Brilliant (organic) Blooms of Zephyros Garden

Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers also feed the soul. – The Koran

It was planting season when I visited Zephyros Farm and Garden: snow melting off the mountains, grass high and green, and everything beginning to sprout. We spent most days preparing beds for tiny plants that would soon grow tall and fragrant. As we worked, Daphne buzzed around the farm, visiting every bed to check on her babies.

Smart as a whip and twice as fast, Daphne knows exactly what each plant needs— along with its proper Latin name, family history and variant. Under her care, scores of perennials grow tall and lush. When the time is right, she harvests the blooms, arranges them artfully, and sends them off to market.

Daphne is only 35 and is already more experienced than any gardener I’ve met. Straight out of college, she moved to Germany to intern with a prestigious garden run by a master gardener and his family. She watched over thousands of flowers at a time there, and studied every day to learn Latin names. Since then, her life has been dedicated to her gardens— and it shows. Every bloom I saw was exquisite. At farmer’s markets, Daphne’s perennials and bouquets bring in much of the money that runs Zephyros Farm.

Like I said, it was planting season: springtime in Colorado, too early for most perennials. But the peonies and anemones, lilacs and apple blossoms were out; sweet peas were beginning; in the propagation house and behind the greenhouses, hundreds of flowers awaited their turns in the sun.

These photos, taken by me and by Karina, will give you a taste of Zephyros’ beauty. There are plenty more photos here. The best is yet to come, however, and before I left I made Karina promise to send me photos of all the summer flowers as they come into bloom. Come back in a few months to see more; if the spring flowers are any indication, summer’s gonna be a knockout.

More photos of Zephyros flowers can be found here.