did you know?

Horticulture

• Denver Botanic Gardens is recognized as one of the top botanic gardens in the western United States and is home to more than 32,000 plants (I think the stronger term and number would be “over 15,000 taxa (types of plants) representing over 250 families” showing the diversity of our living collections) on 23 acres.
• The Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory is one of the ten major conservatories in the country and is the only major tropical plant conservatory in the Rocky Mountain region.
• The Rock Alpine Garden, Plains Garden, Japanese Garden and Water Gardens are world-renowned for their plant breadth and diversity.
• Denver Botanic Gardens features more than 45 gardens that contain collections of plants from more than 90 countries around the world with high altitude climates similar to Colorado's.
• Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado State University and Colorado landscape and nursery professionals work together on PlantSelect, a program designed to discover and distribute the very best plants for Rocky Mountain gardeners.
• The orchid collection contains nearly 1,200 species representing more than 250 genera, rotating on display in the Cloud Forest Tree.
• The bromeliad collection contains 330 species, 34 genera and several rare and endangered plants.

Research and Conservation

• Denver Botanic Gardens does collaborative research with the Bureau of Restoration on the effects of tamarisk on ecosystems and investigating the best practices for restoration after tamarisk removal.
• The Research department works with 48 of the state’s most rare and imperiled plants through surveys, monitoring, and seed collection.
• The Research department has been collaborating with the Bureau of Land Management to monitor two of Colorado’s rarest plants for over 10 years. Penstemon harringtonii and Astragalus microcymbus are being monitored to ensure that current management practices are not having a negative impact on these species.
• Our Herbarium of Fungi houses 23,000 accessions of dried preserved specimens of Rocky Mountain mushrooms. This collection is the most diverse, extensive, well-documented collection of fleshy fungi in the Rocky Mountain region.
• The Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium houses approximately 45,000 specimens that primarily represent the southern Rocky Mountains. Strong collections include the graminoids (Poaceae and Cyperaceae), orchids (Orchidaceae), Astragalus (Fabaceae) and Draba (Brassicaceae).
• Fungi specimens: 23,000 Angiosperms: 45,000 sheets

Education

• The Gardens’ on-site school program participation reaches over 17,000 students throughout the Denver metro area.
• The Helen K. Fowler Library houses more than 30,000 titles and is the largest horticultural library in the Rocky Mountain region.
• The Certificate in Botanical Art & Illustration is the Gardens’ most successful certificate program. Approximately 400 students participate in the program each year, and nationally acclaimed collectors and presenters show their work at the Gardens.

Volunteers

• The Gardens has more than 1,100 volunteers who donate their time and efforts to help with horticultural and research projects, educational tours and events.

Accessibility

• With its wide pathways for wheelchair accessibility, raised beds and container gardens, the Sensory Garden is particularly well suited to those with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments. This garden not only offers beauty, but is also a model for accessible landscape design and “healing gardens” at nursing homes, hospitals, prisons and other facilities.

Satellite Gardens

• Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield is home to wetlands, grasslands, wildlife and a historic farm homestead. It also hosts the annual 8.5-acre fall Corn Maze, Pumpkin Festival, Haunted Houses and Trail of Lights, as well as a Music Festival.
• The M. Walter Pesman Trail on Mount Goliath is operated by Denver Botanic Gardens and contains 1,500-year old bristlecone pine trees and alpine wildflowers including alpine forget-me-nots, fairy primrose, chiming bells and sky pilot.
• The Pesman Trail is a downhill trek winding through subalpine and alpine areas where wildflowers and animals of the fragile subalpine and alpine tundra live. Wildflower guides lead free hikes during the summer season on the Pesman Trail.