Posted February 27, 2010 by Ellen Hertzman, Manager of Visitor Experience
First Crocus at the Gardens
I checked my gardening journal this week. (I start each spring with good intentions, but writing in the journal occurs in inverse proportion to the amount of work that needs to be done in the garden!) I have been imagining that this winter has been longer and colder than recent winters. I wanted to verify that perception, using my crocus-o-meter.
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Posted February 25, 2010 by Matt Cole, Director of Education
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David Montgomery, geomorphologist and author
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Dr. Montgomery
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Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization by David Montgomery cover shot.
When gardeners dish the dirt, they may speak of soil, either their own or the soil they wished they had. It really is the bed in which you make your garden lie. So 2008 MacArthur ‘Genius’ award recipient David Montgomery, author of Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, is the perfect speaker to help peer into our soil’s soul and see what sustainable means to the planet’s soil.
Speaking at March 4th’s Down and Dirty: the Scoop on Soil, Dr. David Montgomery will share his thoughts on the human relationship with soil. Today’s gardeners interested in growing food, enjoying beauty and living sustainably have many of the same challenges that humans have faced throughout history. Plant nutrition, soil erosion, healthy harvests, sustainable production all have underground dimensions: any garden’s foundation is literally the soil.
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Posted February 25, 2010 by Diane Zimmer, Capital Campaign Manager
For our more fair weather visitors (you know who you are!), many have not stopped by the Gardens since those first snowflakes fell in October or have not ventured beyond the safe tropical confines of Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory. You might be surprised to learn of the many changes happening seemingly overnight
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Posted February 19, 2010 by Mike Kintgen, Senior Horticulturist
Good things come to those who wait we are told. Helleborus vesicarius seedlings were set out in spring of 2006 after a supplier donated a pot full of 20 seedlings with the warning that it was a very tricky species to grow. He was in Virginia, not exactly a similar climate to southern Turkey and northern Syria where it is native. Denver is perhaps not an exact match either, but closer with summer drought broken only by sporadic thunderstorms.
Originating from montane elevations in alkaline clay soils, it has so far been hardier than predicated. ”Hellebores: a Comprehensive Guide” by C. Colston Burrel and Juduth Knot Tyler guessed zone 7. It has survived -10 degrees Fahrenheit with almost no snow cover
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Posted February 19, 2010 by Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator & Director of Outreach
The notion that the very symbol of the American South–the evergreen Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)–might have hardy forms that would thrive on the windswept steppe of Colorado has tantalized
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Posted February 16, 2010 by Anna Sher, Director of Research & Conservation
What tamarisk trees taught me
Managing the environment versus managing people surely should be very different… or are they? Lately I have been challenged to make such an analogy and found it surprisingly compelling. Through the course of my 15 years studying invasive species biology and restoration ecology, as well as learning from the horticulturists here at Denver Botanic Gardens, I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a bad plant… but that certainly there is plant “behavior” that we may deem harmful, such as when tamarisk trees dominate a riverbank to such an extent that nothing else can possibly grow.
Are tamarisk inherently “bad”?
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Posted February 16, 2010 by Doris Boardman, Web Technology Manager
A new decade brings more exciting transformation–to the Gardens, to our Botanic Buzz
e-newsletter (sign up here to receive your copy), and soon, to our Web site. How do you like our new blog design?
We have so many authors from all parts of the Gardens (click on the “More Authors” link in the right column under “authors” to see all of our most recent bloggers) that we wanted to make it even easier for you to learn some of our points of view about Denver Botanic Gardens and Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield by navigating through our new blog layout. I’ll be posting photos of our authors soon so you can see who we are.
Continue to enjoy our blog and these topics:
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Posted February 15, 2010 by Matt Cole, Director of Education
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June’s PlantAsia in February
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Contrasting plant colors and forms stand out against the snow.
Its when it gets cold that you appreciate warmth. Thick socks, long underwear, hats with ear flaps and home-knit scarfs become some of my favorite things. Standing over the heat vent while the furnace is running is not far behind.
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