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​Miss Penn's Mountain Seed

WILD MOUNTAIN SEED

High-Altitude Seed For The Mountain Gardener

The Store is OPEN for 2019!!  

All wild seed listed below is hand collected by me.  All seed is collected sustainably and responsibly.  Much of the seed comes from my own mountain property.  Elevation is noted on all seed so you can see who grows where.  You do not have to match elevations - however, some things need to grow up high - other's need the heat of the Colorado Steppe or similar conditions to survive.  

Some of this seed is very rare and hard to collect.  New things will be added and some things might be taken down - so if it's listed - order before it's gone.    Complete descriptions and pictures coming very soon.  All seed packets on this page are $3 each.



To Order:
Go to the Store and search Wild Seed!

Thank you for considering my Bio-regional seed.  You are on the path to food security and sustainability when you seek out locally grown and adapted seed.



GARDEN FLOWERS AND HERBS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
​SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE

WILD SEED LIST FOR 2019!!!!!

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Navajo Tea and Penstemon in my meadow.
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Seedpod of the Bush Morning Glory
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Mariposa Lily
Miss Penn's Mountain Seeds
But first, the photos...
PictureMary in the wild.
I am proud to feature the stunning photographs of Mary L. Dubler DVM of Fort Collins, Co.  
Click here to see her website:  Wildflowers of Colorado. 

Really, go - see her work - get lost in her pictures of our beautiful Colorado natives.   www.wildflowersofcolorado.com

All of Mary's photos are marked "Wildflowers of Colorado".

The Wild Things...
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Allium cernuum 
​Nodding Onion – 9-10,000’ - Limited Quantity


​

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Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 
​Kinnick-kinnick - 9-10,000’


​



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Argemone polyanthemos 
Prickly Poppy
Annual or Biennial  2-3'  Collected at 7,888'.
I've loved this plant all of my life, marveling at the heat it can take and the ants that climb it and the bees that buzz it.  This flower is bad-ass - the flower is as delicate and fragile as any poppy but the plant will bite you hard.  Blue-green thistle-like spikey leaves ain't playin'.  You will bleed if you mess around with it.  Collecting seed is exciting! Plant it where it can be and reseed and make a stand.  Gorgeous from the high heat to the mountain top.


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Arnica cordifolia
Heart-leaf Arnica


Found way up high in the forest, between 9-10,000', heart-leafed Arnica is hard to miss, absolutely stunning in half-shade to full sun.  I see it running along the forest' edge - reaching toward the sun.  
Heart-shaped leaves are clearly identifiable.  
Yes, this variety is medicinal and it's native to Colorado but I particularly like it since my husband's name is Cord and the leaves are hearts.  :)  

I always want to roll around in it - grow some so you can too!



​

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Artemisia frigida 
Fringed Sage – 8-10,000’



​

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Asclepias speciosa 
Showy Milkweed
Perennial  Collected at 7,000'.
Monarch Butterflies - come and feast!  Be a part of the movement to help the Monarch recover from their decreasing numbers by feeding them along their journey.  
2-3' glorious plant with 3" blooms often covered in butterflies.  The seed pods are a thing of beauty as well - releasing their seed on glamorous parachutes.  
Grows wild in Colorado, collected at 7,000'.



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Atriplex confertifolia 
​Saltbush  - 5,000’



​

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Bahia dissecta  
Yellow Ragleaf

Biennial  2-3'  Collected at 8,120'.
The common name does not do this beauty justice.  Tall, willowy sprays of rounded yellow ray flowers grow out of rock if they want to.  They reseed delightfully and pop up amongst the potted flowers as easily as it grows alone in the dry woods at 8,120'.  Perfect in bouquets as it is 2-3' tall and the stem is long with a spray of these little flowers above.  
The first year rosette has finely cut leaves, very pretty.




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Brickellia grandiflora  
Tassle Flower

You will find Tassle Flower at the edge of trees like Piñon and Juniper.  Subtle beauties have soft, lovely heart or lance-shaped leaves that seem to soften the dry shade under the trees.
We live on decomposed granite and this plant grows in the lean, rocky soil and pine mulch.
Perennial



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 Calichortus gunnisonii
 Sego Lily - Mariposa Lily

A bold beauty on a slender stem with grass-like leaves. Beloved tulip-shaped, exotically colored gem of the mountains. Collected at 9-10,000' in the grass under Aspen trees. 
Takes years to bloom from seed, this will produce a delicious, edible bulb one day.  Patience and love are required. Once the bulb is formed it will live many years.
 Needs stratification.

