by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Best Flowers for Colorado, Utah & Similar States, In-ground garden, Waterwise Gardening in the Intermountain West
Confession: I love blue flowers. There’s something about them that makes my heart sing. In Colorado, Utah, and similar states, we’re lucky to have a variety of waterwise, blue flowers available to us as perennials (plants that return for multiple years).
Here are 12 waterwise perennials with blue flowers to get you started. These drought-tolerant beauties can handle our tricky, western conditions—from low precipitation to summer heat.
SPRING BLOOMERS
Blue flax (Linum lewisii)
Zones 4-9
Blue flax is a “What’s that?” plant… as in, your neighbors will stop and ask about this drought-tolerant perennial. It has airy, ferny leaves and charming, blue flowers in May and June. The flowers can be pale blue, powder blue or sky blue. Flowers open in the morning and close in the evening.
Blue flax can reseed heavily if you let it go to seed—like a fairy godmother tossing pixie dust—so think about where you plant it. It prefers a lot of sunlight and well-drained soils.
If you’d like a blue flax that’s native to Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, Linum lewisii is the easiest one to find in stores and at plant exchanges. The Colorado State University Extension says it can grow at elevations up to 9,500 feet! If you aren’t picky on native origin, there are European blue flaxes available too, such as Linum perenne (zones 4b-8) and Linum narbonense (Zones 5-8).
Colorado desert bluestar (Amsonia jonesii)
Zones 4-9
Colorado desert bluestar has pale-blue flowers that look like stars. It blooms in April and May. During autumn, its leaves turn yellow, offering a splash of fall color.
Colorado desert bluestar thrives in hot, sunny and dry locations. It’s very waterwise. Worth noting, this perennial can take several years to grow in size, so consider buying a bigger plant to get started. Otherwise, plan on being patient for a few years. (It’s worth the wait.)
This perennial can be a hard one to find, so if you see it at the garden center or a plant exchange, snag it!
Blue penstemons / beardtongues (Penstemon)
Penstemons (aka, beardtongues) typically put on a colorful show in late spring and early summer gardens in the West. They thrive in hot and sunny locations. They can keep their green foliage through most of the year, including winter. These plants attract hummingbirds and bees.
There are a number of penstemons that have blue flowers, including:
- Grand Mesa penstemon (Penstemon mensarum) — native to Colorado and Utah (zones 3-9); Grand Mesa penstemon is a stunner, and it’s very attractive to different types of pollinators; I was able to find it at HighCountryGardens.com
- Blue Mist penstemon (Penstemon virens) — native to Colorado and Wyoming (zones 4-8)
- Electric Blue penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Electric Blue’) — a selection of a California native penstemon (zones 5-9)
- WAGGON WHEEL® bluemat penstemon (Penstemon caespitosus ‘P022S’) — a selection of a low-growing penstemon that’s native to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Arizona (zones 4-7)
All of the penstemons listed above thrive in waterwise gardens.
Muscari / grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum)
Zones 4-9
Muscari (aka, grape hyacinth) has deep-blue flowers that bloom in the middle of spring. It grows from a bulb you plant in the fall. It naturalizes easily in western gardens, so it can spread and come back year after year. Muscari is drought tolerant, making it a good addition to waterwise gardens. Plant it en masse for a big splash of color.
Muscari offers bees an early source of food before many other plants have started blooming.
Turkish veronica (Veronica liwanensis)
Zones 3-10
Turkish veronica is a low-growing groundcover. It gets tiny, blue flowers in May. Plant it among pavers and walkways for a pretty look or along the fronts of your garden beds.
Turkish veronica will grow in partly shady locations, as well as in sunny locations. (You’ll get more flowers in the sun.) The leaves are evergreen, meaning they typically stay green throughout the year, including winter. This plant takes low to average water.
There are variations of this perennial that have blue flowers as well. For example, CRYSTAL RIVER® veronica has lilac-blue flowers with a white center (zones 3-7), and SNOWMASS® blue-eyed veronica has white petals with blue centers (zones 3-10).
