DIG IT: Go native for eco-friendly garden

Colorado has hundreds of naturally adapted native plants that enhance our unique landscape. However, many are threatened because of rapid urbanization and development.

Native plants are often destroyed when new buildings are constructed. Also, native plants are being overtaken by exotic, nonnative species.

Some introduced plants have escaped cultivation and become noxious weeds, threatening our western landscape. Common noxious weeds include dame's rocket (Hesperis matronalis), myrtle spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites), tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima, commonly called saltcedar), and purple loose-strife (Lythrum salicaria). These and other invasive plants threaten Colorado's uniqueness.

Planting Colorado native plants in our gardens has many benefits, but primary is conservation of our local biodiversity. Native plants make us visually distinct from the eastern, southern, or westernmost United States. By planting natives in your yard, it preserves the local population when their natural habitat is destroyed. Natives include herbaceous perennials, shrubs, cactuses and trees, and cover the full spectrum of colors, size and habitat.

Generally, they have low maintenance and low water requirements because they grew naturally in Colorado before European settlement. Many are food sources and provide cover for our many birds, mammals, and insects.

Many of Colorado's natives can bee seen all around you, whether on the plains or in the foothills, or up on Pikes Peak. Common natives include ponderosa pines, pinyon pines, mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uvaursi), sunflowers, chokecherry (Padus virginiana), and many grasses. One of our most beautiful examples is the Colorado columbine (Aquilegia caerulea).

Many other native plants may be more unfamiliar, but will do well in a cultivated environment. A few examples include Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa), Boulder raspberry (Oreobatus deliciosus), bee balm (Monarda fistulosa) and Rocky Mountain juniper (Sabina scopulorum). Some others, although not commonly available, have interesting historical common names such as beggar's tick, bird's-eyeprimrose, bishop's cap, bedstraw, compass plant, creeping Jenny, devil's shoestrings, prairie smoke and sneezeweed.

Under no circumstances should you collect any native plants in the wild. Instead, visit local nurseries, many of which carry extensive inventories of native plants or can order them for you.

Take plant lists with scientific names to ensure you are buying the correct plant. Also, the Colorado Springs Horticultural Art Society's annual sale, which is scheduled for May 16-18, features many beautiful natives.

You should also beware of so-called wildflower seed mixes, which often contain weeds.

To further your knowledge of native plants, Denver Botanic Gardens features seven distinctive gardens containing the finest collections of Rocky Mountain and Great Plains native plants in cultivation. Right in our own backyard we are fortunate to have our Colorado Springs Utilities' Xeriscape Demonstration Garden on Mesa Road with many beautiful natives.

Check the Colorado Native Plant Society's Web site for an extensive listing at conps.org.

Also, the Denver Botanic Gardens Web site at botanicgardens.org provides helpful information. Colorado State University has several fact sheets to help you choose and plant natives, including 7.242 (Native Herbaceous Perennials), 7.421 (Native Trees for Colorado Landscapes), and 7.422 (Native Shrubs for Colorado Landscapes). Check the Web site at www.ext.colo state.edu.

Written by Sue Thomas, Colorado Master Gardener. To contact the master gardeners from Colorado State University Cooperative Extension in El Paso County, e-mail csumg2@elpasoco.com or call 636-8921 (weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).