Miss Penn's Mountain Seed
WILD MOUNTAIN SEED
High-Altitude Seed For The Mountain Gardener
The Store is OPEN for 2021!
New 2021 Varieties Are Posted!
We are here - feel free to order seeds, I am taking all precautions and we are all well. Planting seeds is very healing and hopeful and gives you clean food and a
happy heart.
From our mountain to all of you, be well and thank you!
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.
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.
Check out Miss Penn's Mountain
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GARDEN FLOWERS AND HERBS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
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WILD SEED LIST FOR 2021!!!!!
Navajo Tea and Penstemon in my meadow.
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Seedpod of the Bush Morning Glory
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Mariposa Lily
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Miss Penn's Mountain Seeds
But first, the photos...
Mary 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".
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...
Aconitum columbianum
Monkshood
(Wolfsbane)
Oooooolalala! Remember Snape in Harry Potter asking Harry if he knew another name for Wolfsbane? Hermione had her hand up madly and poor Harry knew nothing about plants? I was shouting "Aconitum, Aconitum!!!". Ah yes, raising boys....
So this glorious flower is completely poisonous - all parts. Although a powerful medicine, it has been a beloved garden flower since gardens were created and it is a great flower to add to a moist, shady place. I wear gloves when handling the plants and seeds and children should be taught to beware as it can cause skin irritation. Of course do not ingest any part of the plant.
I find it deep in the forest along the creek - almost growing out of the creek. We are usually eye to eye as it can grow 3-6'. It is very impressive in flower as you can see - plants tell us who they are. The leaves are similar to Delphinium.
Like Delphinium, the elk eat it to get high and I am often late to collect the few seedpods they leave me. Gorgeous. It can grow in the garden bed with ample water. It can throw the deepest blue/purple flowers to white and lavender/bi-color in between.
Although it is not necessary, you can cold-stratify for a couple of months, plant in fall or just try it as soon as you receive the fresh seeds - it wants to grow.
Perennial
Monkshood
(Wolfsbane)
Oooooolalala! Remember Snape in Harry Potter asking Harry if he knew another name for Wolfsbane? Hermione had her hand up madly and poor Harry knew nothing about plants? I was shouting "Aconitum, Aconitum!!!". Ah yes, raising boys....
So this glorious flower is completely poisonous - all parts. Although a powerful medicine, it has been a beloved garden flower since gardens were created and it is a great flower to add to a moist, shady place. I wear gloves when handling the plants and seeds and children should be taught to beware as it can cause skin irritation. Of course do not ingest any part of the plant.
I find it deep in the forest along the creek - almost growing out of the creek. We are usually eye to eye as it can grow 3-6'. It is very impressive in flower as you can see - plants tell us who they are. The leaves are similar to Delphinium.
Like Delphinium, the elk eat it to get high and I am often late to collect the few seedpods they leave me. Gorgeous. It can grow in the garden bed with ample water. It can throw the deepest blue/purple flowers to white and lavender/bi-color in between.
Although it is not necessary, you can cold-stratify for a couple of months, plant in fall or just try it as soon as you receive the fresh seeds - it wants to grow.
Perennial
Allium cernuum
Nodding Onion – 9-10,000’ - Limited Quantity
Edible, easy to grow, beautiful. What more could we want? This is such a cool plant. Great for rock gardens or under trees in dappled light. Grows along the forest edge, on roads cuts, amongst rocks.
Super adaptable. Reseeds easily. Lovely. Eat fresh or cook it for two very different flavors. Medicinal.
12-18" tall, nodding lavender flowers on slender onion stems. Even though I don't think anything is deer resistant, this is as close as this gets. Perennial.
Nodding Onion – 9-10,000’ - Limited Quantity
Edible, easy to grow, beautiful. What more could we want? This is such a cool plant. Great for rock gardens or under trees in dappled light. Grows along the forest edge, on roads cuts, amongst rocks.
Super adaptable. Reseeds easily. Lovely. Eat fresh or cook it for two very different flavors. Medicinal.
12-18" tall, nodding lavender flowers on slender onion stems. Even though I don't think anything is deer resistant, this is as close as this gets. Perennial.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Kinnick-kinnick - 9-10,000’
Perennial
"Bear Berry". Sometimes when I am collecting this, I find bear scat made up of solid berries. I realize the bear is probably sleeping nearby and I keep an eye on how far I am away from my car! During hunting season, since I wear a lot of black, I also wear orange over my seed apron...
This berry was used in pemmican, a mixture of pounded meat, fat and berries, and can also be prepared as tea. Leaves were smoked by indigenous people. Medicinal.
Beautiful white and pink bells come in spring followed by a brilliant red berry in fall. Evergreen plants sprawl on the ground throughout the forest floor.
Grows to 6" - 1'. This important plant grows all over the Rockies.
Kinnick-kinnick - 9-10,000’
Perennial
"Bear Berry". Sometimes when I am collecting this, I find bear scat made up of solid berries. I realize the bear is probably sleeping nearby and I keep an eye on how far I am away from my car! During hunting season, since I wear a lot of black, I also wear orange over my seed apron...
This berry was used in pemmican, a mixture of pounded meat, fat and berries, and can also be prepared as tea. Leaves were smoked by indigenous people. Medicinal.
Beautiful white and pink bells come in spring followed by a brilliant red berry in fall. Evergreen plants sprawl on the ground throughout the forest floor.
Grows to 6" - 1'. This important plant grows all over the Rockies.
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.
Plant outside in fall. Plant on the surface and cover with a little sand. can grow to 3'. Blooms June/July. Perennial.
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.
Plant outside in fall. Plant on the surface and cover with a little sand. can grow to 3'. Blooms June/July. Perennial.
Pic by Penn
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!
Artemisia frigida
Fringed Sage – 8-10,000’
Perennial - woody stem
I adore this plant. The Best Dog That Ever Lived - a red Dobie named Coco - used to roll upside down and backwards on a carpet of young plants to clean and perfume herself. Besides being beautiful, soft and aromatic, it is also good medicine.
Indigenous People used it for cold, gastritis, wounds, coughs, headache, heartburn, fever, etc.
It is a food source for White-tailed Jackrabbit, Sage Grouse, Elk, Deer and Pronghorn.
In spring, it grows a soft, silver, grey/green mound that shoots up flower stalks to bloom June, July, August. It grows happily here amongst the Blue Grama. Tiny, insignificant yellow flowers nod along the stem.
Essential. Yes, you can make it into a smudge stick and yes, it smells wonderful. I've known this plant all of my life, it grows in most places - including the high and the low. Excellent ground cover and soil stabilizer. Thrives in poor soil and is drought tolerant. Easy to germinate seeds or divide.
Provides nesting materials for native bees.
Also called Prairie Sagewort, Arctic Sage, Pasture Sage.
Fringed Sage – 8-10,000’
Perennial - woody stem
I adore this plant. The Best Dog That Ever Lived - a red Dobie named Coco - used to roll upside down and backwards on a carpet of young plants to clean and perfume herself. Besides being beautiful, soft and aromatic, it is also good medicine.
