Melanie Palmer, curator of the Durango Botanic Gardens conducted a survey of our docents to choose the plant of the year for 2021 and 2022. Here is her report on our Docents' Plant of the Year.  Click on images below to enlarge.

      For 2021, Docents chose a perennial grass, Undaunted Ruby Muhly, Muhlenbergia reverchonii ‘PUND01S’, which has been a star in the Dryland Mesa section of the Demonstration Garden for years and is now lighting up the Elevation Grass Collection. This grass is a drought tolerant and cold hardy (to Zone 5) bunch grass that requires little maintenance except cutting back in early spring and periodic division every 5 years or so. The soft green foliage in the spring and early summer is followed by the stunning pink halo of bloom, breathtaking when backlit by autumn sunlight. One of North America’s most beautiful native grasses, it was brought into the Plant Select program in 2014. (Photo by Melanie Palmer)

     The Docents’ Choice for 2022 is the ‘Midnight Marvel’ Rose Mallow, a hardy hibiscus that is in its third season.  Slow to leaf out in the spring, it makes up for lost time in late summer when it is covered with deep red blooms. Although each flower lasts only a day or two, the plant puts out an abundance of flowers, which stand out against the purple-black foliage. Best flower production is in full sun, but the plant will tolerate some shade.  It is best to enrich the soil with some organic matter.  It will do well with average moisture but will even tolerate wet soils. Our experience with deer resistance has been mixed.  (Photo by Springhill Nurseries)

PREVIOUS DOCENTS’ CHOICE WINNERS

2020:  Hummingbird Trumpet Mint, Monardella macrantha ‘Marian Sampson’

2019:  Kintzley’s Ghost, Lonicera reticulata

2018:  Hopflower Oregano, Origanum libanoticum

2017:  Coral Canyon Twinspur, Diascia integerrima

2016:  Mojave Sage, Salvia pachyphylla

2015:  Hot Wings Maple, Acer tataricum, ‘GarAnn’

2014:  Horned Poppy, Glaucium acutidentatum

The following is an interview with Kim Adams, a Durango ceramicist who produced those botanically themed ceramic pots in the Cindy Smart Miniature Tree Garden.  Kim explains how Tibetan prayer wheels inspired her to create these Botanic Inspiration Wheels.

Why did you chose this project? I’ve always wanted to get involved with a public art project after taking a course on it at the Corcoran in DC many years ago. When I saw an article in the Herald about the Art Brigade’s call for artists, I thought it was time. I’ve been involved with ceramics as a student, business owner, and a lover of clay for years, so opening my mind to a new way for people to interact with my art was exciting. The grant I applied for suggested the Durango Botanic Gardens as a potential site. I love being and working in the garden, so from there ideas about an interactive installation started coming to me, then Jim Philpott signed on for the metalwork offering to donate his time, then the meeting with Bill LeMaire was encouraging. Before I knew it, I was in the studio throwing pots destined for the Durango Botanic Gardens and its visitors.

How does the installation work? If you’re exploring the gardens on the north side of the library, you’ll see four pots mounted on rods sprinkled throughout the Cindy Smart Arboretum. On two of the rods are boxes with paper and pencils—means to render ideas, poems, wishes, drawings that come to you while meandering through the grounds. Rather than putting your rendering in your pocket, I invite you to put it in one of the pots and to spin the pot. (There are carved slots near the top of each pot’s copper lid.) This concept came to me from the time I spent with my children at the Tara Redwood Preschool in Soquel, CA, where prayer wheels were throughout the campus. A turn of a prayer wheel was the same as a recitation of the mantras carved on the surfaces and inside the cores of the wheels. With the Botanic Inspiration Wheels, a turn is a recitation of the messages inside the pots.

What has been the response from the garden visitors been so far? I collect the messages deposited inside the pots every couple of weeks or so. Each time I have gone, I’ve eagerly anticipated what I’ll find. Thus far all the messages express good-spirited intentions for the world, the environment, and individuals. There are hopes for dinosaurs to return, wishes for people to heal and make smooth lifestyle transitions, beautiful pictures, expressions of love, feedback for the garden, and offerings of words to live by. Most messages are anonymous, but gauging by the handwriting and content, I believe the authors are of all ages.

