Just off one of the busiest highways in the south Denver metro area sits a quiet refuge of nature, where master gardeners pass on tips to the public.

“This year was late starting in terms of when plants started growing,” said Dave Ingram, a volunteer gardener at Hudson Gardens in Littleton. Japanese beetles — which feed on many types of plants — are fading early, Ingram said, “so we look forward to a great fall bloom period.”

The event center at 6115 S. Santa Fe Drive, a place that sees weddings and reunions, also offers a Meet the Rose Gardener event, where people can come talk to “master rosarians” like Ingram.

He and several other volunteers worked on the rose bed the morning of Sept. 11, a ritual they repeat on Wednesdays from late April to early November, Ingram said.

“The rose garden was restored and replanted around 2010,” said Ingram, adding that the caretakers are volunteers who want to make the gardens a better experience for the public.

Ingram, a 70-year-old Arvada resident, is from the Denver Rose Society, along with Peggy Williams, the society's 2018 president. But not all volunteers at the Hudson rose garden are from that society, and the group is always looking for more volunteers, Ingram said.

“Some people have joined volunteering to contribute,” Ingram said, “and some have joined to learn.”

“It's a labor of love,” Ingram said.