Out of 15,000 plants which are native in the United States and Canada, 3,088 of those species live in Colorado. Native plants provide a healthy ecosystem and a diversity needed in the environment. Colorado has a large number of natives because of the different elevations or different life zones within the state. Out of this large number of 3,088 species, some grow only in one zone while others grow in several different zones or elevations. Each elevation has different temperature ranges both winter and summer which native plants have adapted to over time. Removing native species from a particular zone puts the entire ecosystem out of balance. Why? Plants produce oxygen and filter the air we breathe. They provide food and shelter to insects and animals.
With that said, garden in located at the Julesburg sign just in front of Orphan Grain Train is designed as a native plant garden. This is a living demonstration garden of native plants that can be found at our elevation and sandy soil type by the river. This garden is comprised of prairie wildflowers. Prairie wildflowers demonstrate their own beauty. Since native gardens vary so widely depending upon their native range, they all have their season. This garden began many years ago as a prairie wildflower project by Colorado State University Extension and implemented by Colorado State University Master Gardeners. Today, the garden is still overseen by CSU Master Gardeners with volunteers from Orphan Grain Train.
There are spring, summer and fall prairie wildflowers blooming. However, you will notice that a group will come into their prime and go out of their prime. This is so with any garden. At the moment, the prairie wildflower garden looks a little tired coming from over ten days of no rain into a week of rain and cooler weather. That occurs with other gardens as well and even with supplemental irrigation.
As you drive by, watch this garden change through the season. It has several wildflowers growing during the season. In the spring, penstemon and then spiderwort come into bloom. As summer approaches there is a yellow gaillardia or blanket flower and then as mid-summer approaches we have some coneflowers and other native grasses that begin to be in their prime. In the fall we will be adding some asters.
Sometimes, native gardens get a bad reputation or are not the preferred style of garden because it is not a formal type garden that you would have in your landscape. Native gardens are part of our history here, our heritage. Before we disturbed the land and built highways, this is the way our landscape appeared. But keep watching as the season changes from spring to summer to mid-summer to fall, old plants go to seed and new plants emerge and flower. In between, there are some down times. The garden may not look at its peak. It is important to remember that a variety of flowers are necessary to address the shortage of pollinators in our world today and keep our environment healthy with biodiversity. While we may care about neatness, our pollinators only want something in bloom. Native grasses mixed in with the wildflowers are helpful to pollinators for the shelter they provide. Also, we have left some annual sunflowers from time to time. Why? These attract Painted Lady Butterflies. Last season, many residents noticed Painted Lady Butterflies because they were in great numbers. The caterpillar of the Painted Lady Butterflies rely on sunflowers for food. They too have their cycle and maybe in a couple of years they will back in those large numbers again. They have been able to reseed over the years and spread.
So why aren’t there more native wildflowers along our highways? Many have thought that the wildflowers should be mowed, and mowed regularly. The only time that wildflowers should be mowed is at the end of the season to remove the seed heads and spread the seed. To mow a wildflower before it sets seed will actually diminish the food source for butterflies, moths, flies, insects, bats, and birds all of which are pollinators and destroy the plant’s much needed food sourc