July Events at Denver Botanic Gardens
Free days for Colorado residents are held throughout the year at both Denver Botanic Gardens and Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, thanks to funding from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).
Free Day at Denver Botanic Gardens takes place on Tuesday, July 9.
EXHIBITS & ART AT THE GARDENS
Denver Botanic Gardens is one of the premiere locations for world-class art, special exhibits and innovative programs.
Exhibition details subject to change. Visit www.botanicgardens.org for details.
ART AT THE GARDENS
Signature Exhibition:
CATALYST: COLORADO SCULPTURE
Through Jan. 12, 2014
Denver Botanic Gardens
Denver Botanic Gardens celebrates the achievements and vision of Colorado sculptors in this outdoor group exhibition. Twelve artists redefine the surrounding landscape with their 3-D work. The artwork introduces a variety of color, texture and form into an already rich environment. Participating artists include: Emmett Culligan, Kim Dickey, Linda Fleming, Nancy Lovendahl, Terry Maker, Robert Mangold, Patrick Marold, Andy Miller, Pard Morrison, Carl Reed, Yoshitomo Saito and James Surls. Catalyst: Colorado Sculpture is presented in cooperation with the artists, Goodwin Fine Art, Robischon Gallery and William Havu Gallery. This exhibition is supported by UMB Bank, Colorado Creative Industries and the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).
TOURS GIVEN BY THE ARTISTS: PERSPECTIVES SERIES
Wednesday, July 10
Refreshments served at 5 p.m.
Tours begin at 6 p.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens
Don’t miss these exclusive tours led by Catalyst artists. Starting with light refreshments, two featured artists will lead you through the exhibition, sharing ideas, opinions and insider knowledge.
Cost: $15 members / $20 non-members
Catalyst Artists:
Andy Miller & Emmett Culligan
TOURS GIVEN BY THE EXPERTS: SPECIAL GUEST TOURS
Thursdays, July 25
Denver Botanic Gardens
We are privileged to be joined by luminaries who will provide their own perspective on Catalyst. Enjoy a guided tour through the Gardens while getting a glimpse of the exhibition through the eyes of these special guests.
Tours begin at 6 p.m. on the following Thursdays:
Cost: $15 members / $20 non-members
Catalyst Experts:
July 25, 6-7 p.m.: Mary Chandler, Writer, former Rocky Mountain News art and architecture writer, and co-author of Colorado Abstract: Paintings and Sculpture
DOCENT-LED TOURS
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday
10 a.m., 1 p.m., or 5:30 p.m.
Through October
Denver Botanic Gardens
NEW! Bring a friend for exhibit-related tours. Registration required through the Gardens’ online catalog. Exhibit-related tours of 10 or more can be scheduled with three weeks advance notice.
Cost: $7 members / $14 non-members/ $7 student with ID
Tour offerings:
Catalyst: Colorado Sculpture Tour
Be inspired by the artistic efforts of 12 celebrated Colorado sculptors whose 3-D works redefine our view of the Gardens’ natural landscapes. Enjoy this docent-led tour where artwork introduces a variety of color, texture and form into an already rich environment.
Colorado Connections Tour
The tour focuses on the uniqueness of our state’s botanical and environmental wealth. Gardens docents take you through our Colorado-region most representative gardens highlighting Rocky Mountain horticulture, gardening and the biodiversity of our home state.
GALLERY EXHIBITIONS
DAY AND NIGHT: PAINTINGS BY ANA MARIA HERNANDO
Through Aug. 4
Gates Garden Court Gallery
Denver Botanic Gardens
Ana Maria Hernando is inspired by the complex beauty and the life cycle of flowers. Her work is informed by the powerful women of her family and the understated contributions of women’s work. These qualities come together in the patterning and layering of her paintings. Day and Night: Paintings by Ana Maria Hernando is organized in collaboration with Robischon Gallery, Denver.
EVENTS AT DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS
Our calendar includes many more events, classes and lectures.
For more details including class listings and/or to register, visit http://www.
2013 ORANGERY Display: SPECIALTY ANNUALS DISPLAY
Through August
Denver Botanic Gardens
A variety of annuals will be on display in our new Orangery. Come walk among the bright, sunny colors of summer.