Indigenous People used it for cold, gastritis, wounds, coughs, headache, heartburn, fever, etc.
It is a food source for White-tailed Jackrabbit, Sage Grouse, Elk, Deer and Pronghorn.
In spring, it grows a soft, silver, grey/green mound that shoots up flower stalks to bloom June, July, August. It grows happily here amongst the Blue Grama. Tiny, insignificant yellow flowers nod along the stem.
Essential. Yes, you can make it into a smudge stick and yes, it smells wonderful. I've known this plant all of my life, it grows in most places - including the high and the low. Excellent ground cover and soil stabilizer. Thrives in poor soil and is drought tolerant. Easy to germinate seeds or divide.
Provides nesting materials for native bees.
Also called Prairie Sagewort, Arctic Sage, Pasture Sage.
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'.
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'.
Atriplex canascens
Four-Wing Saltbush - 5,000-7,000’
Drought tolerant long lived perennial shrub grows high and low all over the west. The seeds have four wings and are quite showy. Grey green leaves on woody stems. Used for centuries as fuel, dye, medicine and the ashes were used for the nixtamalization of maize. Often grows in great colonies and plants are most often dioecious, (some plants are males, some are females), but this plant can change sex whenever environmental conditions dictate. Super cool staple of the high and dry garden. Showy in seed. Yellow flowers.
Plant in fall or winter in groups of ten seeds, on the third year when the plant sets seed, you can thin them so one male to every five females remain. This plant can grow 1-8' in height and width. Prefers sandy, gravelly seed and low water.
Four-Wing Saltbush - 5,000-7,000’
Drought tolerant long lived perennial shrub grows high and low all over the west. The seeds have four wings and are quite showy. Grey green leaves on woody stems. Used for centuries as fuel, dye, medicine and the ashes were used for the nixtamalization of maize. Often grows in great colonies and plants are most often dioecious, (some plants are males, some are females), but this plant can change sex whenever environmental conditions dictate. Super cool staple of the high and dry garden. Showy in seed. Yellow flowers.
Plant in fall or winter in groups of ten seeds, on the third year when the plant sets seed, you can thin them so one male to every five females remain. This plant can grow 1-8' in height and width. Prefers sandy, gravelly seed and low water.
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.
Easy to grow, plant in Spring, Summer or Fall. Plant seeds 1/8" in lean, sandy soil. Blooms July/Sept.
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.
Easy to grow, plant in Spring, Summer or Fall. Plant seeds 1/8" in lean, sandy soil. Blooms July/Sept.
NEW FOR 2021!
Arrowleaf Balsamroot
Balsamorhiza sagittata
Perennial This beautiful sunny plant grows in pleasing 1-3' clumps, with a deep taproot and long life. Silvery arrow to heart shaped leaves surround clusters of yellow sunflower-like flowers with orange centers. Both food and medicine.
Moist-stratify for three months or plant in fall. Patience is required to get a glorious stand. Native to Colorado.
Arrowleaf Balsamroot
Balsamorhiza sagittata
Perennial This beautiful sunny plant grows in pleasing 1-3' clumps, with a deep taproot and long life. Silvery arrow to heart shaped leaves surround clusters of yellow sunflower-like flowers with orange centers. Both food and medicine.
Moist-stratify for three months or plant in fall. Patience is required to get a glorious stand. Native to Colorado.
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
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
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 45 days of moist stratification. Plant in fall or winter. Grows to 12". Grows in the Montane in full sun and dappled light.
Perennial
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 45 days of moist stratification. Plant in fall or winter. Grows to 12". Grows in the Montane in full sun and dappled light.
Perennial
Temporarily Out-of-Stock!
Campanula rotundifolia
Harebell
I see hillsides and meadows and road-cuts and Aspen groves and banks covered in these delicate beauties. It wouldn't be summer without Harebells.
4-15" clusters colonize areas or pop up alone here and there. (Propagates by seeds and rhizomes) It can grow in full sun to full shade but I often see it in half-shade. Purple-blue bells hang off of slender stems and foliage. Foliage is edible. Hummingbirds love it.
Great for rock gardens, grows in sandy soils. Needs light to germinate, sow on the surface. Bottom watering is preferred. Starting seeds indoors is recommended but I'd do both, start some an sow some outdoors. They can germinate quickly but will not flower until their second year.
Seed is tiny and quantity is limited.
Perennial. Delightful.
Campanula rotundifolia
Harebell
I see hillsides and meadows and road-cuts and Aspen groves and banks covered in these delicate beauties. It wouldn't be summer without Harebells.
4-15" clusters colonize areas or pop up alone here and there. (Propagates by seeds and rhizomes) It can grow in full sun to full shade but I often see it in half-shade. Purple-blue bells hang off of slender stems and foliage. Foliage is edible. Hummingbirds love it.
Great for rock gardens, grows in sandy soils. Needs light to germinate, sow on the surface. Bottom watering is preferred. Starting seeds indoors is recommended but I'd do both, start some an sow some outdoors. They can germinate quickly but will not flower until their second year.
Seed is tiny and quantity is limited.
Perennial. Delightful.
Pic by Penn
Castilleja integra
Paintbrush
Bright, glowing color on reddish stemmed plants. Linear leaves on small mounds. Blooms June-Sept and once established, is a long-lived Perennial.
Seeds need moist stratification or plant in fall and winter. Plant very lightly and remember seed to soil contact, press in lightly.
Castilleja is semi-parasitic and needs a host plant. Blue Grrama, Fringed Sage, Penstemons, and other native grasses will do the trick.
Be patient! This seed can take 4 weeks to germinate.
Expect blooms in the second or third year.
Dye plant.
Packets come with host plant included.
Paintbrush
Bright, glowing color on reddish stemmed plants. Linear leaves on small mounds. Blooms June-Sept and once established, is a long-lived Perennial.
Seeds need moist stratification or plant in fall and winter. Plant very lightly and remember seed to soil contact, press in lightly.
Castilleja is semi-parasitic and needs a host plant. Blue Grrama, Fringed Sage, Penstemons, and other native grasses will do the trick.
Be patient! This seed can take 4 weeks to germinate.
Expect blooms in the second or third year.
Dye plant.
Packets come with host plant included.
Cercocarpus montanus
Mountain Mahogany - 9,500’
Mountain Mahogany - 9,500’
Chicory
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.
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.
Pic by Penn
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.
Perennial
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.
Perennial
Sugarbowl 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.
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.
Pic by Penn
Cleome serrulata
Rocky Mountain Bee Plant
I love this plant so much. It grows high and low, along roadsides, in fields, on mountaintops. It can grow 2'-4' tall and 36" wide. It can cover itself in blooms that the pollinators go crazy for. It reseeds itself and once you have it - you always have it. It likes lean soil and blooms from June-Aug. You can moist stratify it for 1-2 months or plant in fall or very early spring - about 1/4" deep. Full sun. Annual.
