Featured Garden of the Week: Aquatic Gardens

 

The water gardens at Denver Botanic Gardens, despite their slow start this spring on account of hail and cooler weather could not be more spectacular than it is right now. Artistically choreographed by Joe Tomocik, Curator of Aquatic Collections, our aquatic displays are one of the best in the country. Assisting Joe every year with installation and dismantling of the displays are volunteers from the Colorado Water Garden Society.

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Our New Visitor Center Welcomes You!

The Gardens have never looked better. So much is in bloom thanks to all of the recent rain and the expertise of our horticulturists. Although it may look like things are not fully open at the Gardens when you drive by our entrance on York Street! Rest assured we are open with over 100 new parking spaces available on the lower level (enter on York Street) in our new parking garage. No cost for parking. The parking structure will be opened in phases. The second level, with another 100 spaces, is expected to open in the next few days. Gardens’ staff members and landscape contractors are in the process of planting 6,853 plants, including trees, vines and shrubs, on both sides of and throughout the structure.

 

And the Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center is absolutely stunning. When you enter, you can purchase your tickets to the Gardens on your right. Very soon you will be able to purchase your Gardens entry tickets using our new ticketing kiosks. The new Shop at the Gardens gift shop is to your left. You’ll find all-natural gifts, plants, gardening supplies, books, and tons more–even dinosaur slippers for the kids.

And one of the traditions that took place at the old Gatehouse is still in place in our new Visitor Center. Many people in the neighborhood dropped by while walking their dogs and their dog got a treat at the old Gatehouse window.  
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Featured Garden of the Week: Jurassic Gardens

 

Though not located in a single location, complementing our 2009 signature exhibition, Jurassic Gardens, plantings are distributed throughout the Gardens. This exhibition features life-sized dinosaurs that roamed our planet during a time span of 280 to 65 million years ago. During this time, before the explosion of angiosperms (flowering plants), the landscape was dominated by bryophytes (mosses), pteridophytes (ferns) and gymnosperms (conifers, ginkgo, cycads, etc.). Throughout the Gardens, on display are some of the modern relatives of plant species that existed during this period.
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Altai by camel caravan

The Altai and Tien Shan Mountains of Central Asia each comprise dozens of mountain ranges that straddle Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. For three enchanted weeks in late June and early July, Mike Bone (propagator here at the Gardens) and I had the privilege of exploring four of these ranges and the steppes and deserts between them on behalf of Plant Select. Thousands of photographs later,
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Featured Garden of the Week: Cactus & Succulent House

 

Located at the west corner of the Rock Alpine Garden, the Cactus & Succulent House at one time served as an Alpine House. The challenges of maintaining appropriate environmental conditions for alpine plants led to the conversion of this indoor display house as an exhibit for our non-hardy cacti and succulents in 2004. Consisting of over 1,200 taxa, our cactus and succulent collection, which includes hardy, marginal and non-hardy species, is one of our seven major collections.
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Digging into Dinosaur Dung

 

Dr. Karen Chin delivered a great talk last night at the Gardens.  She is the Curator of Paleontology and an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  One of her areas of expertise is coprolites: fossilized feces.  I have to admit that I thought that part of the appeal of the talk was that dinosaur dung is exactly what appeals to our inner grossed-out juveniles. Dr. Chin did not disappoint, delivering puns, double-entendres and low humor that was still all science.  I learned things about dinosaurs, ancient plants, wood, paleontology, coprolites, and, yes, dung, both ancient and modern.
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Featured Garden of the Week: Western Panoramas

As you enter the Gardens, creating a sense of place are the three landscapes bordering the three sides of the Amphitheatre. Exhibiting dominant tree species of Colorado’s three major life zones; the plains, foothills and subalpine are the Cottonwood, Ponderosa and Bristlecone Borders respectively, collectively known as Western Panoramas.  Planted along with the trees are the dominant forbs (herbaceous flowering plants) and grasses commonly found in these life zones. These three landscapes were designed and created in 2000 by Curator of Native Plants, Dan Johnson.

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New Cafe Opens at The Gardens

[caption id="attachment_1580" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Plug in your laptop and enjoy the view!"][/caption]
Offshoots, the new cafe at Denver Botanic Gardens, opened on Friday, July 3rd. Offshoots is an outstanding culinary destination for anyone looking for a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner fare in the midst of Denver’s most beautiful backyard. In the morning, select a variety of freshly made breakfast burritos, pastries, stuffed breakfast croissants or Offshoots already famous homemade pop-tarts. Lunch and dinner provides a variety of paninis, salads, soups and sandwiches all made with fresh, organic ingredients that are obtained as locally as possible reflecting the Gardens’ core value of sustainability. Offshoots also has a full service coffee bar and with free WiFi throughout the cafe. Enjoy a latte, surf the Web, work remotely and relax in one of the cushy chairs or at the laptop bar in front of a window that looks out on vistas of gardens or inside our Conservatory. Lots of vegetarian items are available. The Gardens has never looked more beautiful than it does now. C’mon over and treat yourself to the beauty of nature at it’s finest and have a “treat” in Denver’s newest hotspot!