Waves of Foliage, Flowers and Fragrance

About

I’ve been gardening for nearly 40 years, learning from Panayoti Kelaidis and other experts and passionate gardeners at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

After our return from Zurich, and after a recent appointment in Denver, I randomly stopped and visited the Denver Botanic Gardens, thinking I could volunteer there, and learn about flowers. That visit triggered a whole new journey into flowers, soil, and stones. I soon volunteered regularly, studying at their well-stocked library, and learning about various annuals and perennials. I worked with Panayoti and a fun group of other gardeners at the one-acre rock garden.

I was attracted to the beauty of the plants which were growing here, their size, and knowing that initially they grew at high elevation areas around the world. Eventually I joined the North American Rock Garden Society, which had recently formed a chapter in Denver. Our first home was in Littleton, CO, where I only grew a simple bed of colorful petunia, just off our small concrete patio. Our outside landscape was nearly a third of an acre and I quickly engaged in the craft of rock gardening and learning and planting many perennials. I jokingly recall that a dump truck, heading to my backyard, on a drizzly cool day and full of a soil mixture, got stuck in my grass!

Gradually I developed an interest in writing about plants. My first book was The Intuitive Garden, followed by one on shrub roses and then too, a book whose focus was ornamental grasses. I was also taking pictures of my gardens, and teaching classes at local garden centers as well as at the Denver Botanic Gardens, on the best plants for rock gardening, shrub roses, and ornamental grasses.

However, as I was approaching 70 years old, my husband and I decided to move closer into the city of Denver and bought a home with a small garden. However, I still managed to kill the grass and build a rock garden with many xeric plants and perennials. I brought along some shrub roses, as well as a few of my precious other plants. I used pea gravel as a mulch throughout most of my garden beds, and along several paths.

2026 Open Day Date: Saturday, June 13

Open Day Hours: 10am–4pm