Rocky Mountain Bee Plant
I love this plant so much. It grows high and low, along roadsides, in fields, on mountaintops. It can grow 2'-4' tall and 36" wide. It can cover itself in blooms that the pollinators go crazy for. It reseeds itself and once you have it - you always have it. It likes lean soil and blooms from June-Aug. You can moist stratify it for 1-2 months or plant in fall or very early spring - about 1/4" deep. Full sun. Annual.
Pic by Penn
Curcurbita foetidissima
Buffalo Gourd or Stinking Cucumber
5-6,000’
This is that squash plant growing alongside highways and dirt roads all over hot places in Colorado and the desert southwest. It can take the ever-lovin' heat. In Bob Nolds book, High and Dry, he recommends this plant as a ground cover for impossibly hot and dry places. The leaves are a silvery grey, the flowers are beautiful, it attracts pollinators and it's just, really, really cool.
You can eat the squash when they are young but after they enter the gourd stage, they become bitter. The seeds can be eaten by either roasting or boiling them. They have many uses and the whole plant can be used as animal fodder. It can also be used to make soap.
Adapted to desert and semi-arid conditions. Deep taproot.
Feral Perennial
Buffalo Gourd or Stinking Cucumber
5-6,000’
This is that squash plant growing alongside highways and dirt roads all over hot places in Colorado and the desert southwest. It can take the ever-lovin' heat. In Bob Nolds book, High and Dry, he recommends this plant as a ground cover for impossibly hot and dry places. The leaves are a silvery grey, the flowers are beautiful, it attracts pollinators and it's just, really, really cool.
You can eat the squash when they are young but after they enter the gourd stage, they become bitter. The seeds can be eaten by either roasting or boiling them. They have many uses and the whole plant can be used as animal fodder. It can also be used to make soap.
Adapted to desert and semi-arid conditions. Deep taproot.
Feral Perennial
Dalea purpurea
Purple Prairie Clover
Perennial
Beautiful purple flowers on stiff upright stems. And, it's a legume
and fixes nitrogen in the soil. Bees and butterflies love it and so
do I. Stems branch out up to 3', making a lovely stand. Found in
dry meadows, mountains, prairies, steppe areas.
Scarification and stratification helpful. You can also add bean
inoculant but it is not necessary. Fertilizer is not necessary.
Long-lived, deep taproot. Allow to reseed.
Purple Prairie Clover
Perennial
Beautiful purple flowers on stiff upright stems. And, it's a legume
and fixes nitrogen in the soil. Bees and butterflies love it and so
do I. Stems branch out up to 3', making a lovely stand. Found in
dry meadows, mountains, prairies, steppe areas.
Scarification and stratification helpful. You can also add bean
inoculant but it is not necessary. Fertilizer is not necessary.
Long-lived, deep taproot. Allow to reseed.
Sacred Datura
NEW FOR 2021!
Sacred Datura - Datura wrightii
Perennial - Sometimes Annual
Oh boy I love this plant. I stumbled onto a large, wild patch on a wonderful walk with my love around 5,200'. It can thrive to about 6,000'. It likes the heat, lean soils, full sun. I have seen it grown at higher elevations (7-8,000') and if placed somewhere warm, it will return. If not - you can grow it as an annual each year.
This sprawling plant can make a 4' circle, covered in large, white trumpet flowers, sometimes tinged with purple. Such a stunner!
Best started in winter in pots to set plants out in warm places, you could direct seed. The flower is highly fragrant, the plant, not so much. It is pollinated at night by Hawkmoths.
Native to Colorado. Other names include Jimsonweed and Thornapple.
Remember, Datura is toxic, so be careful when handling it. Give it its own space the thrive. Do not ingest any part of the plant!
Sacred Datura - Datura wrightii
Perennial - Sometimes Annual
Oh boy I love this plant. I stumbled onto a large, wild patch on a wonderful walk with my love around 5,200'. It can thrive to about 6,000'. It likes the heat, lean soils, full sun. I have seen it grown at higher elevations (7-8,000') and if placed somewhere warm, it will return. If not - you can grow it as an annual each year.
This sprawling plant can make a 4' circle, covered in large, white trumpet flowers, sometimes tinged with purple. Such a stunner!
Best started in winter in pots to set plants out in warm places, you could direct seed. The flower is highly fragrant, the plant, not so much. It is pollinated at night by Hawkmoths.
Native to Colorado. Other names include Jimsonweed and Thornapple.
Remember, Datura is toxic, so be careful when handling it. Give it its own space the thrive. Do not ingest any part of the plant!
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 done partying, I am lucky to find any plant with untouched seed - they know when it's ripe! And no - do not eat the seed - it is toxic.
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 done partying, I am lucky to find any plant with untouched seed - they know when it's ripe! And no - do not eat the seed - it is toxic.
Dodecatheon pulchellum
Shooting Star
Blooms spring and summer along stream sides, moist meadows, waterways. 4"-10" tall, it often grows in colonies. Magenta, white and yellow shooting stars are a delightful addition to a naturally moist area.
Plant in fall or stratify.
Perennial
NEW FOR 2021!
Eutrochium cf. macalatum
Spotted Joe Pye Weed - Perennial
Dark pink flowers in fall, can grow to 4-8', tall and 2-4" wide, hardy to 40 below, full sun to 25% shade, 'architectural', slow spreading clump, butterfly magnet, native to Colorado, medicinal, yellow fall color, beautiful seed-heads, a superb flower. Long-living perennial. Allow to naturalize in a moist, boggy place or along a stream.
Pollinators will come from far and wide. Winter interest. Strong, straight stems with large glorious pink flowers.
Eutrochium cf. macalatum
Spotted Joe Pye Weed - Perennial
Dark pink flowers in fall, can grow to 4-8', tall and 2-4" wide, hardy to 40 below, full sun to 25% shade, 'architectural', slow spreading clump, butterfly magnet, native to Colorado, medicinal, yellow fall color, beautiful seed-heads, a superb flower. Long-living perennial. Allow to naturalize in a moist, boggy place or along a stream.
Pollinators will come from far and wide. Winter interest. Strong, straight stems with large glorious pink flowers.
Erysimum capitatum
Western 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. Delicate stems
are topped with
bright clusters of yellow, orange and red.
Grow in sun in well drained soil. Barely cover the
seed.
Perennial or Biennial
Western 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. Delicate stems
are topped with
bright clusters of yellow, orange and red.
Grow in sun in well drained soil. Barely cover the
seed.
Perennial or Biennial
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.
Green Gentian is a monocarpic perennial and will bloom when it's
darn good and ready. It can bloom only once in 20-80 years. Until
then, it will be a beautiful strappy-leafed rosette for decades until it
decides to shoot up a glorious flower stalk.
This plant can also have a mass blooming, how they know - no one
knows - as some plants will sit and wait.
Powerful medicine.
Monocarpic Perennial
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.
Green Gentian is a monocarpic perennial and will bloom when it's
darn good and ready. It can bloom only once in 20-80 years. Until
then, it will be a beautiful strappy-leafed rosette for decades until it
decides to shoot up a glorious flower stalk.
