September 22, 2026

The third garden on the Boulder Open Days Tour back in June was located on a lovely old street near downtown. Called simply Cary’s Garden, it was one I looked forward to seeing because I’d met the owner, Cary, at a Garden Conservancy Digging Deeper event the week before.

Cary’s charming blue house, built in 1910, is framed by classic white hydrangeas and red roses out front.

The main garden in back is more expansive, especially when you consider its borrowed view of Flagstaff Mountain. Unlike Denver, which sits on a plain with a view of the Rockies, Boulder presses up against the foothills. And there they are, just over the fence.

Cary’s garden was professionally designed and planted in 2019, although it retains some existing heirloom roses and an old Arkansas black apple tree. A lawn curves outward from the house, circumscribed by a flagstone path that leads to a small patio and then up to a detached garage.

Yellow-cushioned chairs under a yellow umbrella make a cheerful spot to sit and look back toward the house…

…where double-decker porches plus a pergola-shaded patio offer more places to relax.

Along the path are screening shrubs with color-contrasting foliage — blue, maroon, variegated green — with red hot poker in the foreground.

Purple clematis on the fence looks even prettier with a borrowed blue spruce in the neighbor’s yard.

Red hot poker and blue spruce

A wider view

The patio features a dripping fountain (birds must love it)…

…and a succulent-planted birdbath, along with other containers.

A pink-flowering ice plant edges a gravel path near the garage.

Antlers accent the garage, including a hose rack.

More ice plant with blue fescue and artemisia

Stone steps access a higher patio at back, where a yellow umbrella shelters a pair of contemporary Adirondacks.

A closer view

Lattice trellises help vines climb the wood privacy fence.

‘Gold Flame’ honeysuckle

Ice plant, blue fescue, hesperaloe, and artemisia of some kind

The house gables echo the nearby mountains.

A pergola-shaded patio has sofa seating…

…and more pretty planters. Thanks for the tour, Cary!

Up next: An artist’s garden in Old Town Lafayette. For a look back at Katy and Gary Bohn’s flowerlicious garden rooms, click here.

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