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    Castilleja integra
    Paintbrush

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Cercocarpus montanus 
Mountain Mahogany - 9,500’


​

PictureChicory
Cichorium intybus
Wild Chicory 


Wild Food, Wild Medicine

Wild Chicory has naturalized it's away around the country, providing food, medicine, forage and nectar for all.   It's medicinal properties are so vast and so important I cannot list them all here and as a food it is no slouch either. 

Bitter leaves can be blanched and eaten cooked or young leaves can be eaten in spring.  Roots are forced in the dark, producing chicons - blanched buds. The root can be dried and roasted and made in to a coffee-like drink.  Another survival plant - learn what you can about this amazing beauty.   Loved since I was a child.

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Clematis ligusticifolia
Western White Clematis
6,500’-8,000’
This is that thing that climbs the trees all summer long in the wild, and then in the fall the whole vine is covered with soft puffball seed-heads.
This vine will ramble and climb delightfully so - it is a superstar of the mountains.  It grows high and low.  Sweet white flower clusters make this a showy vine in spring followed by a gorgeous display in fall.
 

PictureSugarbowl Clematis
Clematis hirsutissima var. scottii
Sugar Bowl Clematis 

Such a flower - nodding heads of purple.  Finely cut leaves make a mound with the purple bells rising above.   They take patience to get established but then they live a long time. 
Drought tolerant and they can take full sun to partial shade. 12" - 18" tall.  Seed-heads are beautiful puffballs.  I find them in mixed forests in dappled light.  A great beauty.  Stratify.



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          Cleome serrulata
          Rocky Mountain Bee Plant 



PicturePic by Penn
Curcurbita foetidissima 
Stinking Cucumber or Buffalo Gourd
​5-6,000’



​

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   Dalea purpurea
   Purple Prairie Clover

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Delphinium occidentale 
​Larkspur - 10,000’

This flower takes my breath away when I meet it in person in it's natural habitat.  It stands 3' tall and rocks out deep blue blooms a-plenty.  The elk eat it to get high.  I have to fight them for the seed.  Not really - but they eat the seed pods with their little lips leaving a stripped stem with one or two pods left.  That's what I get.  So after they are doe partying, I am lucky to fins any plant with untouched seed - they know when it's ripe!  And no - do not eat the seed - it is toxic.  


​

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Dodecatheon pulchellum

Shooting Star

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     Erysimum capitatum            
     Siberian Wallflower

    Butterflies love it - you will love it too.  A perennial
     for the mountains, Wallflower is an excellent
     addition for color from May to July.
     

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    Frasera speciosa (Swertia radiata)
    Monument Plant - Giant Gentian

​    This plant is an impressive thing to see en masse.  For a green and
     white flower, there are gorgeous close-up 
details you have to see to
     believe.  
     The summer of 2105, in northern Colorado, I saw mountainsides of
     this thing in all it's glory.  A great beauty.

​     

PictureGaillardia
Gaillardia Mix
​(Gaillardia aristata, Gaillardia pinnatifida, Gaillardia 'Burgundy')
Blanket Flower

Perennial
Such a reliable flower - hard to beat for non-stop color in a Western flower.  
Three kinds of Gaillardia in this mix - they all love the mountains and can take full sun.  12-18" in colorful mounds.  Bright color!

Picture
Geranium caespitosum James var. fremontii  
​9,000’



​

Picture
Glycyrrhiza lepidota
Wild Licorice - 7,000'



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Hymenopappus newberryi
​Wild Cosmos - 9,800'


​I love this flower.  As you can see, it can grow out of a rock!  I find it growing out of cuts on high mountain 4WD roads - with its silvery leaves and white flowers.  It is a showy thing in person, one plant can have 3-8 flowers blooming at a time.  The bloom time is nice and long and it obviously likes it lean.

​Perennial - Native to Colorado
 


​  

PicturePic by Penn
Ipomea leptophylla
Bush Morning Glory


Oh what a plant.  "Manroot".  Slow growing perennial with gorgeous purple-pink blooms that open in the morning.  The plant is smothered in them. The root can get as big as a man's arm and several feet deep.  The plants can live for many, many years. Patience is required to get them established.  This plant likes it lean and sunny.

