Barnum Garden Tour: Charlie's Charming Cottage Garden

This hill took FOREVER to dig up. Totally worth it,

Remember when I said I have zero journalistic objectiveness? Yeah, here I go again. Today's garden tour is my very own. I'm rather proud of myself for waiting this long to post it.

When we first moved in, the entire front yard was sun-baked dust and weeds. The backyard was worse -- 12" of sand that even the weeds refused to grow in. And, of course, no trees. Each summer, we fill in a little more empty space with something either pretty or delicious.


Our Names: Charlie and Keegan

Garden Style: Cottage Garden and kitchen garden

How Long We've Been Gardening Here: 6 years

The internet tells me this is feverfew.

What's New In The Garden This Year: We just planted a little hedge of Coralberries beside our front door. I'm pretty excited to see them festooned in pink this fall. And, I'm hoping to extend my flower garden a little later in the summer -- maybe a row of delphiniums, hollyhocks, and foxgloves behind my peonies.

What We Love To Grow: My favorites are normally whatever is blooming or fruiting at the moment. If I had answered last month I would have said lilacs, strawberries, and peonies. But, right now, I have to say I'm in love with my Pink Grapefruit yarrow. Also, there is a volunteer feverfew growing behind my blackberries that is charming as hell.

What We Cannot Grow: I'm originally from the East Coast, so when I first started planting six years ago, I learned the hard way that in Denver, rhododendrons and azaleas need more attention than I'm willing to give them in the winter. We also have one of those little hills in the front yard that I tried to keep grass on for four years. Last year I finally gave up, dug it all out, and covered the hill with mulch. I planted some cotoneasters that I'm hoping will grow up to take over the whole thing.  

Biggest Battle: Bindweed. I fucking hate bindweed. And squirrels.

Our Advice To New Gardeners In The 'Hood: Lots of plants are pretty, but how and where you plant them matters too. Step back across the street and look at your garden as a whole.

Favorite Nursery/Supply Shop: O'Tooles is wonderful, but Echter's in Arvada also rocks.

Do you garden in Barnum or Barnum West? Send your pics into the blog! Selected gardens will be featured throughout the summer. Pics can be emailed to welcometobarnum (at) gmail.com.