About Us
David Salman - The Founder
David Salman, Founder & Chief Horticulturist at High Country Gardens has spent over 26 years in pursuit of better plants for eco-friendly landscapes. He is a recognized expert in the field of waterwise gardening and xeriscaping and a sought-after speaker on these subjects throughout the United States.
David is a distinguished recipient of the AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 2008 Great American Gardeners Award and writes the award-winning High Country Gardens catalog which has won 4 silver awards and 1 gold award for Best Gardening Catalog by Catalog Age magazine. He has written two in-house publications Waterwise Garden Care and Spectacular Seasons of Color, and has a series of planting and informational videos on YouTube.
David writes The Xeric Gardener, a blog with gardening news & tips for the waterwise gardener and has written numerous articles for Fine Gardening, American Gardener and Horticulture magazines.
The Story
A native New Mexican, David Salman opened Santa Fe Greenhouses in 1984. It was his first retail store and he set out to transform western gardening by cultivating and growing beautiful blooming perennials, native & ornamental grasses and unique cacti & succulents. These waterwise xeric plants attracted a loyal fan base and David changed the face of western gardening from rocks and cactus to lush, blooming eco-friendly garden habitats.
As his retail operation grew, David realized that many of his customers were
driving to Santa Fe from other states, as his unique plants thrived in
moderate to extreme climates and altitudes. Being waterwise perennials, they
were a garden value saving customers both money and time.
With the demand for his plants extending far beyond northern New Mexico, in
1993 David started High Country Gardens,
the mail-order division of Santa Fe
Greenhouses. A few years later his wife Ava joined the company. David focused
on product development and Ava spearheaded the marketing and e-commerce
operations.
With the High Country Gardens catalog and website, the Salman's
not only pioneered mail-order gardening, but have given hundreds of thousands
of customers across the country eco-friendly landscapes that come back more
beautifully year after year.
In 2006, David & Ava entered the Albuquerque, NM market with a High Country Gardens retail store. A second location was added in 2008 and by 2010 they decided to consolidate the two small stores into a larger facility where they could better address the needs of Albuquerque gardeners with a full-service nursery and garden center.
Today the retail operations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM draw hundreds of visitors, many of whom are loyal fans of the High Country Garden catalog and wish to see the operations and display gardens in person.
The Plants
David Salman has spent years perfecting his growing methods for
the wide variety of new and unusual garden-tested perennials, grasses and
shrubs that ship right from the High Country Gardens greenhouses to your
landscape. After fulfilling demand from our Santa Fe retail location for
years, in 2008 they built a state-of-the-art growing facility in Bernalillo,
NM outside of Albuquerque.
This 10 acre property houses 11 greenhouses and
sends over 50,000 plant shipments to loyal customers across the country.
The custom-designed mailing materials ensure High Country Gardens' plants are safe
and healthy when they arrive ready for your garden.
2010 marks High Country Gardens first plant patent, Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' PPAF (Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass) was discovered and introduced by High Country Gardens' founder and chief horticulturist, David Salman and was the 2011 Plant Select® winner. 'Blonde Ambition' is native to 26 states and is expected to perform well across the country, particularly in hardiness zones 4-9.
Take a look at David's beautiful award-winning plants. High Country Gardens has won 9 out of 9 consecutive awards for best new plant introduction from the Mail Order Gardening Association.
Ava Salman - Senior Vice President, Marketing
Ava Salman helped pioneer mail-order and online gardening by taking over production of the catalog in 1996 and launching the industry's first gardening ecommerce website in 2001. She continues to direct the strategic marketing and website operations for High Country Gardens and their retail stores today. Ava Salman is active in both her local community and in the gardening industry. She contributed her marketing expertise as a past board member of the nonprofit Mail Order Gardening Association. Under Ava's direction, High Country Gardens ranks among the most highly rated gardening websites and is in the TOP 5 most highly rated companies on Dave's Garden Watchdog. Her leadership has also resulted in Santa Fe Greenhouses being voted the Best Nursery in Santa Fe 12 years in a row by readers of the Santa Fe Reporter!
Sign Up - Stay in the Know
Be the first to know about special and exclusive
products and promotions when you sign up to receive High Country Gardens'
emails. Also, each month you will receive WATERWISE GARDEN NEWS, a valuable
newsletter that is rich with seasonally relevant content from our Founder &
Chief Horticulturist David Salman. Be sure to add
High Country Gardens to your safe-senders list so you don't miss out!
Visit Our Retail Stores in Albuquerque and Santa Fe