SUMMER BLOOMERS
Indigo blue dragonhead (Dracocephalum ruyschiana)
Zones 3-8
Indigo blue dragonhead gets blue flowers in the late spring/early summer. This perennial has vibrant-green foliage with needle-like leaves. I think it looks pretty when it’s paired with waterwise perennials that have silver foliage.
Indigo blue dragonhead is drought-tolerant and easy going. You can plant it in a variety of soils. It’s happiest in sunny locations.
Cape forget-me-not (Anchusa capensis ‘Cape Forget-Me-Not’)
Zones 5-10
Cape forget-me-not grows in full sun and part shade. In sunny locations, it prefers a little more water.
This attractive perennial from South Africa starts blooming in April, and it can bloom into the fall if you keep deadheading it. Honey bees love the sky blue flowers.
This waterwise, blue flower can be a shorter-lived perennial. If you want it to continue in your garden, let some of the spent flowers go to seed. With that said… it easily reseeds, so if you don’t want a lot of new plants, be sure to deadhead the spent blooms.
Prairie salvia (Salvia azurea)
Zones 5-9
Prairie salvia is a regionally native plant that gets blue flowers on tall stems in mid- to late summer. It’s a prairie plant that attracts pollinators, like bumble bees and hummingbirds.
This waterwise perennial grows well in our tricky western soils, from clay to sand. It doesn’t need a lot of water, and it’s happiest in sunny gardens. If you plant it in rich garden soils (meaning your dirt has a lot of organic material in it), it can get floppy.
Prairie salvia looks lovely when it’s planted among ornamental grasses, like little bluestem, and goldenrods.
Blue Glow globe thistle (Echinops bannaticus ‘Blue Glow’)
Zones 3-8
Blue Glow globe thistle produces round flowers—blue globes—in the middle of summer. The round flowers create an interesting focal point in waterwise gardens, creating contrast with other plants. This perennial can get reasonably tall (up to four feet tall), so plant it in the middle or back of your garden. It thrives in sunny, hot and dry locations, and it can bloom for a long time.
This beauty attracts a range of pollinators, including honey bees and bumble bees. In my garden, I’ve seen hummingbirds visiting it as well.
When you see the word, “thistle,” you may think, “Eeek, is this the bad kind of thistle?” Blue Glow echinops isn’t the invasive type of thistle, but it can reseed. If you don’t want it taking over neighboring plants, deadhead it when it’s done blooming.
Blue Glitter sea holly (Eryngium planum ‘Blue Glitter’)
Zones 4-9
Another waterwise plant with interesting flowers!
Blue Glitter sea holly gets blue, spiny flowers on blue stems in the middle of summer. It thrives in sunny, dry locations. (You’ll find other sea holly plants on the market, but they aren’t always as drought tolerant as Blue Glitter.)
My neighbors ask me about this plant every summer. I’m partial to it because it looks unusual, and it’s a party for pollinators, including native bees, beneficial wasps and butterflies.
FALL BLOOMERS
Autumn Sapphire sage (Salvia reptans ‘P016S’)
Zones 5-10
There are a couple of waterwise, blue flowers that shine in the fall, including Autumn Sapphire sage. This drought-tolerant perennial adds a pop of color in September and October when other flowers have stopped blooming. Plus, it’s a source of nectar and pollen for late-season pollinators, including bees and butterflies.
Autumn Sapphire sage has willowy, green leaves. It looks lush and green in July and August, despite our heat in Colorado and Utah. Small, sapphire-blue flowers cover this plant in early fall. It can bloom until frost.
I think it’s pretty when it’s paired with hyssops (Agastache), western salvias and ornamental grasses.
Hardy plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides)
Zones 5-9
Hardy plumbago is another late-season bloomer. It gets bright blue flowers in the late summer and early fall in Colorado. Hardy plumbago is a groundcover, growing up to 8 inches tall and spreading about 18 inches wide.
Hardy plumbago will happily flower in the shade. Known as a “dry shade” plant in Colorado and Utah, hardy plumbago doesn’t need a lot of water in the shade. (You can plant it in the sun too, but it will be happier with more water in the sun.)
Another bonus… Hardy plumbago’s leaves turn a deep red color in the fall, adding an extra pop of color to your fall landscape. In the photo above, the leaves have started changing color.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Flower Garden Basics
Have you noticed…
… that some of your plants are overachievers in the spring—eager to emerge from the ground in all their leafy glory? Meanwhile, other plants don’t seem to be doing much AT ALL.
