From the shady gardens edging the driveway on the east, to the west-sloping garden behind a large lawn on the west, “tidy” would be a good way to describe the land around Elaine and Bob Menter’s Greenwood Village home.
But a stroll around the large ranch home, where they’ve lived and gardened for 31 years, will prove that tidy does not mean dull. Elaine Menter walks around the land with a visitor, pointing out treasures in carefully tended spots in the garden, which will be one of several on the Denver Open Day tour Sept. 12.
“This is my play area, where I get to grow the plants that can’t take the rough conditions in the west garden,” she says of the east garden as she adjusts her gardening hat. “Most of these plants take a little more water.”
A redbud tree and several other flowering trees cast dappled shadows across the land, as Elaine Menter murmurs, “oh my gosh,” and rushes past a row of dwarf Darth Vader iris, in full deep-purple glory on an early May afternoon.
Spade in hand she hustles over to a stray dandelion, digs it up and glares at the offender. “How dare you,” she says to the weed.
The retired attorney grew up on a farm in Iowa, so she says the gardening bug has always been in her. “When I retired in the early ’90s, I really got going.”
On the south side, a large patch of land awaits a vegetable garden, and such early spring crops as asparagus are already planted in carefully tilled strips.
“In this row, squash and zucchini, in this one onions and cabbage, tomatoes there, and cukes up that trellis,” she says pointing from one row to the next.
Perhaps the most eye-catching gardens are in the west-facing backyard.
A dry garden at the back of a yard drops down to the sidewalk, offering passers-by a glimpse of the Menters’ pride and joy.
“Some might call it a rock garden, but it’s really what I’d call a ‘dry’ garden, as it has big plants, and many think of tiny plants when they hear ‘rock garden,’ ” she says wandering down a winding path through the area.
In the spring, the garden is dotted with desert iris, cacti, agaves and other hardy plants. In fall, she says the penstemon, salvia and veronica will add interest.
A small koi pond and birdbath are tucked up near the back porch.
From across a broad expanse of lawn, Bob Menter asks his wife if she needs any help.
“Not with gardening,” says the semi-retired physician with a grin, wandering up to his wife. “I’m just into the heavy lifting.”
His wife glances up at her husband and nods.
“That’s right, I’m the plant- a-holic, and he supplies the muscle,” she says. In their late 60s, the couple has two children — as well as several grandchildren who enjoy playing in the lush backyard grass.
Both pause to point out a Cooper’s hawk that has taken up residence along the edge of a birdbath near the home.
“He’s there a lot,” says Bob Menter, walking across the lawn toward the water feature after the bird flies off. The fishing line around the pond is there to keep a great-blue heron away from the tasty koi in the water, he explains.
But for the most part, the couple welcomes the birds into the garden, which attracts everything from chickadees to towhees, mourning doves to goldfinches.
In the fall, Elaine Menter says, plenty of plants will lure hummingbirds close to the house. Among the treasures in that garden, covered in pansies and double-blooming peonies in the spring, are sages, salvia and penstemon — along with several other bright red bloomers .
A friend talked her into opening her gardens up for the Open Days tour, she says.
“It’s amazing how many wonderful people in this state share my addiction for gardening,” she says. “The Front Range is open to some of the most amazing gardeners out there. I’m a very lucky, very greedy, plant lover.”
Freelance writer Maria Cote gardens in Boulder County.
Denver Open Day
Elaine and Bob Menter’s garden will be open to the public during the Garden Conservancy’s Open Day. Other gardens open include private ones in Centennial, Englewood, Greenwood Village and Denver; public gardens include Hudson Gardens, Denver Botanic Gardens, and Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield. Proceeds support the national preservation work of the Garden Conservancy.
When: Sept. 12
Admission: $5 per garden at the gate (discounted in advance). Children 12 and under free.
Information: Discount tickets through or 888-842-2442.
