This Week at the Gardens: September 9th
Lainie's Cutting Garden
Late summer in the Gardens: color, texture, and a chill in the air. Now that it’s cooler, get out and get reacquainted!
Caesalpinia
You Really Shouldn’t…
…grow here, that is. Caesalpinia gilliesii (bird of paradise) and Chilopsis linearis (desert willow) are just two of numerous plants that, by most reckonings, should not be perennial in our climate, but seem to do just fine here in the right microclimate.
Desert Willow
Each of these plants is listed as hardy to Zone 8—we are considered Zone 5 in Denver! This is not the first time Denver Botanic Gardens has pushed the boundaries of what is available to gardeners here, and it won’t be the last. See these two plants in the Crossroads area, and Desert Willow throughout the Gardens.
Gomphocarpus
Fun with Plants
Gomphocarpus physocarpus, a member of the milkweed family, and a reseeding annual in Colorado, is earning its common name—balloon plant—in South African Plaza just now.
Gomphocarpus seed pods
Along with delicate flowers, the plant is covered in prickly hollow seed pods up to three inches across.
Chard
Eggplant
Bounty
It’s harvest time in Le Potager, our beautiful kitchen garden. Admire the gorgeousness of the veggies, which we donate to local food providers.
Rosa 'Distant Drums'
A Rose…
I couldn’t resist this rose, fresh with rain. The Rose Garden is still offering blooms, as it has been all summer.
Cutting Garden
Gardens Not to Miss:
Until frost, our gorgeous annual beds—Lainie’s Cutting Garden, All-America Selections Garden, and Shady Lane and the Orangery walkway—are where the color is. Also admire the veggies in Le Potager.
September 9, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Great pix! You’ve inspired me to take a walk around before I go home after work…
September 28, 2011 at 11:36 pm
At my parents house, I’ve planted gladiolus near a South-facing brick wall and forgot to dig them. They came back strong the next spring.
I’ve seen a stray bulb that was accidentally left in the ground over winter come back in a few different places, but usually when they are out in the middle of the yard there are some losses.
Not so when they’re near that South wall. Not only do spring plants come up REALLY early – a good month sooner than they do on the North side of the house – but the rose is sort of semi-evergreen there.
The idea of perennializing tropical plants in this climate is fascinating to me. Especially since, in this case, the thing that allows them to survive is the sun’s natural warmth on the brick wall plus perhaps some heat “leakage” from the house – so it’s not using up any resources.
I’ve been thinking of ways I can take advantage of the location with more intention – maybe with some rosemary or Easter lilies or something else that’s not-quite-hardy.
I wish I understood plants’ frost-survival mechanisms better; I think there might be something about Colorado’s dryness that allows some plants to survive a zone lower than they do in the Eastern U.S.