Plants I’ll Always Plant: Gwen's Buffalo Currant (Ribes aureum), Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis), Ninebark (Physocarpus monogynus), Blue Flax (Linum lewisii), Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome serrulata)
Plants I’m itching to try: Dwarf Leadplant (Amorpha nana), Dotted Blazing Star (Liatris punctata), Dwarf Rabbitbrush (Ericameria viscidiflorus)
Forget About It???? NO! - I WON'T forget to leave a dead tree or 2 for the woodpeckers, who make holes for nesting habitat for over 30 species of birds. And I WON'T be keeping my garden tidy. Insects and birds need a messy habitat full of seeds, plant stems, leaf matter and hiding places!
1.) I’ll always plant: Sun gold tomatoes, Hot Lips Salvia, Asst. salvias (annual and perennial), Agastache, Sweet basil, Portulaca, Bright pink geraniums, Calibrachoa, Coleus, Asst. Dianthus, Tulips
2.) Plants I’m itchin to try: Agapanthus, False Indigo, White Evening Primrose, Giant alliums, Variegated upright sedum
3.) Forget about it: Papyrus, Black cherry tomatoes
~Colorado Master Gardener Jean
I’ll always plant:
1) Sungold tomatoes! I always plant in very large Costco size containers on my back patio so they’re easy to water and protect from hail. And it’s only a few steps to pick a handful.
2) Iris! They’re not native or xeric but I love their showy blooms in late spring and early summer. Mine receive very little supplemental water since they’re on the lower side of a gentle slope.
3) Penstemon! My latest favorite. They’re hummingbird magnets, long blooming, xeric and the dang bunnies leave them alone.
Plants I’m itching to try: More Plant Select plants! I’d like to eliminate more turf and convert to an all Plant Select/native garden in that area. At this rate, the bunnies will do the work and decimate the turf while I plan the garden and save up for lots of new plants!
Forget about it: Not buying anything that is a ‘short lived perennial!’ Just too disappointing to lose plants in just two or three years.
~Colorado Master Gardener Sally
I’ll always plant: Tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, Swiss chard, kohlrabi, carrots
Plants I’m itchin to try: Okra, butternut squash
Forget about it: Watermelon because it takes so much space and I only have a 40' X 4' raised bed
~Colorado Master Gardener Paula
