Gardening with Boulder's Native Plants

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What is a Native Plant?
Gorgeous Recommended Species
Colorado Native Plant Society: List of Native Plants Recommended for Horticulture (32.22 KB)
OSMP Wildflower Brochure (2.76 MB)
Native Garden Growing Tips
Where can I buy them?

 

Now Recruiting!
Native Plant Garden Volunteers to help with the Chautauqua Ranger Cottage garden. Follow this link for more information.

Why Garden with Colorado's Native Plants?

Photo - white-lined sphinx moth visits Rocky Mountain penstemon in a Boulder native plant garden.

Beauty - Boulder's natives are gorgeous additions to any garden, providing a range of growth habits from ground covers to shrubs and trees, with lovely foliage plants and hardy bloomers included. A native garden will bloom from very early spring until well after the first snow flies. Click here to meet these lovely plants.

Uniqueness - Chances are, no one else on the block will have a garden like it. Many native wildflowers and grasses are more subtle than the run-of-the-mill hybridized petunias, marigolds and pansies that everyone else has.

Low Care and Low Water - Since they have grown here for millennia, Boulder's natives have evolved to shrug off anything the local environment can throw at them. Hail? Drought? Heavy spring snow? Early frost? No problem. Once established, some may never need to be watered.

Wildlife - Colorado's fauna and flora have developed countless symbiotic relationships. Native plants will attract a bevy of beasts, birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. Plus, you can feel good about providing animals with the habitat they need to survive.

Biodiversity - Native plants have suffered under an onslaught of exotic species. Some introduced garden plants, like dame's rocket, perennial sweet pea, myrtle spurge and purple loosetrife have escaped cultivation to become noxious weeds (click here to see photos of these bad plants). They threaten to destroy the natural lands that you have purchased through the OSMP program. Give the natives a chance to reclaim the landscape by sowing them in your garden.

Our Heritage - Native plant gardens celebrate our biological and cultural heritage, helping to maintain a local and regional identity we can be proud of. Learn about and pass on the lore and knowledge humans have gleaned from these plants over the centuries. Success - If you provide these plants with the same care and environment they receive in the wild, they will succeed. That's good for you!

So What's a Native Plant?

Photo - Shooting Star, a native wildflower of moist shady canyons, is sometimes available at nursuries.

The Colorado Native Plant Society (CONPS) adopted the following definitions of native plant and local native plant to help you understand what you are planting in Colorado and the potential impacts of what you plant. If the plant materials are to be used in urban areas, we recommend using native plants or local native plant materials. Native plant - a plant species "that occurs naturally in a particular region, state, ecosystem, and habitat without direct or indirect human actions" (Federal Native Plant Conservation Committee, 1994). We recommend using this definition of native plant for landscaping in urban areas. For example, Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) occurs naturally in the wild along the Front Range, therefore, it would be a "native plant" for landscaping purposes within the Boulder and Denver area. Plant species that are "native" to other states or countries and were brought to Colorado through nurseries or other means--often noxious weeds such as Russian olive, myrtle spurge and dame's rocket--are not considered native plants by CONPS and may actually do significant damage to Colorado's ecology. To clarify whether or not a plant species naturally occurs in Colorado, refer to Catalog of Colorado Flora by William A. Weber and Ronald C. Wittmann. This definition of native plant would include native plants that have been bred for improvements and cultivars. Cultivars are often not adapted to local environmental conditions.

In many cases, a native plant or cultivar brought from out of state is not adapted to Colorado and may hybridize with Colorado plants, weakening the local gene pool. Cultivars may flower too early, fail to set seed, show poor diseases/pest resistance and fail to thrive due to climatic differences. No one really knows what effect these cultivars will have on the wildlife that depend on local native plant species for food. If a local native plant's bloom period, color, or frost hardiness is changed, it could have a drastic effect on the hummingbirds, bees and other wildlife that may utilize them. Local native plant - a population or ecotype of native plant species that was grown from genetically local plant materials--in our case, from Boulder County and preferably from the same elevation and local climate as your garden.

Photo - This Boulder garden shows off golden banner (top), cutleaf fleabane (middle) and Bell's twinpod (bottom).

In Colorado there may be many ecotypes (genetic versions adapted to specific local conditions) of the same native plant species. For instance, Indian ricegrass (Stipa hymenoides) may have ecotypes for the Gunnison Basin, Grand Junction area, Durango and the Front Range. Within its populations or ecotypes, native plants maintain genetic material and adaptations to local climate changes, elevation, disturbance and other conditions that characterize the area in which it evolved. The Gunnison Basin ecotype plant material would be adapted to cold, dry desert conditions, long hard winters and early fall frosts. The Grand Junction ecotype would be adapted to dry, hot summers and drought conditions. For best gardening results, one would use genetically local native plant materials for restoration/revegetation rather than native plant cultivars or non-local native plant materials. This definition does not include cultivars or "improved" varieties of native plants.

 

Where can I buy these plants?

Digging up wild plants is a NO-NO
We don't recommend transplanting vegetation from the wild and it may be illegal! All plants, including seeds and rootstocks, are protected on OSMP land and may not be collected. Wild plants may be doing more environmental good where they are than in your garden. Nurseries seldom collect and sell wild plants.

Many plant nurseries around Boulder, and some vendors at the Boulder Farmers' Market stock Colorado natives but be careful! There are many non-native look-alikes for sale, often with similar names. To be certain you are really buying a native and not a potentially noxious masquerader, download and print out the Colorado Native Plant Society's List of Native Plants Recommended for Horticulture (32.22 KB). Also beware of so-called "wildflower seed mixes," which often contain non-native pests. For more information, visit the Colorado Native Plant Society's web page at: www.conps.org

The nursery trade uses the plant's full scientific, or Latin, name to be sure they are supplying you with the proper species. Carry your list of recommended plants with you when you shop, and verify those Latin names before you buy! For more information on specific look-alikes to avoid, see our Native Garden Growing Tips page.

Photo - White (stemless) evening primrose and blue mist penstemon are easy to find in local nurseries.

Boulder Area Suppliers

These suppliers were found to carry at least 10 species on the CONPS list--we will update this list as we find more nurseries that carry natives.

Gem O' The Field - 303-823-5776, stocks many Boulder natives, sets up a booth at Boulder's Farmer's Market.

Harlequin's Gardens - 303-939-9403, 4795 N. 26th Street, Boulder; open Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun 10:00 - 5:00. Extensive selection of Boulder native shrubs, wildflowers, ground covers.

Sturtz & Copeland Florists and Greenhouses, 303-442-6663, 2851 Valmont Road. Some native wildflowers and shrubs.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 October 2009 13:23