Foothills
Pumpkins at the mouth of the St. Vrain canyons
Lyons gets more wind, earlier freezes and more bear traffic than anywhere in the metro, so we agree the plan with you before we take a booking. The fruit turns up whole and uncarved, and the display is built on site.
The wind that comes out of the canyon
Lyons sits where two canyons open onto the plains, and the air that comes down them in autumn is the single biggest factor in how we build here. Downslope wind off the St. Vrain drainages can go from still to violent within an hour, and it does not behave like metro wind. It arrives from one direction, hard, and it keeps at it. So a Lyons display is built low, weighted and staked from the start. Nothing tall stands unless it is anchored into ground rather than propped against the house, mum pots go in the lee of a wall or a hay bale, and we avoid arrangements that present a flat face to the west. Even then, a big blow will move things. Re-staking after wind is a service we offer, and in Lyons we expect to use it.
Sandstone porches and flagstone walks
Lyons is a sandstone town and it shows on the ground. Flagstone walks, stone steps, low stone walls and porches with a stone face are all over the older part of town. Stone is a good surface for us. It is flat, it drains, and a pumpkin sitting on dry stone lasts far longer than one on wet grass. It is also cold. Once the nights drop below freezing here, and they do that earlier than in Denver, stone holds that cold all morning and the underside of the fruit takes it. On stone entries we raise the larger pumpkins onto a bale or onto wood, and we keep the group off the coldest north facing stone where we can. Uneven flagstone also means we bed each piece so it seats flat rather than rocking.
Bears, and why we ask before we book
Black bears are genuinely active around Lyons through our whole season, and they are working hard on food in September and October. Pumpkins are food. A group of them on an open porch beside a door is an invitation, and a bear that finds it will come back. This is why the foothills work differently for us. You contact us first, we talk about your specific address, and we agree where the display can sensibly go before any booking is made. Sometimes that means moving it away from the door, off a deck and onto a walk or a drive where a visit does less damage. Sometimes it means a smaller display than you had in mind. We would rather tell you that honestly up front than build something that gets pulled apart in the first week.
A season that ends earlier up here
Our season is mid August to 31 October everywhere, but Lyons uses less of it than the metro does. The first hard freeze arrives earlier here than it does in Denver, and a frozen pumpkin does not recover. It softens, then it collapses. That is worth planning for. If you want the display looking its best at the end of October, a later delivery is usually the better choice in Lyons, and we will say so when you ask us. Early snow is the other thing. It reaches the canyon mouth before it reaches the plains, and it flattens an arrangement. Re-staging after snow is a service we offer. What we never do is come back to take the display away. It is yours from the moment it is built, and it stays yours.
Questions from Lyons
Will a bear get into the pumpkins?
It is possible and we will not pretend otherwise. Bears are active around Lyons right through our season and pumpkins read as food to them. We plan placement with you to reduce the risk, usually away from doors and off decks, but nobody can guarantee a display will be left alone.
Why can I not just book online like a Denver customer?
Because we need to understand the site first. Access, wind exposure and bear risk vary hugely from one Lyons address to the next, and a plan that works on one street is wrong two streets away. You contact us, we talk it through, we agree what goes where, and only then do we book.
When should I have it delivered in Lyons?
Later than you would in Denver, if you want it looking good on 31 October. Hard freezes arrive earlier at the canyon mouth, and once fruit has frozen through it goes soft rather than bouncing back. Many Lyons customers pick late September or early October instead of August.
Book a package for Lyons
Prices include the pumpkins, delivery, design and installation. Ask us first. Bears are active up here during our season, so we agree placement before booking.
Fairy Tale
$1,20050 to 60 pumpkins, plus 2 hay bales
The whole front of the house. Two jumbo pumpkins anchor the corners, and this is the one people photograph.
Every package is a deliberate mix of varieties rather than a pile of one thing. The pumpkin variety guide explains what turns up in each one.
- Delivery zone
- Foothills. Ask us first. Bears are active up here during our season, so we agree placement before booking.
- Season
- Mid August to 31 October
- Packages
- Little, Full, Fairy Tale
- Removal
- Not offered. The display is yours to keep.