Colorado’s hardy alpine or rock garden plants offer low-maintenance beauty

By EVE GILMORE

Rock gardening is a special art form, to be sure, but anyone can do it. The rewards are rich and many. Most rock garden plants hug the rocky ground and are typically described as tufts, cushions, mounds or mats. In the traditional rock garden, the plants hail primarily from alpine regions of the world, where the climate can best be described as hostile. These tiny, delicate-looking plants actually have to be tough as nails to survive the altitudes they call home. In order to do that, they feature some adaptations that endear them to gardeners, including the tendency to be evergreen and to have long-lasting blooms that appear the instant snow recedes. These qualities give them a jump start on growth, getting pollinated and reproducing as quickly as possible in their severely limited growing season.

The rock gardener benefits from these alpine plants’ growth habits by enjoying their hardy disposition, lengthy bloom period and year-round green. It’s nice to have something green in your garden (besides all your flowering bulbs, of course) this time of year as soon as the cold white stuff gets out of the way. And because they are generally somewhere between small and tiny, hundreds of these plants can literally fit into the space otherwise occupied by only dozens of regular perennials. Alpines or rock garden plants are perfect for us plant fanatics — affectionately referred to as “plant heads” by Tucsonian Scott Calhoun, one of the most entertaining garden writers I’ve read — with their postage-stamp-size properties that we love to collect. Not to mention they are irresistibly adorable.

While it’s true that many rock gardeners do tend to be fanatical plant heads, don’t be intimidated. It’s relatively simple to  see if you have an affinity for this sturdy and charming (who could ask for a better combination?) little flora. For abundant information on rock gardening, suitable plants and where to get them, go to www.nargs.org.

NARGS, or North American Rock Garden Society, is comprised of hard-core plant heads. They are avid gardeners and plant enthusiasts, but these dedicated folks are also botanists. They are knowledgeable about the life cycle of the plants they grow as well as where the seeds come from. They will generally also know where in the world the species originates. Many of them have visited that place themselves, sometimes having harvested their own seed. I have a great deal of respect for NARGS and was able to be a delighted participant at last year’s western winter study weekend.

As you’ve read in my articles through the past year, I am a staunch advocate of low-maintenance gardens featuring native and adaptive plants. Lucky, for the rock gardener, Colorado boasts many native plants suitable for rock gardens. There are many plants indigenous to our Great Basin and southwestern deserts that belong in rock gardens because of their ground-hugging growth habits.

As for low maintenance, you really aren’t going to grow a successful rock garden nonchalantly. You will need to put some effort into educating yourself about the art and put in an initial effort to prepare the planter or the ground. However, the beauty of it is that once you’ve gotten over the initial humps and planted your plants, your work is 90 percent done. Established rock gardens are extremely low maintenance with little pruning and cutting back to be done.

Get ready to enjoy long-lasting profuse color atop evergreen foliage at ankle (OK, maybe midcalf) height or less. You might just be seen hugging the ground yourself, down on all fours delighting in your newest garden acquisitions.

Eve Gilmore is a landscape designer and garden coach and owner of Gardens by Eve in Durango. You can reach Eve at www.gardensbyeve.buzz town.com or by calling 970-769-3319.