Yesterday we took a break from working in the nursery to go to Lakewood and see our friend Bob Nold’s garden. He has more species of plants in his garden than we have in our nursery! His entire yard, front and back, is planted with native plants, and xeric plants, and unusual perennials, shrubs, and trees. Thousands upon thousands of plants reside in this garden. Late October isn’t usually the best time for jazzy photo ops in Colorado horticulture, but I tried to capture some of the feeling you get from what he’s created.
On the south side of his house he’s growing cactus and shrubs that might not survive in an open, unprotected spot. And in the bottom right corner you can see a plant I have grown from seed many times, but never established in the garden here, Shepherdia rotundifolia. It’s a stunning native shrub from the Four Corners region. Silver leaves that look like a shiny metal sculpture. The berries were used in times past to make a sauce for roasted buffalo, hence the common name Roundleaf Buffaloberry.
This is a berm that Bob made a few years ago. His garden is always changing and evolving to include ever more interesting plants.
All around the perimeter of the garden are huge troughs filled with little treasures.
Bob is incredibly generous, and you rarely visit him without leaving with a trunk full of plants. Here he is digging a peony for us. Not just any peony, either, this is Paeonia anomala, the hardiest peony on earth, growing from the Arctic to the Gobi Desert. Hardy to Forty Below or Sixty Below, or below anything we hope to experience.
Merrilee was trying to help.
Chess, the dog, was also helpful. He followed us around the garden and sat nearby while we talked.
We got to take home lots of Sempervivum arachnoideum cultivars. Cool, fuzzy hens and chicks that are so happy and easy in a trough.
After spending as much time as we could with Bob and Chess and the garden, we dashed over to Kendrick Lake for a couple of minutes to see this Vernonia. It’s done blooming, but the foliage still looks cool.
It was a great trip and now, today, we’re back here to work. I love autumn!
P.S. Here’s one more picture, stolen from Bob’s blog. www.paridevita.com You could visit his page and see more of his garden, from his perspective. The little red tree is a hawthorn, a Western native, Crataegus douglasii.