Kundalini Yoga
Monday evenings
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Morrison Center
Denver Botanic Gardens
The ancient and sacred practice of Kundalini yoga is the oldest form of yoga, kept secret by advanced yogis until recently. From your very first class, you’ll reap the rewards – including relief from back pain, stress, addiction, depression and insomnia, and weight control. Kundalini yoga promises you peace of mind. Elevate and experience yourself through this ancient science! All levels welcome; no experience required. Please bring water and a yoga mat.
Cost: Single session: $8 member, $10 non-member/drop-in rate.
Instructor: Chris Anne Coviello
SUNRISE VINYASA YOGA IN THE GARDENS
Tuesday & Thursday mornings
8 – 9 a.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens
Vinyasa yoga classes will be offered at the beautiful Denver Botanic Gardens. Vinyasa yoga is a style of yoga where asanas (postures) are linked with breath, creating beautiful movement and flow from one posture to the next. The challenge of the postures and the sense of peace and calm that is cultivated by the end of each yoga class can improve posture, flexibility, and endurance. Beyond the physical benefits, yoga has the ability to positively affect all aspects of life. All levels welcome. Please bring a mat, a towel and water.
Cost: $8 member, $10 non-member.
Instructor: Blake Burger
MEET THE SCIENTISTS
Wednesday, July 10
Noon – 1 p.m.
Waring House Great Room
Denver Botanic Gardens
Visitors will have the opportunity to engage members of Denver Botanic Gardens’ Research and Conservation team for in-depth discussions about the research they do to document and protect Colorado’s natural heritage. These scientists play a critical role in the conservation, preservation and documentation of native Colorado flora by serving as an active center of biodiversity research for the Southern Rocky Mountain region. Each talk is included in Gardens admission.
Anna Schwabe, MS – Using Genetics to Save the Colorado Hookless Cactus
PLANT TO PLATE COOKING SERIES
Ages 6-12
Fridays, Through Aug.16 (no class on July 5)
9 a.m. – Noon
Families (children 3 and up with their favorite grownup)
Fridays, Through Aug. 16 (no class July 5)
2:30-5:30 p.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens
From the cereal you eat for breakfast to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich you had for lunch to the chocolate cake you ate for dessert – just about everything we eat comes from plants. Discover the many plants we eat as you improve your skills as both a gardener and a cook. Each week we’ll start by planting, watering and weeding in the Home Harvest Garden. Then we’ll pick what’s ripe and take it inside to the kitchen to prepare one or two recipes that are easy to repeat at home.
Cost: $200 members / $230 non-members per child or adult/child combo. Additional adults or children can attend the afternoon class for $100 members / $115 non-member.
SIMPLE WATERBATH CANNING
Saturday, July 27
2 – 5 p.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens
A hands-on class to teach the basics of simple, water bath canning. Participants will assist in the canning preparation and processing, and receive a jar of each item to take home. The class will include:
– Zesty Spaghetti Sauce (techniques for canning tomatoes and tomato products)
– Lemon Cucumber Pickles (techniques for pickling vegetables)
– Spiced Peach Jam (techniques for jams and jellies)
Participants will receive recipes for the items prepared in class and general canning instructions. Class will also include information about canning equipment and canning/food safety issues.
Cost: $45 members & non-members – includes $10 for materials
Instructor: Sundari Kraft.
Japanese tea ceremony
Saturday, July 13 & 27, 10 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 14 & 28, 10 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Ella Mullen Weckbaugh Tea House
Denver Botanic Gardens
For centuries, the tea ceremony has been considered the epitome of Japanese life, based on harmony, respect, purity, tranquility and elegant simplicity. Come experience the real thing – a traditional ceremony inside our authentic Japanese Tea House in Shofu-En, the Japanese Garden. Please bring a pair of white socks, and jeans. Shorts or short skirts are not permitted.
Cost: $25 member, $30 non-member.
Instructor: Tokiyo Imanaka.
