Hello everyone. Happy 4th of July. Don’t mean to interupt your 4th plans, but I figured I’d give you a little something to read this weekend.

I hope you had a great week in the garden. The heat across the US really brought out the flowers. I can't remember a season where everything bloomed this well. It’s also one of my favorite times of year when the daylilies come out. It inspired last week’s newsletter about Darrel Apps and his daylily releases.

Speaking of heat, I love it. But enough is enough. I expect it in July and August, but June was too early. We were in the 90s for a few weeks, which is pretty rare. Great for the flowers, great for these old bones, but terrible for a guy who likes to be outside all day. It got so bad my wife, dog, and I packed up the Bronco and headed to the Colorado mountains, where the high is 78 and there’s no humidity. We’re going to spend a month or so here and get the outdoor time I couldn’t get in the heat. I don’t know how people in Austin and Dallas do it. I ask my friends how they get used to it, and they all say you don’t. You just stay inside during the day and get all your exercise and outside time done in the early morning or evening. My retired life tells me to chase the good weather instead.

The hard part about living in different places throughout the year is leaving my garden. I’ll miss a month or two of blooms and vegetable harvests. My cousin, who takes care of the house and garden, is going to be swimming in Super Sweet 100s and strawberries. Luckily, the dahlias will be coming into bloom right when I get back. I actually have cameras on the dahlias, and the trigger to head home is when they start blooming. You don’t hear that very often. Sounds like a country song—"I'll Come Home When the Dahlias Are A Bloomin'."

I’m staying at 11,000 feet, and it’s a whole different world of plants up here. Yes, there are still flowers. July is basically late spring in the mountains, so plenty of things are blooming and I get my second spring of the year. Every one of these plants is tough as nails because they have to be to survive at this altitude (the people are pretty tough too) . They have to live in a place that gets 170 inches of snow and minus 30 temperatures. The soil is rocky and poor, so they build strong roots. Their lifecycles are short, since they only get about three months of warm weather. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have garden centers and gardening. There is this great place called Cloud City Gardens, which might be the highest vegetable growing center in the country. Picked up some carrots and tomatoes, and they were fantastic so things grow just fine here and as said above, it’s merely a short season. Something greenhouses are great for making longer.

Today I’m going to show you 10 plants I saw on my hikes and runs that were beautiful and you’ll probably recognize most of them. We’ll go over whether they would survive off the mountain in your garden and if not, what would give you the same look. I took all of these pictures yesterday except the lavender.

1. Mountain Bluebells (Mertensia ciliata)

Everyone loves bluebells, but all have the same routine. Plant them, enjoy them for a few weeks, then watch them melt away as the heat kicks in. They’re a cool season plant, and in most of the country, you just accept that they’re temporary. The trick is planting something else nearby to take over when they disappear. But in the mountains, they stay. With cooler temps and a short growing season, bluebells don’t just survive—they look healthy the whole season. You’ll see them lining the trails and filling gardens all summer long. In higher elevations they are pretty for months

• Perennial, Zones 3–8

• Bell-shaped blue flowers

• Grows in moist alpine meadows

• Needs cool temps and steady moisture

2. Mountain Arnica (Arnica mollis)

I had never seen or even heard of this plant before—Mountain Arnica.
It’s a tough native perennial, known more for its medicinal uses than its garden presence. But out here, it’s fairly common. It thrives in poor soil, short seasons, and elevation. Locals say it’s one of the best alpine yellows you’ll find. I don’t think we’ll have much luck growing it back home, so we’ll have to settle for heliopsis, coreopsis, and tickseed to get the same feel. Not the same plant, but the same color punch.

• Perennial, Zones 3–7

• Bright yellow daisy-like flowers

• Found in high mountain meadows

• Doesn't like heat or humidity

3. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

I've written about Yarrow plenty of times, and the mountains just add to the case—this might be the toughest plant out there. It grows anywhere. I've shown it to you in Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, and now here it is again at 11,000 feet in Colorado. Same plant, same no-fuss attitude. It doesn't care about soil, water, or weather. It just blooms. And with a full wheel of pastel colors to pick from, there's no reason not to plant it. I said there was not such thing as no maintenance….I lied. Here it is

• Perennial, Zones 3–9

• Flat clusters, feathery foliage

• Drought tolerant, native to Illinois

• Thrives in sun and poor soil

4. Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)

Gorgeous in the wild, tough to cultivate. It's often protected in certain areas. A standout native and one of the signature wildflowers of the western U.S. in summer.

If you're building a native mountain garden or meadow, this is one of the most iconic plants you can try to include—if you can actually get it going.

