Phelan Gardens turns 40 this year, but its focus remains the same as it was in the beginning — growing gardeners.
“My biggest joy is when people show up repeatedly and come in and say, ‘That plant that you steered me toward or that method that you told me about worked,’ and they’re ready for the next step,” owner Mark Phelan said. “Growing gardeners and having people become accomplished at growing things really juices me.”
Plants seem to be in the DNA of the Phelan family. Their affinity for plants began when Mark’s parents, Don and Sue Phelan, purchased Sunset Greenhouse in 1977, immersing all four of their kids in the business and getting Sue’s parents involved as well.
In 1981, Don and Sue built a second greenhouse and nursery at 4955 Austin Bluffs Parkway and named it Phelan Gardens. When they were ready to retire, they offered to sell the business — Sunset Greenhouse and Phelan Gardens — to their kids and three of the kids took them up on it.
All four kids, however, are hooked on plants. Mark and his sister, Monica, purchased Phelan Gardens in 1998, and his sister, Valerie Belding, and her husband, Ed Belding, run Sunset Greenhouse. Their brother, Phil Phelan, is a horticulturist at Bath Garden Center and nursery in Fort Collins.
The family connections to the business continue. In 2009, Mark and Monica started Green Expressions, Phelan Gardens’ landscaping business, which Monica’s son, Kyle Katsos, runs.
Don Phelan passed away in 2017, but “Mother Sue Phelan continues to play in her garden, sharing her earthly seasonal creations with her fans,” Mark and Monica wrote in a letter about the business’ 40th anniversary.
While Phelan Gardens has always been a year-round business, winters were quiet until the owners expanded their indoor plant selection. Another shift in approach came after Mark and Monica completed Pikes Peak Permaculture’s Permaculture Design Certification.
“We’ve dropped some of our harsher pesticides because pollinators are so important,” Mark Phelan said. “We’re into not only the plants, but all aspects, too, of how they help us out and how they spill over into the pollinators, butterflies, bees.”
Today, Phelan Gardens is a greenhouse, nursery, gift shop, and garden center. The business sells houseplants and outdoor plants — annuals, perennials, fruit trees, and shrubs — and everything you need to care for them. They also offer a variety of gardening-related classes, from How to Grow Garlic to Front Porch Décor, and they carry fall, winter, and nature-inspired home décor, which keeps them busy in the off season.
In the last 18 months, like many garden shops, Phelan Gardens’ business grew because people spent more time and money at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There was a resurgence in growing food, gardening, trees and fruit trees,” Mark Phelan said. “We’re pleased to see that, but we’re sorry that COVID was the impetus for it.”
The next phase
In 2012, the Phelan family brainstormed ways to use their assets to serve a larger cause, and the idea for their next location was born — The Shire at Old Farm.
The project, which is rooted in sustainability and permaculture, is being developed on a 20-acre property the Phelan family owns — and the Katsos-Phelan family lives on — near Pine Creek High School.
From a permaculture standpoint, Mark Phelan sees the property as ideally situated because it’s at the intersection of a meadow and a forest and at the intersection of two communities.
“Permaculture teaches that action happens at the margins,” he said. “Where the meadow meets the trees is where all of the action happens (in nature.) Similarly, we think this is an excellent location for our project too — we’re at the edge of Black Forest and the northeast corner of Colorado Springs.”
The Shire at Old Farm will be a place where people can learn “skills that have been forgotten,” from small engine repair to woodworking and metalworking, Mark Phelan said. That’s where a partnership with nonprofit Sustainable Educational Experience comes into play.
SEE seeks to empower Colorado Springs-area children and adults to be household, community and environmental stewards and responsible community members through hands-on learning opportunities, according to its website.
“The organization provides education and demonstrations of local food production and preservation, ecosystems and whole system design, industrial and traditional arts, and sustainable habitations,” the website states.
The Phelan family is also behind SEE’s formation. Monica Phelan’s son, Kyle Katsos, is SEE board president, her daughter, Shannon Katsos, is board secretary, and her brother, Phil Phelan, is board treasurer.
At a time when children don’t know where the food in the produce section comes from, the project’s goal is to reconnect people, especially children, to the earth, according to Mark Phelan.
“What we want to do is connect people to the earth,” Mark Phelan said. “It happens with food crops, trees, shrubs, wildlife, and dependency of wildlife to the plants.”
The project’s current plan includes building a visitor’s center, plant nursery, cafe, indoor gathering space, health and wellness space, energy-independent small housing, yurt area, and supportive structures such as a barn, silos, windmills, and water storage tank.
In 2020, the Phelan family received a variance of use from El Paso County, and they’re currently working on a development site plan. Once that’s approved, they’ll move forward on phased construction of the project.
The same permaculture principles guiding The Shire at Old Farm project — working with nature instead of against it and thoughtful observation of the whole system — would help all gardeners, according to Mark Phelan.
“I think that people need to observe more — on their own property, up in the hills in nature. Sit down, relax, and observe more,” Mark Phelan said.
“Try to tie yourself back to nature a little bit more, to see what’s going on, to look at the interactions — our interactions with the environment, our interactions with each other. It’s all worked in the past, and we hope that it continues to work in the future.”
MORE INFO
Phelan Gardens:
Address: 4955 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs (80918)
Phone: 719-574-8058
Website: phelangardens.com
Facebook: facebook.com/PhelanGardens
The Shire at Old Ranch:
Website: theshireatoldranch.com
Facebook: facebook.com/theShireatOldRanch
Sustainable Education Experience
Website: sustainableeducationalexperience.org
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