Any projects in the future? There is one more Botanic Inspiration Wheel going in at the new children’s garden at the library. It’ll be around 3 1/2 feet tall, perfectly sized for its visitors. I have an idea for another community-interactive installation with Durango Creates!. I really hope it comes through, as I have loved every minute spent on these botanic wheels.

• Creative use of bulbs at Chanticleer Gardens, Wayne, PA. Photo by Lisa Roper and from the New York Times, July 16, 2020.

  Visit our Sale Preview page, beginning July 22, for get an advance peek at what will be available when our online bulb sales begins August 5.

  Caution: When you plant a bulb, you’re handling highly concentrated flower power. There may be no other investment in your garden that will yield as great a return—in color, vibrancy, and pure joy—as bulbs.  And while it’s not essential to your enjoyment of bulbs, many of them have a fascinating history and geographical pedigree. A friend recently discovered that one of his bulbs has its origin in Uzbekistan. We may use the “bulb” liberally but the term typically refers not only to true bulbs, but also plants with tuberous roots, tubers, corms, and rhizomes. The information below can be applied to all or most of these.
  

  Here’s maybe the most important reason to buy bulbs—with just a little basic knowledge, anyone can grow beautiful bulbs. Why now? Savvy bulb gardeners know that right now is when the selection of bulbs is greatest; otherwise gardeners who wait for fall may find their favorites sold out and unavailable. Here are some other reasons you should consider bulbs—or more bulbs for your garden:

• 1. Bulbs are a great way to add color to the garden at a time when little else is in bloom. The spring surprises offered by their emerging foliage and blooms are very rewarding. They can last for years when properly selected and planted at the correct depth. They are by far the most cost-effective perennial there is!  Some types of bulbs naturally multiply, increasing in blooms year after year. 
  2. Since most bulbs need a period of chilling before they can flower, Mother Nature takes care of that here, so our area is ideal. Mid-October to early November is the ideal time to plant because the ground has not frozen and there is sufficient time to allow root development. 
  3. Bulbs have a long and fascinating place in gardening history, art, literature and even speculative economic bubbles. Daffodils, grown by Egyptians and Greeks and brought into English gardens by the 1200’s, are deer proof, enduring, and now unbelievably diverse.
  4. Properly chosen, bulbs can give continuous color for three months, in the drab time between when the snow recedes and other perennials start to flower.
  5. One need not have a garden to try some of these beauties. Many varieties of bulbs are “good forcers”, which means they may be grown indoors in pots. A little patience and some refrigerator or garage space to provide the necessary dark pre-chilling period (8-14 weeks, 38-45ºF) that Mother Nature provides outdoors will brighten February days. 
     
  6. There is a strong case for planting spring-blooming bulbs as a source of food for bees. As homeowners remove dandelions from lawns, bulbs offer alternatives to bees. 
     
  7. Bulbs are easily grown in amended garden soil, and many are deer and rodent resistant.  
     

 

While the Ides of March referred to the middle day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar, it is most often associated with the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar.  Accordingly, as that date approaches, beware aggrieved Roman Senators. Our March is arriving with lamb-like temperatures in the 50s, which reminded our good friend, Mike Smedley, of some observations about bulbs and warmer temperatures...   

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.  The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.” American author Henry Van Dyke wrote that, and it is so true, Mike says, particularly for Durango.

"The first day of spring, by the way, is March 20. But March 1 felt like a spring day.  And just on schedule, the spring-blooming bulbs are coming up, starting with snowdrops (Galanthus) and early crocus (Crocus ancyrensis and C. chrysanthus). The earliest of tulips are just poking up in sunbaked spots and warmer microclimates. So yes, it’s a spring-ish for the first week of March, after which temps will cool to 40s daytime and teens at night… typical.

