This is less of a walking tour and more of a destination exploration. The striking installation on the eastern end of the boardwalk in Denver Botanic Gardens' Birds and Bees Walk was designed to showcase the intricate relationships between natural materials and wildlife. This sculptural and organic installation combines artistry with ecological functionality, emphasizing the essential role of natural elements in fostering biodiversity. Let’s dive into the intricacies together:</p> 1. Dead Wood and Bark</h3> The primary layer is built from reclaimed dead wood and large expanses of bark, reflecting the vital role decaying trees play in ecosystems. These natural materials create a lattice of crevices and cavities that mimic the shelter provided by tree trunks. Birds, insects and other small animals find refuge here.</p> 2. Insect Hotels</h3> Nestled within are clusters of small sticks and hollow plant stems. These provide solitary bees, such as mason and leafcutter bees, with safe nesting sites. The carefully arranged hotels demonstrate how simple interventions can support pollinators, whose activities are crucial for plant reproduction and ecosystem health.</p> 3. Material Pockets</h3> This installation was designed as an extensive material library; a place where any creature can take or borrow what it might need. Often overlooked as mere waste or mulch, these materials are carefully arranged in woolen pockets that hang throughout the structure, holding leaves, pine needles, duff and fibers for nest-building and shelter.</p> 4. The Tapestry of Fibers</h3> Woven into the design are strands of natural fibers like grass, cotton, wool, silk and flax. These fibers provide birds with vital nesting materials and insects with safe hiding spots. Can you spot fibers from this structure repurposed in nearby trees or bushes to form intricate nests? </p> 5. Bird Houses</h3> Each birdhouse varies in size and shape, accommodating different species like chickadees, wrens or bluebirds, with tailored entryways and internal dimensions. Beyond their practical function, these havens demonstrate the importance of intentional design in supporting wildlife through offering safe spaces for birds to nest, rest and raise their young.</p> More than an installation, this is a living example of how human creativity and natural processes can merge to foster biodiversity. How can you create more space for other creatures in your own life?</p> To explore the structures of the Birds and Bees Walk further, read Bring Out Your Dead! Complex Spaces in the Habitat Gardens</a>. </p> </p>
When I was in art school, Spiderwoman Theater, an Indigenous women’s performance troupe, performed at the school. During the Q&A, one of my classmates asked the artists what their tribe thought of them doing modern performance art. Their answer: Many Indigenous people view art as a part of life – just as music, food and nature are a part of life. Everything is connected. This reply has always stuck with me, and this interconnection is always apparent here at Denver Botanic Gardens. Art, music, food and nature are intertwined. Follow this walking tour to explore some of these connections. </p> The gardens that surround the UMB Bank Amphitheater</strong> represent our Colorado landscapes. Although the Summer Concert Series has passed us by, the musical sounds of the plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides</em> ssp. monilifera</em>) leaves fluttering in the wind can be heard in the Grant Family Cottonwood Border.</strong> Don’t forget about the zipping of the hummingbirds moving from Roads Water-Smart Garden</strong> to the Ponderosa Border</strong> in search of a snack and a place to rest. Once Blossoms of Light®</strong> opens for the holiday season, you will get to hear new music that accompanies the synchronized light show in the amphitheater. </li> Meander over toward the Science Pyramid</strong>, and you will find the artwork “Feature Fountain” by Wright McLaughlin. This four-tower fountain is a popular spot to sit and have a bite to eat, listen to the rushing waters and look out onto many of our aquatic gems of waterlilies and cannas (Nymphaea</em> and Canna</em>). Don’t leave until you walk through the annual display of gorgeous blooms of black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta</em>), dahlias (Dahlia</em>) and more in the Fountain Bed Garden.</strong></li> Now, head down the path past the Ornamental Grasses Garden</strong>, making sure to take in the beauty of the sculpture “So Proud of My Children” by Nicholas Kadzungura, which is surrounded by the soft colors of Kudos Mandarin Hyssop (Agastache</em> ‘Kudos Mandarin’), and make your way through June’s PlantAsia</strong>. </li> You will notice some exciting renovations on the southside of June’s PlantAsia</strong>, as well as within the Birds and Bees Walk</strong>. Here you will find many places to sit and enjoy mature trees like lacebark pines (Pinus bungeana</em>) or walk along the boardwalk to see our brand-new “habitat hotel district” (artistic walls for insects to nest and overwinter). We couldn’t be more excited to share this habitat paradise with our visitors!