As plant lovers, it’s natural for us to look at the latter and wonder:
Hey, are you even alive?
Did we do something wrong?
Wait, are you ghosting us??
The biggest culprits are often ornamental grasses.
Ornamental grasses are the showy grasses you plant in your garden for year-round interest.
Some grasses burst from the ground in the spring looking all green and lush.
Others? Not so much.
They’re more like teenagers on a Saturday morning: S-L-O-W to wake up.
I had a neighbor stop me in April and glumly share: “I don’t think my ornamental grasses made it through winter.” (I think she took it personally.) But nope, her grasses are alive and well! Just slow to wake up.
So, if you’ve ever wondered, “Why aren’t my ornamental grasses growing?”, here’s a helpful thing to understand about grasses.
Some grasses grow when temperatures are mild. These “cool season” grasses are off to the races in the spring. Then, they go dormant when it gets hot, meaning they aren’t actively growing over the summer.
Other grasses are in their happy place in the heat. These “warm season” grasses green up when it gets hot, like in the late spring and summer.
Here are examples of cool season grasses
You may recognize the ornamental grass below: Karl Foerster feather reed grass. It’s used in a lot of landscapes. It’s a popular ornamental grass that thrives in mild temps. It goes dormant in the summer heat.
The lawn grass, Kentucky bluegrass, is a cool season grass too. It grows in cooler temps, going dormant in the summer heat.
Here are examples of warm season grasses
Little bluestem grass, blue grama grass, and switchgrass are all examples of warm season grasses. They thrive in the heat.
So, if your ornamental grasses aren’t growing in the spring…
They may be warm season grasses that are waiting for the heat.
If your ornamental grasses aren’t growing in the summer…
They may be cool season grasses that have gone dormant in the heat. They may be waiting for cool temperatures to return.
The Colorado State University Extension has a table that notes which ornamental grasses are cool season and which are warm season. You can use it to check the grasses in your own garden. (Unfortunately, the chart doesn’t have photos, so you need to know what kind of grasses you have. If you saved your plant tags, great!)
If you’re interested in the science behind cool and warm season grasses, the University of Illinois Extension has a quick write-up.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Best Flowers for Colorado, Utah & Similar States, Waterwise Gardening in the Intermountain West
I received the following question from a gardener who moved to Colorado, and I thought, ooooh, that’s a good one!
“What plants struggle in Colorado?”
Here are some popular plants from other parts of the country that are best to skip in Colorado if:
- You don’t want extra work.
- You’d like to keep money in your wallet.
- You want to be smart with water.
- You’d like your Colorado landscape to consistently look good.
Let’s dig in!
Azaleas and rhododendrons
Azaleas and rhododendrons are flowering shrubs that thrive in parts of the country that get more rainfall and have acidic soil (dirt).You’ll see azaleas growing in gardens along the East Coast and gracing photos in Southern Living magazine. Rhododendrons are popular in the Pacific Northwest.
But azaleas and rhododendrons struggle in Colorado.
Why? Because our soil is too alkaline for them. It’s tough for these acid-loving plants to get the nutrients they need from the ground, and they decline in health.
You may see azaleas and rhododendrons in the box stores and think, “But they look so pretty!”
Keep on walking.
Those stores don’t always have plants that are well suited for our unique growing conditions in the Rocky Mountain region. Azaleas and rhododendrons will have a tough time looking pretty in the ground.
Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas are another type of flowering shrub. The majority don’t fare so well here… with a few exceptions.
But more importantly, hydrangeas need A LOT of water. Heck, they even have “hydra-” in their name!
Hydrangeas need up to 2 inches of water per week in hot and dry weather just to keep from wilting, according to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Given how hot and dry our summers are, that’s about 20+ inches of moisture in July and August alone.
To put that in perspective, we get an average of 8-16 inches of moisture for the entire year at our lower elevations in Colorado. (The exact amount depends on where you live.) In contrast, Seattle and Chicago get close to 40 inches of moisture per year. Boston gets about 44 inches per year. And Atlanta and Orlando get around 50 inches per year.
