Posted By High Country Gardens Content Team on Jan 2, 2026
In every garden, there are stories, often passed down from gardener to gardener in the form of a gifted plant. Plant lore has a rich and complex history in horticulture and if there is one thing I’ve learned as a plant propagator, turned gardener, it’s that a plants history can be elusive. Pieces of the story are sometimes forgotten, details shift depending on the teller, and the garden itself can add its own layer of interpretation.
I believe that the plants in our gardens, the ones we choose, and the ones that seem to choose us, tell our story. And as gardeners, we in turn tell theirs.
At High Country Gardens, Plant of The Year is more than a title; it’s a horticultural honor that celebrates a plant so exceptional, so unique, that we can’t imagine our landscapes without it. This year’s honoree is Red Birds In A Tree (Scrophularia macrantha), a plant with a story that we feel deserves telling in your garden. Its native home is where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains, where unrelenting desert terrain transitions to steep igneous cliffs above the alpine. The way I first heard the origin story told went something like this…
Many years ago, in southwestern New Mexico, a small group set out in search of the northernmost population of Arizona Cypress. It was on this botanizing adventure, squinting through a biting and dust-filled wind, that the plant nerds spotted it. Perched upon a mountain top, high above 6,000 feet, one solitary plant beckoned to the explorers. As fate would have it, this lone plant was bearing seed. And as the story goes, the leader of the expedition approached the specimen and plucked a pinch of seeds to share with the world.
Some were given to our founder, David Salman, and with a tactically tender and well-seasoned sowing hand, it wasn’t long before those seeds sprouted. That first generation of plants would soon find their way into our gardens, and into our hearts.
Nearly 30 years have passed since that original discovery. What began as a solitary gem in the wild has grown into a celebrated garden treasure. From those tiny seeds came a plant destined for garden greatness, earning notoriety and recognition along the way. Shortly after its inception it received accolades from the National Garden Bureau for the first-ever Green Thumb Awards (1998). Ten years later it would be recognized and adopted into the Plant Select lineup (2008). And this year we are proud to honor it again with High Country Gardens 2026 Plant of the Year.
For us, Scrophularia macrantha isn’t just a plant; it’s a living piece of horticultural history. From its rugged origins in the high desert to its beloved place in our gardens, this plant’s story reminds us that beauty often comes from humble beginnings. Despite being extremely rare in its own habitat, which is increasingly threatened by wildfire, mining, and urban development, S. macrantha is right at home in a garden setting.
