Garden Photo of the Day

READER PHOTO! A water-wise entryway garden in Denver

Michelle Gervais, Associate Editor

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Photo: Courtesy of Sheila Schultz

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Today's photo is from Sheila Schultz in Denver, Colorado. She says, "What do you do with a tiny front yard in Denver with zero visual interest?  I created a rock garden with a winding flagstone path to the front door.  The rock pockets lining the path are filled with a variety of succulents and perennials including 'Angelina' sedum (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’, USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9), sempervivum (Sempervivum arachnoideum subsp. tomentosum, Zones 5-8), and 'Russell Hybrids' lupines (Lupinus polyphyllus ‘Russell Hybrids’, Zones 5-8).  The orange of the 'Orange Carpet' California fuchsia (Zauschneria californica ‘Orange Carpet’, Zones 8-11) and 'Arizona Sun' blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Arizona Sun’, Zones 3-8) add the heat to the cool tones of the sea lavender (Limonium latifolium, Zones 7-9) and the snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum, Zones 3-7).  Throw in the texturally different 'Crimson Pygmy' Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Crimson Pygmy’, Zones 5-8) and yucca (Yucca filamentosa cv., Zones 4-11) and you have a start to an ever changing garden filled with hummingbird mints and hyssops (Agastache spp. and cvs., Zones 4-11), salvias (Salvia spp. and cvs., Zones 5-11), penstemons (Penstemon spp. and cvs., Zones 3-10), coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3-9), and a host of other varieties of sun- and shade-loving perennials.  (The groundcover in between the flagstones is mostly Turkish speedwell (Veronica liwanensis, Zones 4-9).) This garden is amazing in the spring and early summer.  This shot was taken mid to late summer.  It's not the easiest garden to tend, but I do love the boulders that continue to give interest when looking out the front door after the garden has been put to bed for the winter." Thanks, Sheila, for sharing!

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Comments (7)

sheilaschultz writes: eckramer0, gardening in CA would be a dream! Any time you want to dig in the dirt in CO, let me know! Posted: 6:17 pm on December 13th

eckramer0 writes: REAlly enjoyed seeing this carefully crafted but natural looking front garden scene. It would make me happy to see this coming or going. I enlarged it and really got a sense of how happily it fits the picture . Sheila , you could come and work on my garden together any time at all. ! eckramer in California Posted: 5:45 pm on December 13th

sheilaschultz writes: Thanks, everyone. I'm so pleased that you like my garden, it makes me smile every time I walk out the front door and I definitely don't miss the grass! GratefulJoe, you are absolutely right about the aspen. We moved into the house 5 years ago and the aspen was here...believe it or not, it's an amazing 35 years old and still going strong. FYI, we are of like mind Mindy... out of frame to the right are short to med. grasses and an Austrian Pine marks the edge of our tiny space. Posted: 2:26 pm on December 13th

GratefulJoe writes: The groundplane is fantastic in design. The only flaw in this design is the choice of tree which may or may not be Sheila's fault. Aspen perform marginally at best at Denver's elevation, with a life span of only 10-15 years. Designing for hydrozones (matching plants with similar water requirements) is a key element to low-water landscaping, and Aspen are a high water user; not xeric.
Other than the tree, the design rocks, Sheila! Posted: 10:09 am on December 13th

stpope writes: This is one of the prettiest, well thought out designs I've seen on this site! I'd love to see this photo pic again as a winterscape. Love the plant variety, too. Posted: 7:58 am on December 13th

GrnThum writes: Excellent!! Wish more people would do less grass and more of this for front gardens. So much more interesting. Posted: 7:47 am on December 13th

arboretum writes: once i enlarged the photo, i could really appreciate the beauy and diversity! nice job sheila! and it's great that you provided such detail so we could further investigate the plants. I'm curious- what about dwarf conifers and some of the short/medium grasses for their solid and spikey presence?
more close-ups next time, please!
best,
mindy Posted: 3:31 am on December 13th

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