Perennials
Did you know the Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado State University have selected an entire series of perennials designed to prosper in Colorado? These plants thrive in the sunny and often dry conditions of the Rocky Mountain summers and survive our variable winters. The line of plants is called Plant Select® and you can identify them by looking for the Plant Select® logo on each tag. Be sure to visit Rabbit Shadow in the spring, summer and fall to check out these perennials and a host of others we grow.
While perennials can be planted anytime you can work the soil, spring and fall are especially good times to add them to your garden. With spring planting, perennials will have time to begin establishing themselves before the heat of the summer and planting in the fall gives your plants time to settle in after the extreme summer temperatures and before the winter cold.
Some of our favorite Plant Select® perennials include:
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Agastache rupestris Sunset (Also Called: Sunset® Hyssop) (Agastache rupestris) Bold brushes of sunset-orange flowers from August to frost. Native to high mountains of the Southwest, the whole plant exudes a rich, root beer aroma. An exotic contribution to water-smart gardens or perennial borders. Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Callirhoe involucrata (Also Called: Wine Cups or Poppy Mallow) (Callirhoe involucrata) This native thrives at the front of the border, in the wild garden and Xeriscape™ where it enjoys the full sun, blooming with wine-red flowers from April to hard frost. Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Delosperma Red Mountain (Also Called: Ice Plant - Red Mountain®) (Delosperma dyeri 'Psdold') Glowing burnished red carpet of flowers span the growing season. Light: Full sun to partial shade Height: 2" |
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Delosperma Table Mountain (Also Called: Ice Plant - Table Mountain®)(Delosperma 'John Proffitt') A fast spreading groundcover from South Africa that blooms for most of the growing season. The lustrous, fuchsia-colored flowers are an improvement on Delosperma cooperi. During the winter the leaves remain turgid and green, often tinged with purple. Light: Sun to partial shade |
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Gazania krebsiana Tanager (Also Called: Gazania - Taganer®) (Gazania krebsiana) Fluorescent orange daisies from earliest spring to late autumn create dazzling specimens ideal for mass displays. Glossy, dark green leaves develop a deep purple tinge in the winter months. Reseeds moderately in zone 5 and is hardy in protected microclimates. Xeriscape™ Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Gazania linearis Colorado Gold (Also Called: Gazania - Colorado Gold®) (Gazania linearis) This plant has glossy mounds of deep green, strap-shaped leaves with three-inch, shiny yellow flowers throughout the season. This selection is cold hardy compared to the annual bedding gazanias. It does well under ordinary garden treatment, or in unamended, dry soils (once established). Xeriscape™ Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Osteospermum Purple Mountain (Also Called: Purple Mountain® Sun Daisy or Hardy African Daisy) (Osteospermum barberiae var. compactum) Bright purple daisies completely cover the trim mat of rich green leaves from late April to midsummer. With deadheading, it blooms sparingly until frost. A dazzling wild flower from the summits of the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa. Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Penstemon Pikes Peak Purple (Also Called: Penstemon - Pikes Peak Purple® or Beard Tongue) (Penstemon x mexicali) Durable hybrid penstemon selected from crosses made by Bruce Meyers between Mexican and American wild penstemons. Narrow, dark green leaves form an attractive mound. Pike's Peak Purple® blooms in violet-purple. Thrives in a range of sites and soils. Xeriscape™ Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Penstemon Red Rocks (Also Called: Penstemon - Red Rocks® or Beard Tongue) (Penstemon x mexicali) Durable hybrid penstemon selected from crosses made by Bruce Meyers between Mexican and American wild penstemons. Narrow, dark green leaves form an attractive mound. Red Rocks® sports a constant succession of bright rose flowers all summer. Thrives in a range of sites and soils. Xeriscape™ Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Penstemon Rostiflorus Bridges (Also Called: Penstemon - Bridges or Beard Tongue) (Penstemon rostriflorus) Dark evergreen foliage covered with a constant succession of scarlet trumpet flowers through the hot summer months. Long lived and durable under a wide range of climatic conditions. Little known Southwestern native wildflower. Light: Full sun to partial shade |
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Salvia Greggii Furmans Red (Also Called: Furman's Red Sage) (Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red') Hardy selection of a southwestern ever-blooming sage. Crimson to scarlet flowers are produced in repeated flushes through the summer and autumn. Best cut back in spring. Xeriscape™ Light: Full sun to partial shade |
