As water prices rise, and the climate warms, water conservation is becoming even more important. Colorado’s current population is estimated to be 5,695,564, nearly 700,000 higher than in 2010. That 13.2 percent growth is the fourth highest among all states over that time period.
All these new residents continue to put a strain on water supplies. It makes perfect sense then, to encourage Xeriscape, which, as we’ve written in the past (the-7-principles-of-xeriscape-revisited-30-years-later), is a form of landscape design that requires much less water.
We are pleased to hear of HB19-1050, a new bill in the Colorado General Assembly, that encourages the use of Xeriscape in common landscape areas.
Section 1 of the bill augments an existing law that establishes the right of unit owners in common interest communities to use water-efficient landscaping, subject to reasonable aesthetic standards, by specifically extending the same policy to limited common elements, which are owned by the community and available for use by some but not all of the unit owners.
Sections 2 and 3 extend existing water conservation requirements, currently applicable only to certain public entities that supply water at retail and their customers, to property management districts and other special districts that manage areas of parkland and open space.
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Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about
our business and our services, click here.
As more cities and towns are trying to figure out how to deal with traffic problems and to reduce air pollution, many of these places are looking to increase biking as a possible answer those issues. Typically this entails adding or enhancing bike lanes of various types. However, it seems there is one critical bicycling infrastructure item that often gets overlooked or ignored: bike racks and bike parking. If bike parking is not easy to use and readily available, that is one more item a bike rider might add to their list of reasons not to ride their bike to run errands or commute to work.
The best bike rack is one if the simplest: the inverted U bike rack. This plain design looks just like the name implies, an inverted U shaped metal pipe that can be attached to the ground plane via welding to metal plates that are then screwed to the ground. Another installation option is setting the ends of the pipe in sub-grade concrete footers.
A good, basic inverted U bike rack.
Why is this modern classic the best bike rack design for bike users? It provides two stable points of contact to lean their bike; the bike frame can be placed close to the pipe for easy locking and securing (proximity is crucial when using a U-lock bike lock); and you can easily lock two average size/shaped bikes (one on each side) to one U bike rack.
The advantages for a property owner or a municipality who might install a rack is the basic inverted U bike rack is relatively inexpensive, and, unlike consolidated racks (multiple slots for several bikes all connected to one frame) you can install just one, or several racks. Additionally, the inverted U rack is a minimal site furnishing element that can be easily tailored to various building architectural styles.
Another good bike rack: a customized rack that is similar (in function) to an inverted U rack.
Variations on the U-rack abound. Usually they work as well
as the basic U, but if too many extra pieces are added to it, such as logos or
other parts, this can impact the ease of use of the rack, frustrating the
users.
Some of the worst bike rack designs are ones where the bike
owner can only secure and lock their bike wheel, and the frame of the bike does
not get close to the part of the rack where a user can attach a U-lock. This
can put torque or force on the wheel which could bend it. It is also not as
secure as getting the frame of the bike as close to the rack for locking.
Fortunately this design seems to be old and falling out of favor.
A perfect example of a bad back rack. It is difficult to get the bike frame close enough to use a U-lock, unless you lift the bike over the top bar which this bike owner had to do.
Another bad bike rack design is any type for which the bike
owner must lift their bike to attach to the rack. Considering some bike users
may be a child or an elderly person who may not have the strength to lift the
bike up, this kind of rack is not a good option.
And the only thing worse than a frustrating or mediocre bike rack is a non-existent bike rack. Such a situation may lead to the bike owner locking their bike in unwanted areas such as against the trunk of a young street tree, or in a location that might impede pedestrian traffic. Or, it could possibly lead to the bike owner leaving the premises, and going to a different business where there are proper bike racks. If you are a property owner who is considering what site elements and furnishings to include around your property to foster a healthy customer base, I highly recommend that you include bike racks and if possible, make them some form of the inverted U bike rack. Your bike riding customers will be grateful.
This is the official blog of Outdoor
Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information
about our business and our services, click here.
This past August, the Denver area was captivated by another blooming of a corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Large crowds lined up to get their chance to get a whiff of the bloom that emits a fragrance similar to a rotting animal carcass. I was one of the masses of plant geeks who waited in line early on a Friday morning before work, just to get a glimpse and a sniff of the malodorous corpse flower. The first bloom of an Amorphophallus titanum plant doesn’t appear until after 8-20 years of vegetative growth. A second bloom from a corpse flower may not occur until as long as 10 years after the previous bloom. Although this was the Denver Botanic Gardens third bloom of a corpse flower, the rare occurrence for a bloom (along with the plant’s other odd characteristics) leads to a lot of excitement for botanical enthusiasts.
