What’s growing in my southern Colorado Foothills Garden?

**Walker’s Low Catmint does great here, and so far no rodents have eaten it!**

I have been establishing a rock flower garden with both native plants and local varieties for the past few years. I don’t dare raise vegetables and fruit here, mostly because of the extreme winds we get sitting here on the side of a ridge at 7,000 feet. It is not unusual for us to receive westerly winds over 60 mph. But in the summer the winds usually calm down and we are left with long, lovely warm days.

**Rocky Mountain Penstemon around our birdbath, and BTW the birds really do bath in there!**

I have had great luck also with Rocky Mountain Penstemon and Knautia Red Knight. They are both just about to bloom in spite of some very cool weather this spring. Last year the deer ate some of the blooms off so this year I will be patrolling the area!

**A couple different types of Gallardia and Yarrow with some Lavender of course!**

I’m trying out a few different colors and types of yarrow this spring. I have heard so many different things about the animals only liking one color of flower, so now I have yellow, red, and pink coming up, a veritable smorgasbord of deer food! I should also mention Blue Mist Spirea. It’s a small bush that seems to love it here. It’s a woody plant so no deer nibbles there. I heard a new theory recently, that animals don’t like to eat plants that give off a strong odor like herbs. Have you found this to be true?

This spring I went out and realized I had almost all purple flowers, so I’m making an effort to add new colors. I added a beautiful red Sunrose, some red Jupiter’s Beard, some cinquefoil and other yellow varieties. I’ll let you know how they do…

Finally, I added a new solar water fountain to my garden. What a great idea to let the sun keep it running, but you do have to add water everyday. We are amazed at how sensitive it is! The second you come between the sensor and the sun the pump stops.

We see everything from the largest raven to the tiniest hummingbird coming by everyday. We feed the birds and they do come!

In the summer of 2014, Mike and I sold our nice house in Fort Collins to move temporarily into an old miner’s home in Walsenburg, while constructing a passive solar home near the top of Navajo Ranch Estates west of Walsenburg Colorado. To learn more about downsizing to a tiny town and then living in the Colorado countryside, consider reading my book: A Memoir of Retirement: From Suburbia to Solar in Southern Colorado available from Amazon or directly from me at: MidlifeCrisisQueen@gmail.com

6 thoughts on “What’s growing in my southern Colorado Foothills Garden?”

Having no experience with your particular climate challenges, I would hesitate to give you any advice. Deer were never a big problem anywhere we lived- knock on lots of wood, because they, and bears, are becoming, increasingly, urban visitors. Where we live in semi-urban upstate New York, our problems are mainly woodchucks and squirrels. Generally, we do find that strong smelling herbs (basil, rosemary – which we have to take indoors before frost), mint, and so on – do not seem to be disturbed.

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I love that you have all those colourful, interesting little bits and pieces in amongst it all – they’re very “water friendly” and add a touch of whimsy. I think you’re doing really well with the conditions you have to work around 🙂

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