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 Photo by Ty Wyant |
Home&Garden departments
Dear Reader: After months of brown, summer’s green is such a welcome sight. Even I, with limited gardening skills (which are improving with this magazine’s help), couldn’t resist the alluring annuals stacked so prettily outside McGuckin Hardware. Trying to outsmart the persnickety deer, I chose geraniums (chomped overnight), marigolds and chrysanthemums (still standing), and a purple spiky flower that came without a tag, but which the deer don’t like so far. I also picked up a couple of tomato plants, which already have more fruit than the ones I grew from seedlings a few years ago. Surrounded by all this greenery, I have to agree with Jennifer Heath, garden author and Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine contributor, whose prolific garden will appear in a future issue. In green she finds “playfulness, clarity, honesty, beauty and freedom—key ingredients toward discovering the essential Self,” as she put it in one of her books. I think that’s why so many of us are attracted to gardening. Between soil and seed sprouts a tiny bit of green—that beginning of something precious, something new, something with so many possibilities. But first, it must push through dirt to seek the light. I think perhaps our inner selves are more like a bit of green than we suspect. We all must overcome obstacles in order to reach for the light. We all need a little tending along the way, just like greenery, to grow and flourish. So, there’s a certain spirituality in greenery that beckons us. With that in mind, this magazine strives to help gardeners and non-gardeners alike heed that summons. It doesn’t matter whether your joy comes from planting or admiring green; just that it comes. In that vein, there’s plenty to admire in these pages. Theresa O’Neill’s amazing rose garden brims with beauty. She shares her tips and top roses for this area on page 56. Garden author and designer Lauren Springer Ogden reveals her secrets for creating five different gardens, ranging from water-smart and heat-tolerant gardens to fragrant and romantic oases. Gather ideas for your own garden from her planting suggestions on page 22. If you just want to kick back and sip a summer drink outdoors, learn how to make your patio more pleasant with the tips on page 81. If you want to see an amazing nature display and be in the mountains at the same time, visit the new alpine rock garden on Mount Goliath. It blooms only 30 days in summer, so plan a wildflower tour now. Details are on page 98. Of course, summer is the time for making waves, so check out splashy pool designs on page 74. It’s also the season for al fresco dining, so view some sizzling plates for summer tables on page 63. If history’s your thing, visit one of Boulder’s most noteworthy historic mansions on page 48. Or learn how little details can give your home new grace on page 30. As always, many thanks to the homeowners, gardeners and professionals who shared their spaces and ideas with us, as well as the advertisers who support our efforts to provide you with information and inspiration. Enjoy this season of green, and keep reaching for the light. As the poet Rumi said, “Let the beauty we love be what we do.”
Sincerely,
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