Amorphophallus titanum photographed at the Denver Botanic Gardens on August 31, 2018.
The foul stench of the bloom is not as interesting as the giant size and fascinating form of the flower. This Indonesian rain forest native sports a huge flower (it is actually many flowers, aka an inflorescence, grouped together on one fleshy axis, what botanists call a spadix) that is unlike any flower that grows in North America. In fact, botanists tell us it is the “largest unbranched inflorescence in the world”. The massive size of the flower is the source of another common name for it, the Titan Arum. That common name was bestowed by the British naturalist and TV host Sir David Attenborough for his BBC series “The Secret Life of Plants”. Mr. Attenborough felt that repeatedly calling the plant by its botanical genus name Amorphophallus (Greek for misshapen phallus) was “too rude for television audiences”.
Readers are likely familiar with other plants that bear spadixes such as the common houseplant, the Peace Lily (aka Spathiphyllum, related to the corpse flower, and also in the Arum family of plants). Unlike the inflorescences of the peace lily which are around 6 inches in length, the corpse flower inflorescence can grow as tall as 10 feet, although the one at the Denver Botanic Gardens (nicknamed “Stinky”), was probably closer to 4 or 5 feet tall. In the center of the flower is the large and somewhat crumpled looking spadix. Framing the giant spadix, is a wine colored skirt-like apparatus that appears to be a type of flower petal, but in actuality is called a spathe. The spathe is a modified leaf which helps protect the spadix.
Aside from the fascinating scale and form of the corpse flower, the rank stench it produced was curious as well. While viewing the bloom, I would describe the acrid scent as similar to an infant’s dirty diaper. There are several repulsive chemicals released during its peak bloom period. Scientists have recorded a range of compounds emitted by the corpse flower that are also found in limburger cheese, animal feces, stinky feet, and dead fish, along with some other not so foul compounds. The exact foul fragrant mix emanating from the flower might vary hourly from rotting fish to rancid cheese throughout the blooming time. All of these nauseating notes are released as the plant is able to heat itself up to 90 degrees Farenheit, helping to volatilize the stench and get noticed by pollinating insects that might pass by. The increased heat of the bloom is theorized to also give the illusion of a recently deceased animal carcass.
Before we look at other stinky flowers, it is interesting to note that there are about 170 other species closely related to Amorphophallus titanum. Botanists report that many of these 170 species emit various unpleasant odors that range from rotting meat to rancid cheese. And size of flower does not translate to the power of stench. Some of the smaller species stink the most. However, some of the 170 species actually smell pleasant to humans, such as A. haematospadix, that smells of banana, and A. manta which smells of chocolate.
While the corpse flower may get all the attention for being one of the world’s most unpleasant floral scents, there are many other fetid flowers that are lesser known, but are just as notable for their “disagreeable odors”. Apparently emitting foul odors has been ecologically successful for several species. And of course, what humans may consider a foul stench, a carrion beetle may interpret as a false “dinner bell”.
Now on to the list of a few of the other unpleasantly scented flowers:
Rafflesia arnoldii – Another so-called “corpse flower”, this one is also native to Sumatra, Indonesia, like the other corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanium) that recently bloomed in the Denver Botanic Gardens greenhouse. This corpse flower is quite rare, and is a parasite on the host Tetrastigma leucostaphylum. It is said to have one of the largest (1m wide) individual flowers in the world, and has no roots or leaves. Most of its life is spent inside the stems and roots of its host. Rafflesia arnoldii only becomes visible when its flower buds break through the bark of the host and form into the large flowers, which like Amorphophallus titanium, also smell like rotting animal flesh. Unlike Amorphophallus titanium, Rafflesia arnoldii is very difficult to grow in cultivation.
Frittillaria agrestis -This flower from the lily family, commonly referred to as stinkbells, is purported to smell like dog feces. It is endemic to California.
Frittillaria imperialis –This is another flowering plant from the lily family, commonly called “emperor lily”. It’s native to Iraq, Iran and other parts of Central Asia, and has showy blooms that have endeared it to horticulturalists who’ve brought it into wide cultivation. The flowers are said to smell like skunk. Others say they have a “distinctly foxy odor” which repels mice, moles and other small animals.
Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) – This weedy tree, originally native to China, but now present in many urban and other disturbed sites in North America, emits a slightly unpleasant scent from its flowers. The smell is akin to rotting garbage. The leaves and green stems of Ailanthus also smell unpleasant when cut. The Chinese name for this tree, chouchun translates to “foul smelling tree”.
Hawthorne trees – (Crataegus, various species) These beautiful trees are a useful ornamental tree to have in a xeriscape garden. They are tough and beautiful drought survivors. However pretty the white flowers are in springtime, they do not, in my opinion, have a pleasant scent. Some observers have likened it to being like ‘power bait’, the fish lure. Luckily, it is not a very strong or long lived odor.
Lysichiton americanus – Western Skunk Cabbage. This North American native is a distant relative of the Amorphophallus titanum, as they are both members of the Araceae family. It is native to wet areas of the Pacific Northwest. As the name suggests, it emits a “skunky” odor.
These are just a few of the many unpleasantly scented plants to be found in our world. Perhaps you have one you would place in this group of foul smelling botanicals?
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
After a long hot summer in Colorado, the fall season may seem like a time to forget about your yard or garden and start focusing your attention indoors. But fall is a great time for some low-water perennial plants to look their best and shine in your xeriscape garden. The following list of plants take center stage during the fall season, and keep your landscape looking great beyond the arrival of the autumnal equinox.
Anemone (various species and cultivars)
Anemones are a great plant for the shadier areas of your landscape. While not as drought tolerant as the other plants on this list, they grow very well with afternoon shade and a medium amount of water.
Anemone
Tall Sedums, various cultivars
The tall sedums are a classic addition to the fall blooming garden. With low to average water needs, they are perfect for most xeriscape gardens.
This cousin of the popular groundcover plant Orange Carpet California Fuschia (also a good late bloomer) has similar dazzling orange trumpet shaped flowers that pollinators adore.
Hummingbird Flower
Furman’s Red Salvia, Salvia greggii (several species and cultivars available in the Salvia genus)
There are so many different and wonderful plants in the Salvia genus that are remarkable additions to your low-water landscape. Furman’s Red Salvia is one plant we have raved about many times, and it never fails to keep us captivated by its lovely and numerous red blooms that drape these plants from summer heat to fall frost. One note of caution on this plant would be the hardiness. It is rated as only hardy to zone 6, so be careful where you place it. A warmer micro-climate location in your landscape would be best.
Furman’s Red Salvia
Blanket flower, Gaillardia (various cultivars available)
While the blanket flowers bloom more profusely in the heat of the summer, they continue to bloom into fall, bringing their brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red into the shorter days of autumn.
Blanket Flower
Goldenrod, Solidago (various species)
Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ is the plant pictured here. Who wouldn’t mind this kind of fireworks in their fall landscape? This North American native will grace your garden with many panicles of bright yellow flowers. While not as tolerant of drought as some other plants on this list, it is fairly adaptable to most conditions in Colorado. This plant has been unfairly blamed for hayfever and allergies in the past, but scientists now tell us that Goldenrod is not the cause of your fall allergies. It is likely caused by other plants such as ragweed.
Goldenrod
Plumbago, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Plumbago is an indispensable groundcover. It does well in dry shade, and that is the type of conditions we typically place it in. However, we are finding it seems to be adaptable to sunnier locations as well. The blue-violet flowers that appear on this plant in late summer are eye-catching, as is the red-orange fall color of the foliage as autumn grows cooler.
Plumbago
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
The city of Denver uses various improvement districts to construct, improve, and maintain neighborhood and commercial areas. One such General Improvement District (GID) has been created for a section in the large Northeast Denver neighborhood of Montbello, and is called the Gateway General Improvement District (GID). We are happy to have been contracted by The Gateway GID in hopes of helping to revitalize the neighborhood by updating the current landscape and introducing more drought-tolerant, colorful plant varieties for areas around the neighborhood. These areas include street tree lawns, detention ponds, a large drainage channel, and the monument sign area. The nearby green space study, as seen below, analyzes the nearby park spaces, most of which are too far from most homes in the GID to be within walking distance. This posed a great opportunity for us to not only revitalize the outdated and rundown landscape around the neighborhood, but to help create community green spaces, by utilizing the barren and unused detention ponds.
The streetscapes throughout the neighborhood contain endless amounts of water-guzzling bluegrass, along with landscape beds overflowing, overgrown junipers and bare spots where other shrubs have died. Our design has these streetscapes being updated to replace the existing sod and desolate landscape beds with drought tolerant shrub varieties and rock mulch to reduce irrigation requirements while also providing a cohesive and interesting landscape year-round.