Remember, 55 is the magic number for bulbs. When the soil hit this temp in spring, bulb top-growth emerges. (Likewise in fall, 55 is the soil temperature to begin planting bulbs, generally after Halloween.) Pro tip: If you have crocus, tulips, snow iris or other bulbs that deer eat, spray the emerging foliage with repellant now. Deer are creatures of habit. They are very hungry this year and have been eating “deer-proof” plants such as rabbitbrush, juniper, lilac, et. al. Spraying now will, as they say, nip this at the bud."

For gardeners, winter is that interlude when you plan your spring garden, flip through seed catalogs, buy too many seeds, and dream of a healthy, lush garden coming spring and summer.  But savvy gardeners know that often what you do—outside in winter—is just as important.  Here are a few conventional—and unconventional—thoughts some of our friends said they would be doing this winter in their gardens.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow 

Winter is all about harvesting water, the frozen kind. It’s the cold-season equivalent of installing rain barrels. When it snows, I get up early before the plows arrive and blow or shovel fresh snow from the street onto the front lawn and hell strip side garden. (Don’t ever harvest street snow after the plows come; those frozen slush chunks are filled with salts/ice melt that will poison your garden. Learn from my mistake!)  Move snow from your walkways, driveways, and decks to the dripline of trees. Redistribute “avalanche” snow that comes off the roofs. Each snow harvest will buy you a couple of days of not having to water in spring. Best of all: It's free for the taking. (Mike Smedley, DBG Benefactor)

O’Tannenbaum, O’Tannenbaum

You may have already disposed of your Christmas tree but try this next year.  Cut off the branches and put them over rock gardens, sunny exposures, or newly planted areas. The point is not to “warm” the area with insulation or some sort of mulch. Rather, the point is to shade the soil, keep it evenly cool and prevent the harmful freeze-thaw cycle during mid-winter or the usual January 50-degree heat wave. Think of how snow persists in shady areas on a ski mountain. Same with your garden. Durango’s harsh sun can coax some plants out of dormancy too soon. Pine boughs help keep snow layers from melting.  Remove boughs in March and add them to the compost pile.  (Mike Smedley)

Forcing Those Bulbs for Your Indoor Garden

The snow is deep at my house after the Christmas storm and gardening thoughts are far away.  Recently, at the grocery store, I saw pots of tulips in bloom and I thought “Aha! Those were FORCED”, meaning they were pre-chilled in the dark for a number of weeks and then brought into more heat and light where they promptly grew and bloomed.  At my house, I set aside a few hyacinth bulbs from DBG’s fall bulb sale for forcing, using vases designed for this purpose.  I added water to the vases just enough to “tickle” the root plates and set them in the refrigerator, adding small amounts of water as needed. In another 3 weeks, I will start to bring them out and hopefully have blooms by Valentine’s Day, weeks before those planted outside will emerge.  (Melanie Palmer, curator, Durango Botanic Gardens)

Why Winter Watering?

Many of our landscape (and native) plants have had to endure years of drought, higher than normal temperatures, and long periods of a combination of both. Over time, that stresses plants, making them more susceptible to disease, insects or other environmental conditions.

A potential result of this drawn-out weather pattern could be death to the parts of the plant’s root system, especially with newly planted or stressed plants. Woody plants typically have shallow root systems and require supplemental watering. Herbaceous perennials and groundcovers, especially those in exposed sites, can be subjected to cracking in soil that exposes roots to cold and drying.  Even recently established lawns have a shallow root system and can quickly dry out.  One of the ways to moderate this stress is to water during the winter months, as long as these guidelines are followed: https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/if-winter-is-dry-watering-your-plants-is-wise/   (Darrin Parmenter, LaPlata County Extension Director)

Good Time for Tree pruning

Although it may be cold and snowy outside, winter is actually one of the best times to prune your deciduous trees and shrubs. Dormancy pruning provides a number of benefits, such as decreased disease and insect movement, more readily visible structure, minimized sap and nutrient loss, quicker healing of pruning cuts, increased spring growth, and increased sunlight availability to understory plants.

