Posted June 27, 2008 by Doris Boardman, Web Technology Manager
People who live nearby often walk their dogs along York Street. Awhile back, somebody in guest services started giving the dogs a dog biscuit if they came up to visit the Gatehouse with their owners. Denver Botanic Gardens cannot admit pets into the gardens, just service dogs, however we enjoy our visits with these furry friends at the front gate.
Over time, it became something the dog owners, the gatehouse attendants and the dogs grew to look forward to doing. Some of the owners have told Visitor Center staff that when they and the dog turn the corner at Ninth or Eleventh Avenue onto York Street,
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Posted June 18, 2008 by Dominique Bayne, Senior Horticulturist
I have been asked two questions repeatedly this week. The first by visitors to the Sacred Earth garden: “What is the red plant?” The second by people eating lunch with me: “Why is your lunch bright pink?
The answer to both is the same: Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus).
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Posted June 17, 2008 by Celia Curtis Adamec, Public Programs Manager
The advent of our new Urban Homesteading classes, it seems, has coincided with a national resurgence in interest in backyard “farming.” Everything from urban vegetable gardens to backyard chickens to beehives is making big news. Recently, Michael Pollan wrote eloquently of the importance of growing your own food as a first line of defense against global warming. Even more recently, the topic came up again in the context of rising global food prices. And chickens have been in the news over and over again as the latest must-have chic pet (I’ve fallen victim myself – more on that soon). This past weekend, the bees made the news – all over Denver,
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Posted June 10, 2008 by Dominique Bayne, Senior Horticulturist
Every morning at this time of year the deep red petals of Papaver orientalis ‘Beauty of Livermere’ unfurl slowly to reveal a mass of purple black pollen coated stamens. I say slowly but they have a slight look of sleepy unpreparedness and I am not the only one drawn to them as they, and I, are still shaking out the creases. Sure, there are usually a few early morning visitors but we are always outnumbered by those whom the poppies are really trying to attract: the bees.
The Birds and Bees Walk was designed to include many plants attractive to pollinators and other forms of wildlife. The poppies however were planted for the bees alone.
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Posted June 10, 2008 by Sarada Krishnan, Director of Horticulture
This is a question I get asked quite frequently. To me as a horticulturist and a plant lover, it is a very complex question to answer. It is like asking a mom to choose her favorite child. Each plant has its own unique individuality from its growth habit to flower color, some desirable and others not quite so. Trialing various plants to determine their adaptability to a particular region is what botanic gardens do best. At Denver Botanic Gardens we test plants from various regions of the world and it is this diversity of plant life that makes a visit to the Gardens unique and exciting.
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Posted June 9, 2008 by Matt Cole, Director of Education
Did the jade vine’s blooms reach June? Maybe… But I didn’t see it. The end of May appears to have brought the the end of the blooming run. Still, that’s almost twice the time I first expected.
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