Boulder Yard Transformed Into A Habitat Hero Wildscape
By Wendy Hatoum, staff writer for High Country Gardens
This customer story is shared with High Country Gardens courtesy of Audubon Rockies.
This certified Habitat Hero garden in Colorado is one that creates habitat for birds and other wildlife by planting gardens with native plants. Habitat Hero is a project of Audubon Rockies, created to provides people, businesses, and cities with the resources to create bird habitat in their own communities. Supporting wildlife and conserving water, these wildscapes include residential and community gardens, schoolyards, city open spaces, and public demonstration gardens.
Linda B. of Boulder, Colorado is a Habitat Hero. She purchased the tract home some 30 years ago, with the goal of turning the existing flat, brown yard into a flowering rock garden and a sanctuary for humans and wildlife. A graphic designer with a degree in zoology and botany, Linda has a passion for plants and an interest in low-water gardening. “I have a real love for all things wild, an interest in low-water usage, and a passion for numerous fun plants. I garden because I enjoy good physical exercise and have the enthusiasm to learn.”
Over the years, Linda has hauled tons of rock, amended the soil, and experimented with plant materials and design. Linda explained, “It is a rewarding feeling to enjoy the result and know I physically did it all myself."
"I think of my yard as a botanical zoo. I love the fact that the neighbors, the birds, the insects, and even some four-legged wildlife all enjoy it too. I’m a creative gardening addict and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” said Linda.
Shop Linda's Habitat Hero Native Plant List
Linda's Plant List
- Delosperma cooperi,
- Dwarf Bristlecone Pine - Pinus aristata,
- Agastache Coronado,
- Asclepius tuberosa (Butterfly Weed)
- Sempervivums (Hen and Chicks),
- Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' (Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass),
- Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb',
- Amorpha nana (Leadplant),
- Iris missouriensis,
- Heterotheca jonesii (Creeping Goldenaster),
- Dwarf yellow Iris,
- Oenothera fremontii (Evening Primrose),
- Shasta Daisy,
- Iris pallida Variegata (variegated Iris),
- Eremurus (Foxtail Lily),
- Amelanchier Serviceberry 'Autumn Brillance',
- Yucca baccata,
- Yucca compactum
- Yucca filamentosa,
- Englemannia peristenia (Engleman Daisy),
- Dwarf Red barberry (shrub; Berberis fendleri is a good native choice),
- Amzonia jonesii,
- Oreogunum 'Kents Beauty',
- Zauschneria arizonica,
- Sedum spectabulum,
- Lavandula 'Hidcote',
- Tanacetum densum amani (Partridge Feather),
- Penstemon pinifolius,
- Salvia pachyphylla,
- Liatris punctata,
- Eriogunum umbellatum 'Kannah Creek' (Buckwheat),
- Hesperaloe parviflora (Texas Yucca),
- Sedum middendorfianum,
- Penstemon strictus,
- Penstemon mexicali,
- Muhlenbergia reverchonii,
- Helianthus,
- Festuca glauca 'Elija',
- Zinnia