All 80+ bloggers had lunch under a pavilion at Denver Botanic Gardens on Day 3 of the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling (June 2019), and then we were set loose for about an hour. One hour is not enough time to see DBG, of course. One day hardly is. Happily, this being a garden open to the public, I’d already enjoyed a lengthy visit before the Fling officially kicked off. This is part 1 of my tour, combining photos from both excursions.

First, let me point to the sky: brilliant blue, with fluffy clouds rising like billowing steam in the post-noon heat. Every afternoon we saw dramatic clouds and sometimes far-off lightning, but the thunderstorms kept their distance.

Water-Smart Garden

Let’s start in the Water-Smart Garden, designed by Lauren Springer Ogden, whose latest Undaunted Garden we toured on Day 1 at The Gardens at Spring Creek. Along a gently curving path there are starry agaves…

…spiny and brilliantly hued cacti…

…and native flowering perennials and grasses. All combine to show how beautiful waterwise gardens can be.

Nearby, a Seussian grouping of trunking yuccas and towering foxtail lilies crowd around as if to say hello.

Human | Nature Sculpture Exhibit

This bronze, full-skirted woman, Infanta Margarita by Manolo Valdés, is part of the ongoing exhibit Human | Nature: Figures from the Craig Ponzio Sculpture Collection (through September 15).

Pink peonies harmonize with a wine-colored shrub.

Trust by Kendra Fleischman — the leaning figures seem to echo two leaning pines behind them.

Near our lunch pavilion, this egg-like stone sculpture stood watch in a reflecting pool. I’m not sure if it’s part of the Human | Nature exhibit or a permanent piece.

Steppe Garden

Maybe I was just hungry, but suddenly everything was looking like food. Here’s a baked brie wrapped in puff pastry! Seriously though, isn’t this stone creation fascinating?

It’s art. It’s a crevice planter. It’s a fountain! One of three rock “massifs” in the Steppe Garden, this central formation “has a small trickling fountain to illustrate the importance and scarcity of water in the steppe.”

The Front Range of Colorado, where Denver is located, is part of the North American steppe. Steppes are dry, grassy plains found around the world. Plants in DBG’s Steppe Garden hail from dry grasslands in South Africa, Central Asia, South America, and of course North America.

Knitted together like a puzzle of interlocking pieces, the massif is a wonderful sculptural element, and it’s intriguing to see plants growing in it. Off to the side, a slanted, step-like rock wall reminds me of the Flatirons, a natural rock formation near Boulder.

From the back, the brie massif resembles a shaggy-haired creature trundling along.

El Pomar Waterway

At the El Pomar Waterway, peach stucco walls echo orange ruffled iris. Along the waterway itself, the peach wall segues to…

…turquoise, and cobalt planters in the rill display otherworldly succulents — a fun surprise since these are such dry-loving plants.

La Sphinge (The Sphinx) by Joseph Csáky contemplates a shimmering water wall.

More peachy-orange color echoes

A symmetrically designed view

A Chihuly glass sculpture bristles in an elliptical pool in front of Waring House.

Solarium at Woodland Mosaic

Farther along, a green glasshouse is a charming spot to sit and rest for a bit on the patio.

In a sun-dappled woodland garden, a birdbath-turned-planter displays a pop of orange pansies.

Ornamental Grasses Garden

Back in the sun, under a brilliant blue sky, a sculpture of a mother and two children stands in the Ornamental Grasses Garden. So Proud of My Children by Nicholas Kadzungura is part of DBG’s permanent collection.

The grass garden is one of my favorite spaces at DBG. At this time of year, the grasses are just starting to fluff out, but foxtail lilies (Eremurus) add vertical, pastel spikes.

I like their other common name, desert candle.

The flower spikes tower over nearly 6-foot me.

Bees enjoy them too.

My friends Jean of Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog and Cat of The Whimsical Gardener getting some shots of their own.

Up next: Part 2 of my visit to Denver Botanic Gardens. For a look back at Jim Borland’s Western dryland garden, click here.

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Digging Deeper

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