This plant can also have a mass blooming, how they know - no one
knows - as some plants will sit and wait.
Powerful medicine.
Monocarpic Perennial
Gaillardia
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!
(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!
Pic by Penn
New For 2021!
Gaillardia aristata
Common Blanket Flower
Perennial
This is such a forgiving, tough, hardy plant. Pollinator's love it, I love it, you will love it. Native to Colorado and just beautiful with red centers and bright yellow petals. No matter how the season is going, this plant will thrive.
Plant in spring or fall. 12-24" Full sun.
Gaillardia aristata
Common Blanket Flower
Perennial
This is such a forgiving, tough, hardy plant. Pollinator's love it, I love it, you will love it. Native to Colorado and just beautiful with red centers and bright yellow petals. No matter how the season is going, this plant will thrive.
Plant in spring or fall. 12-24" Full sun.
Pic by Penn
Geranium caespitosum James var. fremontii
9,000’
9,000’
Glycyrrhiza lepidota
Wild Licorice - 7,000'
Wild Licorice - 7,000'
Pic by Penn
NEW FOR 2021!
Heuchera hallii - Front Range Alumroot
Perennial
I find this incredible Heuchera dangling out of crevices in giant boulders, with its lovely basal cluster of leaves topped with beautiful, white, delicate flowers. Rock gardener's rejoice! This is the whitest of the Heucheras, here in Colorado, an absolutely choice plant.
Endemic to south-central Colorado.
Breathtaking.
Heuchera hallii - Front Range Alumroot
Perennial
I find this incredible Heuchera dangling out of crevices in giant boulders, with its lovely basal cluster of leaves topped with beautiful, white, delicate flowers. Rock gardener's rejoice! This is the whitest of the Heucheras, here in Colorado, an absolutely choice plant.
Endemic to south-central Colorado.
Breathtaking.
NEW FOR 2021!
Holodiscus dumosus
Bush Rock Spirea or Mountain Spray
Shrub
This high-altitude, flowering shrub can grow to 6' X 6' and loves to hand of cliff faces with spectacular views. I have found myself leaning waaaaayyy out to collect seed. This plant grows easily above 9,000' and below and covers itself in beautiful cluster blooms each spring. Then comes the fuzzy puffy seed heads. This thing is
sensational draping itself down the rocks.
Provide cold stratification for up to 18 weeks.
Holodiscus dumosus
Bush Rock Spirea or Mountain Spray
Shrub
This high-altitude, flowering shrub can grow to 6' X 6' and loves to hand of cliff faces with spectacular views. I have found myself leaning waaaaayyy out to collect seed. This plant grows easily above 9,000' and below and covers itself in beautiful cluster blooms each spring. Then comes the fuzzy puffy seed heads. This thing is
sensational draping itself down the rocks.
Provide cold stratification for up to 18 weeks.
Pic by Penn
Hymenopappus newberryi
Wild Cosmos - 9,800'
I love this flower. So drought tolerant, 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
Wild Cosmos - 9,800'
I love this flower. So drought tolerant, 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
Pic 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.
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.
Ipomopsis aggregata
Skyrocket Gilia - Fairy Trumpet - 8,000’
Skyrocket Gilia - Fairy Trumpet - 8,000’
Iris missouriensis
Blue Flag - 9,600’
Blue Flag - 9,600’
Winterfat
Krascheninnikovia lanata
Winterfat - 8,000’
Winterfat - 8,000’
Gayfeather
Liatris punctata
Dotted Blazingstar 7 – 8,000’
(AKA Gayfeather)
Dotted Blazingstar 7 – 8,000’
(AKA Gayfeather)
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 seed last summer and I am thrilled to offer them. The things dreams are made of.
Plant seeds 1/2" deep in spring. Germination aids: Scarification, inoculation, moist stratification for 10 days. Seeds are poisonous. Plants grow a deep taproot, legumes fix nitrogen, and is a host plant for the Elf Moth, (Microtia elva) and the Frosted Elfin Moth, (Callophrys irus). Highly adaptable.
Machaeranthera bigelovii
Tall Tansy Aster – biennial – 8,000’
Tall Tansy Aster – biennial – 8,000’
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa – 5,000’ and 8,000’
Alfalfa – 5,000’ and 8,000’
Mentzelia decapetala
Evening Star - 6,000'
(aka Blazing Star)
Evening Star - 6,000'
(aka Blazing Star)
Mentzelia nuda
Bractless Evening Star
(AKA Bractless Blazingstar)
Panayoti calls them "Steppe Stars" - he says they are not Blazing Stars (the common name for Liatris), more like 'Evening Stars'...
This plant smothers itself in blooms on a 1-3' plant. I find it growing from 5-8000'. Sometimes my gulley has an exceptional year and it covers the banks, sending up a lovely scent in the evening. They open in the afternoon and explode with these glorious creamy flowers. The leaves are sticky - it is sometimes called, 'stickleaf', and is supposed to have inspired Velcro. The leaves have barbed hairs and can stick to your clothes.
This plant is Biennial or Perennial and has years where they are everywhere, and then not so much - common for some of our most intrepid natives. They can make a wonderful dome on good years, or only shoot up a few branches, but when they open, you will notice.
They bloom July - September. You can pre-soak the seeds to aid in germination. Allow it to reseed once you have it and then you'll be happy forever more.
Bractless Evening Star
(AKA Bractless Blazingstar)
Panayoti calls them "Steppe Stars" - he says they are not Blazing Stars (the common name for Liatris), more like 'Evening Stars'...
This plant smothers itself in blooms on a 1-3' plant. I find it growing from 5-8000'. Sometimes my gulley has an exceptional year and it covers the banks, sending up a lovely scent in the evening. They open in the afternoon and explode with these glorious creamy flowers. The leaves are sticky - it is sometimes called, 'stickleaf', and is supposed to have inspired Velcro. The leaves have barbed hairs and can stick to your clothes.
This plant is Biennial or Perennial and has years where they are everywhere, and then not so much - common for some of our most intrepid natives. They can make a wonderful dome on good years, or only shoot up a few branches, but when they open, you will notice.
They bloom July - September. You can pre-soak the seeds to aid in germination. Allow it to reseed once you have it and then you'll be happy forever more.
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.
Plant on the surface, keep moist through germination.
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.
Plant on the surface, keep moist through germination.
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 spring fall or stratify and try it in pots too. Expect 2-3 weeks for germination. 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. Long-lived Perennial.
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 spring fall or stratify and try it in pots too. Expect 2-3 weeks for germination. 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. Long-lived Perennial.
Pic by Penn
Monarda pectinata
Pony Beebalm - 8,000’
Pony Beebalm - 8,000’
Oenothera biennis
Evening Primrose - 8,000’
Evening Primrose - 8,000’
Pedicularis bracteosa
Fern Leaf Lousewort (Bracted Lousewort)
Up to 3" tall, Bracted Lousewort is a beautiful, sturdy-stemmed yellow flower of the woods. Fern-like foliage shoots up beautiful blooms from June to August.
