Did you know that you can successfully transform your yard and landscaping into a thriving oasis right here in Fort Collins and the Northern Colorado area by choosing plants that are native to the region? Native plants are well-adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, making them more resilient and easier to maintain. In this blog, we'll explore a variety of native plants that will not only enhance the beauty of your landscapes but also support local wildlife and promote a healthy ecosystem in your own backyard.
Why Add Native Plants to Your Landscape Design?
Incorporating native plants into your northern Colorado yard and landscaping can greatly enhance its beauty and sustainability. Native plants are well-adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, making them more resilient to drought, pests, and diseases. They require less water and maintenance compared to non-native species, providing a more eco-friendly and cost-effective solution for your garden. Additionally, native plants support local wildlife, including pollinators like bees, birds, and butterflies, contributing to a healthier and more vibrant ecosystem. Here are all the benefits of choosing plants native to Colorado:
1. Low Maintenance
Native plants are adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, requiring less water, fertilizer, and pesticides. This makes them easier and less costly to maintain.
2. Drought Tolerance
Many native plants are naturally drought-resistant, reducing the need for frequent watering and helping conserve water resources.
3. Pest and Disease Resistance
Native plants have evolved defenses against local pests and diseases, minimizing the need for chemical interventions.
4. Support for Local Wildlife
Native plants provide essential habitat and food for local wildlife, including birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. This helps maintain and enhance biodiversity.
5. Soil Health
The deep root systems of many native plants help improve soil structure, prevent erosion, and increase soil fertility by promoting microbial activity.
6. Environmental Sustainability
By reducing the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides, native plants contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly garden.
7. Aesthetic Appeal
Native plants can add unique beauty to your landscape, showcasing the natural flora of the region and creating a sense of place.
8. Climate Adaptability
Native plants are better suited to withstand local weather extremes, such as temperature fluctuations and seasonal changes, ensuring a more resilient garden.
14 Native Plants of Fort Collins, Colorado
1. Bellflower, Bluebell of Scotland (Campanula rotundifolia)
The bellflower is a fragile perennial with slender, graceful stems that typically grow in clusters. Blue-violet bell-shaped flowers hang singly or in clusters along nodding, thread-like, mostly unbranched stems. This plant is native to Colorado and can withstand harsh conditions, thriving at up to 10,000 feet.
Bellflower Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 3, hardy to 10,000 feet
Light Requirements: Partial Sun, Sun
Height: 6" - 18"
Width: 12" - 16"
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Purple
Bloom Time: Summer
Attributes: Attracts hummingbirds, cut flower, deer resistant, low maintenance, native
2. Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon strictus)
Robust, drought-resistant, and strikingly beautiful, Rocky Mountain Penstemon features towering bright blue/purple spikes adored by hummingbirds and bees. Among the easiest Beardtongues to cultivate, it boasts a prolonged blooming season of approximately one month in spring. This resilient perennial thrives in any well-draining soil with full sun exposure, ensuring easy cultivation and longevity.
Penstemon Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 3-8, hardy to 10,000 feet
Light Requirements: Full sun
Height: 24-30 inches
Width: 24 inches
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Blue/purple
Bloom Time: Mid-late spring
Attributes: Attracts bees, attracts butterflies, attracts hummingbirds, cut flower, deer resistant, low maintenance, native, rabbit resistant, xeric, multiplies/naturalizes
3. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
The striking tangerine-orange flowers are abundant in nectar and pollen, making them especially enticing to hummingbirds, Monarch butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects. In the fall, silky pods add further interest to the plant. It requires excellent drainage, is slow to emerge from dormancy, and is native to Colorado, thriving in altitudes up to 8,000 feet.
