Our Gardens

Here is an artist's view of the botanic gardens we're planning.

We'll begin on the lower part of the parcel, and divide this area into five key natural ecosystems of Colorado, from 5,000 to 9,500 feet:

• ·         Foothills
• ·         Prairie Grassland
• ·         Montane
• ·         Riparian (plants that grow along rivers and lakes)
• ·         Southwest garden (plants that grow in southwestern Colorado)

We'll have pathways meandering through the display gardens, and visitors can learn the names of local plants they see while out hiking, or find new local plants they would like to have in their gardens. Native plants do well in a garden situation, and need less water and fertilizer than cultivated plants.

The garden will also be a place to view native birds, butterflies and wildlife, or a place to come and make watercolor paintings of native flowers. Since the garden is open all year, we encourage everyone to visit at least once a season to enjoy what’s in bloom, what birds are passing through, and to learn which plants take on gorgeous autumn or winter colors.

Where do we find our plants?

Our plants come mostly from local nurseries, but occasionally we source them from far and wide or grow things from seed to fill in the gaps in our species wish list.

Retail Nurseries

• Harlequin's Gardens
  
• Little Valley
• The Tree Farm
• Greenspot
  

Wholesale Nurseries

• Harlequin's Wholesale Nursery
  
• Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery
  

Seed companies

• Western Native Seed
• Miss Penn's Mountain Seed
  

Ecological Gardening Classes

We plan to offer two-hour classes from time to time on subjects ranging from native plant identification, tree and shrub pruning, gardening without use of chemicals, and xeriscape gardening.