Grows on slopes or moist meadows. I find it from full sun to dappled shade.
Perennial
Fern Leaf Lousewort (Bracted Lousewort)
Up to 3" tall, Bracted Lousewort is a beautiful, sturdy-stemmed yellow flower of the woods. Fern-like foliage shoots up beautiful blooms from June to August.
Grows on slopes or moist meadows. I find it from full sun to dappled shade.
Perennial
Pedicularis groenlandica
Elephant Head - 9,700’
Elephant Head - 9,700’
Photo by Penn
Penstemon auriberbis
Fuzzy Tongue Penstemon
Waves of soft, lavender clusters graced the mountains this year, making me pull the car over and get out. Bright golden-bearded throats are just beautiful up close. Grows 4"-12" and has narrow, linear leaves.
Claude Barr called it a 'rare jewel'. I found it stunning with the lavender and orange-yellow contrast. Native to the Arkansas River Valley. I see it
at 5-6000' and also at 7,888'.
Great rock garden plant. Sweet color. Plant in fall
or stratify in a moist medium for 30 days. Cover
lightly with sand.
Fuzzy Tongue Penstemon
Waves of soft, lavender clusters graced the mountains this year, making me pull the car over and get out. Bright golden-bearded throats are just beautiful up close. Grows 4"-12" and has narrow, linear leaves.
Claude Barr called it a 'rare jewel'. I found it stunning with the lavender and orange-yellow contrast. Native to the Arkansas River Valley. I see it
at 5-6000' and also at 7,888'.
Great rock garden plant. Sweet color. Plant in fall
or stratify in a moist medium for 30 days. Cover
lightly with sand.
Photo by Penn
Penstemon barbatus
Scarlet Bugler Penstemon
Scarlet red flowers adorn straight, upright reddish/purple stems that can reach 4'. Gracing the Rockies in June and July, this beauty has no problem growing up high. Long lasting flowers grow out of sandy, rocky road cuts, amongst rocky crevices and along roadsides. Can take drought conditions although if there is no snow in winter, water plants once a month.
Plant in fall or moist-stratify for 1-2 months. Barely cover the seed. No chocolate cake soil! This plant likes it lean - full sun is best but I see it with some shade along forests. Don't overwater.
Perennial
Scarlet Bugler Penstemon
Scarlet red flowers adorn straight, upright reddish/purple stems that can reach 4'. Gracing the Rockies in June and July, this beauty has no problem growing up high. Long lasting flowers grow out of sandy, rocky road cuts, amongst rocky crevices and along roadsides. Can take drought conditions although if there is no snow in winter, water plants once a month.
Plant in fall or moist-stratify for 1-2 months. Barely cover the seed. No chocolate cake soil! This plant likes it lean - full sun is best but I see it with some shade along forests. Don't overwater.
Perennial
Pic by Penn
NEW FOR 2021!
Penstemon crandallii - (P. caespitosus)
Mat Penstemon
Collected at 9,500'
This tough, drought tolerant, altitude adapted Penstemon can grow right out of the road base. It can cover the ground with hundreds of these sweet little mounds of color. Great for rock gardens or places with lean soil. Grows 1-6". 30 days moist stratification or plant in fall. Barely cover the seed with sand.
Penstemon crandallii - (P. caespitosus)
Mat Penstemon
Collected at 9,500'
This tough, drought tolerant, altitude adapted Penstemon can grow right out of the road base. It can cover the ground with hundreds of these sweet little mounds of color. Great for rock gardens or places with lean soil. Grows 1-6". 30 days moist stratification or plant in fall. Barely cover the seed with sand.
Pic by Penn
Penstemon palmeri
Palmer's Penstemon
Perennial
Oh I love this thing. When you see it in the wild you just stand there and gape for a while. Absolutely stunning, showy, gorgeous, and evergreen! The rosette is a glossy silvery green with toothed edges, you could spot it anywhere. The large, pink flowers are scented and stand from 3-6' tall.
Allow to reseed to create a stand. I collect it at 6,800' and it doesn't seem to naturalize above 7,500'. Higher elevations - it is worth growing as an annual. Wow.
30-45 days moist stratification or plant in fall. Barely cover the seed with sand.
Palmer's Penstemon
Perennial
Oh I love this thing. When you see it in the wild you just stand there and gape for a while. Absolutely stunning, showy, gorgeous, and evergreen! The rosette is a glossy silvery green with toothed edges, you could spot it anywhere. The large, pink flowers are scented and stand from 3-6' tall.
Allow to reseed to create a stand. I collect it at 6,800' and it doesn't seem to naturalize above 7,500'. Higher elevations - it is worth growing as an annual. Wow.
30-45 days moist stratification or plant in fall. Barely cover the seed with sand.
Penstemon strictus
Rocky Mountain Penstemon - 7,888'
Perennial
1-3' of beauty. Straight, erect stems rise above lovely rosettes. Easy to grow, allow to reseed for a lifetime of Penstemon.
Prefers lean soils with good drainage, can take full sun. A staple in the mountain garden.
14-45 day moist stratification - barely cover the seed with sand. 21 days to germinate.
Rocky Mountain Penstemon - 7,888'
Perennial
1-3' of beauty. Straight, erect stems rise above lovely rosettes. Easy to grow, allow to reseed for a lifetime of Penstemon.
Prefers lean soils with good drainage, can take full sun. A staple in the mountain garden.
14-45 day moist stratification - barely cover the seed with sand. 21 days to germinate.
Pic by Penn
NEW FOR 2021!
Blue Mist Penstemon
Penstemon virens - Perennial
Seeing this in blue waves across a mountain meadow is a thing to behold. It can cover road cuts, play amongst the rocks or grow in boulder crevices. It ranges from a dark blue to blue/lavender on short, compact plants with glossy leaves.
Blooms July and August. Grows from 6-12" tall, the higher you are in elevation, the shorter it grows. Reliable. Charming.
Collected at 9,500'
Moist stratify for 30-60 days or plant in fall.
Barely cover the seed with sand.
Blue Mist Penstemon
Penstemon virens - Perennial
Seeing this in blue waves across a mountain meadow is a thing to behold. It can cover road cuts, play amongst the rocks or grow in boulder crevices. It ranges from a dark blue to blue/lavender on short, compact plants with glossy leaves.
Blooms July and August. Grows from 6-12" tall, the higher you are in elevation, the shorter it grows. Reliable. Charming.
Collected at 9,500'
Moist stratify for 30-60 days or plant in fall.
Barely cover the seed with sand.
Pic by Penn
NEW FOR 2021!
Penstemon virgatus
Wandbloom Penstemon
8-24" of striking color on straight stems with linear leaves, this almost wine to lavender colored Penstemon does the trick for quiet beauty amongst the trees in my garden. It grows high, lean and even in half shade.
I can't get enough of Penstemon's and this one grows on this mountain at 8,120.
