Spring is a great time to start planning this summer’s garden and landscape. The days are warming, but the hot days of summer are still far away. 

Or maybe you’re looking at your winter-time garden and thinking about adding a plant that gives you year-round color and interest. 

In either case, start your landscape shopping list with Plant Select, a nonprofit collaboration of Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and professional horticulturists dedicated to promoting water-wise plants that thrive in the high plains and Rocky Mountain region. 

Plant Select’s website has information about water-wise plants, where to buy them, picking the right plant for the right place and free landscape designs.

Go to denverwater.org/Conserve to find water-saving tips and rebate information to help you get started.

As Denver becomes warmer and drier in the future, having a water-wise ColoradoScape — an interesting, sustainable landscape that fits naturally into our climate — will be an important part of our vibrant communities.

Meet our Plant of the Month for March 2024: Winter Fire Sedum

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Formal name: Winter Fire Sedum (Petrosedum rupestre ‘Rice Creek’).

About this year-round stunner: This groundcover brings its A-game in all seasons, offering green shoots in spring, yellow flowers in summer and brick-red foliage through the winter. It’s perfect for containers or to plant along pathways and around shrubs.

Wildlife friends: This pollinator will attract bees and butterflies, while deer and rabbits will leave it alone.

Hardiness: Perennial. Can survive winter temperatures down to minus 30.

Why we love it: Drought-tolerant. Loves sunshine. Needs little to no extra water once established. And we love watching it change throughout the year.

Find it: Ask about the Plant Select section at your local garden center, and look for the Plant Select logo when choosing water-wise plants to create your own ColoradoScape that fits naturally into our climate.

Learn more about Winter Fire Sedum at PlantSelect.org.