15 Nov A Sense of Place

Colorado. We love it. Many of us have gone to great lengths to reside here. As gardeners, we have the opportunity to create an aesthetic unique to the southern Rockies and reflect the natural beauty of the place we call home.  Colorado has an incredible array of native plants that thrive with minimal inputs in the garden, and I am a proponent of using them whenever possible. But no gardener (except perhaps the native-plant purist) should feel limited to natives. There is a growing abundance of plants that thrive in Colorado’s soils and climate available to gardeners.

Many of them have come from other places in the world with similar conditions and have been tested for suitability and non-invasiveness at places like the Denver Botanic Gardens. These plants hail from places like Chile, China,  South Africa and Eastern Europe. Colorado gardeners reap many rewards when growing plants that are adapted to what Colorado has to offer.

These plants tend to do best when their soil is not amended and when they are not given supplemental water except during establishment and during periods of extended drought. Just think of all the fun things that could be done with the time and money no longer spent purchasing and working in amendments and carefully watering and fertilizing the garden. More time can be spent sitting back, enjoying the beauty of the garden without a sore back. 

The other exciting reward is the creation of gardens that have their own look and style, creating a sense of place. More needs to be considered when shopping at the nursery than hardiness zone. Plants that can take intense sunlight and low amounts of water have special characteristics that allow them to survive and thrive. Leaves that are small, grey, or silvery in color, and those that are covered in fine hairs are some examples. For lists of plants and further reading, Cutting Edge Gardening in the  Intermountain West by Marcia Tatroe and  High and Dry by Robert Nold come highly recommended. 

There is a strong temptation for people who have relocated to Colorado to want to create the garden, or at least use the plants, that they know from their former digs. While many of those common — and indeed lovely — garden plants from milder,  wetter, lower, or less sunny places can grow here, they demand many more resources and much more of our time. And what good is it to move from Ohio to Colorado only to gaze out the window on a garden that looks like Ohio? Step out of the familiar and get to know native Colorado plants and the other gems from similar climates.  Your efforts will be worthwhile, and your gardens will reflect the natural Colorado landscape.

To the glory of the garden,

Eva Montane

Columbine Landscapes