</li> Getting tired? Head over to the Hive Garden Bistro</strong> for a bite to eat and a cool drink (I recommend an agua fresca). There’s never a bad time of year to sit on the deck and enjoy the views of Monet Pool</strong>. As we move closer to fall and winter, the view from the deck will transition from a sea of blooms in the pool and the creative, artistic kitchen garden, Le Potager Garden</strong>, to pumpkin displays for Glow at the Gardens™</strong> and then Blossoms of Light</strong>. </li> </ul> The coming months still offer musical soundscapes for our fall and holiday events, delicious food and drinks from our restaurants, and artwork throughout the grounds (explore the galleries in the Freyer – Newman Center </strong>during your visit) and nature. So. much. nature. Enjoy what life has to offer: art, music, food, nature. Everything is connected. </p>
This winter, make your holiday gathering truly unforgettable by hosting it during Blossoms of Light®</a>, Denver’s beloved holiday tradition—now celebrating 40 sparkling years. With more than a million twinkling lights illuminating winding pathways and winter gardens, the event offers an enchanting backdrop for celebrations of every kind</a>. Whether you’re planning a lively company party or an intimate reception, our experienced event team</a> will ensure your evening shines as brightly as the lights themselves.</p> For the first time ever, the historical Waring House great room and library is available for private holiday events. Nestled along the Gardens’ southeast edge, this beautifully restored Beaux-Arts residence invites guests in with rich woodwork, artisan glass and early 1900s charm. The setting is perfect for seated dinners up to 40 guests or cocktail receptions up to 75—and just beyond the windows, Blossoms of Light transforms the landscape into a wonderland of color and glow.</p> Availability is limited, and dates fill quickly—reserve early and dazzle your guests amid the lights. Email us at </span>private.events@botanicgardens.org</strong></a> or call 720-865-3551. Book today!</span></p>
Last August, the Research and Conservation Department received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library</a> Services (IMLS) to “advance the North American Botanic Garden Strategy for Alpine Plant Conservation” (MA-255890-OMS-24). The Alpine Strategy</a> is a document that was published in 2020 by the Gardens and Betty Ford Alpine Gardens to serve as a blueprint for protecting alpine plants and ecosystems in North America. The funded project will support a nationwide endeavor to document and preserve the natural heritage of vulnerable and treasured plant species, specifically targeting the role that botanic gardens play in advancing this mission. The objectives of the project will engage the botanic garden community and those working in alpine plant conservation, while moving us closer to our goal of understanding and conserving alpine habitats and plants in North America. </p> Changing environmental conditions threaten plant communities worldwide, with alpine plant species being particularly vulnerable. Temperature fluctuations are projected to be most severe at high elevations and species will be displaced to higher and higher elevations, or highly restricted microsites, until there is nowhere left in which to migrate. The limited space for plants to migrate to track suitable environmental conditions, coupled with the potential inability to adjust traits or phenology, may increase extinction risk. Alpine species are in desperate need of conservation action. </p> Understanding seed dynamics is arguably the most important piece of ex situ (outside of the natural habitat) seed conservation. Successful management of ex situ seed collections relies on understanding seed quality, viability and seed banking behavior. Prior to seed banking, it is important to have an estimate of the quality of each collection so that resources are not wasted on a non-viable collection and to understand how viability may change throughout the duration of storage. The most efficient and least destructive way to assess seed quality is through x-ray imagery. X-ray imaging is especially appropriate for small seed collections or for those of globally threatened species so as not to destroy any of the seeds in the collection. X-raying allows the inspection of the inside of the seeds, providing images that show whether a seed is filled with an embryo/endosperm, empty, or predated upon by an insect. With this information we can have an initial estimate of seed collection quality, which is impossible with visual inspection alone. </p> The funding from IMLS allowed us to purchase a Kubtec X-ray to image all our alpine seed collections, which ranged in collection year from 1988 to 2025. Overall, our alpine seed collections are of good quality, with 87% of the collections having above 70% estimated viability (filled with viable tissue and potentially capable of germination). </p>