Hydrangeas are beautiful… but typically, they are not a great fit for our semi-arid climate.
Boxwoods and arborvitaes
Boxwoods and arborvitaes are decorative landscape plants that are popular in other parts of the country. When they’re healthy, they (typically) keep their color all winter.
But here in Colorado, these evergreen shrubs and trees aren’t big fans of our winters, and they’ll let you know it!
I wrote a whole article on this topic: See why boxwoods and arborvitaes struggle in our Colorado winters >
Many types of maple trees
I grew up in a Midwestern state with beautiful maple trees, so this was a hard one for me when I first moved here.
But many maple trees have a hard time absorbing iron from our soils. They are prone to “iron chlorosis” in Colorado. Their leaves can turn chartreuse green, and they often need to be treated with iron annually, which means you’re shelling out money to a tree company.
They also can struggle in our drought, our big temperature swings and our heavy spring snowstorms.
If you have your heart set on a maple, check out Bigtooth Maples (Acer grandidentatum), Tatarian Maples (Acer tataricum) and Rocky Mountain maples (Acer glabrum). They have a stronger track record than other maples in Colorado. Bigtooth Maples and Rocky Mountain Maples are native to western Colorado and Utah.
So, what does all this mean for your Colorado garden?
You have a choice!
You can absolutely plant any of these plants if you really want to. But if you want an easier time, why not focus on plants that thrive in our western growing conditions?
There are plenty of beautiful western plants to choose from!
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Gardening Tips and Tricks, Western Container Gardening With Flowers
You want to “clean” your petunias, so they look pretty and tidy.
But how do you know you’re trimming off the right parts? What’s a new bud versus a dying flower?
In this short video on petunia care, you’ll see get simple tips and clear photos on:
- EXACTLY what to look for on your petunia plants, so you don’t cut off the wrong parts
- The key differences between dying flowers and new buds
- What a seed pod looks like (and why you want to remove it)
And if you have flowers that look like mini-petunias — which you may know as Million Bells, Super Bells or Calibrachoa — this video can help you too.
Click above to watch.
Prefer to read?
Simply scroll down for the transcript.
TRANSCRIPT:
How to Care for Petunias, So You Aren’t Trimming Off the Wrong Parts
How do you tell the difference between a new bud and a dying flower on your petunias?
It’s not always easy to tell.
That’s what we’re going to talk about in today’s tip.
[music]
Hi, I’m Ann with Go West Gardener.
Inspiring new western gardeners to find their green thumbs with flowers.
It’s awesome that you want to clean your petunias, so they can grow new flowers for you.
But, at the same time, you want to make sure you aren’t cutting off new blooms by mistake!
First, if you are ever unsure whether you’re looking at a bud or a dead flower, I say, give it a couple of days.
Because within a few days, it should become more clear.
If the bloom is dying, the petals will look more dry and even more shriveled up.
And if they’re new buds, they’ll look even bigger, and they should have more color to them.
You’re going to see some changes.
But let’s say you want to know now.
Here are some ways to tell.
It helps to think about a petunia bloom as a torch and a flame.
The little stem is the torch and the petal is the flame.
One of the easiest ways to tell if the flower is ready to be trimmed is you will have a shriveled up flame sitting on a torch.
The petals, which we’re calling the flame, will be curved over.
They’ll often change color, getting really dark or brown or gray.
And they’ll almost feel like shriveled up paper.
Another thing you may see is just the torch.
The petals have fallen off on their own.
The torch doesn’t have any additional leaves on it.
It’s often pretty long, and it connects at the stem.
Even if the flame is gone, it helps to trim off this torch because if you don’t, the torch may begin forming a little green kernel in the middle.
This is a seed pod, and it means your flower is turning its attention away from making flowers.
And we want flowers!
Let’s look at another example.
Can you see the torches on this petunia that are ready to be trimmed?
There’s this one here.
It’s the most obvious because it has a shriveled up flame.
But you’ll also see a torch here.
Here.
Here.
And here.
These are all ready to be trimmed off the plant.
If you haven’t been trimming off the torches, the first time you clean up your petunias, you may find yourself cutting off a lot of them at one time.
It helps to trim them off as you see them.
