Littleton: Lavender Festival

A few weeks ago we came across an article promoting a lavender festival … to be held at Chatfield Farms, which is part of the Denver Botanic Gardens … in Littleton, which is about an hour’s drive north of us.

Tickets had to be purchased in advance … online only. Knowing that rain storms tend to come through in the afternoon, we purchased tickets for the 10:00a time slot for today … the earlier slots were already sold out.

Chatfield Farms is “… a historical ranch, working farm, and an important habitat for wildlife.” So said the signage near the booth where our tickets were scanned for entry. Once inside, we meandered, using the paths running through the property, and around the lavender fields.

Apparently, French and Spanish lavender aren’t cold-hardy enough to withstand the Colorado climate. English lavender and lavandin, on the other hand, thrive here. And that is what is planted at Chatfield Farms.

Near the lavender fields we found the “Butterflies at Chatfield.” The young woman who gave us the entry and exit rules also told us that there are some 200 butterflies … 15 species. The butterflies were flitting about as they are wont to do, but there were plenty of photo ops when they landed on the colorful flowers in the enclosed garden. By my count, we saw 12 of the 15 species … not bad.

Next, we headed over to the working farm where they cultivate greens and root vegetables — such as lettuce, scallions, beets, radishes, and more. This section is on the lands of the former Hildebrand Ranch, which dates back to 1860. But even well before there was a ranch here, the land was used by Native inhabitants. The Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho hunted, gathered, and camped on these grounds for thousands of years.

The ranch house today serves as a museum of sorts. It was open to visitors, so we wandered in for a quick look-see before wrapping up our visit.

I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. Most of the 2,000 or so lavender plants seemed like they were in the early stages of bloom. I was expecting that the festival would be timed to coincide with peak blooming.

Disappointment in the lavender plants notwithstanding, we had a fun outing … on a sunny day that wasn’t too terribly hot … at least for this time of the year.もっと詳しく