Buying flowers for western gardens can feel like a lot of work.
Especially when you live in the semi-arid, gotta-have-some-moxie West — like Colorado and Utah!
This isn’t a place where you a dig a few holes, plop in some flowers and watch them grow into a lush jungle. Nope, our growing conditions can be tough on plants (and on our water supply), so we need to be smart in the flowers we choose.
Let’s say you’d like a beautiful, drought-tolerant garden, but you want to skip the hassle of figuring out flowers.
You may want to explore pre-planned gardens for Colorado and Utah instead. They’re also known as gardens in a box.
In this article, you’ll get the scoop on:
- What a pre-planned garden is
- Why they can make creating a western flower garden much easier
- Beautiful examples of pre-planned gardens that are drought tolerant
- An important tip for choosing a pre-planned flower garden
Pre-planned flower garden in Colorado. Image courtesy of Resource Central.
What is a pre-planned garden?
Typically, a pre-planned flower garden is a collection of beautiful flowers for a specific theme, like:
- Drought-tolerant flowers for a sunny portion of your yard
- Heat-loving flowers for tough, hot spots in your yard
- Pollinator gardens, like butterfly or hummingbird gardens
- Native plants that attract pollinators, like bees or birds, or
- Good plants for dry, shady spots in your yard
You receive the flowers and a suggested garden design, or you get flower seeds and guidelines on how to plant them. Then, you get the satisfaction of planting the flowers and enjoying the gorgeous results.
But you don’t have to research which flowers grow well together.
Many pre-planned gardens also take care of the plant shopping for you too.
You get the beauty without the headaches.
Think of a pre-planned garden like a dinner meal kit.
You get a chef-inspired recipe and fresh ingredients, so you can focus on the joy of cooking and enjoying every bite. But you don’t have to waste your time on meal planning or grocery shopping.
Pre-planned flower gardens usually work the same way.
Here are perks of a pre-planned garden:
- You’ll save time.
- You’ll enjoy a professionally-designed garden without the expense of a landscaper.
- Your flowers will look beautiful together. (Get ready for neighbors to stop and admire your garden!)
- You’ll often get color all season because the flowers have been specially selected to bloom at different times.
- You should have a happy garden because your flowers prefer similar growing conditions, like how much sunlight and water they need.
- You’ll likely lower your water bill and do some good for Mama Nature if you pick a garden with waterwise plants and native plants.
- You can skip trial and error and wasted money, if you feel like you’re guessing which flowers to plant and hoping they’ll grow. (Fewer dead plants!)
Check out these examples of pre-planned flower gardens for Colorado and similar western states:
1) Pre-planned flower gardens from High Country Gardens
High Country Gardens is an online garden retailer. Think of them like Zappos for plants.
They have beautiful, pre-planned gardens, in addition to selling individual plants. And many of their pre-planned gardens have been created with our tough, western growing conditions in mind.
The Summer Dreams Pre-Planned Garden, planted in New Mexico. Used with permission from High Country Gardens. You can find the plant list on their website.
High Country Gardens specializes in native and waterwise plants. They’re a good source for flower plants if you want to create a sustainable, low-water landscape. They also carry a lot of unique plants that you can’t find at local garden centers.
You can order their pre-planned flower gardens for delivery in the spring or in the fall. They often sell out, so plan ahead. Don’t wait until the last minute to order.
Check out the pre-planned flower gardens from High Country Gardens here >>
2) Gardens in a Box from Resource Central | Front Range, Colorado
Resource Central is a nonprofit in the Front Range of Colorado. They help homeowners conserve natural resources, like water. They have a special, waterwise garden program called “Gardens in a Box.”
Illustration of the native Colorado Oasis garden. Image courtesy of Resource Central.
Gardens in a Box are drought-tolerant, pre-planned flowers gardens. They were designed for Colorado’s semi-arid climate and tricky growing conditions. You can choose from a variety of waterwise flower gardens — like native flowers, colorful flowers for shady areas, flowers for mountain gardens, etc.
Each “box” comes with plants and a professional design.
Pre-planned flower garden in Colorado. Image courtesy of Resource Central.
Gardens in a Box are available for planting in the spring or fall. They go on sale during the winter (for the spring) and the summer (for the fall). They’re popular and sell out, so if you’re interested, sign up to be notified when the Gardens in a Box go on sale. When you buy a Garden in a Box, you’ll choose a pick-up location along the Front Range of Colorado, so you can easily pick it up. The gardens are not delivered to your home.
Check out Gardens in a Box from Resource Central >>
If you live outside the Front Range of Colorado, check with your city or local water agency to see if they offer a similar program.
3) Seed mixes from Botanical Interests
Botanical Interests is an online seed company and a Colorado company. They offer a range of flower seed mixes with beautiful flowers. In their mixes, you often can get both annuals (the one-summer-only flowers) and perennials (the flowers that return every year). And yes, they have a waterwise garden mix too, as can see below.
Image courtesy of Botanical Interests
Growing flowers from seeds has its perks:
- One, it’s rewarding to see your plant babies come up from the ground.
- Two, it’s economical. You don’t need fancy indoor growing equipment for these mixes. You just spread the seeds directly in the ground. (Don’t worry, the seed packets come with instructions!)
Depending on the flowers you’re growing, you may plant your seeds in the spring, fall or late winter.
If Botanical Interests is sold out of the seed mix you want, you can sign up to get an email when the seeds become available. You also can find their seeds at local, independent garden centers in Colorado.
Check out the flower seed mixes from Botanical Interests here >>
Image used with permission from Botanical Interests
4) Free, downloadable garden designs from Plant Select
Plant Select is a non-profit collaboration between Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and the professional green industry. This non-profit helps bring unique and sustainable plants to market that are inspired by the Rocky Mountain region.
They have free, downloadable garden designs available on their website. Many of their designs are waterwise gardens (beautiful flower gardens that need very little water).
In this case, you have to go to a garden center to buy the plants yourself, but the professional designs are done for you.
Check out the downloadable garden designs from Plant Select here >>
Before you pick a pre-planned flower garden for Colorado (or a similar state)…
Just make sure the plants work well for your growing conditions
For example, if you’re buying a pre-planned garden from an online retailer, make sure the garden is well suited for the semi-arid West.
A pre-planned garden with flowers that thrive on the East Coast or in the Midwest (where they have fertile soils and lots of moisture) may not be the best fit for your it-hasn’t-rained-in-2-months garden in Colorado, right?
If you’re ever in doubt, you can always chat with the company you’re buying from. Typically, they’re happy to help.
Related topics that may interest you:
- Planning a perennial garden in Colorado? 5 counter-intuitive tips!
- Where can I learn about waterwise flower gardening?
- 3 plants that struggle in western winters (what NOT to plant in your Colorado garden)
