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Highly Successful Plant Varieties for 7000 Feet Perennials Deer Resistence Water Needs Pollinator Friendly Other Pest Problems Additional Benefits Daisy, especially 'Avalache' high medium no Very long bloom time if deadheaded Monarda, Red varieties like 'Cambridge Scarlet' high medium yes mildew Best hummingbird magnet Monarda, Native Lavender Bergamot high low yes tea can be made from the leaves Salvia, Purple varieties like 'May Night' and 'Caradonna' high medium/low yes mildew False Sunflower high medium no Very long bloom time if deadheaded Penstemon, SO MANY good varieties, but our native Rocky Mountain Penstemon is best, toughest are the pineleaf varieties native - high, hybrids - medium medium/low yes LIKES our poor, rocky soil Agastache/ Hummingbird Mint (avoid southwestern desert varieties) Best is Native Agastache rupestris and blue varieties like 'Blue Fortune' high medium/low yes Blue varieties are large enough to be a shrub in the landscape Yarrow, Select sterile hybrid varieties like 'Moonshine' high low no Long bloom time, Large, shrub-like plant in the landscape Jupiter's Beard, AKA Red Valerian high medium/low yes Iris, German high medium/low no Iris, Siberian high medium no Columbine, many varieties, many will interbreed and reseed, best are native varieties such as blue/white and yellow medium medium/low yes Ice Plant high low no Echinacea/ Coneflower, lots of new varieties, original native is the most hardy and has the lowest water needs high medium/low yes seed heads visited by birds in winter Asiatic Lily medium/low medium no grasshoppers takes up very little space relative to the amount of color it supplies. Daylilly medium/low medium no Grassy foliage adds a nice landscape element, even when not in bloom Allium/ Ornamental Onion, especially 'Millenium' medium medium/low yes Creeping Jenny, Gold unkown medium/high no Great for edging or as a container element Veronica prostrata, MANY varieties, favorites are 'Aztec Gold', River' and Turkish Speedwell high low unknown Fills in between stones very quickly, heat and cold tolerant Thyme, Culinary, Wooly, and Creeping high low yes Culinary Thyme is a wonderful herbal remedy that can be added to teas Poppies, Oriental, Shirly, and Icelantic high medium/low yes annual varieties will reseed in poor soil, Dislike soils with poor drainage Ajuga reptans/ Carpet Bugle 'Burgundy Glow' or 'Chocolate Chip' high medium no shade plant, combines well with annual flowers Hardy Plumbago high medium/low yes Late season bloom, Wonderful mixed fall color Snow-in-Summer high low no fills in spaces quickly- a little bit goeas a long way Soapwort, 'Max Frei' or 'Splendens' medium low no Splendens' works well in shady corners only receiving part sun Aster, 'Purple Dome' and 'Alert' low medium yes In late summer and fall, Aster and Plumbago will be the only thing blooming. Frost tolerant. Leadplant high low yes Tough-as-nails subshrub Alyssum 'Basket of Gold' high low no early season bloom, sagegrean mounded foliage looks nice after blooms are spent Stachys/ Lamb's Ear, 'Helen Von Stein' stays compact and does not spread, 'Silver Carpet' will spread and possibly need to be divided high medium no Helen von Stein' makes a very tidy mound or edging, almost never blooms, will not spread aggressively. Other varieties work well for filling a large area ---PAGE BREAK--- Ratibida/ Mexican Hat high low yes Coreopsis, most kinds medium medium/low no Armeria, Sea Thrift 'Spendens' medium medium/low no very long bloom time Catmint "Walker's Low' and 'Six Hills Giant' gets very large, 'Little Trudy' maintains a nice compact size high low yes very long bloom time Flax, 'Lewis Blue' (also referred to as wild blue), 'Narbonne Blue' high low yes attracts small birds who eat the flax seeds Annuals Deer Resistence Water Needs Pollinator Friendly Other Pest Problems Additional Benefits Coleus high medium no Both shade and sun varieties available Licorice high medium no Cleome/ Bee plant high low yes Large, vigorous plant, blooms can be seen from far away Lobelia high medium no Techno Blue does well in shade or sun California Poppy high medium/low yes Iceland Poppy (annual or shortlived perennial) high medium/low yes Shirley Poppy high medium/low yes Alternanth 'Choco Chili' unknown medium no Sunflower medium/low medium/low yes attracts loads of finches Marigold, both African and French high, French unknown medium no possibly small rodents Zinnia unknown medium yes easy to grow from seed Hesitantly recommending (have observed excellent performance over only one year) Deer Resistence Water Needs Pollinator Friendly Other Pest Problems Additional Benefits Corsican violet medium/high medium/low unknown super long bloom time, reseeds to gently spread Dianthus 'Zing Rose' high medium/low unknown super long bloom time Stachys 'Hummelo' high medium/low unknown Cold and heat tolerant Creeping Cinquifoil 'Verna Nana' high low unknown Blooming under the snow! White Evening Primrose, Oenothera caespitosa marginata low very low yes Blooming under the snow! * medium/low deer resistence means the deer only graze the blooms, not killing the entire plant, or that deer will not bother it once it has grown large enough *Medium/low water needs mean the plant has fairly low water needs, but will bloom much more with sufficient water