This will help keep your petunias’ energy focused on making new flower buds, rather than going to seed.
But let’s go back to our example for a second.
There are also new buds on this stem.
Here.
And here.
What are some clues that they’re new?
You’ll often see leaves on them.
The torch is just opening up.
And often times, the torch stem is still really short in length.
Okay, so let’s talk for a second about the in-between phase when the petunia flame is either getting ready to bloom or it’s dying.
To tell if it’s a new petunia flower, there’s a lot of structure to it.
You’ll see the bud is pretty firm.
I like to think of it as being architectural.
It kind of looks like a drill bit.
You’ll see a clear structure to it at the top of the bud.
And the flower opens in a distinctive pattern.
In contrast, though, a fading bud – that’s one that’s dying – doesn’t have as much shape to it.
It’s soft, kind of a blob, and it’s starting to shrivel.
Can you see the difference?
If you’d like more ways to feel more confident with gardening in the West, please click to subscribe to this channel [on YouTube].
See you next time.
[music]
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Flower Garden Basics
Colorado has 5 plant hardiness zones: 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3.
If you’re new to plant hardiness zones, they tell you whether your flower plants are likely to survive the coldest winter temperatures that are expected in your area and come back next year.
(For the full scoop on hardiness zones, check out: What is a plant hardiness zone? And why they matter.)
So, what plant hardiness zone is your Colorado garden? It depends on where you live, as you can see in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map for Colorado below. Scroll down this page for specifics.
Areas with warmer winters have higher zone numbers. They’re in green. Areas with colder winters have lower zone numbers. They’re in purple and pink.
Let’s look at plant hardiness zones in Colorado in broad strokes:
- If you live in the hottest parts of Colorado — like the southwest corner and parts of the Grand Junction area — you’re likely in plant hardiness zone 7. Surrounding areas are in zone 6.
- Much of the Front Range is in zone 5.
- But if you live in an urban corridor — like parts of Denver, Aurora, Boulder and Fort Collins, as well as parts of Colorado Springs — you’re likely in zone 6a. Buildings and concrete can heat things up. Much of Pueblo is in zone 6 too.
- At higher elevations, like up in the mountains, your plants often need to be able to withstand colder winter temperatures. (For every 1000 feet you go up in elevation in Colorado, temperatures drop about 3 to 4 degrees.) Your garden will likely have a lower plant hardiness zone number. The majority of mountain towns are in zone 4. Some are in zone 5 and a few are in zone 3.
There are exceptions to the “it gets colder as you go higher” guideline.
For example, if you live on a valley floor in Colorado, your garden can be up to 10-degrees COLDER than your neighbors on nearby hillsides or mountainsides.
Cold air slides down the slopes and settles on valley floors at night.
Another exception…
If you live on a north-facing slope, your garden may be a lot cooler and damper than the dry, heat-gathering gardens on south- and western-facing slopes.
And one more exception…
It’s possible to create “microclimates” in your garden that are warmer than the surrounding area. For example, you could include large boulders in your garden. Boulders and large rocks can radiate heat to surrounding plants and help block winds. Often times, flowers planted along the south and western sides of buildings or rock walls can receive more heat too.
Also worth noting… the USDA released an updated zone map for 2024.
With the new release, some parts of Colorado grew “warmer” in plant hardiness zones.
For example, my garden in the Front Range went from a 5b zone to a 6a zone. This means the lowest coldest temperatures that are expected where I live went from -15 degrees below zero to -10 degrees below zero.
But here’s something to consider. While our summer temperatures are getting hotter, it’s still possible that we can get a really cold winter. (Brutally cold winters just may not be as frequent.) Where I live, we’ve had winter temperatures reaching -15 degrees below zero and -17 degrees below zero in two of the last six years. Technically, these are still zone 5 temperatures. So, even though the USDA map says I’m 6a, I’m going to continue to think of my garden as zone 5. That way, I’m buying plants that are more likely to survive.
What’s the takeaway? Your local surroundings play a role.
The zone you’ll get from the USDA may not accurately reflect what’s going on in your individual garden in Colorado. You may want to adjust down a zone (for colder conditions) or up a zone (for warmer conditions). Just keep this in mind as you get your Colorado hardiness zone below!