From late-fall to late-winter, you can prepare your deciduous trees and shrubs for the spring. However, evergreens, in most situations, should be pruned during the growing season, since they never become fully dormant and might suffer tip burn if pruned during dormancy. Pruning during warmer months can have advantages: slowing growth by reducing the total leaf surface area and proper thinning of blooms can create sweeter and more mature fruit in the fall. It is always a great time to care for the trees you love!  (Moses Cooper, ISA Certified Arborist MI-4220A, Owner of Momentum Tree Experts, Durango CO

Always prune just outside the branch collar--the point where one branch leaves the larger one (or trunk).

For tips on pruning visit: website: https://csfs.colostate.edu/2015/02/12/late-winter-the-best-time-to-prune-trees/

More Reasons Spring is the Best Time to Prune Wood Plants
Eva Montane of Columbine Landscapes offers additional thoughts on pruning: "With few exceptions, early spring is the best time to prune your shrubs and trees. Pruning stimulates growth, and what better time to bring on new growth than spring? The key is to do your pruning before buds start popping for four good reasons:

1. You don’t risk damaging the delicate new buds and sprouts
2. You can easily see the branching structure enabling you to select for the best architecture of your shrub or tree
3. By pruning while it is still dormant (meaning it hasn’t pushed out new growth yet, so should still be brown twigs – no green) you avoid stressing the plant
4. Wounds from your pruning cuts heal faster in late winter/early spring 

By removing old, unhealthy branches and congestion, branches benefit from more sunlight. You can expect more flowers as a result of a healthier vibrant plant."  (Eva Montane, owner, Columbine Landscapes)

You may have thought your garden watering duties were over for awhile.  However, our maintenance team reminds us that homeowners often forget that watering on appropriate days through the fall and winter is an important step in maintaining a healthy landscape.  Due to our dry climate here in Colorado, especially here in the southwest corner of the state, supplemental watering during the colder months can be important, if not vital, to a more successful spring flowering and growth.  Repeated freezing and thawing of the ground can create cracks in the earth and flower beds, exposing root systems to more severe drying.  So winter watering, along with mulching, can help curb dehydration, fill ground cracks, and prevent plant damage. 

Our good friend Mike Smedley shared this fact sheet on fall and winter watering from the folks at Colorado State University Extension.  Learn how to do fall and winter water the right way...

Fall_Winter_Watering.pdf

Read our most recently newsletter recapping an exhilarating 2021

John Wickman, owner of Native Roots, a longtime mainstay of retail nurseries in the Four Corners, is retiring from Native Roots but will maintain his wholesale grower business, Pine River Plants in Bayfield.  The retail business of Native Roots is currently for sale but, with the lease expiring on that property next to Home Depot, a new owner will have to relocate.  For his part, John will focus anew on native plant propagation but selling wholesale only.  John was one of the founding board members of the Durango Botanic Gardens. Following is his letter to our community of gardeners...

"Time does fly by.  It's been seventeen years since Karen Mee and I started Native Roots on a small lot on East Animas Road.  I have thoroughly enjoyed interacting, educating, and providing locally grown plants to both beginning gardeners and seasoned pros.  Durango is a very difficult gardening environment and I am always impressed with the determination of local gardeners to beautify their space or put food on the table.  You all are awesome!

I'd like to thank all of you for your patronage and support these past years.  I am semi-retiring this year and will continue to grow plants at my Bayfield wholesale greenhouse but plan to sell Native Roots which will be relocated to a soon to be announced location.  I look forward to growing colorful plants and baskets for the Colorado market and returning to my first horticultural interest, native plants.  So look for Pine River Plants material at local garden centers and HAPPY GARDENING!"

