Best Tried and True Flowers for My Denver Colorado Garden

What to plant in your Denver garden?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve planted and killed more plants than you care to admit. (Hey, that’s a good idea for another blog post). However, many have also survived and are thriving. Some are excelling and some have been a bit of a disappointment.

I’ll be the first to admit that I do not baby my plants, nor do I prepare the soil with great care. I’m kind of rough on them actually. Very rarely do I feed them. In fact, I can’t remember that last time I did, now that I think of it. One thing I am big on is mulch. Mulch, mulch, mulch. Lots of mulch. Shredded cedar is my mulch of choice. I love how it smells and looks. It mats down quite nicely and doesn’t get tossed around when windy. I swear by it to help keep the soil moist and cool.

Since I don’t have a lot of room in my typical suburban lot, all my flower beds perform for Spring, Summer, and Fall. I’m a big believer in a combination of succession planting and long-blooming perennials. A term you hear mostly describing a vegetable gardening strategy, succession planting is where you plant flowers that bloom at different times in the same garden bed. When one set of flowers is done, another is already or beginning to flower. This color burst is happening from April through September, with June/July providing the most flowers in bloom at the same time.

Everything plays a part – the shade of the neighbor’s trees, the house, if the flower bed is open to the north and exposed to cold winds, if the flower bed is sheltered from the wind but in a sunnier spot. It takes several years of observing your property to figure it all out, but even then, trees get bigger or they die and turn a shady spot into a sunny spot. It’s ever-changing, and so will your garden be.

But on to the point of this post. Pictures are posted at the very end of this article. Clicking on each of the pictures will display them larger. Two clicks, even larger. Then use your back button to get back to the blog post.

Here are my best and most reliable flowers throughout the growing season. While these hold the spotlight in my gardens, they are definitely not all the flowers I have. It’s also important that you’re aware that many plants have early, mid, and late blooming varieties. Some are even rebloomers, where the main bloom is in one month and two months later you’ll get another show of blooms from the same plant. To get more out of your flowers, look for reblooming varieties.

April/May -

Tulips, etc:

The longest lasting tulips have been peony flowering tulips. The varieties I have are: Tulip Wirosa, Tulip Orange Princess, and Tulip Blue Spectacle. The flowers from these seem to last for about 4 weeks, which is longer than most tulips give me. Tulip Wirosa have also been blooming for me for about 10 years or more. The others are only 1 or 2 years in my garden. Time will tell if they will be long producers. I think this year I’m going to order Tulip Miranda. One thing to note is that a few years back the Tulip Wirosas had a couple of seasons where they didn’t flower much (or didn’t flower at all). I thought that was it for them, but then they came back with a vengeance and were as glorious as ever. All it takes is one cold snap at the wrong time and flower performance is negatively affected. It’s such a disappointment when you see tulips growing and budding and then WHAM!….another season down the drain and you have to wait 12 more months.

Tulips have early, mid, and late season varieties. With the proper planning you can have a solid 8 weeks of extra color just by planting a variety of tulips. 8 WEEKS!! That’s nothing to sneeze about, especially in our relatively short growing season.

Tulip Monte Carlo is an early double yellow. So far I’m pretty happy with them, but the flowers diminished a bit this year, which is their second season for me. Hopefully next year they’ll be better.

A little surprise for me is how my Tulip Fringed Elegance has been continuously blooming for the last 10 years. These lovely bright yellow flowers pack quite a punch. I had my doubts at first because their stems seemed to be a bit on the fragile side and even a small late spring snow can snap these puppies in heartbeat.

A continuously top performer for me has been Anemone blanda White Splendour. Wispy white daisy-like flowers make a great companion to whatever tulips they’re planted next to. I keep forgetting to order more of these.

Then there is the mystery tulip. These bright orange-red tulips were the first tulips I planted in 1999 and have been my favorite for many, many years. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what variety they are and they are beginning to diminish. I have never divided them, but this year I just have to or they will soon be gone, never to enrich my garden again (since I don’t know what they are and can’t order them.) I ordered them via a mail catalog and can still remember what the picture looked like. I have been all over the internet looking for them, but alas…have been unsuccessful.

Then there’s everyone’s tried and true favorite, Blue Grape Hyacinth (muscari armeniacum). Again, along with the White Splendour anemone they make great companions to tulips.

It may come as a surprise to some that I don’t mention daffodils. To be honest, they always seem to be in peak bloom at a neighbor’s house when we get our traditional spring snow storms. Not sure I can take that kind of disappointment year after year. I think I have one or two in the front yard and one nice batch in the back. Perfect height for the dogs to eat them…

June/July -

Iris are dependable and multiply without any help from you. I have a yellow/mustard variety (which I now believe is “Honey Glazed”), and a few purple iris. I also truly love the variegated iris (iris pallida), whose pale purple flowers smell like grape koolaid and the white and green leaves continue to impress until winter arrives. Not to be outdone, the miniature iris are simply awesome and will bloom a few weeks before the larger bearded iris. Depending on the location, these could be blooming in late May/early June.

The world would not be complete with Clematis. I never met a Clematis I didn’t like, but my absolute FAVS are: The President (monster size purple), Niobe (dark red), Jackmanii (purple), and ‘Etoile Violette’ italian clematis (mass of purple flowers).

Cranesbill is a delicate and dependable flower. Small and rounded, these plants are sure to please in that all-important ‘under 1 foot’ height needed in the garden. My favorites are: Ballerina, Johnson’s Blue, and Max Frei.

