Editor’s note: We are grateful for all that horticulturalist and plant curator Nick Courtens contributed to the Vail Valley, the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, to this article and beyond. He is deeply missed and will continue to be remembered as a valued part of the community.

Purple and blue blossoms artistically blend with reds, oranges and yellows at Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, the highest botanical garden in the United States.

Located in Vail at 8,200 feet, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens acts as a living museum full of wonder. Its terraced gardens showcase over3,000 species of alpine plants from around the world, reaching tall and wide among various waterfalls and streams. This summer, a new garden along the Education Center features Colorado perennials, including over a thousand drought-resistant plants.

The free alpine gardens act as a serene refuge, a picnic area and a photographic paradise for visitors and locals alike. Many enjoy listening to orchestras rehearse at the adjacent Ford Amphitheater during the Bravo! Vail series, while others use it as an educational resource. In fact, the garden’s mission involves deepening understanding and promoting conservation of alpine plants and fragile mountain environments.

“Behind the beauty, there is a lot of science happening in the gardens,” shared Nick Courtens, former curator of plant collections. “Every plant is carefully curated to grow here. Not many other gardens are doing this work. For just a small garden, we do pack a lot of unusual species from all over the world — the big ones are the Himalayas, Central Asia, Europe, South Africa and, of course, North America. Anywhere there are mountains, we represent the regions. It takes a lot of strategy to select and label plants and learn where things grow best. We’re constantly educating the public about plants, since not many gardens grow these plants. It’s a very unique garden for North America, and it’s one of the only free things you can do in Vail, which is a huge benefit to the community.”

Alpine Gardens holds workshops in addition to its rotating indoor exhibits, outdoor displays and library. Yoga takes place three days a week in the gardens in June and July.

Guided garden tours and volunteer gardening opportunities offer an even more experiential approach to the gardens. Currently, it takes more than 3,500 hours of volunteer time to maintain the gardens, give tours and run the gift shop and events.

Family-friendly “Discover & Play” activities provide guided, hands-on experiences, while the children’s garden, located across from the main entrance, allows kids to wander around, see vegetables grow and play in Betty’s Market, a realistic farmers market for kiddos. Daily scavenger hunts, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., encourage the entire family to search for clues and learn more about alpine plants.

Visitors can also meander through the approximately 5.5-acre site from dawn to dusk through self-guided tours (a donation of $20 per person is suggested to support the nonprofit), taking time to absorb everything from the tallest to the tiniest of alpine plants.

Among the many blooms, the garden is known for its gentians, especially prominent in May and June: trumpets from Europe, different species of primroses — particularly from the Himalayan Mountains — alpine cushion plants, which grow in a compact, low, mat-forming fashion, native Colorado plants like persimmons and columbines (the latter of which range from a few inches tall to several feet) and various bulbs (such as tulips, irises, fritillaries), particularly from Central Asia.

A large green roof, covered in drought-tolerant perennials and sedum, is one of the highlights of the Education Center. Whenever there’s not an event on the green roof, visitors are welcome to explore it, taking in views of Vail Mountain, the Gore Range and Gore Creek.

Vail Alpine Garden Foundation formed the garden in 1985 in honor of former first lady Betty Ford, who, as a child, spent “many cherished hours” with her mother in her garden. Its goal: to create formal beds and showcase rock gardens and alpine plants. In the mid-1990s, the gardens focused even more on rock gardens, which lend themselves well to nurturing alpine plants, and now, rock gardens are one of the key features of its sustainable landscaping.

“When we first talked of plans for the Vail Alpine Gardens, I never dreamed it would grow and flourish to such magnitude. But, as each season brings new blooms and greater beauty to the gardens, they become a source of infinite pride and pleasure for all of us,” Betty Ford wrote. “Each week provides a different, more beautiful picture.”

To learn more, visit bettyfordalpinegardens.org, and read On the Roof of the Rocky Mountains: The Botanical Legacy of Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, Vail’s Alpine Treasure by Sarah Chase Shaw, with photography by Todd Winslow Pierce.

The Beauty — And Science — Of The Betty Ford alpine Gardens