Blog Post

A Stroll Through Denver Botanic Garden

Sally Kirby Hartman, ’20 • Dec 21, 2022

Two of my 2022 goals were to travel more and to explore gardens in the various places I landed.

I got to ten states and one Central American country this year and spent time in eight special gardens along the way. My new year’s resolution is to visit more far-flung gardens in 2023.

 

One horticultural highlight was visiting the Denver Botanic Garden. It boasts North America’s largest collection of plants from cold temperate climates – hardy plants we can appreciate even at sea level in our winter season.

 

It was late one September afternoon when I spent a few hours roaming the 24-acre garden established in 1951. The Denver garden is nestled along dense residential streets in the Cheesman Park neighborhood. Platted in 1868, Cheesman Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the Mile High City, which is nicknamed for Denver’s 5,280-foot altitude.

Colorful foliage and flowers catch the eye throughout the gardens


The botanic garden is neighbors with turreted Victorian mansions, high-rise apartments and the 80-acre Cheeseman Park. Both the garden and park rest on a former cemetery whose bodies were relocated in 1890s – except for the few that were missed and have surprised workers during construction projects.

 

Denver Botanic Garden is dedicated to plants that thrive in its semi-arid, high desert climate. But, it also features the 11,000-square-foot Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory where more than 2,300 species from other parts of the globe thrive.

Colorful outdoor gardens showcase plants from alpine regions, the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains and arid climates. Numerous signs explain the significance of everything from bees to plants tucked under tree canopies. With 1.25 million visitors in 2021, Denver Botanic Garden claims to be among the most-visited gardens in the United States.

Clever, informative signage is displayed throughout the garden


My favorite sections were the peaceful Asian gardens. The Shofu-en Japanese Garden features 130 wind-swept pines transplanted from Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and a lagoon where water lilies and lotuses bloom. The garden’s name in Japanese means Garden of Pine and Wind.

This beautiful Moon Gate frames the view to the Asian gardens, where the lagoon is part of an extensive waterway system that features more than 1,000 aquatic plants


The Bill Hosokawa Bonsai Pavilion and Tea House honors the late editor of The Denver Post Sunday magazine with dozens of meticulously groomed bonsai plants, a waterfall, and a tea house. Hosokawa, bonsai admirer, was born in Seattle in 1915 to Japanese-immigrant parents and was sent with his wife and infant son to live in a horse stall at an internment camp during World War II. He had a long career in journalism, fought racism, and wrote 11 books on the history of Japanese Americans before his death in 2007. Hosokawa’s bronze sculpture watches over the tranquil garden created in 2012.

A bronze bust of Bill Hosokawa welcomes visitors to the bonsai pavilion with an exhibit of dozens of bonsai plants


Enjoy these images from the Denver Botanic Garden and go for a stroll when you are in the Mile High City. On my next trip out west, I hope to drive 30 miles from Denver to Littleton and tour the 700-acre Chatfield Farms, which Denver Botanic Garden manages in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This native plant refuge is also a working farm with buildings dating to the 1800s.

 

If you go: Denver Botanic Garden is in east-central Denver at 1007 York Street. It opens at 9 a.m. and closes from 2:30 to 7 p.m. depending on the season. There is easy access by city bus and free parking in the garden’s garage with additional street parking. Admission is $15 for adults, $11.50 for seniors, military and veterans, and $11 for children and students. Learn more: https://www.botanicgardens.org/

 

Chatfield Farms, the garden’s affiliate, is at 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Rd, in Littleton. It is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is a parking lot but no public transportation from Denver. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, military, veterans and students. Learn more: https://www.botanicgardens.org/chatfield-farms


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