Our rollercoaster weather has delayed my garden activities for now. Despite the cold and snow on Saturday, I just couldn’t resist a visit to the nursery. I’m in the process of infilling some of my perennial gardens with more shrubs. I’m looking for more winter structure and a bit less maintenance. These shrubs will go into the garden along my south property line that transitions the very natural looking grass garden on the east side to the more traditional perennial garden on the west side.
I always like to try something new, so this year it’s the Panchito manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘Panchito’). Panchito is one of several new manzanitas being offered here that are supposedly both drought and sun tolerant. It’s also a broad-leaf evergreen, always welcome in our climate. Panchito’s ultimate size is 2’ x 4’, Colorado manzanita is 8” x 4’, and Chieftan is 4’ x 9’. I am anxious to see how well they perform here---please comment if you have experience with any of these manzanitas in the Denver area.
The other shrubs going in are well known and reliable: Western sand cherry and Holbert juniper. The Western sandcherry (Prunus besseyi) is a native that will get 5’ x 5’ in size and features white flowers in spring followed by edible summer berries and nice fall color (a dark cinnamon red). The silvery blue Holbert juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Holbert’) will be 3’ x 8’ with irregular, horizontal branching. I know that many people refuse to plant junipers (some folks are extremely allergic), but I think they can be great assets in the landscape. Proper selection, spacing and moderation (as with all things, right?) are the keys.
And as far as our springtime weather goes…get used to it. We often see snow here through May; this is what we call ‘normal’! So sit back and enjoy the greenest lawn that you will probably have all year!
I always like to try something new, so this year it’s the Panchito manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘Panchito’). Panchito is one of several new manzanitas being offered here that are supposedly both drought and sun tolerant. It’s also a broad-leaf evergreen, always welcome in our climate. Panchito’s ultimate size is 2’ x 4’, Colorado manzanita is 8” x 4’, and Chieftan is 4’ x 9’. I am anxious to see how well they perform here---please comment if you have experience with any of these manzanitas in the Denver area.
The other shrubs going in are well known and reliable: Western sand cherry and Holbert juniper. The Western sandcherry (Prunus besseyi) is a native that will get 5’ x 5’ in size and features white flowers in spring followed by edible summer berries and nice fall color (a dark cinnamon red). The silvery blue Holbert juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Holbert’) will be 3’ x 8’ with irregular, horizontal branching. I know that many people refuse to plant junipers (some folks are extremely allergic), but I think they can be great assets in the landscape. Proper selection, spacing and moderation (as with all things, right?) are the keys.
And as far as our springtime weather goes…get used to it. We often see snow here through May; this is what we call ‘normal’! So sit back and enjoy the greenest lawn that you will probably have all year!
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