I didn’t realize I had stumbled on something so coveted during my hike yesterday. I just thought it was pretty. Turns out it’s not only hard to grow outside alpine conditions, but even people in the right climate have a hard time getting it established. I guess that’s part of what makes it special. In the rest of the country I would substitute Geum triflorum ‘Prairie Smoke’ Similar color, easier to grow, also a very tough plant

• Zones 3–8

• Bright red bracts, semi-parasitic

• Native to high elevation

• Beautiful but difficult to grow at home

5. Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale)

I saw these poppies outside a 150-year-old home in Leadville, Colorado. The plants have been there for nearly a century. I’ve been growing poppies my whole life and knew there were a lot of colors out there, but I had no idea there was a double form of the original orange. I drove by and, like any good plant lover, I pulled over for a closer look. Like all poppies, they spread well but hate being moved. I saw them at two or three houses on the block, and that was it—which tells you how hard they are to transplant. If it were easy, they’d be in every garden on the street.

• Perennial, Zones 3–7

• Huge crepe-textured flowers

• Dies back in summer

• Best in full sun and well-drained soil

6. Columbine (Aquilegia spp.)

You can tell a lot about a place by what’s still blooming when everything else is falling apart. Everyone knows columbine are alpine plants and like cool temps and some shade, so I guess I should’ve expected to see them in the mountains. And like everywhere else, they seed voraciously. This photo was taken at an empty house, and even though the place looked run down, the columbine were thriving. It’s a staple in Midwest gardens too, and we’ve got 30-plus varieties to pick from. The species types or Biedermeier mix always seem to do well in tough conditions, which explains why they’re so popular

• Perennial, Zones 3–9

• Spurred flowers in many colors

• Reseeds easily

• Loves cool weather and light shade

7. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

One of the most common reasons people brought back “dead” lavender at our garden center was overwatering. Almost every return traced back to that. Which makes sense when you see how well it does at elevation and in rocky soil. Well-drained, dry, and a little neglected—that’s exactly what it wants. It also likes to be cut back hard each year (or buried under 170 inches of snow). If you want a plant that doesn’t need to be babied but still gives you great fragrance, this is your plant. PS deer and rabbits hate it

• Perennial, Zones 5–9

• Needs full sun and excellent drainage

• Grows well in dry, rocky, elevated spots

• Deer-resistant, pollinator-friendly

8. Catmint (Nepeta faassenii)

Another plant that made my “toughest plants ever” list from past newsletters. Nepeta, in all its forms, is my go-to for commercial plantings, hard-to-grow areas, and any spot where there isn’t a hose within a mile. It’s similar to lavender in that way. The one in this photo was absolutely buried in weeds, but once I cleared them out, there stood the nepeta—strong and just as pretty as ever. I added a few to my own garden under a tree that was stealing all the water and nutrients and killing everything else. Even in that shady, dry spot, it’s thriving. Honestly, I don’t think I can come up with any more examples or reasons—you just need to have one in your garden.

• Perennial, Zones 4–8

• Sprawling, soft gray foliage with purple blooms

• Long bloom time, drought-tolerant

• Great filler and pollinator plant

9. Potentilla fruticosa (Shrubby Cinquefoil)

I know, I know. Potentilla is a grandma plant. A plant from the 70s. It has a boring label and a bad rap—but I think it’s due for a comeback. I planted one at a rental house in Colorado because I knew it wasn’t going to get any care. It’s next to a hose bib, but nobody’s around to water it, and nobody on vacation is going to be like me and take care of it. And yet, two years later, there it is. Still alive. A little small, but alive.

Here’s the secret: trim your Potentilla regularly. I mean every month. Keep it tight—very tight—and it’ll be one of the best plants in your garden. It’s tough, blooms forever, and did I mention tough? The reason it gets a bad rap is people let it go floppy and woody, and it ends up looking terrible. Don’t let it get like that. Stay on it, and it’ll surprise you.

• Yellow flowers, small compound leaves

• Hardy in Zones 2–7

• Very cold and drought tolerant/

• Reliable for long summer bloom

10. Erigeron speciosus (Showy Fleabane)

I love Erigeron. We grow it at the nursery and it's a hidden gem. I didn’t realize one of its common names was Aspen fleabane, but that makes sense now—I saw it here in the mountains. It’s funny how we don’t always think about the origins of the plants we love. We just want them to thrive in our area.

I know a lot of people are passionate about natives and only plant what grows naturally in their region. But where’s the fun in that? That’s like living in the same place your whole life. I want to see different things—and for me, that includes plants.

Erigeron is a wonderful plant. It’s similar to an aster, blooms reliably, and fits in almost any garden. Everyone should have one, whether you’re in Colorado or anywhere else.

• Perennial

• Zones: 4–8

• Great for high elevation gardens

A Picture is Worth a Hundred Words

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND and I have a question. Anyone want a Botany Hat?

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