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Sheila and I had the opportunity to showcase our goods at an event dedicated just to Moms. A local Denver school was filled to the brim with creative Moms and their handcrafted products. We had a fantastic time sharing our knowledge and take on container gardening with the members of the community that came to enjoy the market. Our first goal was to connect with some potential clients for the Spring season. Our second goal, and possibly the most important, was to free up some space in Sheila’s house, which was literally filled to the brim with plants and pots. Luckily, we succeeded at both! It was a great day all around.

—Laurel

It was not only an honor for Sheila to be asked to be part of the Open Days tour this summer, but a lot of work! Her gardens are amazing, but with that comes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Well, hopefully not too many tears, but with all of her cacti and succulents, you can bet there’s some blood shed. When Sheila and her husband Jim moved back to Colorado 7 years ago, they almost immediately gutted the generic flower beds, patch of grass and dilapidated basketball court at their newly purchased home. They successfully began the tumultuous process of creating a welcoming, unique and creative twist on a traditional garden.

In both the front and back yards, you’re surrounded by stunning boulders that create pockets gardens with fun pops of color, texture and interest coming out of every nook and cranny. In the front of their home, a flagstone path leads you through these pocket gardens, up to the front door where you’re now drawn to the trio of containers beside the door and beyond that, a trio of woolly pockets dripping with tropicals.

The back yard is not only home to more beautiful pocket gardens, a cluster of quaking aspen trees, and a deck to host the largest of parties, but the back yard is also home to more than 30 containers. Ceramic, metal, stone and more, these containers are literally overflowing with the most unique and fantastic combinations of succulents, tropicals, annuals, perennials and cacti. Sheila’s ability to create interest and excitement as was seen on the garden tour, is definitely a gift. She’s got a amazing knowledge base, talent and love for what she does and it shows.

The crowds that swept through Sheila’s gardens throughout the Garden Days Tour, were so appreciative, respectful and awe struck. The compliments that were streaming out of those gardeners mouths were beyond flattering. Sheila was giddy with excitement about the success of the tour and the pure acceptance of what she does and who she is was more than she could’ve asked for. As Sheila’s daughter, it was not only an honor to be a part of the tour but it was such an amazing feeling to see the “who’s who” of the Denver gardening community, walking through my Mom’s gardens “oohing and ahhing” at her work. Definitely a success!

This is by far our most dramatic set of containers to date. The sculptural quality of  the yuccas contrasted by the textures and colors of the coleus and lysimachia make quite a statement 11 stories above the city.

Beautiful foliage and blooms does not equal a high maintenance nightmare. This trio of pots overlooking the Denver skyline is a perfect example of that. These glazed bronze pots are jam packed with gorgeous perennials and annuals made to leave to little work for the homeowner.

Three words to live by for a drop dead gorgeous container… thriller, filler and spiller. When designing a container, we always start our challenge by selecting the thriller, which in this case is an Agave desmettiana ‘Variegata’. Once we’ve found the first piece to the puzzle, we seek out the filler element. In this instance we used Plectranthus “Troy’s Gold” and finally we incorporate the spillers, Lysimachia nummularia ‘Goldi’ and ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Purple’, Sweet Potato Vine.

One of our favorite techniques is called “cram it and jam it”, which gives our clients the instant gratification they expect from our designs. This container features some amazing succulents and tropicals that are loving their life in Boulder, Colorado.