May 22, 2026
Last Saturday I went on my first Denver-area Open Days tour, a Garden Conservancy program offering access to private gardens nationwide. I kicked things off at Desert Mountain Gardens in the south Denver suburb of Littleton.
A split-rail fence along the side gives the garden a homey rural feel. Lavender clematis scrambles up one section…
…and white clematis another, its starry flowers bigger than cocktail napkins.
Stepping into the garden, I realized this is a garden about foliage, form, and cold- and drought-toughness. Someone who loves cold-hardy cactus and succulents lives here.
Turns out, that person is Rod Haenni, president of the Cactus & Succulent Society of America. Well, no wonder! We met as I was checking in, and he flattered me by showing me that he had my new book. Amazing!
Rod is a great garden host and showed me all around, naming any plant I asked about, even though I promptly forgot 99% of them. I have so much to learn here. However, I recognized many Texas-friendly plants in his collection, like prickly pear, cholla, yucca. His species, of course, must withstand Zone 5b winters, rather than the Zone 9a (I planted for 8b) winter of Austin.
Rod enjoys two gardening worlds by decamping to Tucson for the winter. The rest of the year, he gardens here.
This metal yucca sculpture came from an Arizona artist, he told me. Behind it grows a colony of bluestem joint fir (Ephedra equisetina). It’s beautiful, but what a spreader.
Fremont’s mahonia (Mahonia fremontii) was in gorgeous and fragrant bloom along the street. It reminded me of an early May visit to Canyonlands National Park, when the wild mahonia was flowering.
Cholla, prickly pear, and bluestem joint fir
I’m a sucker for prickly pear — those Mickey Mouse pads, light-catching spines, and bright flowers and tunas — and it seems Rod is too. This one is showcased as an accent in a container.
The view along the front walk is a study in silver-green foliage.
I’ve always been too chicken to grow cholla — they have barbed spines that won’t let go. But I admire their jointed, slender form.
A pot of flowering petunias and salvia welcomes visitors near the front door.
Rod also has specimen trees, like this majestic blue spruce…
…and a rarer gray pine (Pinus sabiniana).
Peeling bark on a birch
In back, an eye-popping swath of ice plant surrounds a tiny crevice garden in a rose-colored Domenique Turnbull pot.
It evokes mountains and desert.
A rock garden constructed of large gray boulders fills the lower backyard. Yucca, columbine, and creeping alpine plants thrive on top.
There’s also a crevice garden with narrower planting gaps, where cold-hardy succulents grow.
Rod is a serious collector and rattled off plant names I’d never heard of. He’s also traveled the world to explore plants.
I’ll never be a collector like that myself, but I appreciate the passion of those who are.
View across the crevice garden
Detail with columbine
My thanks to Rod for opening his garden and sharing his plant knowledge!
Up next: The “Not Arizona” garden on the Open Days tour.
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My new book, Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State, is here! Find it on Amazon, other online book sellers, and in stores everywhere. It’s for anyone who loves gardens or the natural beauty of Texas. More info here.
All material © 2026 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