30-60 days of moist stratification or plant in fall. Cover lightly with sand.
Limited Quantity
Penstemon virgatus
Wandbloom Penstemon
8-24" of striking color on straight stems with linear leaves, this almost wine to lavender colored Penstemon does the trick for quiet beauty amongst the trees in my garden. It grows high, lean and even in half shade.
I can't get enough of Penstemon's and this one grows on this mountain at 8,120.
30-60 days of moist stratification or plant in fall. Cover lightly with sand.
Limited Quantity
Phacelia tanacetifolia
Bee's Friend or Fiddleneck - 8,000’
Annual
Easy-to grow annual will bring in the bees. Lovely lacy leaves adorned with unfurling lavender flowers the pollinators go crazy for. Gotta have it every year. I let it reseed and pop up here and there. Not invasive, just willing.
Bee's Friend or Fiddleneck - 8,000’
Annual
Easy-to grow annual will bring in the bees. Lovely lacy leaves adorned with unfurling lavender flowers the pollinators go crazy for. Gotta have it every year. I let it reseed and pop up here and there. Not invasive, just willing.
Broadleaf 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.
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.
Self-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.
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.
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.
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.
Ratibida columnifera
Red Mexican Hat - 7,888’
Red Mexican Hat - 7,888’
Ratibida columnifera
Yellow Mexican Hat - 7,888’
Yellow Mexican Hat - 7,888’
Rosa woodsii
Wild Rose
Rudbeckia laciniata
Cutleaf Coneflower 9,000'
Oh mighty one, I have to reach up for your seeds. This beauty can grow 24-72" in dappled light. I find it near waterways, dry or wet. Beautiful cut-leaf foliage, with bright yellow sunny coneflowers with brown centers. Peak of bloom is July, can grow in sand and loam and rocky places - although it will grow taller near water. Absolutely stunning!
Plant in fall to early spring or cold stratify in a moist medium for a month before planting.
Perennial
Cutleaf Coneflower 9,000'
Oh mighty one, I have to reach up for your seeds. This beauty can grow 24-72" in dappled light. I find it near waterways, dry or wet. Beautiful cut-leaf foliage, with bright yellow sunny coneflowers with brown centers. Peak of bloom is July, can grow in sand and loam and rocky places - although it will grow taller near water. Absolutely stunning!
Plant in fall to early spring or cold stratify in a moist medium for a month before planting.
Perennial
Pic by Penn
NEW FOR 2021!
Senecio eremophilus var. kingii
King's Ragwort or Cut-leaf Groundsel
Perennial - Sub-Shrub
Blooms from June to September. Tall glorious clusters of yellow blooms atop dark red stems up to 3' tall. Deeply incised leaves make for a striking plant. Something to see in full glory.
Likes sandy, rocky soil and can grow to 9,800' I collect it at 10,042'.
Cold stratify or plant in fall.
Senecio eremophilus var. kingii
King's Ragwort or Cut-leaf Groundsel
Perennial - Sub-Shrub
Blooms from June to September. Tall glorious clusters of yellow blooms atop dark red stems up to 3' tall. Deeply incised leaves make for a striking plant. Something to see in full glory.
Likes sandy, rocky soil and can grow to 9,800' I collect it at 10,042'.
Cold stratify or plant in fall.
Senecio longilobus
Threadleaf Groundsel – 8,000’
Threadleaf Groundsel – 8,000’
NEW FOR 2021!
Silene cf. noctiflora
Night-flowering Catchfly
Annual Herb
Great addition to the moon garden or anywhere that needs a bit of white. Opens at night, fades the next day.
Silene cf. noctiflora
Night-flowering Catchfly
Annual Herb
Great addition to the moon garden or anywhere that needs a bit of white. Opens at night, fades the next day.
Solidago canadensis
Canada Goldenrod - 7,000'
Grow a glorious stand of Goldenrod this year. Tall, showy bright yellow blooms attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. Highly adaptable - it likes to grow. Although I find it near the river, it can grow dry and moist. It can grow in half shade or full sun. Give it room as it can reach 3-6'. Blooms in fall. Remember, it's the Ragweed, (Ambrosia spp.) flaring up your allergies - not the Goldenrod - but they bloom at the same time!
Medicinal. The name 'Solidago' means 'to make whole'.
Moist stratify for 1-2 months or plant in fall or very early spring. Sow lightly, seed is small.
Canada Goldenrod - 7,000'
Grow a glorious stand of Goldenrod this year. Tall, showy bright yellow blooms attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. Highly adaptable - it likes to grow. Although I find it near the river, it can grow dry and moist. It can grow in half shade or full sun. Give it room as it can reach 3-6'. Blooms in fall. Remember, it's the Ragweed, (Ambrosia spp.) flaring up your allergies - not the Goldenrod - but they bloom at the same time!
Medicinal. The name 'Solidago' means 'to make whole'.
Moist stratify for 1-2 months or plant in fall or very early spring. Sow lightly, seed is small.
Solidago spathulata nana
Dwarf Goldenrod - 9-10,000’
Dwarf Goldenrod - 9-10,000’
Sphaeralcea parvifolia
Small Leaf Globe Mallow
Can grow hot and dry, and the glowing orange color is something to behold when this beauty puts on mass displays.
Collected at about 6,500 - 7,000' in dry, sandy soil. Plant in fall for best results or stratify for a month before planting. Scarification is also helpful as it has a hard seed coat. Patience might be required, depending on conditions. Stunning! Perennial.
Can grow 3' tall and 4' wide.
Small Leaf Globe Mallow
Can grow hot and dry, and the glowing orange color is something to behold when this beauty puts on mass displays.
Collected at about 6,500 - 7,000' in dry, sandy soil. Plant in fall for best results or stratify for a month before planting. Scarification is also helpful as it has a hard seed coat. Patience might be required, depending on conditions. Stunning! Perennial.
Can grow 3' tall and 4' wide.
Pic by Penn
Stanleya pinnata
Prince's Plume
Growing up in Pueblo West as a small child, I met Stanleya - my what a spectacular plant. A true desert beauty. I see it as high as 6,500'-7,000' but not much higher. It can be grown as an annual at higher elevations or in a protected warm, sunny spot. Full, blazing Colorado sun and lean, lean soils are required to make this happen. A real show stopper - and the pollinator's love it! Spring blooming.
Provide 1-2 months stratification or plant from fall to March in areas with winter. Plant seed lightly. (1/16th")
Perennial
Prince's Plume
Growing up in Pueblo West as a small child, I met Stanleya - my what a spectacular plant. A true desert beauty. I see it as high as 6,500'-7,000' but not much higher. It can be grown as an annual at higher elevations or in a protected warm, sunny spot. Full, blazing Colorado sun and lean, lean soils are required to make this happen. A real show stopper - and the pollinator's love it! Spring blooming.
