Bryan Fischer

Bryan has had a passion for plants for as long as he can remember. Fueled by juicy-imaged garden books and weekends on a fifth-generation family ranch in the Colorado Rockies, he landed his first job as soon as he could drive, working in a dry-bean breeding program. His experience now includes both academic and applied work in horticulture with Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he currently serves as curator of plant collections. Bryan holds a B.S. in horticulture from Colorado State University, and his work for Fine Gardening draws upon his education, his intensive home gardening, observations of plants in nature, and two decades of experience gardening in the Rocky Mountain region.

  • large garden bed full of warm-season ornamental grasses
    Mountain West Regional Reports

    3 Warm-Season Ornamental Grasses That Excel in the Mountain West

    My career in ornamental horticulture has led to the development of a working theory: Ornamental grasses are an acquired taste for most gardeners. This theory grew from personal experience (my…

  • garden bed with gravel mulch
    Mountain West Regional Reports

    How to Pick the Best Mulch for Your Mountain West Garden Beds

    Since entering horticulture professionally over a decade ago, I’ve noticed a correlation on the Colorado Front Range between wood mulch (also called arborist chips) and water-wise gardens. A beautifully designed…

  • maple pruned in winter
    Mountain West Regional Reports

    With Winter Pruning on the Mind, Avoid Cutting on These Woody Plants

    Winter is, broadly speaking, the ideal time to prune most trees and shrubs. Deeply dormant, these woody plants experience less stress when pruned in the winter months, and with cool…

  • winter tree watering
    Mountain West Regional Reports

    Should You Water Your Plants in Winter?

    Those of us who have spent a few years (or more) in the American West know that winter here doesn’t look like winter in much of the country. As far…

  • Mountain West Regional Reports

    3 Hardy Broadleaf Evergreen Shrubs for the Mountain West

    You may have noticed that the Rocky Mountain region—especially if you moved here from either coast or the South—is notably lacking in broadleaf evergreens. That is because these evergreens are…

  • Fendlera rupicola blooms through Yucca baccata
    Mountain West Regional Reports

    Showy Native Plants for Rocky Soils

    The Rocky Mountain Region is stretched over 10,000 feet in elevation change and nearly over the full longitude of the Continental United States. Within this massive spread fit more than…

  • Mountain West Regional Reports

    Growing Garlic in the Rocky Mountains

    Good things in life take time. Most of us recognize the truth in this statement, especially when it comes to our gardens. Not only are the best designs often those…

  • Mountain West Regional Reports

    Perfect Plant Combinations for the Mountain West

    There is no perfect garden plant, unless one is talking about plastic. All chlorophyll-loaded garden accents have both good and bad visual and cultural attributes. Understanding the weaknesses of your…

  • Tufted evening primrose
    Mountain West Regional Reports

    Pollinator Plants for the Mountain West

    Whether you have the space to create an expansive, pollinator-friendly landscape or just enough room to pot up a couple plants that are pollinator favorites, we can all do our…

  • Mountain West Regional Reports

    An Invasive Willowherb to Watch For

    Most of us gardeners have a good read on which plants in our gardens are problematic—which we often refer to as weeds. Typically these plants make seasonal appearances, like the…