CHILDREN’S CLASSES AND CAMPS
SEEDLINGS CLASSES FOR TODDELERS AND PRESCHOOLERS (AGES 18 MONTHS TO 6 YEARS)
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Denver Botanic Gardens
Seedlings classes offer a fun, hands-on way for young children, ages 18 months to six years, to explore the plant world while developing an understanding and appreciation for plants and their importance. Each week brings a new theme filled with interactive explorations, nature walks and stories for children and their caregivers. Seedlings programs are offered for three different age groups and are modified to fit the developmental needs of each group. Visit http://catalog.botanicgardens.
18-24 MONTHS
Tuesdays 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. -OR- 10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Stimulate the senses through hands-on experiences with nature.
Cost: $8 member / $10 non-member
24-36 MONTHS
Thursdays, 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. -OR- 10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Experience nature through art, movement, songs, stories and the senses.
Cost: $8 member / $10 non-member
3-6 YEARS
Wednesdays, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. -OR- 11 a.m. – Noon
Dig deeper with fun activities and projects to take home.
Cost: $10 member / $12 non-member
Week-Long Camps FOR KIDS (AGES 6-12)
Denver Botanic Gardens
Grow your mind, plant a new friend and dig into the Gardens with our week-long day camps. Each camp contains a variety of activities that allow you to discover the world of plants through art, science, cooking, gardening and outdoor exploration.
Cost: $239 member / $259 non-member
Art in the Garden
July 22 – 26
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Awaken your passion for drawing, sculpting, painting, cooking, gardening and the art of science. We’ll explore the work of local Colorado artists as you uncover your artistic skills. Learn about colors in plants and plant dyes, and create your own garden to take home. This will be a full week of exploration, creativity and play.
Botany ’s Believe It or Not
July 15 – 19
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
July 29 – Aug. 2
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Discover strange and unusual plant adaptations from roots to leaves. Learn about plants that grow without soil, plants that eat insects and plants with unusual shapes, names and sizes. Enjoy a fun week of exploration, experiments and cooking with plants during Botany’s Believe it or Not!
FAMILY NIGHTS
Mordecai Children’s Garden
Denver Botanic Gardens
Gather the family together for a unique opportunity to explore nature at night in Mordecai Children’s Garden. Families are encouraged to bring a picnic dinner (no glass allowed) to enjoy. A light snack will be provided. Pre-registration is encouraged, but drop-ins are welcome.
Cost per night: $20 member, $25 non-member for family of four; $3 member, $4 non-member for each additional person. Children two and under free.
Pond Dippers
Friday, July 19
5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Discover what lives in and around a pond as we investigate water samples with magnifiers and microscopes, build like beavers and make are with fish. Special guests Jeff Kagan and Paige Doughty will join us for an environmental kid’s concert.
SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
Through September
Denver Botanic Gardens
Situated inside the gates of one of the nation’s top botanic gardens, the 2013 Summer Concert Series at UMB Bank Amphitheater at Denver Botanic Gardens will offer an unrivaled ambience of thousands of blooming plants and the crystal clear music of some of the world’s most sought-after artists.
The 2013 Summer Concert Series, Presented by UMB Bank.
CHATFIELD CONCERT SERIES
Through July
Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield
The amphitheater at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield will offer the crystal clear music of some of the world’s most sought-after artists in a country setting.
MOUNT GOLIATH TOURS
Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Saturdays
Through August 3
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Embark on a structured alpine experience to discover the intense beauty and resilient nature of plant life above 11,000 ft. Explore Colorado ecology with a hike on Mount Goliath, a subpeak on the way to Mount Evans where you will marvel at the variety of wildflowers and the magnificent vistas.
Reservations are required and must be made at least a week in advance. Mount Goliath tours are open to adults and children 10 and older.
Mordecai Children’s Garden
Free Drop-In Programs
Mordecai Children’s Garden
Denver Botanic Gardens
Guests can enhance their visit to the Mordecai Children’s Garden with one of our free drop-in activities. Drop-in activities are offered daily (April through October) and help connect children to the wonders of the natural world. Activities are free with admission and do not require any advanced reservation. Activities are led by volunteers and are weather dependent. Occasionally, they may be cancelled due to inclement weather or volunteer unavailability.
Helen Fowler Library & Archives
Enjoy extended hours to support the novice and professional plant enthusiast. Make use of journals, books, and video resources. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Friday.
