An unapologetic plant geek shares advice and opinions on gardening, the contrived and the natural landscape, as well as occasional topics from the other side of the gate.

August 8, 2009

Some Scenes From The Denver Botanic Gardens

On our first full day in Colorado, we got to go to the Denver Botanic Gardens, much to the displeasure of an 11 year old boy, whose was told in so many words to get over it. This garden is in the middle of Denver and backs up to one of the city parks. It is somewhat compact, but not in a bad way, this actually makes it easy to see every section in one visit. There are few large open spaces or vistas, rather it is divided into a series of garden experiences, each with its own theme. There were plenty of traditional gardens such as a rose garden, mixed perennial border, Japanese garden and others. There were also lots of regionally relevant gardens including a native American garden, rock alpine garden, dry mesa garden and a water-smart garden. These were the ones I enjoyed the most. The weather for our trip to the gardens was brilliant: brilliantly hot and brilliantly sunny, which made photography a challenge, but the Virginians in the group reveled in the lack of humidity.

(You can click on any picture to enlarge it and if you do so for the picture below you can see some of the wildlife in the garden)

One of our hosts, Sherpa Girl K. is a beekeeper, and I believe one of her hives followed her here.

If you are ever get the opportunity to visit the Denver Botanic Garden, do not pass it up, and if you want to learn more now, click on the link. If you have nothing better to do, you can see many more pictures of this garden on my new flickr page which will now have a permanent link in the side bar.


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Posted by Les at 9:26 AM
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14 comments:

  1. tinaAugust 08, 2009 1:22 PM

    It almost looks like it could be in Virginia with all pretty much the same plants. Great you could combine some work with vacation.

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  2. Janet, The Queen of SeafordAugust 08, 2009 5:15 PM

    Some of those first pictures look like the high desert. Really neat gardens. Think I will be putting Denver on my list of places to visit.

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  3. sweetbayAugust 08, 2009 10:27 PM

    Those gardens look very extensive and lovely. I had to laugh when I read about your son's reaction to visiting the garden.

    I visited your gallery of pictures too. I don't think one visit will be enough... :)

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  4. Pam/DiggingAugust 09, 2009 4:02 AM

    I especially like those gray and silver plants, and so do the bees, apparently. What is that T-Rex running after, by the way?

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  5. How It GrowsAugust 09, 2009 9:53 AM

    Thanks for the tour!

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  6. LINDA from Each Little WorldAugust 09, 2009 2:46 PM

    Am enjoying the trip with you. I was in Denver about 10 years ago for a conference and took a break to see the DBG. It was worth playing hooky to see. And Denver is also home to the great Tattered Cover bookstore in LoDo. Can still tell you which book I bought as a splurge for Mark at that memorable store. Great pix and liked to see your reactions as you drove west.

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  7. LesAugust 09, 2009 7:14 PM

    Tina,
    Work? This was pure pleasure to me or maybe I am a sick SOB. When I am not working, I like to tour gardens and look at plants.

    Janet,
    I love the high desert also. Maybe because it is so foriegn from what is familiar to us here.

    Sweet Bay,
    If you laughed at my son's reaction, you must have experienced something like that yourself. All in all he was very good on the whole trip. Only twice did the little green monster from Alien appear.

    Pam,
    Mr. Rex was pointed in the direction of an outdoor dinning area. Perhaps he was eyeing a smoothie or someone's PBJ.

    Phillip,
    You are quite welcome. Stay tuned, there will be wild flowers in several posts to come.

    Linda,
    On our last trip to Denver we went to the suburban location of Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek and could have spent hours in there. However, we had a fabulous meal in LoDo on that same trip.

    Les

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  8. FrancesAugust 09, 2009 8:50 PM

    Oh Les, what a fabulous place, but be still my beating heart, those ratibidias! The images were wonderful, brilliant sun or no! :-)
    Frances

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  9. Christopher C. NCAugust 10, 2009 9:53 PM

    I could have sworn I did a post on my last visit to the Denver Botanic Garden. Can't find one. The pictures are some where. I have always enjoyed visiting that garden. Thanks for another tour.

    Maybe this winter I will get to it and the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise.

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  10. Phillip OliverAugust 10, 2009 11:17 PM

    Looks like a wonderful place to visit. I love that rustic pergola with the sunflowers around it. And the red wall and water feature are really nice too. Did the giant dinosaur help ease your son's boredom any?

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  11. Helen Yoest @ Gardening With Confidence.comAugust 11, 2009 6:43 PM

    Very nice Les. I hope to visit one day. H.

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  12. LesAugust 11, 2009 9:05 PM

    Frances,
    I am glad you liked the ratibidias. They were in this really neat dry meadow garden full of grasses and wildflowers.

    Christopher,
    I would be interested in see your pics of the garden. I am always fascinated by what a group of people with cameras decide to photograph.

    Phillip,
    That structure was in the Spirit Garden which was full of plants that had special meaning to native Americans. The dinosaurs did not help at all, we are about a year and half too old for that easy of a distraction.

    Helen,
    Thanks. You should indeed visit.

    Les

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  13. PamAugust 11, 2009 11:33 PM

    Your images are beautiful! What a nice tour. I've been to Denver a few times for work, but foolishly have missed their botanic garden. And I'm with Frances on those ratibidias - wow!

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  14. LesAugust 14, 2009 8:48 AM

    Pam,
    Make a point of going next time you are in Denver. Be like Linda and play hooky if you need to.

    Les

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