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Ipomopsis aggregata 
Skyrocket Gilia - Fairy Trumpet - 8,000’
​ 




​

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Iris missouriensis 
Blue Flag  -  9,600’
​




​

PictureWinterfat
Krascheninnikovia lanata 
Winterfat  - 8,000’



​

PictureGayfeather
Liatris punctata 
​Gayfeather  7 – 8,000’



​

Picture


​Lupinus perennis
Wild Lupine
Northern Wisconsin


If you ever get to Northern Wisconsin in summer - anywhere near the Big Lake, you will see Lupine as far as the eye can see.  I have family ties there and my earliest memories are of those lupines.  It wasn't until I was in this business when I remembered that the flowers from my childhood were Lupine - and Daisies.  I had a chance to harvest some last summer and I am thrilled to offer them.  The things dreams are made of. 


​

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Machaeranthera bigelovii 
​Tall Tansy Aster – biennial – 8,000’



​

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Medicago sativa 
​Alfalfa – 5,000’ and 8,000’



​

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Mentzelia multiflora
Blazing Star - 6,000'



​

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Mimulus guttatus 
​Common Monkey Flower – 9,800’
​

​Such a little beauty.  You will find this in the high mountain streams, in the 'babbling brook', even the water running along the steep mountain road.  Delightful, small mounds with yellow monkey faces decorate any waterway.  
Plant it near any water, naturally moist places, or right along the creek. Sweet.

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Mirabilis multiflora 
​Colorado Four O’Clock - 6,500’


I grew up in Pueblo West, Colorado and right up against our house and in our driveway, grew the Four O'Clock.  There was s huge one under a Juniper Tree, which is where you will find them far and wide.  They like each other.  Every afternoon at Four O'Clock, as the desert heat just began to wane, the sprawling glossy-leafed plant would burst forth in a spectacular display of purple, like you've never seen.  It isn't just the color, it's that sunset in the desert is a thing to behold, spreading an apricot light over the land that seems to attach to your skin.  When that happens, Four O'Clock gleams and burns in the apricot light, just coming alive for those brief moments.  It's an incredible sight.  

Plant in fall or stratify and try it in pots too.  Direct seed it under or just outside of a Juniper Tree or in a hot, lean spot.  I don't find it much higher than 7,000 - 7,500 ft.  It likes the heat.



PicturePic by Penn
Monarda pectinata 
​Pony Beebalm  -  8,000’

​

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Oenothera biennis 
​Evening Primrose  - 8,000’



​

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Pedicularis groenlandica 
​Elephant Head - 9,700’



​

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Penstemon strictus 
Rocky Mountain Penstemon - 7,888'




​

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Phacelia tanacetifolia 
​Bee's Friend or Fiddleneck - 8,000’




​

PictureBroadleaf Plantain
Plantago major
Broadleaf Plantain -  9,000'


Wild food, wild medicine.  Known to Native Americans as "White Man's Footprint" as it was brought by colonists.  Oval-shaped leaves with green/brown spikey minuscule flowers.  

This plant can save your life if you are lost in the woods or wounded.  It is one of a handful of plants I teach my sons to recognize as a survival plant for food and medicine. High in Calcium, Vitamins A, C and K.


You can eat young, fresh leaves in spring but later they need to be cooked.  Chock full of nutrients and incredible healing properties.  
​Plantain grows all over the world.
 



PictureSelf-Heal
Prunella vulgaris   
Self-Heal - 9,000'


Perennial Herb
Self-Heal or 'Heal-All' is an edible herb well-known for it's medicinal properties and health benefits. 
Eat young leaves raw in salad or cook as a potherb.  
Aerial parts of the plant can be dried, powdered and infused for a dose of Vitamins A, C and K. 
​Easy to grow.

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Pterospora andromedea 
​Pinedrops - 10,000’



Perennial

I love running into this plant in the deep woods.  It grows under pines and in mixed forests, poking up amongst the greenery.  Lacking chlorophyll, this mysterious plant has a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi.  This association is with only a handful of fungi in the genus Rhizopogon - some commonly known as 'False Truffles'.  
Needless to say, these need to grow where mushrooms grow.  

This plant is very cold-hardy. Allow to naturalize.

For best results, plant in fall or cold-stratify.
  
