Denver Daisy, RIP Again

On day eight -- a dozen short of the predicted germination date -- my second pot of Denver daisies hit the dirt.

As detailed in this report, the sole Denver daisy to emerge from my last attempt mysteriously disappeared into dust while I was out of town. This time, the culprit was clear: a squirrel that knocked the pot off the deck. Could be that the squirrel was just saving me some future heart-ache, though. According to my highly scientific survey (i.e., I talked with someone at the gardening store around the corner from my office), I'm not the only one having trouble with the Denver daisy, a special Rudbeckia plant designated to honor the 150th anniversary of Denver this year.

But then, from the first announcement that gold had been found near the confluence of the Platte and Cherry Creek -- exactly 150 years ago this month -- it took several attempts for the new town to take root, too. -- Patricia Calhoun