shaped recycled glass dish is a Denver Botanic Gardens exclusive and features gold butterflies. Handmade in California. $88</li> Each of these handmade, painted porcelain bud vases is a unique modern statement inspired by nature, whether filled with fresh flowers or used by themselves as sculpture in the home. Assorted shapes, patterns and colors. $14.95 - $28.95</li> Foaming hand soaps with shea butter and aloe vera for gentle cleansing and moisturizing. Assorted floral scents. $14.95</li> This heart-shaped wind chime is handmade with 100% recycled metal and glass by a fair trade company in India. $85.95</li> Stoneglow votive tumblers are hand-poured in the United Kingdom using real botanicals. They have a 15- hour burn time and the candle can be replaced. $28.95</li> </ul> The Shop at the Gardens is open daily, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Gardens admission is not required to shop.</p>
For most, the word “evergreen” evokes the thought of a pine, spruce or fir tree. These are the trees that give year-round structure to our gardens and provide points to hold our attention and direct our focus. They are the forests that we cut for timber, paper and fuel. Without the dominance of the evergreen in the boreal kingdom we would surely have much poorer and colder lives.</p> While these giants provide much for us there are many other plants that share the designation and description of evergreen. To simplify and to broaden the term, evergreen means something that holds on to its photosynthetic tissue for at least a full year. Given this broader definition we can walk the garden in a new light of appreciation for evergreen plants.</p> From the moment you enter the Gardens you are greeted by a long hedge of our native Juniperus</em> </em>scopulorum </em>(Rocky Mountain juniper).</em> This scale-forming evergreen is many things to the O’Fallon Perennial Walk. It is the greenscreen before which a yearlong ballet of color and form dance. Its sheer height creates the illusion of a much larger, grander space. The rather formal specimens that comprise this hedge are nothing like what you would find growing tortured and wild in our adjacent foothills.</p> Moving past the perennial garden we encounter another structural wonder, but this time there is a splash of color and sense of delight and movement. The Romantic Gardens’ allée is created with Thuja</em> </em>occidentalis</em> </em>‘Yellow Ribbon’. Here in front of these glowing spires hundreds of couples have sworn sacred oaths.</p> Some sort or form of evergreen plant can be found in every garden on our campus but there is one garden that is themed just to showcase unique mutations in traditional evergreens. This is the Dwarf Conifer Collection. Most trees in this garden have some form of mutated, stunted or deviant growth habit and are clustered together to highlight how special and different these variants can be. Many of these plants have been collected in the Rocky Mountains and are grafted onto a “normal” root stock. Finding and propagating “dwarf conifers” is an entire industry in and of itself. Collectors from around the world come to study and evaluate these fascinating plants.</p> Up till now we have talked about mostly coniferous plants and how we associate them as having evergreen foliage. But another important group of plants can be seen on the east face of Dryland Mesa. The plants here are what we term broadleaf evergreens and their scientific name is Arctostaphylos.</em> These shrubs are very important members of our western flora and represent examples of species from Colorado and neighboring states. Most have round, thick, almost leathery leaves that have a soft green glow and are possibly best appreciated with a background of snow to accentuate the exfoliating rust-colored bark and the dancing green leaves. Wild and beautiful, these are specimens that are left largely untouched and allowed to grow to whatever form the local climate dictates.</p> The broadleaved evergreen Arctostaphylos</em> x coloradensis</em> has so many attractive qualities that staff member Larry Jackel has turned a rooted cutting of one into a bonsai. This selection blooms quite early and often goes on display in Marnie's Pavilion while in full flower in February.</p> A little farther on there is another example of a broadleaf evergreen. Used as a foundation planting and sculpted as a hedge, garden boxwoods (Buxus </em>‘Green Velvet’) are grown to create separation in the garden beds of Le Potager.</p>
With very few exceptions, January flowers are hard to come by in a Colorado landscape. Not so in the tropical plant collections at Denver Botanic Gardens. The Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory, Marnie’s Pavilion and the Orangery are a perfect venue for your winter floral fix.</p> Clerodendrum </em>× speciosum</em> is a sterile natural hybrid that can be found in tropical regions of Africa. It’s hard to miss the bright orange flowers on this sprawling vine. Look closely and you’ll see that once the flowers have dropped, a bright purple calyx is left behind giving the impression that this plant is almost always in bloom. Look for this vine about halfway through the Tropical Conservatory on the south side.</p> A little further along the south path is a beautiful specimen of Dombeya elegans</em> – a hibiscus relative from southeast Africa. This plant is prized in tropical landscapes for its profuse winter blooms and it drought tolerance.</p> Cross to the north side of the Tropical Conservatory for a beautiful display from Heliconia orthotricha.</em> This species is native to Ecuador and naturally has many color variations. Ours is a bright mix of orange, red and yellow. You can’t miss it.</p> Exiting into Marnie’s Pavilion, take a moment to appreciate the powder-puff-like blossoms of Calliandra surinamensis</em>. In the wild, members of this genus cover a wide range. But as the name implies, Calliandra surinamensis</em> can be found growing wild in Surinam as well as other parts of northern South America. The colorful flowers of the legume attract nectar-feeding birds and butterflies.</p> You can finish your tour of blossoms in the Orangery where you can relax and enjoy the display of orchids in our annual Orchid Showcase, Jan. 10 – Feb. 17, 2019. Hundreds of blossoms will help you forget the worries of the day and plenty of benches are available for you to sit and decompress.</p>
New Year’s resolutions often are focused on the body, mind and soul and for good reason. The busyness of life can lead to unhealthy eating, decreased exercise and not enough self-care. In line with our core values of transformation, relevance, diversity and sustainability, we have a variety of classes and programs that can start off the year on a healthy and refreshed foot.</p> For your body, mind and soul:</strong></p> We host regular yoga classes, including kundalini yoga</a> on Monday nights, morning vinyasa yoga</a> on Tuesdays and Thursdays and evening vinyasa yoga </a>on Wednesdays. Insider tip: the price of the class is a bit less than Gardens’ general admission and you can explore the Gardens between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. before or after your class!</li> We have special yoga and mindfulness programs such as a new year aspirations guided seated meditation</a>. Enjoy bilingual yoga</a> with English and Spanish cues. </li> You can escape the winter chill and enjoy a guided tour</a> through our warm Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory or go on a wagon tour at Plains Conservation Center</a>. We also offer overview tours of the Gardens in Spanish.</li> You can explore the Orchid Showcase, on view in Marnie’s Pavilion and the Orangery, Jan. 9 – Feb. 16.</li> </ul> For your healthy diet and sustainable living:</strong></p> We offer a bounty of gardening classes that can help you grow your own organic food, from starting seeds indoors to raised beds and greenhouse growing. We cover every topic from understanding Front Range soils to determining what plants are best for your garden, organic pest control, harvesting and preserving.</li> If 2020 is the year you are going to try food or flower gardening for the first time or if your fails have been more plentiful than your successes (no judgment here – even our horticulturists have plant casualties!), you won’t want to miss New Gardener Boot Camp in February. There is also an evening New Gardener Boot Camp</a> in March and April. All boot camps present our bestselling beginner gardening classes into day or several evenings to equip you with the knowledge and confidence to conquer the garden once and for all. You will learn how to plan a garden for your space and needs; learn about soil, vegetables, annual and perennials, including tips on growing, watering, pest control and more.</li> </ul> Ready, set, grow and live your best life in 2020!</strong></p> Gardens members receive a discount on all education programs and special events. Learn more and register for our adult healthy living programs.</p> Register Today!</a></p>
