Steppe garden, foxtail lilies, and sculpture at Denver Botanic Gardens: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 16, 2019 All 80+ bloggers had lunch under a pavilion at Denver Botanic Gardens on Day 3 of the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling (June 2019), and then we were set loose for about an hour. One hour is not enough time to see DBG, of course. One day hardly ...
A dryland garden inspired by Mother Nature: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 15, 2019 After 24 years as a radio talk show host on gardening, Jim Borland may have retired, but his Denver garden continues to broadcast loud and clear about how to garden in semi-arid eastern Colorado (15 inches of annual precipitation) without using any supplemental water. His gardening inspiration? ...
Containers and color galore in Rob Proctor’s garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 15, 2019 Rob Proctor has been showing Coloradans how to garden for decades. A former director of horticulture at Denver Botanic Gardens and the author of 17 gardening books, he also appears weekly on Denver’s channel 9 news for a gardening segment called “Proctor’s Garden.” When we arrived at ...
A garden for relaxing with friends: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 14, 2019 Kicking off the 3rd day of the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling in, yes, Denver, we toured an inviting patio garden designed for relaxing with family and friends. The owners, Kirsten and Scott Hamling, had set up a long table for Father’s Day brunch. Lucky invitees! A cheerful ...
Party under the willow tree in Judy Seaborn’s garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 13, 2019 Grandmother Willow offers sage advice in Pocahontas. Old Man Willow terrorizes the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings. The Whomping Willow bashes the unwary and guards a secret passageway in the Harry Potter series. Why does the willow figure so prominently in our cultural mythology? Perhaps ...
A fusion of nature and art in Scott Deemer’s garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 11, 2019 A “designer showpiece” garden conveys a grand gesture, expensive hardscaping, and maybe not much in the way of plants. At the home garden of Scott Deemer in Niwot, Colorado, a grand-gesture fireplace and beautifully designed hardscaping create a wow moment as soon as you step onto the ...
Unscripted beauty in Scripter meadow garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 10, 2019 Larry and Mary Scripter grew up in prairie country, Larry on a farm in Kansas and Mary in the Black Hills of South Dakota, surrounded by the Great Plains. So it’s not surprising that they’re drawn to grassy meadow gardens and have created one at their home ...
TatTopia garden embraces stonework and sustainability: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 09, 2019 When the construction dust settled at Tatiana Maxwell’s new energy-wise home, studio, and guest house in Boulder, Colorado, in 2010, the yard was just an expanse of bare dirt. Her first thought was to build an English-style cottage garden. But after brainstorming with stonemason artist Thea Alvin ...
Lunch in the garden at Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 07, 2019 Dining on Persian chickpea kufteh, tofu Thai curry, and teacakes beneath a grape arbor in a sunken rose garden at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse was an elegant upgrade from the usual box lunches on Day 2 of the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling (June 2019). Boulder is a ...
Bowled over by Linda Boley’s garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 07, 2019 A copper tree, its muscular branches devoid of leaves, stands as an organic sculpture in the Boulder, Colorado, rock garden of Linda Boley. The painted Japanese lilac caught my eye as soon as our bus arrived during the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling tour (June 2019). It signaled ...
Strouse Garden gazes toward the Rockies: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 01, 2019 It’s hard to compete with a grand view of the Rocky Mountains. And why would you? TLC Gardens instead created space-defining, bird-sheltering, pollinator-friendly beds around the Lafayette, Colorado, home of Jim and Laura Strouse, which I toured on Day 2 of the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling (June ...
Jean Morgan’s garden will make you smile: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
June 30, 2019 As our tour bus of 40+ bloggers arrived at the Louisville, Colorado, home of Jean Morgan, one visitor reached down to pick up a stray piece of trash in Jean’s garden. Only the crumpled Hershey bar wrapper wasn’t trash. It’s part of a cheeky vignette — Happily ...
Crevice gardens to crave at the garden of Carol Shinn: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
June 28, 2019 Colorado gardeners are crazy for crevice gardens, and no wonder. When the Rocky Mountains peek over your back fence, creating a miniature mountain range in your yard makes perfect sense. Alpine plants that thrive at high altitude and require excellent drainage love these rocky niches. Crevice gardens ...
Jan Devore Garden under the pines: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
June 27, 2019 The first private garden on the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling tour (June 2019) was located in Fort Collins, about an hour north of Denver. From the street, cottage garden favorites greeted us. Owner Jan Devore planted the small front garden with Rosa glauca and purple irises — ...
Rocking it at Gardens on Spring Creek: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
June 25, 2019 On a road trip to Devils Tower last August, I passed through Fort Collins, Colorado, and took the opportunity to visit The Gardens on Spring Creek. Construction was underway, doubling the size of the gardens, and so only some of the spaces were open: a flowery entry ...
Welcome to Colorado and High Plains Environmental Center: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
June 23, 2019 Just two hours away by plane but a mile high in altitude, Denver is a world away from subtropical Austin thanks to its short growing season (freezes can occur as late as June and as early as September), low humidity (ahhh!), and aridity (just 15 inches of ...
