Photo credits (left to right): W.D. and Dolphia Bransford, Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller, and Thomas Muller, all courtesy of Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center One of the showiest native shrubs on Colorado’s front range is Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa). It has a wild look about it, and can get rather rangy if untended, but that, we […] Continue reading "Plant Spotlight: Apache Plume"
Baby blue rabbitbrush across the seasons. Photos courtesy of Plant Select. Rabbitbrush doesn’t get its full due. It is gorgeous when most of your garden has finished inspiring, and it’s bustling with insects looking for late season nectar at this time of year. Some people don’t like how rangy large rabbitbrush can get (see our […] Continue reading "Plant Spotlight: Baby Blue Rabbitbrush"
by Wild Ones Front Range Chapter Board Members This month we thought we’d go “trick or treating” for (i.e. do a deep dive into) nuggets of wisdom our Chapter Board Members (and prospective Board Members) have to hand out from their own experience planting natives in their landscapes – tips, tricks, and info that will […] Continue reading "Tips, Tricks, and Info for Planting Native Plants on the Front Range"
By Deb Lebow Aal. Updated October 2023. This is a topic every Colorado homeowner should pay attention to. As you all know, our fire season in the West is getting longer and hotter. And, while it’s of much greater concern if you live close to the rural/forest intersection, it is now relevant even for urban […] Continue reading "Fire Resistant Landscaping and Colorado Native Plants"
by Danna Liebert As advocates for Colorado native landscaping, you may have claimed (as we have) that you can create any traditional landscape style with natives; the whole story, as many of us know, is complicated: not all CO native plants are low-water; some need space to roam (spreading by rhizomes or reseeding); some don’t […] Continue reading "Native Plant Garden Pairings"
by Deborah Lebow Aal The ‘Gardening Myths’ article I wrote last year was our most popular article ever. It has been reprinted in several other newsletters, including Denver Audubon (linked here), and we received many comments. Following up with ‘Gardening Myths #2’ was inevitable. In most cases, there is no right or wrong ‘answer’ to […] Continue reading "Garden Myths #2"
by Kenton Seth Editor’s note: This article is abridged from the original for use in this newsletter. To read the full article, originally published in The Blazing Star (the quarterly publication of the North American Native Plant Society, nanps.org) For those who have long been supporters of native plants and their supported creatures, the recent fad […] Continue reading "Crevice Gardens"
by Jody Gardiner Curious to learn more about transforming your garden into a habitat with Colorado native wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees? Check out our native gardening toolkit, register for an upcoming event, subscribe to our newsletter, and/or become a member – if you’re not one already! Continue reading "Native Garden “Before and After”"
A book review by Rick Phillips Being a Wild Ones member, the book Lawns into Meadows, by Owen Wormser, caught my eye immediately. And with an author named Wormser, you would think this guy must really know soil and plants! Wormser is a landscape architect and horticulturalist who grew up off the grid in Maine and […] Continue reading "Lawn Into Meadows"
by Aaron Michael One great Colorado native plant to landscape with is Red-Twig Dogwood. This shrub, also called Red Osier Dogwood, with the Latin name Cornus sericea, can be found in the wild in areas such as wetlands and riparian zones where the soil is rich and poorly drains. It also can be found in areas that […] Continue reading "Red-Twig Dogwoods"