Best Perennials For The Rocky Mountains And High Plains

Planning a successful perennial garden in Colorado, the Rocky Mountains and High Plains comes with its share of soil and climate challenges. Best Perennials for the Rocky Mountain High Plains is a comprehensive guide to the best performing perennials based on performance results from Colorado State University's W.D. Holley Plant Environmental Research Center (PERC). The 322 plants described in this publication were rated according to landscape use, height, width, foliage color and fall effect, winter injury, ornamental fruit, disease and insect problems. These top-performing perennials are ideal for xeriscapes, rock gardens, wildflower gardens, and the traditional perennial border. Plants that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are also featured. This book is a necessary tool for the horticulture industry, landscape architects and designers, park personnel, the home gardener, and horticulturists in the Rocky Mountain-High Plains region.

Rocky Mountain Gardener’s Handbook includes 300 plant profiles organized under ten plant categories, from annuals to vines. Each plant profile page includes three recommended plants, with full-color images, helpful icons for sun and shade requirements, and planting and growing information. Twelve months of around-the-garden maintenance information for each plant category assists the gardener with what to do to maintain a Rocky Mountain garden. Includes helpful charts, illustrations, and full-color plant images.

The Colorado Gardener’s Companion is your guide to cultivating a successful garden in the Centennial State. Whether you are an experienced green thumb or an inquiring novice, whether you live in the mountains, on the Western Slope, along the Front Range, or on the eastern plains, this easy-to-understand guide will help you grow bountiful vegetables, abundant flowers, and lush lawns. You will learn:What’s in your Colorado soil and how to improve itHow to take advantage of the state’s semiarid climateTechniques to maximize the short growing seasonThe best high-performance plant varieties for your climate How to landscape to conserve waterWays to deal with the challenges of Colorado’s wild weatherLocal sources of hands-on assistance with gardening questionsIn short, how to succeed in your Rocky Mountain garden

Wildscaping is creating healthy diverse habitats that include native plantings to feed, shelter, and nurture wild creatures. This guidebook will help beginner and veteran gardeners alike to design. maintain, and enjoy a Colorado Wildscape of their very own. The journal format encourages the inclusion of personal sketches and notes on its pages.

Tough-but-beautiful plant picks There’s a growing demand for dependably hardy plants that require less maintenance and less water, but look no less beautiful in the garden. Plant Select—the leading purveyor of plants designed to thrive in difficult climates—meets this need by promoting plants that allow gardeners everywhere to have stunning, environmentally-friendly gardens that use fewer resources. Pretty Tough Plants highlights 135 of Plant Select’s top plant picks. Each profile features a color photograph and specific details about the plant’s size, best features, and bloom season, along with cultural needs, landscape features, and design ideas. The plant list includes perennials and annuals, groundcovers, grasses, shrubs, and trees. A chart at the end of the book makes it easy to choose the right plants for specific conditions and needs.

Colorado's booming population and recent drought have made wise water use a top priority in the Centennial State. Whether you're establishing a new Xeriscape or you wish to transform your existing landscape into a lush yet water-thrifty oasis, Xeriscape Colorado shows you exactly how. Landscape designer Connie Lockhart Ellefson and Denver Water's David Winger take you step by step through the seven principles of Xeriscape: planning and design, soil analysis and improvement, practical turf areas, informed plant choice, efficient irrigation, mulching, and maintenance. Book jacket.

Rocky Mountain Gardener's Handbook is an all-inclusive gardener's reference book. It includes plant information as well as when-to-do-it information. Covering decorative landscape plants and edible plants, this handbook is a thorough introduction to gardening in the Rocky Mountains.