Shrub roses and miniature roses are so happy here in Colorado. Knockout Roses are my favorite and the varieties I have are: “Red Knockout Rose”, “Double Red Knockout Rose”, “Sunny Knockout Rose”, and “Pink Double Knockout Rose”. The miniature rose variety I have is “Green Ice”, although it turns to white pretty quickly. A mass of flowers for months.

Lilies add height and color without mass. Blooming nicely for me are: Asiatic Pixie Lily Butter Pixie, Asiatic Lily Lollipop, Oriental Lily Stargazer, Chinese Trumpet Lily Regale album, LILY GRAN PARADISO /ASIATIC, LILY GRAND CRU /ASIATIC, Chinese Trumpet Lily Pink Perfection, and Chinese Trumpet Lily Golden Splendour. Trumpet lilies are latest to bloom and are EXTREMELY fragrant, especially at night. I like to snip one or two of these and bring them inside in a vase. They are also super-tall, so plant them in the right location in the back or center of a flower bed.

Yarrow can be crazy and invasive, but pick the right variety and you won’t be disappointed for long-lasting and well-behaved flowers. I have  planted several variety, but have pulled out all but Moonshine.

Red Valerian tries it’s darnedest to spread itself around the garden, so keep a close eye out for its offspring and don’t feel bad if you find yourself yanking a lot of it up. It pairs up nicely with Moonshine Yarrow, both blooming at the same time bringing the red/yellow combo I like so much.

I just love the balloon shaped flower of the, wait for it….Balloon Flower. Tall and stately. I even have a double variety…quite by accident, no less. The purple flowers look just like hot-air balloons right before they open up all the way. It’s uncanny.

Daylilies are a mainstay in my July garden, with Happy Returns and Pardon Me as my favorites for a mass of flowers. I have a wonderful peach beauty, but cannot remember the name. Just hate it when I do that. About 5 or 6 years ago I dragged my husband to a local daylily garden tour and plant sale. If I remember correctly, it is called “The Cat Lady’s Garden” and is an American Hemerocallis Society display garden. Their Open Garden will be on Saturday July 17th this year (2010) and are located near I-70 and Chambers Road in Aurora. Looks like she can be reached via catladysgarden@earthlink.net. We were amazed at the sheer volume and variety on this single home’s suburban property. After hours of meandering through aisle after aisle of garden beds surrounded by the dappled shade of mature trees, we walked away with 5 varieties of double-flowering daylilies. Today, they haven’t increased as much in size as I would have hoped, but each year they get a little bigger and producing a few more flowers than the year before. One of them is “Night Embers”. A dark red double flower with a yellow fringe. Unusual and very cool. For some reason I can’t find any pictures I’ve taken of it. Will have to be more careful this year and remember to take some pictures. Daylilies are another plant that have early, mid, late season and rebloomers. Check out http://www.frontrangeliving.com/garden/daylilies.htm

Rudbeckia is another one of those that you see everywhere, and for good reason. It loves our climate and soil. I let mine spread wherever it wants to because the long-lasting flowers are so reliable. I have the “Goldsturm” variety, and plenty of it. It is my plant of choice for extending golden garden color into late summer. I had planted “Indian Summer” one year, hoping to add to my late summer collection but it never came back the following year. Bummer. It was beautiful while it lasted.

It’s hard to resist the teacup size yellow flowers of the Missouri Evening Primrose. Be sure to take your camera with you as the sun is fading. That’s when you’ll see the flowers opened at their widest.

A pale pink favorite is Hollyhock Mallow ‘Fastigiata’ (malva alcea). Tall and prolific, it’s so pretty when in bloom next to my silvery Powis Castle artemisia.  Each flower produces an abundance of easy to collect seeds in these little pods, however you’ll find this one self-seeding all over if you let it.

I do so love Coreopsis. Particularly the “Sunray” variety. They continue blooming into August. There’s just something about bright gold flowers in my garden that make me smile. You know what I mean, don’t you.

August/September -

I have a beauty of a summer mum called Clara Curtis Chrysanthemum. This starts blooming in July. In full sun it’s a real show-stopper with pale pink flowers. Mine is planted right next to a white daisy. Quite lovely together, they are. Its habit is nothing like the small rounded mums we typically think of. It grows taller than expected with an open habit.

Even though the Rose of Sharon is a medium to large shrub, it deserves a mention. I have the white variety “Diana” and it is a real beauty as a summer bloomer. Rose of Sharon comes in a few color varieties and it’s drought tolerant, which is a major bonus. It’s one of the closest things we Coloradoans can get to the stunning tropical hibiscus seen in places such as Hawaii. The leaves come in late compared to any other plant in the garden, and you might even think it has died. But give it time. This year it didn’t start to leaf out until late May. Thought it was a goner for sure. I wish I had more room in my front yard for a few of these. Flowers during this time of year are of particular value as we wind up the flowering season and head into the colder months.

Continuing to flower during this time is the Rudbeckia, the miniature roses, the Hollyhock Mallow, and the Yarrow. Adding to the color mix are all the annuals that are peaking right about this time of year. Petunias, Snapdragons, Dahlias, Nasturtiums, Pansies, Geraniums, Verbena.

Asters are blooming at this time. Make sure you like where you put them, because they can really spread out.

So there you have it. My list of great reliable flowers planted in my Denver garden. There are so many others that I didn’t have room to try. Did your favorite not make it on my list? I would love to hear what blooms reliably in your Colorado garden.

Last 3 posts by Andrea Kalli

• I Hit The Tomato Motherload This Weekend - Topsy Turvy Update 9-5-2010 - September 7th, 2010
• My List of Gardening Books - Part 1 - September 3rd, 2010
• Events at Hudson Gardens in September 2010 - September 1st, 2010

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