Pollination Station Planter Adoption Program

Each Planter has the Same Five Plants

The primary goal this year was to establish the plants and maintain their health in one of the hottest summers we’ve experienced yet. Our Manitou Pollinators team worked with the Butterfly Pavilion to identify a mix of perennial plants that would provide nutrition throughout the growing season and shelter for pollinators in the winter, plus create beauty for our streetscape year-round. We kept the plants the same in each planter to create consistency for pollinators The plants provide a mix of colors, textures, and are all drought-resistant and sun-loving and are generally deer resistant as well. We recommend these selections for both containers and and landscape gardens:

• Spartan Juniper (Juniperus chinensis)—As a centerpiece, the junipers are tough enough to withstand light deer browsing, gusty winds, and the weather extremes we experience in Southern Colorado’s urban mountain environments. A planting guide for shrubs explains some of the measures we took to prepare them for container life. We call them our little warriors.
• Turkish Veronica (Veronica liwanensis)—Groundcover with blue flowers in the spring to give pollinators an early source of food. Does well in rocky soils, high elevations. Full sun to part shade and easy care once established.
• Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata)—Bright perennial sun lover. Dead-head regularly to ensure reblooms, and save the seed heads for future plantings. Showy blooms without being demanding and great pollinator food in summer-early fall.
• Prairie Winecups (Callirhoe digitata)—Colorado native wildflower. Gorgeous color, frequently reblooms after deadheading and has a long season from late spring to fall. Water-wise flower great for perennial gardens with low maintenance needs.
• Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)—Western native plant with vivid scarlet-red flowers on tall bloom spikes in mid-spring. Dead-heading helps extend its lifespan, but leaving some seeds to ripen on the plant helps resow.