Provide 1-2 months stratification or plant from fall to March in areas with winter. Plant seed lightly. (1/16th")
Perennial
Blue-Eyed Grass
Sysyrinchium montanum
Blue-Eyed Grass - 9,000'
This lovely little flower stops me in my tracks. If you are not paying attention, you could walk through the grass and not notice it - unless it has a great year. Blades of grass-like leaves produce this beautiful little flower in deep blue/purple with a bright yellow eye. Grows in the Montane in moist meadows or next to water. Grows only to 20". Not really a grass, Sysyrinchium means "Iris Like", just in the miniature. A great beauty - in a small package. In the Iris family.
Perennial
Blue-Eyed Grass - 9,000'
This lovely little flower stops me in my tracks. If you are not paying attention, you could walk through the grass and not notice it - unless it has a great year. Blades of grass-like leaves produce this beautiful little flower in deep blue/purple with a bright yellow eye. Grows in the Montane in moist meadows or next to water. Grows only to 20". Not really a grass, Sysyrinchium means "Iris Like", just in the miniature. A great beauty - in a small package. In the Iris family.
Perennial
Pic by Penn
Thelesperma filifolium
Navajo Tea - 8,000’
Navajo Tea - 8,000’
Thermopsis montana
Golden Banner – 9,500’
Golden Banner – 9,500’
Photo by Penn
Townsendia exscapa
Easter Daisy
Spring has sprung when Easter Daisy shows itself in mid to late April. It can show up in lower elevations even earlier. You don't even know it's there because it is so tiny and low to the ground, until it blooms. Stem-less with more flower than leaves, these mat forming beauties burst forth here at 8,120', no problem. Common to the front range, this beauty is reliable.
Plant in fall or spring.
Perennial
Easter Daisy
Spring has sprung when Easter Daisy shows itself in mid to late April. It can show up in lower elevations even earlier. You don't even know it's there because it is so tiny and low to the ground, until it blooms. Stem-less with more flower than leaves, these mat forming beauties burst forth here at 8,120', no problem. Common to the front range, this beauty is reliable.
Plant in fall or spring.
Perennial
Tragopogon porrifolius
Yellow Salsify - Oyster Plant – 8,000’
Yellow Salsify - Oyster Plant – 8,000’
Pic by Penn
Yucca glauca
7,888’
7,888’
NEW FOR 2021!!!
Zinnia grandiflora
Rocky Mountain Zinnia, Little Golden Zinnia, Prairie Zinnia
Wow. The Wild Zinnia of the west! Such a beautiful perennial. Bright yellow rays with orange centers, 6-8" mounds burst with 1" flowers in late summer. I don't see it much above 7,000'. It can take heat, drought and lean soils. Needs good drainage. Plant fall, spring or summer. Moist stratification is helpful but not always necessary. Great for erosion control due to the way it spreads, gravelly slopes and dry hillsides are best for creating a long-lasting stand. Patience is required but once established, you can let it do its thing. Beloved Perennial
Zinnia grandiflora
Rocky Mountain Zinnia, Little Golden Zinnia, Prairie Zinnia
Wow. The Wild Zinnia of the west! Such a beautiful perennial. Bright yellow rays with orange centers, 6-8" mounds burst with 1" flowers in late summer. I don't see it much above 7,000'. It can take heat, drought and lean soils. Needs good drainage. Plant fall, spring or summer. Moist stratification is helpful but not always necessary. Great for erosion control due to the way it spreads, gravelly slopes and dry hillsides are best for creating a long-lasting stand. Patience is required but once established, you can let it do its thing. Beloved Perennial
GARDEN FLOWERS
Alcea rosea
Hollyhock Mix - 8,000’
Hollyhock Mix - 8,000’
NEW FOR 2021!
Aquilegia crysantha
Golden Columbine
Morning sun and afternoon shade is best. Can grow to 3 ft. tall and 18" wide. Blooms in late spring to early summer. Long bloom time.
Moist, cold stratify or shallowly plant in fall. Found growing at 6,500'. Can easily grow at altitude. Likes moisture, at least part shade. Great under Aspens.
Beloved.
Limited Supply
Aquilegia crysantha
Golden Columbine
Morning sun and afternoon shade is best. Can grow to 3 ft. tall and 18" wide. Blooms in late spring to early summer. Long bloom time.
Moist, cold stratify or shallowly plant in fall. Found growing at 6,500'. Can easily grow at altitude. Likes moisture, at least part shade. Great under Aspens.
Beloved.
Limited Supply
NEW FOR 2021!
Borago officinalis
Borage - Annual
"Borage for Courage!" What a wonderfully generous plant! It's edible, medicinal, beautiful, attracts pollinators and is a companion to tomatoes - what's not to like?
Easy to grow from seed, direct seed in warm soil or start seedlings and set out. Grow 2-3 feet, I like to give it room to be glorious. Smothered in beneficial insects. I've always put the flowers on my son's birthday cakes - just do. Staple plant here - allow to reseed.
Borago officinalis
Borage - Annual
"Borage for Courage!" What a wonderfully generous plant! It's edible, medicinal, beautiful, attracts pollinators and is a companion to tomatoes - what's not to like?
Easy to grow from seed, direct seed in warm soil or start seedlings and set out. Grow 2-3 feet, I like to give it room to be glorious. Smothered in beneficial insects. I've always put the flowers on my son's birthday cakes - just do. Staple plant here - allow to reseed.
NEW FOR 2021!
Bachelor's Buttons - Mixed Colors
Centaurea cyanus
Annual
Easy to grow flowers in blue, pink and white on long stems great for cut flowers. Grey-green leaves. A staple in the flower garden. Delightful, adds color to almost any spot. Fast growing annual is perfect for wildflower stands. Edible with a sweet and spicy flavor. Loves cool, short season gardens but can take full sun. Another common name is Cornflower.
Bachelor's Buttons - Mixed Colors
Centaurea cyanus
Annual
Easy to grow flowers in blue, pink and white on long stems great for cut flowers. Grey-green leaves. A staple in the flower garden. Delightful, adds color to almost any spot. Fast growing annual is perfect for wildflower stands. Edible with a sweet and spicy flavor. Loves cool, short season gardens but can take full sun. Another common name is Cornflower.
Cosmos bipinnatus
Cosmos – white and magenta 7,200’
Cosmos – white and magenta 7,200’
Pic by Penn
New For 2021!
Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory
Ipomoea purpurea
Re-seeding Annual 8,000'
This is one of the seeds that started the Seed Saver's Exchange! Glorious deep purple flowers with a red throat. It can climb 15', no problem. One of my favorite flowers from my childhood. I remember running outside in the morning to see them in all their glory. Now they climb all around the greenhouse, making me just as happy.
Easy to grow from seed.
Lathyrus latifolius
Perennial Sweet Pea - 5,000’
Lavatera trimestris
Rose Mallow
Leucanthemum x superbum
Shasta Daisy – 7,200’
Shasta Daisy – 7,200’
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.
“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.
New For 2021!
Orlaya grandiflora
White Lace Flower - Annual
Such a pretty flower, the petals like lace. Add bright white to your flower beds with this easy to grow beauty. Allow to reseed or plant where you want. Looks incredible en masse.
