As early as mid-April, migrating hummingbirds begin arriving in Colorado. Their presence is announced with the humming and whirring sounds made by their wings as they dart from flower to flower. At Denver Botanic Gardens these entertaining birds are commonly seen feeding on nectar and insects, aggressively protecting their territory, diving from the sky or checking out an unsuspecting visitor.</p> Indeed, Denver Botanic Gardens, with its diversity of plant species whose blooms span the seasons, provides an excellent stopover for migrating hummingbirds. As you take this tour, you will most likely be rewarded with the sights and sounds of these charismatic birds.</p> Now is the time to welcome hummingbirds with open flowers!</strong></p> Begin this tour at the Darlene Radichel Plant Select® Garden</strong> to see one of our earliest blooming shrubs: Arctostaphylos</em> × coloradensis</em> 'Panchito'. Facing Monet Pool</strong>, turn left onto the gravel pathway and look for a sprawling shrub on your right with thick, leathery, evergreen leaves. In the springtime, this plant has pinkish-white urn-shaped flowers that attract hummers. A Plant Select® native selection from the Uncompahgre Plateau, this cultivar will thrive in a well-drained area of your yard, where it will become a lovely evergreen groundcover and an early nectar source for hummers. </li> Next, head to the Gates Montane Garden</strong> to see another early bloomer, which is native to the Front Range. As you stroll through the shady forest, you may notice columbine (Aquilegia</em> spp.) and fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium</em>) in bloom, which are great mid-season nectar species for hummers. On your right, before you exit the Gates Montane Garden and where several paths converge with the main path, you will see wax currant (Ribes cereum</em>), a medium-sized shrub with maple-like leaves. In the springtime, it produces tubular, pale-pink flowers, which attract hummingbirds. If you are looking for a shrub with showier and more fragrant flowers, another wild currant that thrives in Front Range landscapes is golden currant (R. aureum</em>).</li> </ul> There are a host of showy mid-season-blooming species that attract hummingbirds</strong> including columbine (Aquilegia</em> spp.), scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata</em>), harebells (Campanula rotundifolia</em>), larkspur (Delphinium</em> spp.) coral bells (Heuchera</em> spp.), bergamot (Monarda </em>spp.), orange milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa</em>), Penstemon</em> spp. and Colorado Four O’clock (Mirabilis multiflora</em>). This tour features the latter two.</p> Exit the Gates Montane Garden and continue on the main path through the Rock Alpine Garden</strong>. Turn left on the path that divides the Upper Meadow from the South Ledge. About two-thirds of the way down, look for Colorado Four O'clock (Mirabilis multiflora</em>), which should still be in full bloom. This showy, drought-tolerant species has dark green leaves and lovely magenta flowers that attract hummingbirds. It is the perfect addition to Front Range landscapes – just allow enough space for it to grow!</li> Next, continue to Sacred Earth</strong>. You will be greeted with sprays of red, trumpet-shaped flowers amongst wispy grasses. These flowers belong to Bridges’ penstemon (Penstemon rostriflorus</em>), which is a later-blooming species of Penstemon</em>. Extend your red-blooming penstemon season with the early-blooming Eaton’s penstemon (P. eatonii</em>), followed by the mid-season scarlet bugler (P. barbatus</em>), followed by Bridges’ penstemon. While you are at it, why not add the early, pink-blooming desert beardtongue (P. pseudospectabilis</em>), a showy landscaping plant that is popular with hummingbirds in my yard.</li> </ul> Late Season Flowers for Hummingbirds: Send Hummingbirds off With a Nectar Party</strong></p> By early September, hummingbirds are heading south towards their wintering grounds. Fortunately, there are many late-blooming species that provide nectar for hummingbirds, including species of Salvia</em>, Agastache</em> and Epilobium</em>. The Roads Water-Smart Garden</strong> showcases examples of all three genera.</p> Once you reach the Water-Smart Garden, look for hummingbird trumpet (Epilobium canum</em> ssp. garrettii </em>‘PWWG01S’ ORANGE CARPET®) on your right. With its myriad showy orange-red flowers, you can’t miss it. Planted in your yard, it will quickly spread to form a ground cover that blooms from mid to late summer. And, as the common name suggests, this western nativar (native cultivar) is irresistible to hummingbirds.</li> As you continue through the Water-Smart Garden, notice the various species and cultivars of Salvia</em>. A favorite is Salvia greggii</em> ‘Furman’s Red’, which will be on your left. This species has crimson flowers that will bloom in the spring and then again through the fall. As you approach it, you will also see Agastache</em> on your left that is beginning to bloom.</li> End your tour with a walk along Water-Smart Garden’s gravel path, searching for various cultivars of both Salvia</em> and Agastache</em>. Notice how they are grouped with other drought-tolerant species including trees, shrubs, succulents and grasses to provide a textural and colorful landscape that is also beneficial for hummingbirds.</li> </ul> Once you have incorporated these plants into your garden, hummingbirds will come, although it may take time for hummingbirds to notice. When you hear the metallic whirring of a male broad-tailed hummingbird and watch it dart from flower to flower, you know your efforts have paid off!</p> In closing, it should also be mentioned that providing natural nectar sources in your yard is one important thing you can do for hummingbirds. However, hummingbirds also need water, shelter and space. To learn more, visit National Audubon Society’s website</a>.</p>
