Posted August 26, 2010 by Digger the Marmot, Mordecai Children's Garden Mascot
Here I am with a friend at the Children's Garden. Photo by Scott Dressel-Martin.
Last Monday, after several years of planning, the Mordecai Children’s Garden had its grand opening. Over the past week, the new Children’s Garden has been filled with the joyful sounds of imagination and discovery as children and grownups alike are reconnecting with nature. I am one happy marmot, enjoying the company of my many new friends. Melissa Gula, our Children’s Garden Program Coordinator, convinced me that I need to blog to let you know about all of the fun things that are going on at this new Children’s Garden. Come and join me on a journey through this amazing new garden.
The Children’s Garden provides a place for our youngest visitors to put their curiosity to work as they observe plant patterns, pick up and take a close look at pinecones and seed pods, and weave natural materials to create a nest for a bald eagle. A favorite among visitors has been
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Posted August 21, 2010 by Sarah Spearman, Education Sales Coordinator
Did you love your grandma while you were growing up? Of course you did! She was wise and loving and wanted nothing more for you than for you to be happy, healthy and to grow up to be a good person.
In her quest to help you attain these qualities, she undoubtedly soothed your brow when you were sick and perhaps offered a cup of hot tea that was sweetly flavored with lemon and honey when you had a sore throat. A subtly spiced chicken soup was probably on her menu when you had a cold. She might have taught you how to hand sew a dainty sachet that you could fill with lavender to put on your pillow at night (and, guys, don’t snicker; you know you would have eaten this activity up, as well).
Grandma absolutely had a method to her sweet madness. All of these tasty foods and fun craft activities were offered to help you attain that healthiness that she always wanted for you – honey to soothe your throat, hot tea and soup to help you sweat out your cold, spices to speed up your recovery time, and lavender to help you sleep. It’s hardly news anymore that nature offers us a plethora of ways to heal our bodies and soothe our soul.
The Gardens offers you a way to become your own Grandma (or Grandpa) by learning some of
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Posted August 12, 2010 by Sarah Spearman, Education Sales Coordinator
Denver Botanic Gardens is thinking of you…thinking of your budget…thinking of what’s on your plate (literally)…thinking of what you might like to have on your plate (this time, both literally and figuratively)…and thinking that we might just have a nice way to enhance all of these things for you.
Starting next Tuesday night (Aug. 17), the Gardens will be hosting the 2010 Sustainable Food Film Series which will feature four critically acclaimed films that all deal with the significance of food’s role in the health of communities.
Because we recognize the importance of this subject for our own community, the Gardens is offering the films at no cost to you. But wait, it gets better and even cheaper than “free”…
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Posted July 31, 2010 by Sarah Spearman, Education Sales Coordinator
Murray Hallam
I adore Murray Hallam. His charming demeanor on his videos reminds me of my father with an Australian accent. I also greatly respect the work he has done in home aquaponics in Australia. He is one of two men who have largely been responsible for
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Posted July 26, 2010 by Matt Cole, Director of Education
Eugenia Bone, author
This year, the Bonfils-Stanton Series has enjoyed a great deal of success by drawing a large audience. And its terrific to see some of that success go to a Colorado author whose work appears in the Denver Post and the New York Times. This Thursday, July 29, Eugenia Bone speaks on The Kitchen Ecosystem at Denver Botanic Gardens at 7:00 p.m.
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Posted July 20, 2010 by Nick Daniel, Gardener Tropical Collection
When it is as hot outside (and inside the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory), as it has been, I tend to find myself eating more ice cream. Last night as I was enjoying a mixed bowl of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, it made me think about two of my favorite plants in the Boettcher Tropical Conservatory: Theobroma cacao, or chocolate, and Vanilla planifolia or, you guessed it, vanilla.
Chocolate pods maturing in the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory
Theobroma cacao is native to tropical Central and South America, and is a strong representative of the Sterculiaceae family, although it was formerly placed in Malvaceae (the Hibiscus Family) until recently.
Chocolate has been a very important crop world wide for a very long time. In fact, it was so important to the natives who first started cultivating it, that they called it the “food of the gods.” Nowadays, the Latin botanical name of the genus, Theobroma, translates to “Food of the Gods.”
The tree is often of smaller size, around 15 to 26 feet high, and is evergreen. One of my favorite characteristics of Theobroma is its cauliflorous flowering and fruiting habit. This means that the flowers and later the fruit grow directly from the stem and branches of
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Posted June 14, 2010 by Matt Cole, Director of Education
Denver Botanic Garden's green roof
This is the week for the Green Roof for the West Symposium! On Thursday, June 17, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Denver Botanic Gardens opens its doors to a regional conference with international speakers. The Gardens and its co-hosts (the U.S. Green Building Council – Colorado Chapter, Colorado State University and UC-Denver College of Architecture and Planning) have been looking and working towards a reprise of last year’s sucess. This year promises to be as forward-thinking and informative as the first ever symposium, also held at the Gardens. The registration price is $125 for the entire day, and current students with valid ID pay only $30. Includes continental breakfast, box lunch and beverages.
The symposium will feature a full day of in-depth sessions, presented by leading green roof experts and designers from across the U.S. and around the world.
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Posted June 14, 2010 by Sarah Spearman, Education Sales Coordinator
This year’s Bonfils-Stanton Lecture Series, “The Feast in the Garden: Edible Landscapes and Regional Food Traditions,” has been a great success so far with incredible speakers from all around the world, visiting speaker-lead tours through the Gardens and amazing tastings provided by Slow Food Denver.
The Gardens is particularly excited about our next speaker, Bryant Terry, an award winning eco-chef, food justice activist, and author of numerous books including his most recent, “Vegan Soul Kitchen.” And, yes, you read that right…vegan soul food. Terry’s dynamic presentation, “Redefining Soul Food: Politics and Pleasures of Food and Eating in the Black Communities,” will take place at the Gardens on Thursday, June 24. Terry will discuss…
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