Seasonal Discoveries

A seasonal focus across distinct gardens

York Street is not one continuous planting style. Its Gardens of the West include 18 arid gardens featuring plants suited to Colorado’s climate. Cactus and Succulent House, Dryland Mesa and Roads Water-Smart Garden are examples within that group. Internationally inspired gardens include the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory and Shofu-en Japanese Garden; the Gardens notes that some of these collections also draw on plants from steppe regions with climates and soils like Denver’s.

Other parts of the grounds offer different comparisons: ornamental gardens feature horticultural favorites such as roses, daylilies and irises, while shady gardens bring together plantings adapted to varying moisture conditions and provide habitat for birds and insects. The water gardens include an aquatic plant collection and a system of pools. These are useful markers of York Street’s range, not a confirmed list of stops on the tour.

The event is described in broad terms as a look at seasonal landscapes. It does not identify specific plants expected to be in bloom in November or December, or promise a visit to any one collection. Readers who want to plan independent exploring can consult the Gardens’ map and plant-finding resource; neither establishes the scheduled tour route.

Further reading: Seasonal Discoveries | Denver Botanic Gardens ↗ · York Street Gardens | Denver Botanic Gardens ↗

A curator’s perspective on brief changes

A separate November walking-tour article by Henry Basile, curator of Shofu-en, offers one way to think about seasonal change. Basile describes mono no aware as a sensitivity to things that pass. Among the examples he discusses are momijigari, or seeking autumn leaves, and the viewing of cherry blossoms whose display is brief.

Basile also points to the traditional 72 kō, or microseasons, which average about five days and describe small signs of change, such as chrysanthemums blooming or leaves turning yellow. That perspective can make a short-lived detail as worth noticing as a garden at a supposed peak. It belongs to Basile’s separate Shofu-en article, however—not to a published itinerary for Seasonal Discoveries, which does not say that the tour visits Shofu-en.

Further reading: November Walking Tour – Mono no Aware: Appreciating Transience in Shofu-en | Denver Botanic Gardens ↗ · Seasonal Discoveries | Denver Botanic Gardens ↗