Page 32 - AreaNewsletters "Mar 2022" issue

Xeriscaping with Style
Flamingos Optional
By Master Gardener Krista Gay
When I was growing up in Denver, there were several yards on my block that had no grass, just white and red patterns of rock and a couple of yucca plants. Sometimes the design was “spiced up” with a smattering of black lava rock and a pink plastic amingo. The de nition of xeriscaping is ‘a style that requires little or no irrigation’, my neighbors were pro cient in the irrigation part but de nitely lacking in the style department!
Xeriscape plants are not only wa- ter-wise but often are easy to maintain. The rst season, they will need to be watered more frequently, especially the rst three weeks after planting. After those weeks, gradually cutting back on the amount of water they are given is acceptable. Once established, they do not need much maintenance, and they rarely need fertilizer! Although it is best to prune dead or diseased plant matter and cut them back in the spring, it is wonderful to leave the seed heads on the plants in the fall! This will increase the hardiness of the plants and provide a feast for birds and shelter for many other pollinators.
Today, you can have a yard that is both water-wise AND stylish! Many xeriscape plants are native to Colorado, pollina- tor-friendly, and require little or no irriga- tion once established. If I could go back in time, I could be a garden fashionista of style and encourage my neighbors to use some of these plants in their designs:
MAXIMILIAN SUNFLOWERS
grow to a mature height of 6-10 feet! They love the full sun of our Colorado summers. These stunning blooms have low water needs, are deer resistant, and at- tract bees, birds, and butter ies!
PINELEAF PENSTEMON has proli c blooms of funnel-shaped owers! It loves sunny, dry gar- dens, and pollinators are drawn to it as it dances in mid-summer.
BLUE NATIVE HARBELLS
have low water needs, but you would never know it as the hum- mingbirds dart around the purple spring and summer bloom.
WILD BERGAMOT, or beebalm, is a member of the mint fami-
ly that has clusters of ragged pompom-looking owers! The fragrant leaves surround blooms of pink, white, or lavender.
March 2022 • Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters”
32
H O ME & G A R D E N