Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Ryan for all of you that do not know. On Instagram I go by “rhart303“. This is for my name and actual love of the Denver area. rhart303 is broke down as this, “rhart” for Ryan Harter my full name. The 303 is for the area code. ‘rhart303’ is representative of “Our heart of 303”. The Denver/Front Range is probably the best area in the United States for growing just about anything steppe. Which is where my social media name is derived from.

I have been a lowkey gardener for almost all of my life. I started building gardens when I was old enough to ride a bike. I used to build home gardens from when I was a child, buying my mother plants from the grocery store. I used to use Mothers Day as a day to plant and build gardens as a kid. I lost touch during my 20s and around 28 years old hit it back hard. When I lost my mother I dedicated my growing to my mother. Since then, I have been building gardens in full force. I used to build gardens with whatever I could get my hands on.

For the last two decades I have been a telecommunication engineer that builds and designs a lot of the technologies that allows us to communicate over the Internet. I hold several patents for technologies surrounding customer premise technologies. I use the same premise in gardening to engineer plants to the environment they thrive in. My goal in life is to make life easier and more secure. Digitally and physically. My gardening style has been a side project of this same concept. It’s a dedication to my mother and world as a whole.

I started building gardens in my late 20s to bring back more pollinators. I strived in bringing back bees and hummingbirds to an area where I lived in Aurora, Colorado that almost had none. I was even a beekeeper for a short period. I then shortly moved to Castle Rock, Colorado for a new life outside of the hustle bustle and riff raff. I have since been doing the same. I’ve not only brought back hummingbirds to an area in Castle Rock that had few, but we now have hundreds of bees but all varieties! We now have permanent populations of hummingbirds that come back year after year.  

I’ve also been building wildflower areas in recent developed areas the Denver Metro. I will research what plants are native to the area and buy several pounds of such seeds to “secretly” dump on top of grass that housing developers put in place in open space areas. I could probably get funding for this but find that red tape takes too long. I’ve now seeded over 200 acres with close to 100 pounds of pure wildflower seeds. In select areas I’ve also been taking plants 200-400 miles south and bringing them to select controlled areas to see if they will survive naturally and documenting their success on iNaturalist to see if can move the growing zones forward ahead of global warming.

My garden goals are to not only focus on pollinators and hummingbirds but to save water. One plant at a time. I’ve been successfully doing this by coordinating with local horticulturist and self-research. During my time I’ve learned so much by the knowledge shared by individuals in the area. I contribute this from as mentioned from reading, research, and sites like High Country Gardens for graciously sharing their plant insights.

I’ve made gardening my main hobby and my main side focus. I now not only build gardens but spread the word of “garden over lawn”. I’ve built over 8 gardens that now grow successfully in the Colorado Front Range region and plan to continue more. This year I am planning to build another, in tandem with High Country Garden and various dedicated people to bring a front yard showcase that will be full of blooms from March to November!

My goal with gardening isn’t just making a yard full of blooms but its to paint with living plants. I call my gardens ‘painting with plants’. My gardens are my color palettes of life. I try to coordinate colors with seasons and bring a full palette of art to each landscape. My focus is bloom seasons over plant foliage in general. You’ll find most plants in my landscapes bloom over 4 weeks continuously for months. My thought is to not let a month of year go untouched, including December, January, and February. The seasons never die. There is always red and purples in the middle of winter in my gardens every month of the year. With the help of High Country Gardens and dedication I will continue to bring the Front Range to the likes of an outside art museum to showcase ‘painting with plants’.

In the last year I have also started providing consulting services to gardners that are looking to learn more or gain insight on how to better utilize their space. I can also help provide basic designs for those that are unsure on what to do or do not have the team. To check pricing you can click here to see if I have something I could offer you. To get in contact click here to give me a shout!

This posts motivation and dedication is brought to you by a recent colleague that had the bravery to inform me of her recent stage 3 breast cancer. She also enjoys gardening as did my Mother. My mother also had the same diagnoses close to a decade ago. I want to dedicate this year’s garden to something I not only truly believe in, but a devotion to those that have to endure cancer. I have a mother that beat it but still passed unrelated, a father living with cancer, a colleague living with it, and all of those we know or that have passed to cancer. I’m looking for a three word name in dedication to the garden. Please post below and share for ideas we can name the garden after.