To get the Colorado plant hardiness zone for your garden:
Click to the USDA website here and enter your zip code >>
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Gardening Tips and Tricks, Waterwise Gardening in the Intermountain West
Let’s say you’re thinking about planting a perennial garden in Colorado or a similar western state, so you can enjoy colorful flowers year after year. Yesssss!
Before you head to the garden center, here are a few things to know to get your western garden off to an amazing start—and some of these tips may not be what you expect.
1) Many perennials from other parts of the country aren’t the ideal fit for our growing conditions.
Growing flowers in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and similar states can be an adventure.
We have tricky soils (dirt), intense sunlight, roller coaster temperature swings, drying winds and low moisture. These conditions leave us grabbing for bottles of moisturizer and suntan lotion.
And they can be tough on plants too.
Flowers that thrive in places like the East Coast—where they get 40+ inches of moisture per year and have fertile, acidic soils—often aren’t a great match for our it-hasn’t-rained-in-2-months western gardens.
Instead, it helps to look for perennials that prefer the local growing conditions in your yard.
Before you buy flowers you know from other parts of the country (and yes, you’ll see them at the big box stores), explore flowers that grow well here. Check out websites like: PlantSelect.org, WaterwisePlants.org, and the Colorado Native Plant Society.
When you choose the right plants for the right places in your yard, you’ll be able to put your feet up and enjoy the beauty you’ve created—rather than making more work for yourself and racking up a hefty watering bill.
Speaking of watering…
2) Even drought-tolerant flowers need to be well watered their first year.
I learned this one the hard way when I planted my first perennial garden in Colorado.
Ahem.
Drought-tolerant flowers are plants that don’t need a lot of water to grow. However, they aren’t ready for our semi-arid conditions as soon as they’re planted. It isn’t instant.
Typically, they need consistent watering during their first growing season while their roots are getting established in the ground. Then, you can reduce how much you water them.
3) Buying smaller plants can (usually) give you bigger impact quickly.
Yep, you read that right.
There are perks to buying plants in smaller pots at the garden center, rather than getting the big, showy plants you see in larger containers. For example, smaller perennials with good root systems are known for getting established and growing faster than big plants.
Here’s why:
When your plants are small, they can put their energy into establishing their roots. And plants with healthy roots are more likely to survive our tough climate and push out new growth quickly.
(Not to mention… Smaller plants usually cost less and don’t use as much plastic in their containers. Win, win!)
Bigger plants, on the other hand, have more physiological stress after they’ve been planted. They have to support ALL the leaf, stem and flower growth that’s already on the plant.
And our climate doesn’t help.
Our high-elevation sunlight, semi-arid conditions and drying winds pull the water right out of them. Bigger plants can wilt or become stunted because they don’t have strong enough roots yet to support all of their above-ground growth.
So, when you head to the garden center to buy perennials, what plant size should you buy?
Denver Botanic Gardens suggests choosing perennials in quart-size containers. Quart-size containers are the pots you can hold in one hand. (You can find more of their western best practices for gardens here.)
4) Many western plants prefer soil (dirt) that isn’t rich and fertile.
Your soil—aka, your dirt—plays a big role in how happy and healthy your plants are.
In traditional agriculture, if you want to improve your soil, you typically add compost. (Compost is organic matter you can buy at the store or make at home from materials like leaves and food scraps.)
And yes, compost can be helpful, especially when you’re growing vegetables or perennials that thrive in other parts of the country, like the East Coast or the Pacific Northwest. These plants often like fertile soils.
But in western states like Colorado and Utah, this isn’t always the case. It depends on the types of plants you’re growing.
Drought-tolerant western flowers often prefer “leaner” soils that drain well. Lean soils may have a little organic material in them—but not much.
So what’s the takeaway here? If you’re planting a perennial garden in Colorado or Utah with western plants, the way that you get your soil ready will likely be different than if you’re planting a vegetable garden or a traditional perennial garden.
5) It may take a few years for your flower garden to reach its full glory. (This is normal.)
Perennials can take up to 3 years to reach their full size.
I mention this because it’s natural to plant a perennial garden in Colorado or Utah, and think, “This flower garden doesn’t look ANYTHING like my neighbors’ gardens.”