If you’ve driven past the Gardens on the Josephine Street corridor and glanced eastward, you may have noticed some changes: new plants emerging from a formerly barren hillside, horticulturists gazing into walls of rustling foliage and volunteers tucking thousands of plants into their forever homes. This vast space is the East Josephine Streetscape, one of Denver Botanic Gardens’ newest gardens.</p> Through a partnership with Denver Water, the Gardens is now stewarding the development of this site towards the vision of a vibrant, naturalistic garden reflective of our work on the west side of Josephine Street.</p> Utilizing a combination of planting and seeding, the landscape is being reimagined as a “super prairie.” The design is inspired by natural prairies but combines a wider range of drought-tolerant grasses, shrubs and flowers from Colorado and other steppe regions around the world.</p> We started the process last summer, by using heavy equipment to carve up the homogenous planting of Spiraea</em>, a drought-tolerant shrub that dominated the hillside, to create a dynamic look to the shrub layer and open space for sowing and planting. We then spent the summer managing weeds while we waited for the cooler temperatures of fall to sow our seed mix. In October we hand-sowed a mixture of 43 species of annuals, perennials, grasses and shrubs. Due to the steep slope of the site, we stuck them to the ground beneath a layer of hydromulch, a liquefied, shredded wood fiber that pressed the seeds to the soil and would hold them in place until spring.</p> This year we’ve been busy planting through the emerging seed mixture, further editing the existing shrub layer and pulling weeds. We’re seeing perennial species from the seed mix like Monarda fistulosa, Euphorbia marginata, Cleome serrulata, Linum lewisii </em>and Echinacea pallida </em>begin to germinate and emerge.</p> We hope that after a few years of guidance this garden will become self-sufficient, becoming dense with desirable, competitive species and needing very little intervention from gardeners. Watch with us as this space flourishes and changes over the years.</p>
First, I would like to introduce myself, as this is my first blog post for the Gardens! I am a graduate student getting my master’s degree in Integrative Biology at the University of Colorado at Denver and conducting my research under Dr. Rebecca Hufft, the associate director of applied conservation for the Gardens. </p> Chatfield Farms is a place people go to enjoy open space, beautiful flowers, fresh vegetables and cute farm animals, but there are many research projects going on behind the scenes. My project is utilizing long-term restoration plots started by a colleague at the University of Victoria, Dr. Nancy Shackelford, that are in a hay field of smooth brome. I am trying to understand how the two restoration techniques used—herbicide application and seed addition— support pollinator habitat and ecosystem services. I am achieving this by getting absolutely roasted in the sun. </p> </picture> </div> </div> </article> All jokes aside, I am measuring plant diversity and floral availability as a proxy for pollinator ecosystems services—AKA fertilization for the plants. As most of us know, pollinators are crucial to fertilization of nearly all flowering plants (87%) and a third of food crops, so restoring abandoned rangeland will provide food and habitat for these critical critters that are struggling to survive due to land use changes. </p> I love doing field work and being greeted by the sound of the prairie, singing in my ears, which consists of squawking blackbirds, chirping crickets and children playing in the surrounding neighborhood. </p> After I receive my graduate degree and complete my part of this larger long-term restoration project, the Gardens will continue monitoring the original treatments. As we learn more, we will continue to add to this research to improve restoration practices to increase biodiversity and ecosystem services, including healthy soil, clean water and air, and pollinator services. </p> </picture> </div> </div> </article> </p> This blog post was written by Mandi Miller, master's student in the Department of Integrative Biology at University of Colorado - Denver. Mandi is interested in conservation and restoration ecology. She is researching restoration of rangelands on plots made at Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms. </em></p>