In the detention ponds around the neighborhood, our landscape designs aim to incorporate a more usable lawn space with pedestrian access, as well as add colorful, xeric varieties of shrubs and trees to the perimeter of the pond at street level to increase passerby interest and beautify the area. These ponds present a huge opportunity to provide nearby families with accessible parks. Two of the detention ponds are located directly across the street from two elementary schools in the neighborhood. These particular ponds presented us with a huge opportunity to not only turn these unused areas into park spaces, but educational learning landscapes as well.
We collaborated with Denver Public Schools to incorporate interesting educational elements and various ecosystems that will coincide with lesson plans made by teachers. Ecosystems include a wetland ecosystem where students can do water testing and observe the various birds and insects, as well as a dryland ecosystem featuring drought tolerant, native Colorado plant varieties. Other educational elements include a pollinator garden that will feature colorful shrubs and perennials attractive to bees and butterflies, demonstrating the importance of pollinators.
A boulder garden can also be found in the new educational landscape designs with an array of boulders showcasing Colorado’s diverse geology. To offer a more structured outdoor classroom, we have designed the detention pond slopes to incorporate an amphitheater with siloam stone slab seating. To top it off, children can follow a concrete pathway painted with the planets from our solar system, down into one of the amphitheaters.
With the Gateway Village General Improvement District being large in scope, we hope to reach a vast majority of the community at and positively impact them with all of these desired improvements.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
As the Denver metro area continues to grow in population and our real estate market experiences growing pains, many existing multi-family housing properties have become golden opportunities for renovation and renewal. Here at Outdoor Design Group, we have recently been contracted by several clients to not only bring a fresh look to these common area landscapes, but to incorporate various outdoor amenities and create an extension of usable outdoor living space.
A couple of notable landscape renovations we have been fortunate enough to design were two properties owned by a California real estate company. They appointed us to help redesign the landscape to compliment their building renovations, giving each outdated property a much needed face lift.
The first property, located in Federal Heights, Colorado, is a large complex comprising of several units and a separate leasing and fitness center building. The leasing and fitness center was to be completely remodeled, and the entrance reconfigured. Our landscape design incorporates hardscaping like retaining walls and unique paving surfaces that compliment the updated architecture, and guide users toward the new entrance. Additionally, the numerous low-water plant species were selected and placed throughout the beds to create interest with their distinctive structural forms and colorful habits, which molded with the new modern style the client was striving toward.
A 3D rendering of the modern style entrance landscape helped our client to better visualize the space.
Attached to the East side of the leasing and fitness center is the community pool area, which was also overdue for a fresh look. In our design, the existing pool was to remain as is, but the surrounding pool deck was modified to be larger with a sleek, colored pool deck coating. A striking modern style gas fireplace was incorporated at the west end and amenities like shade structures, grilling stations, LED landscape lighting and picnic tables provide the finishing touches on the new design.
Original concept design.
Digital rendering of the final design.
The second multi-family property Outdoor Design Group provided landscape design services for is located in Lakewood, Colorado. Its existing pool area was drab and outdated with no extra amenities. Our design integrated a large turf area for games, outdoor kitchen with a pergola, and a gas fire pit, all alongside a brand new decked out pool house designed by a Phoenix based architecture firm. The large bi-fold doors were designed to fully open toward the pool, and create effortless indoor/outdoor living. We welcomed the opportunity to design a space that allowed us to really visualize and get excited about how the space would be used. Additionally, the low-water use plantings surrounding the pool were chosen to provide year-round interest as well as screening from the nearby road.
Concept design.
Construction on these projects is currently underway, and we can’t wait to see the final results! Multi-family housing projects, both new development and site renovations are a hot commodity here in Denver, and the demand is ever increasing. We love being involved on projects like these, and we look forward to more to come.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
These photos show a sampling of the diversity of color and form that annual Zinnia flowers can exhibit.
I have recently become a fan of the old garden stand-by, the Zinnia. The garden Zinnia was a favorite annual of yesteryear, and seems to be experiencing a resurgence in popularity of late.
The Zinnia genus contains annuals, perennials and shrubs. All the Zinnia species are native to our hemisphere, in an area that stretches from the southwestern U.S. down to South America.
