A well-designed perennial garden staggers different blooming times for all-season color. But annuals add color within a perennial bed from early spring to the first deadly frost in fall. And the color palette of annuals can be changed each year. Plant pockets of annuals among perennials and shrubs.
Sun annuals/tall: Argyranthemum frutescens “Butterfly,” dianthus “First Love,” marigold “Inca,” salvia, snapdragon, cleome, zinnia, verbena “Rigida,” “Bonariensis,” cosmos, rudbeckia hirta.
Sun annuals/fillers/borders: petunia “Supertunia,” verbena “Babylon,” verbena “Tapien,” “Tukana,” “Temari,” alyssum
Shade annuals/tall: begonia “Dragon Wing,” coleus, fuchsia Upright
Shade annuals/fillers/borders: New Guinea impatiens, impatiens | Annie Huston, Columbine Design, Englewood
Bet on blooms
There is something magic about coming through a weary winter and knowing that spring has arrived because of the blossoming crabs or hawthorn trees. Because of occasional late frosts, which ends flowering, plant later-blooming hawthorn varieties or ornamental pears that also have gorgeous fall color. If you find crabapple fruits a nuisance, try “Spring Snow” (Malus x “Spring Snow”), which has beautiful white blooms, doesn’t bear fruit and resists disease.
Dwarf varieties include “Sgt. Tina” (Malus sargentii “Tina”), a crab; weeping cherry (Prunus x “Snofozam’); and a new weeping peach (Prunus “Crimson Cascade”). Some can be planted in large patio containers. Shrubs developed in tree form are “Miss Kim Lilac” (Syringa patula “Miss Kim”) and althea (Rose of Sharon).
A personal favorite is the Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis). Bright fuchsia flowers cover the bare branches and are almost luminescent in their appearance. A weeping variety drips pink blossoms in the early spring. |Lynn M. Gregory, Chelsea Gardens, Denver
Robust bulbs
Bulbs are tough. Once I planted hybrid tulips in hard clay soil where I needed to use a pickax to dig. Not only did they bloom the next spring, but they helped make the soil more workable. Tulips originated in Turkey (where the dry climate is very similar to Colorado). They are perfect for our gardens. Try miniatures and Tulipa kaufmaniana, T. fosteriana, T. gregii.
Other bulbs to plant: Chionodoxa spp (Glory of Snow), Galanthus spp (Snowdrop), Scilla spp, Iris reticulata (Dwarf Iris), Narcissus spp (Daffodil), Crocus spp (corms not bulbs). |Ebi Kondo, senior horticulturist, Denver Botanic Gardens
A meal deal
With their intriguing forms, bold colors and unusual capturing devices, these sure-to-amaze carnivorous gems will be the talk of your garden. Two touches on minute trigger hairs cause the leaves to lock shut on unsuspecting prey.
Venus flytrap (pictured above) will tickle your fancy in a big way. Tiny bladderwort flowers can measure only several millimeters across, but the bladders are lightening fast (to one-thousandth of a second). A soil mix of half sand and half peat moss works well for these easy-to-care-for wonders. |Joe Tomocik, curator, Denver Botanic Gardens
Smoke gets in your eyes
The smoke tree is unusual and not used very often, but I have planted this at every home I’ve owned. The plant grows to 15 feet tall with a spread of 6 to 8 feet, and should be planted in a somewhat protected area. Rich, dark purple leaves last throughout the season, and small pinkish-white flowers on airy clusters give the plant its smokey effect. |Matt Donberger, American Civil Constructors, Littleton
Feel the love
The only truly essential thing for any garden is for a gardener to love it. That said, in our personal gardens we would not be without feathery tussock grasses. In the bright sunlight and strong winds characteristic of the state, these plants celebrate the climate as they glow in the sun and bow to the breezes.
Try prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica), New Mexico needle and thread grass (Hesperostipa neomexicana) and Arizona fescue (Festuca arizonica.) All are happy in unamended clay soil and should be planted in the spring. All but the sedge do best in full sun. |Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden, garden designers and authors (plantdrivendesign.com)