Orlaya grandiflora
White Lace Flower - Annual
Such a pretty flower, the petals like lace. Add bright white to your flower beds with this easy to grow beauty. Allow to reseed or plant where you want. Looks incredible en masse.
Apricotia Poppy
NEW FOR 2021!
Apricotia Poppy - Papaver rupifragum
Perennial
I have grown this absolutely delightful poppy for many years now. Very hardy and drought tolerant and doesn't mind lean soil, it hails from Spain and Morocco.
Crinkled, apricot-colored petals rise above a pretty little green rosette. I let it self seed amongst the rocks of a perennial bed. Practically a sure thing.
The tiny seed goes a looooong way! Perfect for the Rocky Mountain garden.
Limited Quantity
Apricotia Poppy - Papaver rupifragum
Perennial
I have grown this absolutely delightful poppy for many years now. Very hardy and drought tolerant and doesn't mind lean soil, it hails from Spain and Morocco.
Crinkled, apricot-colored petals rise above a pretty little green rosette. I let it self seed amongst the rocks of a perennial bed. Practically a sure thing.
The tiny seed goes a looooong way! Perfect for the Rocky Mountain garden.
Limited Quantity
HERBS - GARDEN AND WILD
Achillea millefolium
White Yarrow
Oh Yarrow, what can't you do? I've loved this soft, white flower all of my life. It is excellent medicine and perfect for the pharmaceutical garden. It's uses are too vast to list. Blooms June-August.
Sow seed very lightly or on the soil surface in Spring, Summer or Fall. It can really grow anywhere - full sun to full shade. Grows from the plains to the alpine.
Perennial.
White Yarrow
Oh Yarrow, what can't you do? I've loved this soft, white flower all of my life. It is excellent medicine and perfect for the pharmaceutical garden. It's uses are too vast to list. Blooms June-August.
Sow seed very lightly or on the soil surface in Spring, Summer or Fall. It can really grow anywhere - full sun to full shade. Grows from the plains to the alpine.
Perennial.
Allium tuberosa
Garlic Chives – 8,000’
Perennial
My favorite chive of all time! Leaves and flowers are edible, this absolutely hardy perennial will grow everywhere and anywhere. Willing to say the least. Flat, green garlic-tasting chive leaves are delectable served with Fondue. We chop them onto the pizza, the salad, soups and stews, sandwiches. The star flowers make a beautiful, edible garnish.
Drought tolerant. It pops up in full sun and partial shade. Can remain evergreen in warmer areas. Easy to start or direct seed. Allow to reseed!
Garlic Chives – 8,000’
Perennial
My favorite chive of all time! Leaves and flowers are edible, this absolutely hardy perennial will grow everywhere and anywhere. Willing to say the least. Flat, green garlic-tasting chive leaves are delectable served with Fondue. We chop them onto the pizza, the salad, soups and stews, sandwiches. The star flowers make a beautiful, edible garnish.
Drought tolerant. It pops up in full sun and partial shade. Can remain evergreen in warmer areas. Easy to start or direct seed. Allow to reseed!
Anethum graveolens
Dill - 8,000’
Dill - 8,000’
Calendula officianalis
Pot Marigold - 8,000’
Annual
Pot Marigold - 8,000’
Annual
Euphorbia lathyrus
Moleplant
This groovy biennial is also called Gopher Spurge as it puts a volatile oil in the soil that ground animals avoid. We plant these throughout the vegetable garden to discourage the critters. This is not a perfect fix but it is an excellent contribution to Integrated Pest Management, working along with other solutions.
Grow it as a Biennial in lower elevations, but up high you will have to grow it as an annual. We plant it with the vegetables outside and then let a few bloom in the greenhouses. They produce a green flower with green seed pods that ripen to brown.
Easy to grow - no pre-treatment necessary. I start them in plug trays and plant the plugs right in. Vigorous growers. In the greenhouse, they can reach 12'! Outside, more like 12-18". Non-Invasive.
Moleplant
This groovy biennial is also called Gopher Spurge as it puts a volatile oil in the soil that ground animals avoid. We plant these throughout the vegetable garden to discourage the critters. This is not a perfect fix but it is an excellent contribution to Integrated Pest Management, working along with other solutions.
Grow it as a Biennial in lower elevations, but up high you will have to grow it as an annual. We plant it with the vegetables outside and then let a few bloom in the greenhouses. They produce a green flower with green seed pods that ripen to brown.
Easy to grow - no pre-treatment necessary. I start them in plug trays and plant the plugs right in. Vigorous growers. In the greenhouse, they can reach 12'! Outside, more like 12-18". Non-Invasive.
Leonurus cardiaca
Motherwort - 8,000’
Motherwort - 8,000’
Marrubium vulgare
Horehound – 6,000’
Horehound – 6,000’
Nepeta cataria
Catnip - 8,000'
New For 2021!
Origanum vulgare
Italian Oregano – 8,000’Perennial
Oregano is a easy to grow culinary and medicinal herb that thrives in the mountains. Purple flowers on top of dark green leaves make it a beauty for the flower garden.
Can't live without it, my plants have lasted many years here at 8,000'. All aromatics help protect the garden from the bugs we don't want, while attracting the bugs we do. A must have. I want pizza!
Origanum vulgare
Italian Oregano – 8,000’Perennial
Oregano is a easy to grow culinary and medicinal herb that thrives in the mountains. Purple flowers on top of dark green leaves make it a beauty for the flower garden.
Can't live without it, my plants have lasted many years here at 8,000'. All aromatics help protect the garden from the bugs we don't want, while attracting the bugs we do. A must have. I want pizza!
Petroselinum crispum
Italian Flatleaf Parsley – 7,200’
Italian Flatleaf Parsley – 7,200’
Large 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.
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.
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.
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.
Tanacetum parthenium
Feverfew – 8,000’
Feverfew – 8,000’
Valeriana officinali
Common Valerian
Common Valerian
Trees
Gleditisia triacanthos L.
Honey Locust – 5,000’
Honey Locust – 5,000’
Pic by Penn
NEW FOR 2021!
Crataegus rivularis
River Hawthorne
The seeds from this plant come from a very old Hawthorne tree. I only have a limited supply but even a little will get you started. Growing at 7,500' for decades, it clings to swampy or bottomland areas, including stream sides. Medicinal, edible, beautiful.
From my mentor's garden.
Long-lived perennial. Pic shows drying Hawthorne berries.
Cold stratify or plant in fall.
Crataegus rivularis
River Hawthorne
The seeds from this plant come from a very old Hawthorne tree. I only have a limited supply but even a little will get you started. Growing at 7,500' for decades, it clings to swampy or bottomland areas, including stream sides. Medicinal, edible, beautiful.
From my mentor's garden.
Long-lived perennial. Pic shows drying Hawthorne berries.
Cold stratify or plant in fall.
Pinus edulis
Piñon Pine Tree - 8,000'
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’
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’
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’
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'