An explosion of flowers now adorn what was formerly a brown, utilitarian wall between the library and the Riverside Professional Building.  A botanically-themed mural, painted by local artist, Nia Sturr, entitled "Wall Flowers," was dedicated with nearly 100 people in attendance on July 15.  The mural depicts plants and flora common to our region’s microclimates and elevations.  To reflect this amazing horticultural and climatic diversity, plants common to lower, dryland elevations begin at the left of the mural and ascend to plants, trees common to higher, montane and alpine elevations.  

Because the common names of plants can vary from region to region, horticulturists and nurseries reference plants using what is called binominal nomenclature, using both the common name and the scientific name, the latter expressed in Latin.  

Look for these plants on your next hike or when strolling through our public gardens.

The mural is a project of the Durango Botanic Gardens with support from the Durango Creative District and funding from the Creative Economy Commission.  Other funders or in-kind providers include 1st Southwest Bank, the LeMaire Family Fund, Shelly Oxhandler, the Library Advisory Board and Friends of the Library, Handcrafted House and Kroegers Hardware.

            Panayoti Kelaidis, senior curator and director of outreach at the Denver Botanic Gardens, was in Durango May 15 in conjunction with planning the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS) conference, which will be held in August in Durango.  Kelaidis has designed plantings for many of the gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens, especially the South African Plaza, the Rock Alpine Garden, and has been a valuable resource and friend of our own gardens in Durango. He has introduced hundreds of native ornamentals from around the world to our region and beyond, essentially transforming the horticulture of the American West. He has just been elected president of the North American Rock Garden Society.  Our Melanie Palmer, curator of the Durango Botanic Gardens, spoke with him and enjoyed his comments and praise of a number of our plants.  Following is her report...

Panayoti Kelaidis visited the Durango Botanic Gardens during regular Saturday maintenance and took some time to speak with volunteers and Lisa Bourey, garden designer and part of the NARGS organizing committee. 

            While the Durango Botanic Gardens is a valuable resource for the average homeowner, guiding choices at local nurseries, it DOES contain some rarities. It is the Durango Botanic Gardens’ willingness to trial plants donated by legendary plant collectors from the Denver Botanic Gardens that allows our Gardens to add some unique interest to our own collections.   

            In his walk-through with us, Kelaidis zeroed in on a couple of plants in the garden and told us some fascinating information about these two plants.

     One plant, the Atlantic Daisy, Leucanthemum atlanticum, at left, was collected by Denver Botanic Gardens' curator Mike Kintgen in Morocco, propagated, and then donated to our gardens in the Gardens’ early days.  It has proven difficult to grow in other gardens but seems to thrive here.  Panayoti pronounced it “one of the finest specimens he has seen anywhere”.   He even went so far as to say there are few to equal it outside of Morocco itself.  This fairly non-descript small white daisy shines AFTER blooming, with its pink architectural seed heads.  Seed will be collected by Lisa Bourey for distribution to NARGS conference visitors and propagators.  

     The second plant (at left, click image to enlarge) of southern African origin, is found in the Alpine section of the Garden. It grows natively in the mountains of the small country of Lesotho. It is a mat-forming perennial with gray-green tiny foliage, covered in tiny pink-white flowers. Called Helichrysum pracurrens, it is rarely cultivated in botanic gardens.  In southern Africa, it is found covering hillsides there.  Donated to the Durango Botanic Gardens by Mike Kintgen, it has increased in size every year.  The flowers close up in shade but are tiny and daisy shaped. Lisa Bourey is going to collect seed from this plant as well for distribution to NARGS participants.

                  Mr. Kelaidis was extremely impressed with the appearance of the gardens, and the new areas which have been added since his last visit—the Crevice Garden, the Wind Garden, the Arboreta, and the soon-to-be-planted Elevation Grass Collection.  He is certain that the Gardens will be a source of excitement and appreciation by NARGS attendees who come from many parts of the United States and even some foreign countries.  Although small, our diversity is simply amazing. 

            Our hard-working volunteers deserve a huge THANK YOU for many years of dedication to making our Gardens the gem that they are. The Gardens are getting the recognition they richly deserve from some very important and internationally recognized giants of Western horticulture far and wide and will long be remembered by NARGS attendees.