Plant Select News Stories

Blonde Ambition wins second award

09/12/2011

Blonde Ambition wins Best New Perennial/Grass at Farwest Show's New Varieties Showcase.

Photo contest winners

08/15/2011

Thirty two entries were received for our first-ever photo contest. Three winners have been chosen.

2011 Partner Award winners announced

06/23/2011

Individuals, organizations, and gardens are presented awards each year. Read about the 2011 winners here.

Avalanche - a summer snowstorm

06/15/2011

Soothing, cool white flowers all summer long, and super hardy too. Avalanche is the newest in hardy South African sun daisies.

Baby blue rabbitbrush

06/15/2011

Soft blue mounds all summer long turn to blazes of yellow in August - read about this beautiful alternative dwarf rabbitbrush for xeriscapes.

Bullet-proof beauty (Erodium)

05/02/2011

What are you waiting for? This bullet-proof beauty is a MUST HAVE for all western gardens!

A blue grama goes blonde (Bouteloua)

05/02/2011

Being ambitious, and a handsome blonde, means this grass's virtues really stand out when it mingles with other attractive grasses and late-blooming perennials!

New video - 2011 winning plants!

04/26/2011

The 2011 selections include a beautiful palette of hardy, adaptable plants for Western gardens (and beyond!)

Downloadable Xeriscape designs

02/28/2011

Are you redesigning your yard for easier maintenance and low water needs? Do you have a new home with a yard that needs to be greened up? Check out these free, downloadable designs

2011 winners announced

01/12/2011

Plant Select^®, a collaborative effort with Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado State University, and regional and national horticultural professionals, is pleased to announce seven new plants to be promoted for 2011.

New video: Trees

11/09/2010

Watch a musical video of images of trees introduced and recommended by Plant Select^®

New video of 2010 winners

11/09/2010

Watch a musical video of images of the 2010 recommended plants.

Denver Daisy wins National Award!

09/07/2010

The public has voted, and Denver Daisy (a 2009 Plant Select^® introduction) has won the Grand Prize 2010 American Garden Award.

Design Gallery updates

06/02/2010

Our readers have asked for images of real landscapes using Plant Select offerings, and we're responding. Be sure to check in often for inspiration!

A plant of a different feather: Partridge feather

05/17/2010

Looking for a durable groundcover for year round beauty in your dry garden? Try partridge feather!

Out of Africa - again! (Regal torchlily)

04/27/2010

Chosen for it's beautiful foliage as much for its blooms, this recommendation for 2010 is not your ordinary kniphofia!

One hot yucca for one hot spot (Hesperaloe)

04/22/2010

Need a beautiful, durable plant for your hot spot? Red yucca, a 2010 recommendation, may be the answer!

Spring blooms, autumn hips (Red leaf rose)

04/12/2010

This old-time favorite deserves more recognition: beautiful flowers, foliage and fall hips. Another 2010 recommendation!

Colorful plumes for your garden: Red Feathers

03/24/2010

Seven plants have been announced for the 2010 winners. Red Feathers is an exciting new color choice for western gardeners.

Point of Sale materials NOW available!

02/16/2010

Retail and wholesale garden centers and nurseries can now order new point of sale materials to help promote "The Best Plants for Western Gardens."

Video 2010 winners

01/10/2010

A video of the 2010 winners

If only new seeds came with instructions...

12/28/2009

Ever wondered who figures out how to propagate new plants? Brien Darby shares the secrets to germination trials at Denver Botanic Gardens.

Mojave Sage: City of Lakewood adopts Mojave Sage!

08/26/2009

Perhaps for the first time ever, a municipality has adopted a Plant Select^® recommendation as their official "plant."

VERMILION BLUFFS Mexican Sage:Red hot for hummers!

08/17/2009

After more than 6 years, the original plants are still going strong!

Gardens at Kendrick Lake wins award

07/07/2009

Congratulations to the entire staff dedicated to designing and maintaining these amazing public gardens in Lakewood, Colorado!

