It’s mad rush time at garden centers and nurseries all over Colorado. The danger of frost is behind for most of us, so it’s time to start stocking our landscapes.
We walk through the nursery, excited by the wide selection of plants. We see wonderful plants in bloom, and we get a little crazy. We pile them into our shopping carts, thinking about what we can hock to pay for them and where we might put them. That’s like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach.
You are better off with a shopping list, because what looks attractive now may be finished blooming by the time you get it planted.
To keep your plant shopping under control, follow a couple of Xeriscape principles.
Have a plan with a list of plants appropriate for each zone (sun/shade, watering needs, etc.). Take the list with you to the nursery and ignore the pretty flowers in bloom. The plants on your list will be pretty in their own time. If you have planned right, there will be color and blooms in your gardens year-round, not just for the few weeks after you planted the flowers blooming now.
David Winger is a water- conservation specialist with Denver Water.
Plant for blooms all season
Here is a suggested list of plant combinations that will spread the blooming time through summer and into fall. Many of these plants contribute to the garden well beyond their listed time period, and each is appropriate for that low-water zone you want for maximum water savings. This is just a sampling. There are many more choices than can be listed here. Ask your garden center about water use and blooming time for other plants you want.
- Last half of May: One-time flowering roses, bearded iris, coral bells, red valerian, pink pussytoes, coton-easter and California poppy
- First half of June: Penstemons, yuccas, desert foxtail lily, pinks, Missouri evening primrose, blue flax, moonshine yarrow and shrub and vine roses
- Last half of June: Selfheal, wine cup, Stella d’Oro daylily, perennial coreopsis, Apache plume, catalpa tree and smoke tree
- First half of July: Monarda, butterfly weed, yellow flax, mullen, purple iceplant, lavender, prairie zinnia and golden raintree
- Last half of July: Russian sage, globe thistle, ornamental grasses, Mexican hat coneflower, Mohave sage, goldenrod and lead plant
- First half of August: Joe Pye weed, blackberry lily, trumpet vine, black-eyed Susans, hyssops, blue mist spirea and Rose of Sharon
- Last half of August: Butterfly bush, hens and chicks, asters, hummingbird trumpet, sundrops and perennial gazania
- First half of September: Autumn joy sedum, leaves of dead nettle, rabbit brush, bush morning glory and fall color of golden currant
- Last half of September: New Mexico sunflower, fruit on cotoneaster, snakeweed, sweet autumn clematis, plumbago and plumes on Apache plume
- First half of October: Washington hawthorn berries, Engleman ivy leaves, three-leaf sumac leaves, blackberry lily berries
And by the way, for early blooms next year, plant these now:
- Last half of March: Crocus, Colorado creeping grape holly, Corsican violet, buffaloberry, daffodils, greenleaf manzanita and grape hyacinths
- First half of April: Species tulips, pear trees, early snow glories, windflowers, western sandcherry, Princess Kay plum and red leaves of yellow iceplant
- Last half of April: Crabapple trees, tulip cultivars, plum trees, catmint, creeping phlox, lilac and chokecherry
- First half of May: Periwinkle, Russian and winter king hawthorns, creeping Veronicas, rockcress, Atlas daisy and May night salvia
