The allure of Colorado in the winter is skiing and snowboarding on the majestic snow-covered mountains. Indeed, the snow-capped peaks are breathtaking and fun, but once springtime hits, the world of Colorado wildflowers awakens, creating its own allure.
From spring through fall — even in early winter — the mountain landscape of tall and short purple, red and yellow blossoms provides a soothing escape from everyday city life. Wherever you live in Colorado, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy such serenity in your own urban, suburban or rural yard.
Jerry Katz, a former trial lawyer-turned-landscape expert, discovered many years ago that the perfect antidote to his high-stress profession could be an oasis of Colorado wildflowers in his own backyard. Flower gardening became his hobby.
Right after he retired 10 years ago, Katz and his wife Susie were on a bike trip in France when he noticed that “no Frenchman cuts his lawn. They have no grass. It’s all wildflowers.” That trip reopened his eyes to the beauty of Colorado’s wealth of wildflowers.
Flower gardening became his second career. He turned his love of flowers and landscapes into Jerry’s Wildflowers, a company he runs with Susie. They help homeowners transfer a piece of Colorado’s mountain landscape into their own yards.
Katz specializes in gardens and landscapes featuring native Colorado wildflowers — those which grow naturally in this state’s dry, cool climate and at high altitude. “I also work with proven favorites in Colorado, although they may have originated elsewhere,” he says.
Jerry and Susie Katz are basically self-taught, having learned a great deal through trial and error. Now they are in high demand through the spring and summer months.
The Katzes’ Cherry Hills Village home is surrounded by an expansive yard with groupings of wildflowers, river rocks and even traditional lilac bushes. The yard is frequented by hummingbirds, which the couple enjoys.
A gate in the back of their yard leads to a public area along Quincy Avenue. Katz was grandfathered into being allowed to landscape and maintain about 100 feet along the fence on Quincy.
On a recent May morning, irises in a variety of colors — purple, white, yellow, black — thrived alongside purple salvia, white shasta daisies, blue cat mint and yellow coreopsis, which grow in concert with each other among the river rocks which Katz brought down to Denver from his property in the mountains. Drivers along the busy Quincy Avenue thoroughfare enjoy a burst of color as they motor past Katz’s gift to Cherry Hills Village.
It’s all about color — and timing. Katz helps people plan flower gardens that bloom continuously throughout the spring, summer and fall. Once certain flowers reach their peak blooming periods, others come up and replace them with new shapes, colors and scents. This is called “succession of blooming,” according to Katz.
Sunny wildflower gardens are spectacular because of their vivid brassy colors, Katz says. Just as you decorate the interior of your home based on color preferences, you can decorate your yard with a color scheme — or opt for a variety of random colors. Following are Katz’s recommendations for flowers by color:
Yellow — coreopsis, spider wort, variegated iris, yellow eponymous, black-eyed Susan, daylily, basket of gold, yarrow, gaillardia, columbine.
Blue — blue salvia, blue penstemon, cat mint, delphinium, hydrangea, veronica.
Red — dianthus, Jupiter’s beard, red sage, phlox, peony, poppy.
White — snow in summer, daisy, white coneflower, candy tuft, anemone.
Cosmos, poppies and alyssum are annuals that re-seed themselves each year. Perennials, including Indian paintbrush, black-eyed Susan, daisies and lupine, add more colors and shapes.
The ornamental grasses are “the sleepers” of the garden, used all summer as boundaries and screens. But from late August to October grasses add excitement to the garden as they turn red, orange, yellow or gold. The afternoon sun is very intense in Colorado and some plants can only tolerate the morning sun.
“We say that a sunny garden needs six hour of sun a day, but as little as four will do if they are the last four hours of sunlight.”
Katz has learned through experience that gardening on Front Range has its own challenges. He offers some tips to homeowners who want to create a bit of that mountain magic around their homes:
“People ask us, how are you able to attract so many hummingbirds to your gardens?
“Hummingbirds like the color red, but will feed on flowers of any color that have a good nectar supply. We make sure each habitat garden is full of a season’s worth of hummingbird favorite food that will keep your garden humming with jewel-like color.”
Where should one’s garden be?
“Consider an area that establishes a closer connection between your home and the new garden,” Katz says. “Maybe it should be near an eating or sitting area, or perhaps outside a window where you will want to linger.”
A planting tip: When planting trees and shrubs, take the root ball and immerse it in water before planting it, Katz says. “Soaking it in water is a great start for a new plant.”
Many evergreen shrubs will not do well in Colorado summer heat. There are other appropriate choices, according to Katz.
Use ornamental grasses and other native plants for their shape in the garden and as borders. In the fall, when other plants begin to droop, the grasses become the star of the garden with their colors and texture.
Consider the water savings with less lawn and a xeriscape garden. “We use beautiful Colorado plants — no weeds and little water required.”
Katz says he has discovered a relatively new 20-year fabric weed barrier, which he relies on heavily to create wildflower gardens free of weeds.
“Although wildflowers are growing all over Colorado, often in poor soil, we use a special planter’s mix that produces the very best flower colors.”
Katz likes to plant “above and below” ground. Below ground is obvious — dig a hole and place the plant or bulb in it. Planting “above” ground is something Katz started experimenting with last year — and it works.
Spread two inches of dirt on top of a fabric weed barrier in a sunny place. Sprinkle flower seeds over the dirt, and water. The seeds will germinate and you will have a garden. The two inches of soil, Katz says, is sufficient for the new plants to take root, grow and blossom.
He says this is a fun and easy to help a young child grow his or her own garden.
Just as Jerry Katz’s gardens helped him decompress when he was in a high-stress profession, he now relishes the satisfaction of helping other achieve the same bliss.
“Colorado is known for its wildflowers,” this East Coast transplant proclaims. “It is gratifying to capture the beauty of the natural world and put it in somebody’s yard.”
Larry Hankin may be reached at larry@ijn.com.
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