Butterfly Weed Characteristics
Plant Type: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 3 - 9, hardy to 8,000 feet
Light Requirements: Sun
Height: 24" - 28"
Width: 12" - 24"
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Orange
Bloom Time: Summer
Attributes: Attracts pollinators, attracts hummingbirds, cut flower, deer resistant, drought tolerant, native, staff favorite
4. Rocky Mountain Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea)
This bushy, clump-forming perennial is native to the U.S. Rocky Mountains, thriving at elevations of 6,000 to 12,000 feet. It boasts large, upward-facing flowers with bicolored blooms consisting of five pale to sky-blue sepals and five white petals adorned with straight, slender blue spurs. Foliage tends to decline in mid-summer, so cutting it back to the ground promotes regrowth for fall. It may self-seed and is recognized as the state flower of Colorado.
Rocky Mountain Columbine Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 3
Light Requirements: Partial Sun, Sun
Height: 12" - 24"
Width: 12" - 24"
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Blue/White
Bloom Time: Spring
Attributes: Attracts pollinators, attracts hummingbirds, cut flower, deer resistant, drought tolerant, native, rabbit resistant
5. Annabelle Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle')
Annabelle hydrangeas showcase striking pure white flowers in large bunches reaching up to 12 inches across. Blooms emerge from late spring through summer, sometimes extending into fall. Its sturdy, upright stems support the massive flower heads admirably, even during heavy rainfall. This full, luxuriant shrub requires ample space to display its spectacular beauty. It is deciduous, shedding its leaves seasonally.
Annabelle Hydrangea Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Deciduous Shrub
Hardiness Zone: 4 - 9
Light Requirements: Partial Sun, Shade
Height: 4' - 5'
Width: 4' - 5'
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Fall, Spring, Summer
Attributes: Attracts pollinators, low maintenance, fast growing, native
6. Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
This perennial features charming, nodding pink flowers that transform into feathery, smoky-pink seed heads, adorning the plant in mid-summer. Geum spreads slowly from its roots, making it an excellent choice for a small-scale groundcover. It is extremely cold hardy and easy to care for.
Geum Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 3-7, hardy to 10,000 feet
Light Requirements: Full sun
Height: 6-12 inches
Width: 6-12 inches
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Pink
Bloom Time: Spring
Attributes: Attracts bees, attracts butterflies, attracts hummingbirds, cut flower, deer resistant, native, staff favorite, xeric, drought tolerant, low maintenance, easy to grow, multiplies/naturalizes, winter interest
7. Scarlet Globemaster (Sphaeralcea coccinea)
The palmately shaped leaves of this native perennial are covered with star-shaped hairs, giving them a rough, sandpaper-like texture. This plant is a native of Colorado and is hardy up to elevations of 8,000 feet, making it well-suited for high-altitude gardens.
Scarlet Globemaster Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 5, hardy to 8,000 feet
Light Requirements: Sun
Height: 12" - 24"
Width: 18" - 20"
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Orange
Bloom Time: Summer
Attributes: Drought tolerant, pollinator friendly, low maintenance, xeric, native
8. Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata)
This ever-blooming native wildflower from the Southwest produces a continuous succession of dark-eyed, yellow daisies from May until the first frost, over a compact rosette of foliage. The flowers emit a rich chocolate aroma in the morning. Ideal for xeriscaping, it thrives with minimal water once established. Ensure good drainage, avoid highly amended organic soils, and cut back in July to prevent sprawling and extend the blooming period.
Chocolate Flower Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 4 - 9
Light Requirements: Sun
Height: 10" - 14"
Width: 12" - 16"
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Fall, Spring, Summer
Attributes: Attracts pollinators, deer resistant, drought tolerant, native
9. Diabolo Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo' PP 11211)
The deep purple foliage of this versatile shrub makes it a standout in the garden. It serves as an excellent dense hedge or screen and produces profuse creamy-white flowers in summer. In high heat or partial shade, the foliage may turn green.
Diabolo Ninebark Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Deciduous Shrub
Hardiness Zone: 2 - 7
Light Requirements: Partial Sun, Sun
Height: 8' - 10'
Width: 8' - 10'
Foliage Color: Purple
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Summer
Attributes: Attracts birds, drought tolerant, easy care, native, winter interest
10. Gold Star Potentilla (Potentilla fruticosa 'Gold Star')
This densely branched deciduous shrub is prized for its stunning large golden-yellow blooms. It excels as a colorful border, accent, or groundcover. Highly tolerant of heat and poor soils, this shrub adds vibrant beauty to any landscape.