2009 Individual Partner Award Winner

07/01/2009

Dr. Jim Klett wins the individual partner award for 2009.

CORONADO Red Hyssop: Red and Radiant

06/10/2009

This locally discovered form of hyssop will bloom all summer and is water-thrifty, too!

Kick up your heels with silverheels horehound!

05/12/2009

Looking for a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant beautiful groundcover? Silverheels horehound is just what you need!

LAVENDER ICE: Cool Off With This Hot New Plant

05/06/2009

Ice, ice baby! Do you need something to cool off a hot spot in your garden? Look no further - LAVENDER ICE^TM is now available.

Korean Feather Reed Grass:Feathers For Your Garden

04/14/2009

This little known perennial grass from Korea is hardy, adaptable to drier climates, and adds feathery beauty to your garden.

Little Leaves, Little Work: Curlleaf Mtn Mahogany

04/02/2009

Are you Looking for a low-water native shrub that's evergreen in easy to care for? Littleleaf mountain mahogany may be just the answer.

New Website Feature: Design Gallery

02/17/2009

With more than 80 plants in the Plant Select^® program, it's sometimes hard to know where to start. Our new Design Gallery offers beautiful, inspiring photos along with a short description of the plants to help you get started.

Now Available: Durable Plants for the Garden

12/15/2008

This all-inclusive book about the plants, people, and stories behind the first 74 plants recommended and introduced through Plant Select® has just begun arriving in member stores and booksellers!

Another peek inside our new book!

12/01/2008

You can pre-order your copy now, but in the meantime read more about Giant Sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) here.

Preview of Durable Plants for the Garden

11/13/2008

Even though this fantastic new resource won't be out until January, 2009, you can take a peek inside now. Read more about SUNSET® foxglove here.

Pansy Mania Starts Now!

09/26/2008

The first day of fall signals the beginning of pansy season in this area. It’s time to think about replacing those tender annuals with cold-hardy pansies.

DENVER DAISY: Denver Daisy dazzles

08/25/2008

Thousands of DENVER DAISY^TM plants are in full glory around the region – now’s the time to enjoy this Plant Select^® exclusive, developed in celebration of Denver’s 150^th anniversary.

Enjoy beautiful late summer displays

08/25/2008

Recent rains have rejuvenated regional gardens – this is a great time to explore Plant Select^® in local settings at official demonstration gardens.

2009 Colorado Garden and Home Show

01/26/2008

This year, garden-related presentations at the Colorado Garden & Home Show promise to be better than ever. As a supporter of Plant Select, the Colorado Garden Show, Inc. is offering discount coupons to the public through our site.

Horticultural Heirloom: Kintzley's Ghost

01/24/2008

This stunning ornamental vine caught the eye of Scott Skogerboe (Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery) in 2001 while driving down a side street in old town Ft. Collins. At first glance it looked like a Silver Dollar Eucalyptus because it was covered abundantly with silver-dollar sized white disks. He slammed on his brakes in order to get a closer look.

A Feast for the Eyes and the Birds

01/23/2008

Red Birds in a Tree is a hummingbird’s delight. The hovering birds are attracted to the luscious cherry-red tubular flowers that sit atop dark green, ovate, toothed leaves. Just look at the flower and you will see how it earned its descriptive name.

BLUE VELVET/NORTHERN LIGHTS Pansy: Pretty Pansies

01/22/2008

Pansies are an important plant in Colorado, providing three seasons of color, particularly through winter on the Front Range.

LITTLE TRUDY Catnip: Long-awaited Compact Catnip

01/21/2008

LITTLE TRUDY^® Catnip is a long-awaited compact catnip that is well-suited to our regional climate. Its long-blooming, deep lavender flowers attract bees and butterflies. The lavender hue goes well with yellow, pink, rose, or white flowers. Suggested garden companions are: SILVER BLADE^® Evening Primrose, Starburst Ice Plant, RED ROCKS^® Penstemon, and LAVENDER MIST^® Sun Daisy.

