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>
While the Freyer – Newman Center has yet to open to the public, we have been diligently working behind closed doors to transfer non-living collections to their new homes in the Center. These collections include plant and fungal specimens, artworks, archives, rare books and more – some objects dating back to the 1500s. </p> “This is the first time in the library’s history that the archives will be publicly accessible,” says Archivist Angela Naumov in a video about the moving process</a>. The Center offers improved storage for all collections and opportunities for them to grow in both size and accessibility.</p> Scientists look forward to when visitors are able to walk into the Center for the first time and immediately see plant and fungal research ongoing through the glass walls of the herbarium. Exhibits team members now have customized storage for artworks while they are not on display in the Center’s new gallery spaces. Education staff enjoy improved storage for collections as well as an expanded library, where visitors will be able to access the main collection, as well as historical ones through the rare book reading room. </p> Whether it’s a herbarium specimen, botanical illustration or gardening guide, each object represents humanity’s connection to the natural world throughout history. We feel at home in the Center because it is where our history is – not just as a botanic garden, but as people who connect with nature. Once the Center has opened to the public, we hope that you will visit to connect with natural history – and that you will feel at home, too. </p> Re-housing our collections to the Freyer – Newman Center has been made possible by a Museums for America award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Award ID: MA-30-18-0410-18). Thank you, IMLS!</em> </p>
HOW TO IDENTIFY FLEA BEETLES</p> I identified the flea beetle in part one</a> of this two-part series as the western black flea beetle (</span></span></span></span>Phyllotreta pusilla)</span></span></span></span></em>, which is the most damaging flea beetle in Colorado.</span></span></span></span></p> To identify flea beetles in your garden, it is easier to look for the signs of their feeding (feeding injury described below) than it is to look for the beetles themselves. Finding the species of flea beetle depends on what plants they are feeding on (see table 1</a> about halfway down the page). They don’t typically get any larger than 1/16 of an inch in length, so flea beetles are very small and will quickly jump to escape—like fleas! </span></span></span></span></p> WHEN DO FLEA BEETLES APPEAR? Adult flea beetles overwinter in plant residue and in the soil and cause injury early in the planting season as they are emerging, typically when temperatures reach 50ºF (10°C). Eggs are laid at the base of plant stems in early summer after the spring feeding period, and most larvae feed at the roots later in the season.</p> FLEA BEETLE INJURY Adult beetles feed on foliage and produce “shotholes” in the leaves. Flea beetles usually don’t cause fatal injury to established plants because the leaves are already large enough to survive with a few holes. There is a possibility that the beetles spread bacterial diseases, such as wilts or blights, from plant to plant and garden to garden. </p> HOW TO PREVENT FLEA BEETLES In the spring, emerging flea beetle adults will be starving. If possible, reduce their food supply by delaying planting by a couple weeks.</p> In the fall, you can try to till your garden to unearth any hiding flea beetles to expose them to the colder temperature.</p> Flea beetles have shown to be repelled by catnip and basil, so planting these may reduce their numbers.</p> You can utilize species of plants that are attractive for the beetle as traps so that they do not attack other, more valuable, plants.</p> HOW TO MANAGE FLEA BEETLES Although flea beetles are common, injuries often are insignificant to plant health. Try this homemade spray to control flea beetles: </p> 2 cups rubbing alcohol</li> 5 cups water</li> 1 tablespoon liquid soap </li> </ul> First be sure to test out the mixture on a leaf of the plant. Let it sit overnight, then spray the rest of the plant if you don’t notice any adverse effects. Spray the mixture on the foliage of garden plants that are susceptible to these pests, making sure to also spray the undersides of the leaves.</p> Another option is dusting your plants with plain talcum powder, which can help repel flea beetles on tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. You can also use white sticky traps to capture the flea beetles as they jump between plants. Insecticides may be used early in the season but are generally unnecessary in the control of flea beetles on adult plants. </p> </picture> </div> </div> </article> Phyllotreta pusilla,</span></span></span></span></em> photo by Gerald Fauske, North Dakota State University</span></span></span></span></p> This blog post was written by Amy Hauver, Doctor Plant Health student intern from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.</em></p>