Potentilla Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Deciduous shrub
Light Requirements: Sun
Height: 18" - 24"
Width: 30" - 3'
Foliage Color: Green
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Fall, Summer
Attributes: Attracts pollinators, attracts birds, deer resistant, drought tolerant, easy care, native, salt tolerant, winter interest
11. Abbotswood Potentilla (Potentilla fruticosa 'Abbotswood')
This exceptional dwarf shrub adds brilliant summer interest with its abundant bright white blooms, flourishing when few other plants are in flower. Use it as a border, in mass plantings, as groundcover, or as an accent plant. This fast-growing deciduous shrub is versatile and suitable for various purposes and locations.
Potentilla Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Deciduous shrub
Hardiness Zone: 3-7
Light Requirements: Full sun
Height: 18-24 inches
Width: 30 inches to 3 feet
Foliage Color: Green, Silver
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Summer
Attributes: Attracts birds, attracts butterflies, deer resistant, drought tolerant, easy-care, native, salt tolerant
12. Ivory Halo Dogwood (Cornus alba 'Bailhalo')
This plant features light green and white foliage and brilliant red winter stems that are signature of dogwood plants. Ideal for planting in shrub borders, mass plantings, or as a low hedge, it offers a compact yet striking addition to any landscape. As a deciduous plant, it will shed its leaves annually, showing off its red bark, which adds seasonal interest to your garden.
Dogwood Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Deciduous shrub
Hardiness Zone: 3 - 7
Light Requirements: Partial Sun, Sun
Height: 5' - 6'
Width: 5' - 6'
Foliage Color: Green, Multicolor, White
Bloom Color: White
Attributes: Attracts birds, native, winter interest
13. Lemony Lace Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)
A bright and stylish plant with an easy-going nature, Lemony Lace elderberry offers finely dissected, cheery foliage that lights up any landscape. This North American native produces clusters of white flowers in early spring, followed by bright yellow leaves edged in red that age to an attractive chartreuse. Though large, it can be pruned to stay smaller. Award-winning and deer-resistant, this shrub is colorful from spring through fall and requires little to no maintenance.
Elderberry Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Deciduous shrub
Hardiness Zone: 3 - 7
Light Requirements: Partial Sun, Sun
Height: 3' - 5'
Width: 3' - 5'
Foliage Color: Red, Yellow
Bloom Color: White
Attributes: Deer resistant, edible fruit, native, pet friendly, low maintenance
14. Yucca 'Golden Sword' (Yucca filamentosa 'Golden Sword')
The leaves of this plant are boldly striped, sword-like, and crowned by tall spikes of fragrant, ivory-white blooms. Yucca plants are perfect for adding contrasting shapes, colors, and textures to your landscape, providing significant visual interest year-round. Their striking foliage and elegant flowers make them a standout feature, enhancing the beauty and diversity of your garden in every season.
Yucca Plant Characteristics
Plant Type: Shrub
Hardiness Zone: 4-9
Light Requirements: Full sun
Height: 3-4 feet
Width: 4-5 feet
Foliage Color: Green, multicolor, yellow
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Spring
Attributes: Attracts birds, attracts butterflies, deer resistant, drought tolerant, native, salt tolerant, cold hardy, low maintenance
Consult the Experts at Bath Landscape Design!
If you are looking for native plants for your landscaping, Bath Landscape and Irrigation has an onsite Garden Center and Nursery with countless options for you to shop. If you are looking to have a new landscape designed and installed, our dedicated landscape designers can help direct you to the best plants for your space and will come up with the perfect plan for your wants and needs. Learn more about our residential landscaping services, explore our Plant Finder tool, or stop by the Garden Center to shop for plants today!