I met Mike Kintgen, curator of the alpine collections at Denver Botanic Gardens and a super nice guy, when he came to Austin a few years ago. Mike must have a LOT of energy because he manages not only the large Rock Alpine Garden at DBG but his own xeriscaped home garden in Denver. On top of that, he frequently drives up to Steamboat Springs, three hours away, to tend his high-elevation garden there. Whew!
During my late September/early October vacation in Denver, I met up with Mike again, first at the botanical garden…
…and later at his home garden in the Washington Virginia Vale neighborhood. Mike’s front yard is unmistakably that of a gardener. A beautifully curated mix of flowering perennials, grasses, evergreens, and yuccas encircles a small buffalograss lawn, which Mike retains to make his garden legible to lawn-loving neighbors.
Near the front door, a starburst-shaped beaked yucca (Yucca rostrata) goes supernova over silver mounds of milk vetch (Astragalus angustifolius).
Doll house yuccas (Yucca harrimaniae) cluster beside silver-blue gopher plant (Euphorbia rigida).
A knockout combo of hummingbird trumpet (Epilobium canum var. arizonica) and Salvia ‘Ultra Violet’ soaks up the afternoon sun.
Slenderleaf sage (Salvia reptans), a West Texas native, shows off vivid blue flowers and an airy habit.
More doll house yuccas with ‘Fredericksburg’ artemisia (Artemisia mexicana ‘Fredericksburg’), another Texan in Mike’s collection
Silver ironweed (Vernonia lindheimeri var. leucophylla) is also a West Texas native and one I used to grow in straight decomposed granite, until probably our summer humidity took it out. I miss it!
Willowleaf sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius) captivates me with mauve stems amid the sunny flowers.
Reaching for the light
A starry combo of aster, pink muhly grass, and fluffy milkweed seeds
Now let’s head into Mike’s back garden, where this fabulous grouping of pots greeted me on the covered patio. Tropicals and tender agaves provide big impact all summer and get moved into the basement in winter.
Pewter power: silver ponyfoot and Agave parryi var. truncata
Mike shows the power of more-is-more with this arrangement.
A few eye-catching vignettes…
Mike keeps a little lawn in the back garden too, with a generous mixed border surrounding it.
Aster
Naturally he has a crevice garden. The jagged rocks poking up evoke, for me anyway, the Rocky Mountains always visible on Denver’s horizon.
‘David’s Choice’ artemisia stands upright amid a silver-green carpet that includes ‘Adustus Nanus’ aster, gone to seed, at lower right.
Lovely texture and color contrast: blue oat grass and ‘Low Glow’ Japanese red pine
This is good too, a contrast in scale: aster and pine
Reed grass (Calamagrostis scopulorum) glows in flower at the edge of a sort of woodland trail along the fence…
…which ends at this surprise: a shining silver garden of dusty miller, silver ponyfoot, silver knapweed (Centaurea ragusina), blue oat grass, and more.
I could stare at this combo all day.
Dwarf soapwort (Yucca nana)
Mike plays up the silvery blues of his xeric plants with pale-blue pots and dusty pink boulders and gravel.
It’s a textural and colorful scene, especially as fall turns the shrubs along the fence a buttery yellow.
Mounding plants on rocky berms adds height and dimension to the flat backyard.
Hens-and-chicks, the OG crevice garden plant
It’s a treat to see what a plant expert like Mike is doing in his home garden to create a refuge after a busy workday at the botanical garden.
Thank you, Mike, for sharing your lovely garden with me!
Up next: A visit to the colorful xeriscaped garden of Heidi Harris, aka Denver Dry Garden on Instagram. For a look back at the native garden at Chatfield Farms, click here.
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