Nature and creativity have long been intertwined. Meticulously cultivated gardens or wild, untamed flora have inspired many writers and poets throughout the ages. In a recent virtual program, plants help cultivate creativity in another group of young poets: the Gardens’ teen volunteers.</p> In the program, 12 teen volunteers learned about different authors and garden enthusiasts, including Agatha Christie, Emily Dickinson and Michelle Obama, to name a few. Then the teens tried their hand at creating some nature-inspired “blackout” poetry.</p> Blackout poetry is a process that involves taking an existing piece of writing and “blacking out” or deleting words from it, leaving behind only the words of the poet’s choosing. To create the poems below, the teen volunteers used words from past blog articles about plants written by Gardens’ horticulture staff.</p> Poems</h2> most humans are staying at home, plumping up in anticipation of longer, warmer days, waking up and blooming I have been snapping lots of photos of these blooms things are staying busy, and that’s a great thing awesome plants, calming sense of beauty, and flower explosion vibrant greens, blues, purples, yellows and reds, full of life! - Izzy B., from Tender Cactus and Succulent Collection </a></p> </p> All life has a glimmer of joy. All truly shine and grow. They fill us with patience, persistence and willingness But all life matures and begins to damage and reduce within over time, for many years to come. - Alex Y., from Shade Gardening in Colorado </a></p> </p> Waiting for March, warm weather, early bloomers, Crocus</em>, Galanthus </em>and Helleborus </em>shine, beginning to look like March.</p> The sunny skies, Monday afternoon, allowed photos of crocus open, bright orange stamens, lovely contrast to its lavender petals, the pale gray venation of the blossoms, orange stigma sticking out far, found in the lower meadow. </p> Pasque flowers, buttercups, and pixie iris; Still closed up deep in the shadows, Waiting for March. - Josh O., from What’s Happening in the Rock Alpine Garden This Week?</a> </p>
The Gardens’ mission is to connect people with plants. The actions we take in pursuit of that mission are guided by our core values, one of which remains especially relevant today: diversity. We have an incredible and obvious diversity among our plant collections, but we also strive for a diversity in the people we are connecting with those plants.</p> Unfortunately, contributions from members of underrepresented groups often lack visibility. In an effort to raise the voices of those struggling to be heard, we are highlighting some contributions that POC have made (and continue to make) in fields related to botany and horticulture in this monthly series.</p> Below are two African Americans whose focus on plants and the environment have improved, and even saved, the lives of many.</p> From the Past: </h2> Harriet Tubman (c.1820-1913), Herbalist</p> Harriet Tubman has gone down in history for numerous reasons, foremost among them being her role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. But a skill largely unmentioned that aided her in roles as conductor, soldier, and nurse was herbalism. According to Leah Penniman, enslaved herbalists fought to keep their traditions at great costs; slave owners so feared being poisoned by the people they enslaved that herbal practices were banned altogether. Tubman used remedies passed down from her grandmother to treat fugitive slaves, keep babies quiet on the Underground Railroad, and heal soldiers in the Union during the Civil War. </p> </picture> </div> </div> </article> Harriet Tubman, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (c.1868)</span></span></span></p> Explore more!</h3> You can read about Harriet Tubman’s herbal skills and find Black herbalists from our own time in Leah Penniman’s book, “Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018). Since our library is closed, we encourage you to support Black-owned bookstores</a> if you would like to purchase this title.</p> A powerful photo of Harriet Tubman was recently acquired through the joint efforts of the Smithsonian Institutions and the Library of Congress. It’s the only known photograph of Tubman in which she is a strong young woman (similar to her depiction in the woodcut image used in this post), in complete contrast to other images that were taken closer to the end of her life. You can read about the significance of this photograph – and see it for yourself – in this article from Smithsonian Magazine</a>.</p> Active Today: </h2> Majora Carter, Activist and Consultant</p> Majora Carter has dedicated herself to environmental justice, particularly for underserved communities. She found her passion before starting grad school, when a city plan to divert waste into her neighborhood (South Bronx) drove her to organize protests pushing for environmental awareness and a say in environmental policies. Recognizing the need for more and lasting change in the community, Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 – a nonprofit focused on projects such as building green roofs and providing green job training and placement. She now heads her own consulting firm that advises clients on how environmental projects and policies can revitalize low-income communities.</p> </picture> </div> </div> </article> Majora Carter. Image s</a>ource</a>.</span></span></span></p> Explore more!</h3> You can listen to her 2006 TED Talk, “Greening the Ghetto”</a> in which she discusses more fully her work in the South Bronx.</p>