Beautiful Bells for the Border: Clematis

01/20/2008

Most of us associate clematis with the spectacular climbers, like C. jackmannii, that drape and festoon fences and arbors for lucky gardeners much of the summer.

Saint Theresa Seedless Grape: Glorious Grape

01/20/2008

Saint Theresa Seedless Grape (Vitis × 'St. Theresa Seedless') is a superb new table grape for the Rocky Mountain region. This very hardy and mostly seedless (an occasional seed or two is discovered) purple grape offers an abundance of large clusters of sweet fruit in early September.

Seven-Son Flower: Be the First on Your Block!

01/19/2008

Seven-Son Flower is a small tree to large shrub. This unusual member of the honeysuckle family is not a vine but a handsome vase-shaped woody plant and one that is relatively unknown to most gardeners. During the growing season, Seven-Son Flower is covered with 4-6 inch long thick, glossy leaves.

An Irresistible Penstemon to Add to Your Collectio

01/18/2008

The genus Penstemon, commonly known as beardtongue, has long been a staple in our Rocky Mountain region gardens and a new representative to the scene this summer will be SHADOW MOUNTAIN^® Penstemon (Penstemon ^xmexicali 'Psmyers'.)

Purple Winter Savory: Savory in any Season

01/17/2008

Purple Winter Savory is an unusual member of the mint family. It maintains a very short and compact mounding habit, and blooms late in the season when many garden perennials are looking bedraggled from the long hot summer.

HOT WINGS Tatarian Maple: A Tree For All Seasons

01/13/2008

HOT WINGS Tatarian Maple is a superior small ornamental tree that was discovered right in our home state of Colorado, destined for distribution throughout the country. The natural range of Tatarian maple is from Southeastern Europe into Western Asia. It likely arrived in North America in the early 1900’s during the days of the U.S. Department of Agriculture world-wide plant exploration. It started to appear in Colorado nurseries in the early 1980’s when regional nurserymen discovered this maple was much more tolerant of our alkaline soils than other cold-hardy ornamental maples.

RED MOUNTAIN Ice Plant: Roll Out the Red Carpet

01/13/2008

Everyone seems to know and love the hardy ice plants. Both the yellow and purple ice plants have become such mainstays of Colorado gardens that some would find it hard to believe that they were both virtually unknown to horticulture a few decades ago. You can be the first person on your block to try what may be the most spectacular ice plant of all. High in the dry mountains the Eastern Cape province in South Africa there is an ice plant that comes in a range of orangey-yellow to scarlet shades.

A Grand Plant from Grand Mesa

01/12/2008

A drive on nearly any mountain highway offers a spring and summer display of brightly colored “sulphur flowers” along the roadside. One of the prettiest selections of this genus of buckwheat plants is KANNAH CREEK^® Buckwheat, introduced this season by Plant Select^®. This durable western native was found in the Kannah Creek region of western Colorado in the shadow of Grand Mesa. Kannah Creek rises on Grand Mesa and is a tributary of the Gunnison River.

A Small But Showy Tree: Clear Creek Yellowhorn

01/11/2008

Yellowhorn is a striking small tree and is often grown as a large shrub. This attractive specimen is relatively unknown in commerce and not often found in gardens. The growth habit of this useful tree is more upright in form and the branching pattern is rather stiff and coarse. The plant is extremely eye-catching when the beautiful flowers appear in April and May.

Bring on the Hummers (Vermilion Bluffs sage)

01/10/2008

Salvia darcyi was originally found in the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains in Mexico and it has proven to be hardy in my gardens at Heritage Golf Course in Westminster, Colorado since 2001. VERMILION BLUFFS^® Mexican Sage (Salvia darcyi ‘Pscarl’) has unbeatable spikes of brilliant red flowers from August thru October that hummingbirds can’t resist. During the drought and heat of the 2002 season, when the native mountain wild flowers were pretty crispy, I had the pleasure of observing at least three pairs of hummingbirds battling over these plants!