Trust the process. Your plants will grow, but it can take a year (or two) for your plants to get established.
Resist the urge to plant your flowers closer than is suggested. This will create more work for you later.
You’ll have a beautiful flower garden before you know it.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: Feb 5, 2026 | Gardening for Pollinators, Gardening Tips and Tricks
Let’s say you’ve noticed some strange, round holes in your plant leaves. These circular holes have fairly smooth edges. It almost looks like someone took an office hole punch and punched circles along the edges of your leaves.
What’s making these round holes in your plant leaves?
Is it Japanese beetles??
Nope, Japanese beetle damage looks different.
It’s more likely you have leafcutter bees—a native bee and beneficial insect in Colorado and many western states. They’re important pollinators for wildflowers and some fruits and veggies.
(Cool!)
Leafcutter bees aren’t eating your leaves. Rather, they’re cutting circular pieces to use in the nests they’re building for their babies. They’ll insert the leaf piece into a hollow tunnel, along with nectar and pollen. Then, the mama bee lays an egg and seals it off. Her bee nursery is ready to go.
What plants do leafcutter bees like?
Almost any plant with broad, thin leaves is fair game. In my garden, the leafcutter bees love cutting round holes in the leaves of my lilac bushes and a flower plant called Golden Candles (Thermopsis lupinoides).
I’ve noticed circles and semi-circles that are dime size, but many of the holes are smaller.
So, should you be worried about the round holes in your leaves?
Typically, no. The damage from leafcutter bees is only aesthetic.
Insecticides will not prevent bees from cutting holes, according to the Colorado State University (CSU) Extension. So, save yourself money and a trip to the hardware store. Skip the insect sprays and powders.
(This will keep your garden ecosystem healthier too.)
In most cases, you don’t need to do anything…
Except maybe point out the leaves to your friends, so they can see that your garden is a favorite among pollinators.
If you have a plant that the leafcutter bees have become REALLY fond of, the CSU Extension suggests covering the plant with loose netting or cheese cloth if you want to deter the bees from making holes. Put up the netting when you first notice damage.
Just keep in mind the damage is only aesthetic. You’ve got busy pollinators at work in your landscape. 🙂
Now, if the holes on your leaf edges are jagged and look like notches…
Then, you likely have a different insect.
Root weevils are a type of beetle. At night, the adults chew jagged notches along the edges of plant leaves. You can find root weevil leaf damage on lilacs, peonies and privets, as well as other plants.
To me, the edge of a leaf with root weevil damage looks like the edge of a key. It’s more jagged than the symmetrical, round holes from a leafcutter bee. Can you see the difference below?
If you want to learn more about root weevils (and see more photos of their leaf damage), check out this root weevil summary from the CSU Extension.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Gardening Tips and Tricks, In-ground garden
The tulips in your spring garden have given you gorgeous color. But what do you do with tulips after they’ve flowered?
They’re done blooming, and now your tulip leaves are turning yellow and flopping on the ground. They don’t look so great.
(This is normal, BTW! You haven’t done anything wrong.)
- Should you leave the tulip leaves?
- Should you cut the tulip leaves off?
- And if yes, when should you cut the tulip leaves?
These are the things we’re going to talk about in today’s tip!
Tulips go through an awkward period when they’re done blooming.
After tulips have flowered, their leaves turn yellow and flop on the ground.
But those fading leaves can make a BIG difference in how well your tulips bloom next year!
Here’s why:
Tulips grow from a bulb.
Think of the bulb like a battery and the leaves like solar panels.
When your tulips finish flowering, those leaves are gathering sunlight and turning it into food (and energy). Those solar panels are hard at work, even though they don’t look great.
Your tulips will use that food to get through next winter and next year’s bloom season.
The bulb is pulling all that food from the leaves back down into the bulb and storing it.
It’s recharging its battery.
If you cut the tulip leaves, you’re cutting off the solar panels.
The bulb won’t be able to recharge properly.
This means your tulips may not bloom as well next year.
It also means you may get smaller flowers or lackluster blooms.
When your tulip leaves are turning yellow and brown, you have several options.
