Gardening in a Drought
(Easier Than You Have Been Led to Believe!)
Watering: Water restrictions refer to sprinkler systems and drip irrigation systems NOT
your spigots used for spot watering and hand watering NEW Plants!
Drought Tolerant Plants: Drought tolerant plants are abundantly available! In fact, the
majority of the plants we carry ARE drought tolerant! Once a plant has been planted
and is in the ground, it requires significantly less water than it would in a nursery pot.
Water Retention: Use Revive in your Garden Beds, Containers, AND Grass! Revive
helps to increase moisture retention for all plants! We use it on our trees and shrubs!
Soil Preparation: Prepare your soil for new plantings best you can with compost and
peat moss to help retain water and send roots deeper. This will help with establishing
deep roots that in turn will result in a plant requiring less moisture!
Deep Root Feeding: Deep root water trees and shrubs to ensure all water gets directly
to the roots as opposed to the water being taken up by grass or other plants before
getting to the tree or shrub.
Mulch: Mulch helps to retain moisture and deter weed growth. Mulch around new
plantings especially to help them retain more moisture. Mulch at least 2” deep for
optimal results.
Fertilizer: Plants that have been fed and watered regularly are less likely to become
stressed resulting in wilting, disease, or even death! Use a well balanced fertilizer to
ensure the plant(s) are getting all that they need.
Root Stimulator is an excellent choice for everything! It can be used alone or
added to ANY fertilizing program to increase roots, and reduce waterings.
DROUGHT TOLERANT PLANTS
| Shrubs | Trees | Perennials | Ground
covers |
Annuals | Vines |
| Barberry | CrabApple | Allium | Ajuga | Celosia | Clematis |
| Buckthorn | Goldenrain | Blanket Flower | Cinquefoil | Cosmos | Honey |
| Burning Bush | Hackberry | Brunnera & Buckwheat | Hens & Chicks | Gazania | Suckle |
| Choke
berry |
Hawthorn | Catmint | Ice Plant | Lantana | Ivy |
| CoralBerry | Juniper | Chocolate Flower | Ivy | Pansy | Silverlace |
| Coton
easter |
Lilac | Columbine & Coral Bells | Kinnikinnick | Petunia | Trumpet |
| Cranberry | Locust | Coreopsis & Daylily | Nettle | Portulaca/Moss Rose | |
| Currant | Maple | Engleman’s Daisy | Sedum | Salvia | |
| Lilac | Oak, Gamble | Euphorbia & Flax | Snow in Summer | Strawflower | |
| Mock Orange | Pear | Gaura & Gazania | Soapwort | Viola | |
| Ninebark | Pine | Globe Thistle | Strawberry | Wax Begonia | |
| Potentilla | Plum | Grasses (Some) | Thyme | Zinnia | |
| Privet | Service
berry |
Helleborus | Vinca | ||
| Quince | Spruce | Hyssop & Iris | |||
| Roses | Jacob’s ladder | ||||
| Sand
cherry |
Joe Pye Weed & Jupiters Beard | ||||
| Spirea | Lady’s Mantle | ||||
| Sumac | Lavender & Lewisia | ||||
| Viburnum | Partridge Feather | ||||
| Winter
creeper |
Penstemon & Peony | ||||
| Ratibida (Prairie Coneflower) | |||||
| Russian Sage & Salvia | |||||
| Sea Holly & Sea Lavender | |||||
| Sedum & Yucca | |||||
| Zauschneria |
Plants native to Colorado are no-fuss, hardy options for your landscape. Most are drought-tolerant and don’t require a lot of fertilizer and soil amendments. They also provide food for native birds and insects. Our natives are located throughout the Perennial section, as well as in Shrubs and Trees.
Here’s a small sampling of what you’ll find at Wilmore:
Trees and Large Shrubs
- Colorado Blue Spruce, picea pungens
- Pinyon Pine, Pinus edulis
- Rocky Mountain Juniper, Sabina (Juniperus) scopulorum—including “Gray Gleam,” first propagated by Scott Wilmore in 1945.
- Rocky Mountain Maple, Acer glabrum
- Mountain Mahogany, Cercocarpus montanus
- Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa
- Big Tooth Maple, Acer grandidentatum
- And more!
Shrubs
- Boulder Raspberry, Oreobatus (Rubus) deliciosus
- Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana ssp
- Golden Currant, Ribes aureum
- Sand Cherry, Cerasus (Prunus) pumila
- Rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus nauseosus
- Apache Plume, Fallugia paradoxa
- Sand Cherry, Prunus besseyi
- And more!
Perennials/Biennials
- Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
- Blanket flower, Gaillardia aristata
- Butterfly Milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa
- Chocolate Flower, Berlandiera lyrata
- Colorado Blue Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea
- Fringed Sage, Artemisia frigida
- Harebell (Bluebells), Campanula rotundifolia
- Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Penstemon strictus
- Spotted Gayfeather, Liatris punctata
Sulphur Flower, Eriogonum umbellatum- And more!
Grasses
- Big Bluestem, Andropogon gerardii
- Blue Grama, Chondrosum gracile, (Bouteloua gracilis)
- Little Bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium
- Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum
- And more!
Additional Native Plant Resources
CSU’s Extension Fact Sheets: Native Trees for Colorado Landscapes, Native Herbaceous Perennials for Colorado Landscapes, Native Shrubs for Colorado Landscapes, and Native Grasses for Colorado Landscapes.