​

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Ratibida columnifera 
​Red Mexican Hat - 7,888’



​

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Ratibida columnifera 
​Yellow Mexican Hat - 7,888’



​

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Rosa woodsii
Wild Rose



​

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Senecio longilobus 
Threadleaf Groundsel – 8,000’



​

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Solidago spathulata nana   
​Dwarf Goldenrod - 9-10,000’



​

PicturePic by Penn
Thelesperma filifolium 
​Navajo Tea  -  8,000’



​

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Thermopsis montana 
​Golden Banner – 9,500’


​

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Tragopogon porrifolius 
​Yellow Salsify  - Oyster Plant – 8,000’


​

PicturePic by Penn
Yucca glauca 
​7,888’


















​



GARDEN FLOWERS

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Alcea rosea   
Hollyhock Mix  -  8,000’


​

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Cosmos sulphureus 
Cosmos – white and magenta   7,200’



​

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Lathyrus latifolius   
Perennial Sweet Pea - 5,000’


​

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Lavatera trimestris
Rose Mallow

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Leucanthemum x superbum   
Shasta Daisy – 7,200’




​

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Nicandra physalodes 
“Ebony”  -  Ebony Shoo-fly – 8,000’

​Ebony Shoo-fly is a 3-4 foot annual flowering shrub.  Morning glory-like flowers leave Chinese lantern-like seed pods behind - beautiful!  Can get much bigger in the greenhouse.
 Starts easily and reseeds easily from seed. 



​

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Papaver orientalis
​
Oriental Poppy – 7,200’


​

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Santolina chamaecyparissus 
​Cotton Lavender  - 5,000’



​

HERBS - GARDEN AND WILD

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Achillea millefolium
White Yarrow

​

Picture
Allium tuberosa 
​Garlic Chives – 8,000’



​

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Anethum graveolens 
​Dill - 8,000’


​

Picture
Calendula officianalis 
​Pot Marigold - 8,000’



​

Picture
Leonurus cardiaca 
​Motherwort - 8,000’



​

Picture
Marrubium vulgare 
​Horehound – 6,000’



​

Picture

Nepeta cataria
Catnip - 8,000'


​

Picture
Origanum majorana 
​Sweet Marjoram – 8,000’

​

Picture
Petroselinum crispum 
​Italian Flatleaf Parsley – 7,200’



​

PictureLarge African Marigold
Tagetes erecta
Large African Marigold - 8,000' Annual
​Crackerjack


Very tall, 3' big ol' puffballs.  These can grow up out of the vegetables for awesome companion planting.  Big color, big flowers, big impact.
Blooms easily from seed.  Easy to grow. 

Protect your garden with these giant beauties. 



​

Picture
Tagetes patula
Cottage Red Marigold - 8,000' Annual
origin - Mexico


Penn's favorite Marigold of all time.
Long-stemmed red marigolds are of great help in the 
vegetable garden. They are tall enough to tower over tall vegetables like potatoes or broccoli.  Beautiful Marigold 'trees' branch dozens of deep red blooms to brighten any spot in the garden.  Bees love 'em.

Makes a great cut flower. Stems are red too.  Easy to grow from seed or starts.

​Marigolds are the workhorses of the vegetable garden and protect the garden from the bugs we don't want while attracting the ones we do.
​


​

Picture
Tagetes patula 
​French Marigold – 8,000’  
Annual

The workhorse of the veggie garden, farmers have included marigolds in their fields for generations.  Marigolds attract the beneficial bugs and repel the bugs we don't want. Add easy mixed color on compact plants - perfect for edging. 



​

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Tanacetum parthenium 
​Feverfew – 8,000’

​

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Valeriana officinali
Common Valerian


​

Trees

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Gleditisia triacanthos L. 
​Honey Locust – 5,000’


​

Picture
Pinus edulis
Piñon Pine Tree - 8,000'


