Free Day At The Denver Botanic Gardens!

Both yesterday and today the Fall Plant and Bulb Sale is taking place at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I know nothing about plants or gardening and have no idea what you are supposed to do with either bulbs or plants in the fall. But what I do know is that admission is free when the Denver Botanic Gardens has a plant sale. And free, as regular blog readers know, is my favorite price point. Therefore, I ordered tickets online, downloaded them to my phone (which I still find annoying, I might add), and my sister Susan and I spent part of yesterday afternoon looking at the gardens. Which I must admit are very beautiful. Both Susan and I really enjoyed our visit there.

However, I can never get it out of my head that the Denver Botanic Gardens and adjoining Cheesman Park were once a cemetery. As development in Denver began to move east of downtown, it was determined that Denver City Cemetery, which opened in 1858, should be turned into a park as an amenity for the new residents. And so, the city hired someone to move the bodies to Riverside Cemetery, located north of the city, and in 1907 Cheeseman Park, and eventually the Denver Botanic Gardens, came into existence. The problem was that the city decided to pay the contractor they hired by the coffin. And so, he decided to cut up the bodies and divide the remains among a lot more coffins. When this was discovered, he was fired, and the remaining bodies were left where they were. Which is why every so often gardeners at the Denver Botanic Gardens unearth human bones, and also the reason there are numerous reports of ghosts wandering the grounds at night. Which is why I have avoided the Denver Botanic Gardens Blossoms of Lights event that takes place after dark during the holiday season. Those spirits must still be pretty pissed. Why take the chance?