On a road trip to Devils Tower last August, I passed through Fort Collins, Colorado, and took the opportunity to visit The Gardens on Spring Creek. Construction was underway, doubling the size of the gardens, and so only some of the spaces were open: a flowery entry garden, charming children’s garden, and community-oriented Garden of Eatin’.

Fast-forward one year to the recent Denver Garden Bloggers Fling, and I found myself touring The Gardens on Spring Creek again. This time I explored the reopened rock garden and the brand-new Undaunted Garden. (Ironically, the spaces I toured last summer were now closed for construction.)

Rock Garden

I was excited to see the gardens I’d missed on my previous visit and spent a lot of time in the sun-drenched rock garden, where gravelly berms studded with sandstone boulders elevated conifers, flowering annuals and perennials, yuccas, and alpine groundcovers.

In mid-June, the gardens looked spring-like to my Texas eyes, with columbines and poppies flowering with abandon.

Peach-and-yellow columbine

I won’t try to ID the many plants unfamiliar to me. Gardening in Colorado at 5,000 feet with just 15 inches of rain is a totally different experience from Austin’s subtropical conditions.

Just let the rocky, alpine beauty wash over you.

Here is one plant I covet but cannot grow in central Texas: a blue-green dwarf spruce. Oh, how I want one though.

A wider view

A dry creek meanders through the rock garden. Irises root along the boulder-strewn edge, enjoying the occasional soak from rain showers.

Iris and columbine

The rock work of the berms sets off the tidy, mounding plants so beautifully.

Moptop seedheads

Byzantine gladiolus, I think

Lavender-and-white columbine is Colorado’s state flower. This one looks more grape than lavender, however. Notice the tiny crevice garden in the bowl planter.

Vertical slices of rock mimic a mountain range, with hens-and-chicks tucked between.

Such a pretty columbine

Another plant with its feet at the edge of the dry stream.

I was surprised not to see more agaves in Colorado gardens, considering the dry conditions. Of course, cold tolerance is an issue. New Mexico agave (A. neomexicana) can handle the cold and the snow.

Yuccas were more commonly seen, like this one in flower.

Hesperaloe, dianthus, and penstemon, a glorious combo

Undaunted Garden

Fort Collins-based designer, plantswoman, and author Lauren Springer Ogden designed the brand-new Undaunted Garden, which is still being planted. Lauren, one of my 2018 Garden Spark speakers, had planned to meet us in the garden. Unfortunately she broke her kneecap that week and was on bed rest!

Named after her groundbreaking book about gardening in the challenging conditions of the continental U.S., the Undaunted Garden features native and adapted plants that thrive high and dry.

Lauren’s books have inspired me as a gardener and a writer. If you don’t know her work, do check them out. I’ve reviewed three of her books at Digging (click on List View and search for Lauren Springer Ogden). I’d love to revisit her Undaunted Garden again in two or three years to see how it has taken shape.

Denver Fling Attendees

We had our group photo made here and then enjoyed lunch in the garden. Our hort-savvy group of 80+ bloggers hailed from across the U.S., plus Canada and England. It’s wonderful to connect with old friends and meet new ones each year at the Fling.

Next up: The Fort Collins rock garden of Jan Devore. For a look back at our visit to High Plains Environmental Center and my own sightseeing in Denver, click here.

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.