The most common annual Zinnia you can purchase as seed or as bedding plants is likely to be Zinnia elegans or Zinnia haageana. Plant breeders have created many Zinnia cultivars over the years. Annual Zinnias are easy to grow from seed, and do very well in my growing conditions in Colorado.
One thing I’ve only noticed after I started growing them is the great variety of color and form that the flowers exhibit. There seems to be an endless supply of different colors, forms, and sizes that annual Zinnia flowers will exhibit.
The photos shown above are a small selection of the diversity of Zinnias you can grow in your garden. Some of these zinnias I grew from seed in my garden, and some of them are growing in the Denver Botanic Gardens. Most of the Zinnias pictured here are cultivars of Zinnia elegans. A couple of them might be cultivars of Zinnia haageana.
Bees and butterflies seem to love Zinnia flowers, too. The recent migration of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies that passed through Denver, brought a plethora of butterflies feasting on my Zinnias. And in the evening, several bumble bees (genus Bombus) could be found sleeping on the underside of some of the zinny flowers in my yard, after they had spent a busy day buzzing from one Zinnia flower to another.
Zinnias are so easy to start from seed, that I recommend you try to grow some in your yard at the start of the next garden season.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
Many of the annual and vegetable plants at the Denver Botanic Gardens are at their peak right now, and looking amazing. This photo of an artichoke plant in bloom was captured in the garden’s Potager Garden area. Artichokes are typically known as a food crop, with several cultivars grown worldwide, but many horticulturalists like to grow it as an interesting ornamental plant. Their large leaves and spiky flowers add a wonderful sculptural form to the garden. It is my understanding that on a typical artichoke farm, the flower buds are harvested and sent to market well before they open. In these photos we see that the flowers have been allowed to open, providing a stunning display for garden visitors.
Artichokes look a lot like thistles. And it turns out, artichokes are indeed related to thistles, with both plants being members of the very large family of plants that botanists call the Asteraceae.
The historical record holds that artichoke cultivation as a food goes back as far as ancient Greek and Roman times. It is likely that the Greeks brought artichoke cultivation to Italy. Some historians posit that cultivation of artichokes was further developed and improved upon in medieval Muslim Spain. The name artichoke can be traced to the medieval Arabic term “ardi shawki“.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
I had never heard of a Hollyhock Mallow, but I came upon this delightful plant while visiting a friend last month. This interesting horticultural specimen was blooming in my friend’s neighbor’s yard. The profusion of pink blooms caught my attention from the corner of my eye, and I instantly raced over to get a closer look. Initially the flowers brought to mind common hollyhocks, but the form of this plant and the leaves were not quite the same as true hollyhocks. It took a little bit of internet sleuthing to arrive at the conclusion of what the plant was. I am still trying to learn more about this plant to determine if it is a good addition to the list of perennial plants for low water gardens.
Hollyhock Mallow, aka Malva alcea, is native to parts of Europe and Central Asia. As the common name implies, it is related to common hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) that many a grandmother has grown from seeds. Malva alcea is an herbaceous perennial that grows about 4′ in height, by 2-3′ wide. It has moderate water needs, but reportedly is drought tolerant. Unfortunately, it can fall prey to Japanese beetles, foliar nematodes, leafhoppers and spider mites. I wonder if it is plagued by the same leaf problems that make common hollyhocks look so beleaguered towards the end of the growing season. In some regions of the U.S. it has escaped cultivation and become naturalized. I do not know if it is invasive in Colorado. I look forward to learning more about this plant, and possibly testing it out in my own garden beds.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
June is finally here, which gets me thinking about cactus flowers. I wanted to share these photos I took of a gorgeous flowering cactus that was growing in a park called Kendrick Lake Park, located in Lakewood, Colorado.
The xeriscape gardens at Kendrick Lake are quite impressive. June is a good time to visit for the chance to see the various cacti that dot the gardens, blooming in their early summer glory. On an interesting botanical note, I recently learned from cactus expert Kelly Grummon’s website (coldhardycactus.com) that in order for these cacti to bloom, one of the criteria is a cold enough winter. “If a cactus doesn’t get enough cold weather, it will not flower normally in the spring”, he says.
At first I thought the cactus in these photos was Echinocereus ‘White Sands’. But upon further inspection of the flower color and the size and density of the spines, I am guessing it might possibly be some variety of Echinocereus reichenbachii. Whatever species of cactus it happens to be, it is stunning to see it when blooming.
I recommend visiting Kendrick Lake in June to enjoy the cactus blooms, as well as many other stunning flowering xeriscape plants on display.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
