Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) in Colorado Springs
I’ve been watching the quiet declaration of drought conditions with an eye more curious than fearful. The US drought monitor classifies the current conditions as moderate drought, or D1, which is pretty low on the scale. The gardeners around me, however, range from “not on my weather radar” indifference to head-shaking, ground-staring, “I knew this day would come” pessimism. It would make a fascinating study of human personality, I think, but also, I wonder if it reflects their gardening interest.
For me, transplanted easterner that I am, I don’t yet know what to make of it. Do I water obsessively or give up on anything the wet side of Opuntia? The gardeners whose gardens I admire most do neither–or at least, neither is their priority. Instead, they live within the landscape, the nature that underlies the urban landscape of Metro Denver. They pay attention to structures, winds, hollows, moist pockets and a sense of the biota that surrounds them. The ecology of the space does not escape them, even when they attempt to bend or defy it.
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Last month eight youth organizations created responses to the concept of “Urban Nature.” Each group of kids painted 8×8′ murals to present their view on how the city and the natural world meet. These brightly colored paintings are visible at a distance and can be found along the El Pomar waterway. Many have a global message and remind us we are one people on the planet, and need to care for it accordingly. Among the participants are: Academia Maria Sandoval, Beacon Neighborhood Center, Butterfly Hope, Globeville Recreation Center, Jefferson High School, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School, West High Mural Club, and Wilfley Boys & Girls Club. Students and their families enjoyed a special evening in their honor to celebrate their creativity.
Wow! That was a fantastic Earth Day. About 6,000 people passed through the Gardens, seeing, learning and enjoying. It’s a chance for the Gardens to show its special strengths, like the Water-Smart Garden (above). The Mayor visited to launch the Denver Daisy (Rudbeckia ‘Denver Daisy’) and many people took notice, including the Denver Post. 300,000 seed packets could mean that the city is covered in them by the end of summer. I also can’t wait to see the different ways people use them in their landscape. What will they be combined with?
One quiet afternoon recently, I took a walk in the garden and discovered how popular it was with the local birds. Many rested in high branches but others accepted my presence at roughly eye level. It doesn’t mean they posed for the camera. I certainly needed the practice try to catch moving targets.
Rick Darke (standing on the right) gave us a terrific show last night, a bright light among our constellations of illuminating programs. In an age of CGI movies, it’s not every speaker who can hold an audience spellbound with images and ideas. But everyone there was treated to a worldwide, whirlwind tour of the ways that plants and urban spaces interact. His pictures ranged from great horticulture in urban parks, to forgotten spaces being reclamed by plants, to human-intended reclamation, to serendipitous natural beauty. We saw plants succeeding in a former California gas station, an abandoned Manhattan elevated train, a cement works in New Zealand, and a former steel mill in Dusseldorf, Germany. There are so many possibilities! So many contenders for a new ideal.
Urban Nature is shaping up to a terrific, relevant exhibit. I’m so curious to see the art work and eager to start connecting people to plants. Join Denver Botanic Gardens now to come to the members only preview in mid-April!
Posted in: At the Gardens, Rocky Mountain Gardening, What's Blooming - Comments(6)