Dardano's Flowerland

Colorado's FIRST Supermarket Gardencenter. Our history by Loretta Dardano Our family was the first to grow and sell bedding plants in the state of Colorado. My grandfather, Mike Garramone, started growing vegetables in 1910 for a goverment-sponsored project which was a forerunner to the World War ll Victory Gardens. My other grandfather, Savario Dardano, started growing on this very land in the late 1800s and was known for his prize-winning pascal celery. My mother, Arlene, started the business in 1946 by selling my dad's transplants to customers who came to our house on Evans. She sold pepper and tomato transplants for 25 cents a dozen. The business grew, so in 1965, we opened Dardano's Flowerland across the street in its present location. We were open only 60 days in our new store when the flood of June totally destroyed everything. It took one year for us to borrow money and rebuild to open again in 1966. We are proud to say that we continue to grow and sell to gardeners homegrown, Colorado plants that we know will perform in their gardens. We have customers today who remember shopping here as children. We love to teach our methods to many new gardeners, which include how to prepare the soil, how to plant, how to feed and how to water in Colorado.