The Complete List:
Asclepias speciosa – Showy Milkweed - 7,000’
Argemone polyanthemos  -  Prickly Poppy - 7,888’
Bahia dissecta  - 8,000’
Brickellia grandiflora  -  Tassle Flower - 8,500’
Calochortus gunnisonii -  Sego Lily – Mariposa Lily – 9-10,000’
Castilleja integra  -  Paintbrush – 8,000’
Cleome serrulata  -   Rocky Mountain Bee Plant - 8,000’
Dalea purpurea  -  Purple Prairie Clover  -  8,000’
Delphinium occidentale -  Larkspur - 10,000’
Erysimum capitatum  - Wallflower  9,000’
Frasera speciosa (Swertia radiata) – Monument Plant – Giant Gentian - 9,600’
Geranium caespitosum James var. fremontii  - 9,000’
Hymenopappus newberryi – Wild Cosmos – 9,800’
Ipomea leptophylla – Bush Morning Glory – 5,000’
Ipomopsis aggregata  -  Skyrocket Gilia – Fairy Trumpet - 8,000’
Iris missouriensis -  Blue Flag  -  9,600’
Krascheninnikovia lanata  -  Winterfat  - 8,000’
Liatris punctata  -  Blazing Star 7 – 8,000’
Machaeranthera bigelovii  -  Tall Tansy Aster – biennial – 8,000’
Mertensia ciliata – Tall Fringed Bluebells 9,600 – 10,000’
Mimulus guttatus  -  Common Monkey Flower – 9,800’
Monarda pectinata – Pony Beebalm  -  8,000’
Oenothera biennis  -  Evening Primrose  - 8,000’
Pedicularis groenlandica  -  Elephant Head - 9,700’
Penstemon strictus – 7,888’
Phacelia tanacetifolia -  "Bee's Friend" or Fiddleneck - 8,000’
Pterospora andromedea  -  Pinedrops - 10,000’
Ratibida columnifera  -  Red Mexican Hat - 7,888’
Ratibida columnifera  -  Yellow Mexican Hat - 7,888’
Solidago spathulata nana  -  Dwarf Goldenrod - 9-10,000’
Thelesperma filifolium  – Navajo Tea  -  8,000’
Thermopsis montana  -  Golden Banner – 9,500’

Cactus:
Yucca glauca  7,888’

Garden Flowers:
Alcea rosea  -  Hollyhock Mix  -  8,000’
Cosmos sulphureus  -  Cosmos – white and magenta  -  7,200’
Lathyrus latifolius  -  Perennial Sweet Pea - 5,000’
Leucanthemum x superbum  -  Shasta Daisy – 7,200’
​Lupinus perennis -  Wild Lupine -  N. Wisconsin

Papaver orientalis – Oriental Poppy – 7,200’
Santolina chamaecyparissus  - Cotton Lavender  - 5,000’
Tagetes patula - Cottage Red Marigold - 8,000'


Herbs:
Allium tuberosa  -  Garlic Chives – 8,000’
Anethum graveolens  -  Dill - 8,000’
Calendula officianalis  -  Pot Marigold - 8,000’
Leonurus cardiaca  -  Motherwort - 8,000’
Marrubium vulgare  -  Horehound – 6,000’
Ocimum basilicum  -  Italian Mountain Basil – 8,000’ Limited Quantity
Origanum majorana  -  Sweet Marjoram – 8,000’
Petroselinum crispum  -  Italian Flatleaf Parsley – 7,200’
Tagetes patula – French Marigold – 8,000’
Tanacetum parthenium  -  Feverfew – 8,000’

Wild Food:

Allium cernuum  -  Nodding Onion – 9-10,000’ - Limited Quantity
Medicago sativa  -  Alfalfa – 5,000’ and 8,000’
Tragopogon porrifolius  - Yellow Salsify  - Oyster Plant – 8,000’

Shrubs:

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi  -  Kinnick-kinnick - 9-10,000’
Artemisia frigida  -  Fringed Sage – 8-10,000’
Atriplex confertifolia  -  Saltbush  - 5,000’
Cercocarpus montanus  -  Mountain Mahogany - 9,500’
Ipomea leptophylla  -  Bush Morning Glory – 5,000’
Mirabilis multiflora  -  Colorado Four O’Clock - 6,500’
Nicandra physalodes – “Ebony”  -  Ebony Shoo-fly – 8,000’
Senecio longilobus  -  Threadleaf Groundsel – 8,000’

Vines:
Clematis ligusticifolia – 6,500’-8,000’

Ground Cover:
Curcurbita foetidissima  -  Stinking Cucumber or Buffalo Gourd – 5-6,000’

Trees:
Gleditisia triacanthos L.  -  Honey Locust – 5,000’
Pinus edulis - Piñon Pine - 8,000'



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