Unthirsty Color: Denver's Roads Watersmart Garden

The Roads Watersmart Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens proves that showy plants don't have to be thirsty. Despite full sun exposure, this border required watering only seven times between late May and late October.

Curator Dan Johnson blends Colorado and Southwestern natives like agave and cactus with Mediterranean plants and adapted ornamentals: scarlet trumpet honeysuckle, yellow-flowered Sedum 'Blue Spruce', Osteospermum 'Purple Mountain', white snow-in-summer, purple Salvia x sylvestris 'May Night', and star of Persia (Allium christophii).

The border relies mainly on perennials, plus species tulips that bloom in cool spring and go dormant in summer heat. Self-sowing annuals and biennials — California poppies, clary sage, and sunflowers — are allowed to reseed naturally. Key to success: soil amended with compost and fine gravel for drainage, and a raised center contour that prevents water from pooling around plant crowns.