July 5, 2026
Last month, five Denver-area gardens opened to the public at an open day hosted by the Garden Conservancy. Five more garden tours — yes, I’m on it!
My first stop was Keith Funk’s garden in Centennial, a south suburb of Denver. Keith is a gardening expert who hosts the long-running radio call-in show “The Garden Wise Show With Keith Funk.” I had seen his garden at Garden Fling in 2019 (my post about it here) and remembered it being colorful and immersive. It’s still there.
Keith’s Garden is located on a busy street corner near the entrance to the neighborhood. He has used several design strategies to take the focus away from passing cars and focus on the garden.
First of all, visual Kapa! A flowering rock garden spans the entire property and rises toward the house, filled with colorful perennials, groundcovers, and other aquatic plants.
Dazzling fuchsia ice plant
Queen Anne’s lace “Dara”
white penstemon
Agave with curled thread-like filaments
Another of Keith’s strategies for making streets disappear is to move water. It’s hard to see in this photo due to the contrasting late-night light, but it’s a cavernous waterfall on the right that flows into a small pond behind the yellow broom. Another waterfall flows into the pond from the left. You can see both waterfalls in this video shared on Instagram.
Penstemon
Addition of Penstemon with Queen Anne’s Lace and Purple Coneflower – Pollinator Buffet
purple cornflower
a few more
“Southern Charm” words
On the shady side of the corner lot, clownfish were blooming, at least in the morning.
Kinikinnik, also known as bearberry, crawls on colorful rocks.
The woman’s cloak and blue linen add further color.
women’s cloak
Another of the pair
Keith’s garden is built around large pines and other trees that provide shade on hot days.
This combination caught my eye. The purple smoketree, the fern sumac, and the drooping tree with silvery-white leaves. beautiful!
I headed to the backyard and admired the royal purple clematis.
A bench is tucked into the perennial border with a woman’s cloak
Astrantia, one of my favorite flowers
Speckled yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata ‘Alexander’). Keith said it requires moist soil but is not as invasive as purple loosestrife.
A beautiful kumu that prefers moist soil.
One more thing
A metal crane is hidden among the jewels.
A stone patio at the back of the house features an Italian-style fountain and a collection of potted plants, including a large banana.
Patio seating surrounded by summer-loving tropical plants
White and hot pink rose campion, with shady benches along the wall.
Back at the front, I admired this hidden patio in the middle of the front garden. It’s a great place to sit and observe the neighborhood without making yourself conspicuous.
Shade-loving ferns and hostas create a green ring around the patio.
On the side of the house, plants from Keith’s garden were on sale. Is that really a good thing? If we weren’t moving, we probably would have filled the trunk. But for now I’m just observing and trying to absorb as much as I can about the plants that grow here.
Thank you to Keith for opening up his wonderful garden. If you would like to see my previous visits to Keith’s garden, please click here.
Next up is Marilyn Ruff’s pocket-sized garden of “waves of leaves, flowers, and scent.”
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