atlas
22 denverlifemagazine.com | APRIL 2019 photography by JEFF NELSON
How did you get into
horticulture?
z “My grandfather was
a farmer in the Texas
Panhandle, and in the
summer I would work on
the farm, so I got an early
love of nature. My dad
was an avid outdoors-
man—he loved fishing
and camping—so I was
raised with a fascination
for the outdoor world.
After high school, I got a
job with a local landscape
company, and it clicked.
I became obsessed with
greenhouse growing and
making new plants.”How did you end up at
the Botanic Gardens?
z “After I got involved in
the Plant Select program
at a wholesale nursery,
I met some of the staff
at the Gardens. One day
they called and told me
about a job opening. I
thought, ‘Leave these
long, hard hours to go to
work at the Botanic Gar-
dens—really?’ It’s been my
dream job ever since.”Why is it so great?
z “Much of what I do is
propagation—making new
plants. It’s my passion. I’ve
produced everything from
tropical plants to cacti to
succulents to annuals andperennials. In our breed-
ing programs, we pick
flower A and flower B,
put on some Barry White
music and make them
kiss; then we raise up their
babies. We are not only a
display garden but a sci-
entific collection garden.”Where do you get
seeds?
z “I travel to other steppe
regions of the world—
Argentina/Patagonia,
southern Africa, central
Asia—to collect them,
bring them back, and
grow them. Chatfeld is
where a lot of my ‘hands-
in-dirt’ work happens.
You have a few tiny seeds
from the far corners of
the world, and you make
plants. Then someone
sees them in the garden
and goes, ‘Oh my god,
that’s a beautiful flow-
er—I’ve never seen it be-
fore!’ And you can tell the
story behind it.”You must tell us about
the beard.
z “My wife told me I
had to shave for our
wedding, because she
wanted clean cheeks to
kiss. I said that’s fine, but
that’s the last day I’m
ever shaving. That was
Halloween of 1999.”on the job Horticulturist
THE PLANT
WHISPERER
MIKE BONE is a matchmaker of sorts. Though his
name badge says “Curator of Steppe Collections,”
he spends much of his time pairing up plants to
create new ones. Bone, who as of April 1 has been
at the Denver Botanic Gardens for 17 years (“I’ve
been the April Fool’s joke all that time”), tends the
Steppe Garden at York Street—“planting, cutting
things back, doing maintenance”—but also writes
and publishes, speaks at garden clubs, and works
on the breeding program at the Chatfield site.
That’s where he does what he calls his “mad sci-
ence,” germinating seeds and taking root cuttings.
It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.FLORAL REPORT HORTICULTURIST MIKE BONE COLLECTS POLLEN FROM FLOWERS AS PART OF
HIS PLANT PROPAGATION WORK AT THE BOTANIC GARDENS. IT’S ‘MY DREAM JOB,’ HE SAYS.