#1: If you want pretty tulips next year, DO cut off the stem the flower was on, but DON’T cut off the leaves.
When you trim off the stems, you’re telling your tulips to focus their energy on making food for next season — recharging the battery!
Where do you trim the tulip stems?
Make your cut where the stem meets the leaves. You can wait until the petals fall off. Or you can cut the stems when the petals start shriveling up.
But fight the urge to cut off the leaves, even if they don’t look great.
You can put a flowerpot in front of your tulips to hide them. Or, you can grow other plants nearby to mask the leaves.
Don’t pull out those leaves until you can give them a gentle tug, and they come right out.
The leaves will likely be very yellow and limp.
If you give the leaves a gentle tug and they resist, they aren’t ready to come out yet.
They’re still helping the bulb recharge.
Another tip, don’t “wrap” the leaves.
You may see neighbors wrapping a rubber band around the leaves, tying them up into a little ball so they look tidier. Don’t do that. Remember, we want the leaves to act as solar panels. Tying up the leaves defeats this purpose.
#2: You can dig the tulip bulbs out.
Yep, you can dig the entire tulip out, including the bulbs in the ground.
The tradeoff is, you won’t have tulips next year unless you plant new bulbs in the fall.
But, if you really want your garden to look tidy and you don’t mind replanting your bulbs in the fall, it’s a good option.
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by Ann at Go West Gardener | Updated: May 20, 2026 | Best Flowers for Colorado, Utah & Similar States, Gardening for Pollinators, In-ground garden, Waterwise Gardening in the Intermountain West
Would you like a long-blooming perennial…
… that attracts butterflies and interesting moths, gives you color all summer AND is drought tolerant?
Yes, pleasssssse!
I can’t wait to introduce you to Jupiter’s Beard (aka, Red Valerian). Its botanical name is Centranthus ruber.
If you want months of color, I think it’s one of the best flowers for Colorado, Utah and similar western states. It’s one of my favorite perennials. (Perennials are the flowers that come back year after year.)
Here are a few reasons to add Jupiter’s Beard to your garden.
This flower plant is:
- Easy to grow
- Colorful and showy
- Drought tolerant (you don’t have to water it much once it gets established in your garden—awesome for semi-arid states like Colorado and Utah)
- Tolerant of hail (it bounces back quickly from light hailstorms)
- Resistant to nibbling deer and rabbits (they tend to skip it for munching)
Plus, it’s a MAGNET for butterflies and interesting moths.
I constantly find myself heading back into my house to get my camera because there’s a new butterfly dancing across its flowers.
“Oh, hey there, Swallowtail butterfly!”
The Monarch butterfly in the photo below visited my Jupiter’s Beard plant in October.
(Yep, flowers and butterflies well into October!!)
And its color goes on, and on, and on …
When you’re planning a perennial garden, I think one of the biggest challenges can be finding flowers that give you showy color for a long time. Most perennials only bloom for a few weeks, and then they’re done for the season.
The beauty of Jupiter’s Beard is that it will keep pushing out new flower blooms over the whole summer.
The only catch is that you need to keep up with trimming off the faded blooms, so new buds can grow in.
And if you don’t trim off the dead blooms?
Well, this happy-go-lucky plant will send its seeds EVERYWHERE.
It’s like a birthday card with glitter on it. No many how many times you vacuum, you keep finding more glitter.
Friends, the seeds on this plant are like glitter.
So, put Jupiter’s Beard in a spot you want to fill in with more flowers OR be diligent about trimming off the dead blooms.
You can find Jupiter’s Beard with red, pink or white flowers.
The red variety is more of a dark pink than a true red, but it’s still very pretty.
Jupiter’s Beard is happiest when it gets a lot of sunshine (6+ hours/day).
It grows well up to elevations of about 9,000 feet.
And if you’re familiar with plant hardiness zones (which tell you whether a plant is likely to survive winter temperatures in your area), Jupiter’s Beard typically grows well in gardens in zones 4-9.
Do you live outside the intermountain west?
If you live in another region of the country, ask at your local garden center whether Jupiter’s Beard can be grown where you live.
Jupiter’s Beard can spread aggressively in maritime regions (like the West Coast), so there are places where it isn’t allowed.
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