My favorite garden this week is the Schlessman Plaza and Fragrance Garden, which along with the El Pomar Waterway and the O’Fallon Perennial Walk constitutes the Romantic Gardens. This garden is currently at peak bloom and the newly painted stucco walls provide a bold background that helps the plants pop out in the beds. This [...]

 
Standing as testimony that gardening in Colorado does not have to be dull and boring is the Roads Water-Smart Garden, which is currently bursting in color. Bursts of yellow, purple, pink, orange and white are dotted throughout this garden. Meticulously cared for by our Curator of Native Plants, Dan Johnson, this garden is a showcase [...]

Denver Botanic Gardens is home to over 300 taxa (which includes hybrids and cultivars) of about 69 species of Iris. This diversity is distributed throughout the Gardens, though a majority is displayed in the Lilac Garden. Situated almost in the middle of our grounds, the irises in this garden are currently at their peak flowering [...]

 
Meconopsis ‘Lingholm’ is currently in bloom in the garden on the north side of the Education Building (adjacent to the temporary visitor parking lot).

Early mornings in the gardens are definitely  peaceful and cool, however some gardens, like some people, are not at their best until well after lunchtime. The south end of Dryland Mesa is currently one of these gardens and the cacti flowers, which are at their peak right now, are definitely late risers, refusing to open [...]

 
 
As I stroll through the Gardens every week, I am constantly amazed at how each garden changes from week to week or even day to day. I am fortunate I have the luxury to witness this weekly transformation and would like to bring this to you through this blog by featuring a garden each [...]

The green roof at Denver Botanic Gardens opened in November 2007. Within a year and a half, this garden has established very well creating a green space where once was a regular cemented roof. Situated above our former gift shop (soon to become a bistro), this one-of-a-kind green roof features native and drought tolerant plants [...]

The weekend’s snow and slush is a perfect reminder that all the work we gardeners do, the plants work every day, in the same place, no matter the conditions.  I spotted this maple streetside in a Denver neighborhood and thought “The new leaves look so green under the white snow.”  I returned with my camera [...]

Teddy bear cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) and Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park CA

Evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides) and sand verbena (Abronia villosa) at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park CA
It is probably no surprise that many of our gardens are inspired by nature.  Though many of the desert plants cannot handle our winters - these photos [...]

With the move of the gatehouse, you can now see a garden that rarely gets exposure, what we have tagged the north bed of the Picnic Garden.