View the online catalog at www.botanicgardens.org.
GARDENING HELP
We have answers to your gardening questions! Colorado Master Gardeners are available to answer questions.
- Tuesday, July 9, noon – 4 p.m. (Free Day)
- Master Gardeners are also on site Thursdays, noon – 4 p.m.
Access our experts the following ways:
- In-person at the Gardens’ Helen Fowler Library
- By phone: 720-865-3575
- Via e-mail: gardeninghelp@botanicgardens.
org
Gardening Help is a joint program of Colorado State University Extension Master Gardeners and Denver Botanic Gardens.
2013 BONFILS-STANTON LECTURE SERIES
Keep up with current trends and innovative gardens by attending lectures by renowned speakers from around the country. Here is your chance to learn from the best.
To register, visit www.botanicgardens.org and click on the “programs” link or call 720-865-3580.
2013 Bonfils-Stanton Series
INSPIRE! FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOUR GARDEN ALL OVER AGAIN
“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that ‘she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow’.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, “The Secret Garden”
With the support of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and in line with the Gardens’ mission of connecting people with plants, this year’s series is designed to INSPIRE you to create the landscape of your dreams with the spark and surprise of a gardener entering into her landscape for the first time.
Join us for interactive and fascinating lectures that feature a variety of speakers sure to INSPIRE you to get back out into your gardens with renewed vigor. Topics range from sensualizing your landscape to discovering exciting myth and lore on common garden plants, to creating an edible cocktail party landscape.
A parallel series of smaller more intimate workshops will accompany the lectures and provide personal opportunities to create, to grow and to experience. Be sure to visit the Bonfils-Stanton Series community page on our website for more information on the series and speakers.
JULY LECTURE:
from exploration to exploitation –
the road from plant discovery to market
Tony Avent
Thursday, July 25
7 p.m.
Denver Botanic Gardens
Mitchell Hall
In this “behind the scenes” look into the nursery world, we’ll share the secrets of how and why new plants fit into different market niches. We’ll explore why certain new plants get to market quickly, while other great plants never see the light of day. We’ll track memorable plant introduction successes, explain horticultural marketing disasters, and blow up some common plant exploration myths. We promise you’ll never look at plants the same way again.
Tony Avent is an American horticulturist and plantsman. He is the owner of Plant Delights Nursery and the founder of the Juniper Level Botanic Garden in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tony grew up with a passion for plants; instead of playing games, he wandered the woods and fields near his home studying wildflowers. At eight years old, Tony’s parents built a greenhouse for him, where he grew and propagated plants and sold them as a hobby. Tony now travels the world on plant hunting expeditions to search for new, rare and unusual plants. He wrote “So You Want to Start a Nursery” (2003, Timber Press) and dozens of newspaper, magazine, and Web articles. He is currently a contributing editor to Horticulture Magazine.
6 p.m. Social hour and tasting hosted by Slow Food Denver (included in price)
7 p.m. Program and lecture
8:30 p.m. Book signing by author
*Related Tour*
Denver Botanic Gardens Greenhouse Tour
Thursday, July 25
4:15 – 5:15 p.m. and 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Are you dying to know how plants go from being seeds being a part of the landscape at Denver Botanic Gardens? Here is your chance to find out! Tour our extensive greenhouse system and find out how all the magic happens!
Cost: Pre-registration for individual Bonfils-Stanton programs: $15 member, $20 non-member. Space is limited. So, register early!
About Denver Botanic Gardens:
Green inside and out, the Gardens is considered one of the top botanical gardens in the United States and a pioneer in water conservation. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Gardens’ living collections encompass specimens from the tropics to the tundra, showcasing a plant palette chosen to thrive in Colorado’s semi-arid climate. The Gardens’ dynamic, 24-acre urban oasis in the heart of the city is now in its 62nd year, offering unforgettable opportunities to flourish with unique garden experiences for the whole family – as well as world-class education and plant conservation research programs. Additional sites extend this experience throughout the Front Range: Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield is a 750-acre wildlife and native plant refuge in Jefferson County; Mount Goliath is a high-altitude trail and interpretive site on the Mount Evans Scenic Byway. For more information, visit us online at www.botanicgardens.org.
