Vines for Colorado’s Temperamental Climate

Q: What type of vines do well in the Pikes Peak Region?

A: Perennial vines and trailing plants can be an interesting addition to your landscape. Though we may not have much success with vines like wisteria here (some white flowering varieties do okay), we do have many other choices.

Most vines need some kind of support, whether it is a trellis, fence, or wall. But many vines are equally appealing when allowed to cascade down a slope or trail over a retaining wall. They can lend a different look as a ground cover, and many do quite well in containers.

Several vine varieties have adapted well to Colorado’s temperamental climate. Here are a few:

 

Blooming in Monument Valley Park – Aug 11

For a wrap-up of other areas and what’s been blooming, check out:
Blooming in Monument Valley Park – All Posts.

This week, I saw a few new berries in the park. The berries I saw last week are still there, and many of the blooming plants highlighted in the July 28 post are still blooming as well.

Symphoricarpos occidentalis

Snowberry
We’ll start at the parking lot where Fontanero Street ends at the park and head north. You’ll pass our favorite little field with many things still blooming (threadleaf yellowrays, a few penstemon, some spiderwort, and lots of blue grama grass seedheads). Continue to the west of the playing field and when you’ve gotten nearly to the end of the field and the path starts to gently turn to the right, start watching along the left edge of the trail. You should see a small patch of western snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis) with its small white berries. As with most white berries, these are toxic to humans, and you do not want to eat them! Interestingly, other animals, like chipmunks, are able to eat them. Once you start recognizing the grey-green leaf and the white berries, you’ll probably notice this native shrub in many other areas of town (like Garden of the Gods, for example).

 

Natives Blooming in Monument Valley Park this Week

It is fun to go wildflower and native plant hunting in the foothills and mountains, but don’t forget to check out our own backyard here in town! Just this morning, the following plants were seen blooming in the north part of Monument Valley Park. Park at the small lot where Fontanero ends at the park, and start walking north.

Leucocrinum montanum

Sand Lily & Tufted Evening Primrose –

About 20 yards north of the parking lot on the right, you’ll see a small

Oenothera caespitosa

clearing/meadow with several sand lilies (Leucocrinum montanum) and tufted evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa) blooming. Both have white flowers with the sand lilies being the smaller. The sand lily flowers have six slender petals and are at the base of a strappy leaves that are about 8 inches tall. The evening primrose have four, heart-shaped petals and rise above a basal rosette of leaves. If you are visiting in the sunny afternoon, these flowers may not be open.