Now that it’s July and seedlings have had time to root in, container displays around the Gardens are taking off — bulking up in size, spilling over edges and launching flower stalks. Come with me as we wander among some of this season’s most colorful and dynamic displays. </p> First stop, the large containers outside the Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center</strong>. Each pot is filled with citrus-colored flowers that echo the theme of neighboring beds – “So glad to see you,” a joyful hello to all who pass by. Although I chose the theme over a year ago, it has proven unexpectedly apt, reflecting the gratitude we feel welcoming visitors back. The highlight of this design is the tropical legume Senna didymobotrya</em> planted on either side of two cannas. Each plant has long stems that arch inward and, at distance, remind me of a person’s arms raised up in excitement before hugging a friend. Yellow, round flowers and leaves that smell like toasted corn give this beauty its common name, popcorn cassia. </li> Next stop, outside Marnie’s Pavilion</strong> where colleague Nick Daniels has transformed the low walls into a wondrous collection of cacti and succulents. This display encapsulates the principle that contrast is completion. It is diverse, unifying and satisfies our love of visual drama. Note how the variegated Agave attenuata</em> ‘AGAVWS’ Ray of Light pops in front of the brilliant red Aloe dorotheae.</em></li> From here we walk south to the Science Pyramid,</strong> where colleague Mike Holloway shows his talent for plant mixology -- combining cool and hot colors, spiny geometric forms and soft cascading ones. You’ll see more of his talents in the Victorian Secret Garden to the northwest, where kitsch is elevated to high art. Humorous touches — including a head planted with a bromeliad wig — are mixed with elegant combinations of foliage plants.</li> But first pass through the Steppe Garden</strong> to see an eclectic mixture of high-altitude gems displayed in front of the waterway. Colleague Sonya Anderson has assembled plants from four steppe regions, including a large pelargonium that looks like a tree and a king protea.</li> More must-see containers await in the Annuals Garden and Pavilion</strong>, where colleague Bridget Blomquist has lined beams of the pergola with baskets of silver dichondra, magenta geraniums and an Alternanthera </em>the color of red wine. The plants match those in planters below with equal lushness, making you feel as if you’ve escaped into a flower tunnel.</li> Next stop, South African Plaza</strong> where colleague Mike Kintgen transports us to the tip of Africa and nearby Madagascar and Sub-Saharan Africa. Here you’ll find flora that’s both familiar and unusual. Pelargoniums join lesser known specimens, such as Senecio </em>and Kalanchoe</em>, in pots on the terrace and in an adjacent bed of flowering torches, known as Kniphofia</em>.</li> Finally, walk through Le Potager,</strong> past a sea of larkspur to the gazebo and you'll find a container of Abutilon </em>‘Souvenir de Bonn’. Encircling it are wands of Campanula glomerata</em>, mingling so naturally with the flowering maple that you’d think they grew in the pot too. In fact, the campanula grows in the bed and the potted Abutilon </em>was placed there by colleague Ebi Kondo to create a seamless effect.</li> </ul>
When it’s hard to imagine the future, it’s powerful to contemplate history. We gain perspective, insight and maybe a few important lessons. We can find role models, people who persevered in tough times. We can see crucial moments, pivot points, when new visions were born.</p> The Gardens’ past is replete with tales of wonder, risk-taking, challenges and triumphs. Today, we have seen our lives turned upside down and share with everyone a need to adapt to a shocking reality that is anything but normal. Our heroes are now those working in medicine, scientific research and food production. Truck drivers and grocery store staff are front of mind. People who call for justice and a better social order have already moved the world. In fact, there seem to be heroes everywhere as something noble is born when needs are great.</p> At the Gardens, there are plenty of heroes. Even when the gates were locked, dedicated team members tended our living collections and every department focused on keeping our institution viable and ready to do our part as the public returns to heal. Creativity abounds. For example, it would have been logical to cancel Spring Plant Sale in its 70th year; but an undaunted staff, in a short span of time, created an online, curbside pick-up event that gave us a much-needed boost. </p> </picture> </div> </div> </article> When tragedy strikes, most of us become reacquainted with a sense of humility which can serve as a powerful force for positive change. Humility refreshes respect, openness, engagement. It triggers a sense of wonder and gratitude for small gestures and our connections to the natural world that we may have overlooked.</p> Perhaps we should imagine how our actions during this time will dictate the future. Maybe that is the greatest gift of history, prompting the intention to shoulder responsibility for what comes next. </p> We forge a new path, resolute, with gratitude for all of you and the community we share.</p> Read the summer issue of Inside the Gardens</a>. </p>
