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Plant Selectâ: Plants with the Right Stuff By Sally Cogdill |
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Gardeners who are
tired of trips to the garden
center to buy replacements for plants that haven’t survived in
Colorado's challenging growing conditions may be making fewer of these
trips with the aid of Plant Selectâ. Begun in 1997, Plant Selectâ is a plant evaluation and introduction program whose mission is to seek out and distribute the best plants for gardens in the Rocky Mountain region. At numerous test gardens throughout the area, plants chosen as candidates for the program are grown, observed and evaluated. A propagation committee meets regularly to discuss the pros and cons of the plants and determines if propagation is feasible. Ones showing the most promise in these trials undergo additional study and observation, and then five to seven plants that measure up best to the program’s criteria are selected for introduction each year. These plants are sold with the Plant Selectâ label, often in special displays at garden centers. Some of the plants introduced by Plant Selectâ are natives. Other selections are non-native plants that have grown successfully in the region for many years. Also included are plants from places around the globe that have climates similar to Colorado’s. For example, some of the plants are introductions from mountainous regions such as the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa and the Alps. The Plant Selectâ introductions can meet a variety of landscaping needs. Most numerous are colorful perennials and flowering shrubs, but you will also find small trees, stunning ornamental grasses, practical groundcovers and eye-catching annuals. Incorporating these new or underused plants can provide a distinctive look to the garden. They offer innovative gardeners an opportunity to get away from cookie-cutter landscapes and enable them to create a uniquely Coloradan garden style. Fittingly, the majority are Xeriscapeä plants. Drought cycles are commonplace in this semi-arid region; therefore, plants that are well suited to the environment are adapted to dry conditions and can survive when rainfall is limited. When installing a new landscape or renovating an established one, consider creating a dry zone where some of these plants can be featured. Keep in mind, however, that Xeriscapeä plants that receive too much water are likely to die. Avoid planting them in heavily watered areas. Denver
Botanic Gardens and Colorado State University together with landscape
and nursery professionals throughout the Rocky Mountain region
administer this highly acclaimed cooperative program.
Thanks to their expertise and the Plant Selectâ
program’s design, plants that are uniquely adapted to Colorado’s gardens
have become more readily available.
If they are planted and maintained
properly these plants should thrive. They are plants
with the right stuff.
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Some Plant Selectâ Selections That Are Xeriscapeä Plants
Perennials:
Annuals
(Perennials grown as annuals in Colorado):
Shrubs:
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