Mountain West
No. 1
Mojave sage (Salvia pachyphylla)
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
Size: 3 feet tall and 30 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun; dry, well-drained soil (tolerant of heavy clay, provided it is not overwatered, or sandy loam)
This is, perhaps, the most spectacular, tidy, long-blooming sage you can buy. It flowers from June to first frost and sports thick, gorgeous silver foliage year-round. This plant grows best with minimal or no irrigation, and doesn’t mind an occasional drought.
2. Colorado columbine (Aquilegia caerulea)
Zones: 3 to 8
Size: 2 feet tall and 1 foot wide
Conditions: Filtered sun to partial shade; moderately moist, well-drained soil
3. Crested gentian (Gentiana septemfida)
Zones: 3 to 8
Size: 8 inches tall and 15 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moderately moist, fertile soil
4. Blue-leaf red-hot poker (Kniphofia caulescens)
Zones: 5 to 10
Size: 3 feet tall and wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moderately moist, rich, well-drained soil
5. Lebanese oregano (Origanum libanoticum)
Zones: 5 to 10
Size: 10 inches tall and 20 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; loamy or sandy soil
6. Pink wild tulip (Tulipa humilis)
Zones: 4 to 8
Size: 7 inches tall and 8 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; dry to moderately dry loamy or sandy soil
7. Yellow foxtail lily (Eremurus stenophyllus)
Zones: 5 to 9
Size: 4 feet tall (including flower wands) and a 1- to 2-foot-tall and -wide rosette of foliage in spring
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained soil
8. Juno iris (Iris bucharica)
Zones: 5 to 9
Size: 10 inches tall and 1 foot wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained, moderately moist to dry soil
9. Pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)
Zones: 5 to 7
Size: 8 inches tall and 10 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; any moderately moist, fertile loam or sandy soil
10. ‘Lesotho Pink’ ice plant (Delosperma ‘Lesotho Pink’)
Zones: 5 to 7
Size: 1 inch tall and 18 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained loamy soil
Photos, except where noted: courtesy of Panayoti Kelaidis; courtesy of High Country Gardens; Jerry Pavia; Bill Johnson
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