Bridges' Penstemon: Scarlet Sensation

01/09/2008

First time summer visitors to the Rockies are often struck by the abundance of scarlet tubular flowers everywhere you look in the high meadows. One often sees hummingbirds darting from scarlet gilia to penstemons in the summer months, always a highlight for the observant visitor. Many of these mountain plants adapt well to the Xeriscape or border in your home garden.

PLATINUM Sage: Precious Treasure

01/08/2008

PLATINUM^® Sage is a knockout beauty in the sunny, dry garden. The deep blue flowers contrast with an electric intensity against silver foliage that is indeed stunning. The compact size of PLATINUM^® Sage lends it great versatility. The neat, silver rosettes of foliage are perfect for edging sunny, dry borders or easily tucked into the rock garden in tidy clumps. In addition, it is equally useful as a low growing companion with other xeric perennials or shrubs. As flowering diminishes the rosettes of textured, silvery leaves continue to draw attention into the weeks of winter.

Panchito Manzanita: A Native Not To Miss

01/08/2008

Are you ready for a change? Are you weary of the same old low growing groundcover junipers? Change is good! Are you searching for a broad leaf evergreen that could be used to replace those somewhat monotonous junipers and more? The plant you seek has to grow in poor soil, dry conditions and in full sun to partial shade. The plant you need is coming to a garden center near you. And the plant is Priceless! Welcome Panchito Manzanita (Arctostaphylos ×coloradoensis) to your garden and enjoy.

Giant Sacaton: A Grass for Texture and Beauty

01/07/2008

Giant Sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) is a wonderful xeric, southwestern native grass. The golden seed heads on this grass can easily reach six feet tall, which makes it a great replacement for other non-native, water loving grasses like Maiden Grass (Miscanthus).

Ruby Moon Hyacinth Bean: Let This Vine Twine

01/06/2008

When flowering vines are mentioned, Coloradoans first think of Clematis. Climbing roses may enter the picture. It can take many years for either of these to achieve their full glory, but what if you could have a flowering vine that made a huge impact the first year?

Fernbush: Fantastic Fernbush

01/06/2008

Fernbush is one of the southwest’s greatest plant treasures. The long bloom period begins in mid-June and will often last into August. Fernbush also gives the appearance of being an evergreen shrub in the winter, due to having foliate buds. The foliate buds are not encased or hidden by a bud-scale, making next years leaves visible during the winter months.

Moon Carrot: Interesting, Unusual and Fun!

01/05/2008

Once again Plant Select^® has found an unusual plant to promote that has been in the trade but underused in local gardens. Commonly known as the Moon Carrot, Sesli gummiferum comes to the program backed by accolades from our own Denver Botanic Gardens. It has been field grown en masse by local growers who are supplying the seed. This easy to grow, adaptable plant now needs a home in your garden!

Mock Bearberry Manzanita: A Magnificient Manzanita

01/04/2008

Change is good! What would you call a broad leaf evergreen that could be used to replace the monotonous low growing groundcover juniper? What would you call a plant that grows in poor soil, dry conditions and full sun or partial shade? Such a plant would be called ‘PRICELESS’ and it is coming to a garden center near you! Welcome the Mock Bearberry Manzanita.

VALLEY LAVENDER Plains Verbena: Gem of the Prairie

01/03/2008

When gardeners think of verbenas, they usually think of the brilliant red, pink, purple or white annuals that are often used in annual bedding schemes. Native plant enthusiasts know of several verbenas that grow natively in the Rocky Mountain region that look very much like the annual sorts.

Wild Thing and Furman's Red Sage: Double Delight

01/02/2008

Do water woes have you seeing red? These two Plant Select^® 2005 selections are worthy of blue ribbon attention in your garden. Rated as XXX (very drought tolerant) by the Garden Centers of Colorado, these Salvias reward you with a long blooming display of flowers from late spring through early fall.

Mojave Sage: A Sage for all Seasons

01/01/2008

If you are looking for a plant to add structure and backdrop in your garden, Salvia pachyphylla or Mohave Sage may be just the plant for you. Mohave Sage stands 36” or better in the garden with a width of at least the same. It usually takes a couple of growing seasons for it to gain this stature.