There seems to be a natural progression in the development of a flower gardener.

Most of us start out learning about annuals. They are easy: provide the correct sun / shade and water requirements and they will make it through their life span of one growing season. After mastering annuals, we then venture into the world of perennials- more tricky, but vastly more interesting. Knowing how to choose and care for perennials is what many of us feel earns one the title of "gardener."

Trees and shrubs are next in our progression as a gardener.

Surrounded by native pine, fir, and aspen which I care for under the State Forest Stewardship Program, I have not yet had the urge or energy to add more trees species to my landscape. However, shrubs have provided me with many gardening successes; and, alas, failures as a gardener during the past six years.

Shrubs are woody plants, either deciduous or evergreen. They are usually shorter than trees and tend to be many-stemmed beginning near the crown. However, some of the shrubs I have listed in this article - such as Serviceberry, American Plum and Amur Maple - are often classified as small trees. This relatively small size may be why I am more willing to add shrubs in my landscape than trees. I can handle planting a young shrub. I can dig a hole large enough for a container shrub, albeit with some trouble in the granite "soil" of my gardening site. To make it easier, I have often planted bare root stems such as the ones that are sold by the Jefferson County 4H Club each spring. After adding about 30% compost amendment to my soil and providing supplemental watering the first few years, most of the shrubs thrive on their own. (especially the natives.) Although most shrubs are long-lived, they tend to reach maturity within five years, so only a little patience is needed until blossoms and berries are produced. I can also manage to relocate a shrub when I discover it has outgrown its space or is not thriving where planted (due to an error on my part when choosing the planting site) or when I simply want to rearrange the landscape.

Shrubs serve many functions. They provide a background or an anchor for annual and perennial flower beds, visually break up an expanse of turf, provide windbreaks, control snow drift, reduce soil erosion, act as sound barriers or privacy screen, and, best of all, provide food, shelter and nesting spots for local fauna. (Note: protect young shrubs until they can withstand browsing.)

Aside from these practical functions, shrubs should be used in the landscape for their aesthetic appeal. Many shrubs are planted for their blossoms and/or scent such as Lilac, Roses and Butterfly Bush. Others are planted for their berries such as Buffaloberry and Snowberry. Amur Maple and Golden and Wax Currant provide glorious autumn color. The bare red branches of Red Twig Dogwood provide winter interest as do evergreen shrubs.

Shrubs are excellent for quickly turning a new construction barescape into a more mature-looking environment. They grow more rapidly than most trees and provide a lived-in look while the new homeowner begins to establish perennial beds.

After placing the initial hardscape - mostly moss rock and granite boulders- for my new construction landscape in 2001, I then placed almost ninety shrubs which would act as anchors for future garden beds. Although I am generally satisfied with the placement and selection of those initial plantings, I did make several mistakes and have had to do some rearranging since One mistake was planting shrubs favored by deer and elk on the outskirts of my unfenced gardens without providing protection during their infancy. Another was not heeding the mature growth information on the plant tag which resulted in shrubs being placed in spaces they would soon outgrow. I was diligent in planting a Lilac outside each ground floor window so that I would become engulfed in the heady scent of Syringa simply by opening a window. Even though I planted smaller varieties, such as the Canadian Miss Kim; within two years, the bushes had grown up against the house preventing the any opening of these windows. Planting large shrubs next to a structure is also against big defensible space no-no. I have also erred by planting several bushes to close to walkways, which makes a walk through the garden an exercise in ducking and weaving. Fortunately, I have had good success with transplanting!

Through the years, I have lost a few shrubs to pocket gophers and several to voles. Two Dwarf Arctic Willows fell prey to a gang of young bucks during their annual fall feeding frenzy last year. However, although my progression as a successful gardener of shrubs has had some detours and setbacks, most of the original shrubs and the many planted since are thriving. That means I get to spend much time pruning.

Most shrubs will benefit from regular pruning. Pruning can serve to contain size but also to promote growth. Prune flowering shrubs to promote more blooms. Shrubs such as Lilacs which bloom on last season's growth should be pruned immediately after they bloom prior to the formation of the flower buds for the next year. Shrubs such as Butterfly Bush, Blue Mist Spirea, Russian Sage and Potentillas which bloom on new growth should be pruned in early spring.

Below is a listing of shrubs which will survive in high altitude gardens.

They are listed by zones and approximate elevation. However, this list serves only as a guide as it does not take into account the wide range of microclimates and conditions at any given elevation or in any particular garden or landscape. In addition, some cultivars of species listed, such as

Butterfly Bush and Barberry, are not hardy in the zone listed. Be sure to read the information provided by the nursery when purchasing any of these plants.

I have marked native bushes with an *. As a Native Plant Master for Jefferson and Gilpin County, I, of course, advocate using natives whenever possible. Besides providing food for local wildlife, natives tend to do better in our soils and climate and lend a Colorado Style to your garden..

This listing does not include conifers or the many shrub roses which thrive in our high country gardens. These will be addressed in a future article.

Hardy To Zone 2 (appx. 10,000 ft)
Bearberry Honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata)
NativeBuckthorn (Rhamnus spp.)*
Common Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)*
Creeping Colorado Holly (Mahonia repens)*
Currant (Ribes spp.)*
Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)
Lilac (Syringa spp.)
Mountain Mahogany (Cerocarpus montanus)*
Mountain Mockorange (Jamesia americana) *
Mountain Spirea (Holodisus dumosus)*
Peking Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster acutifolia)
Potentilla (Potentilla fruticosa)*
Redtwig Dogwood (Cornus sericea)*
Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)*
Siberian Pea Shrub (Caragana arborescens)
Silver Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea)

Hardy To Zone 3 (appx. 9,000 ft)
American Plum (Prunus americana)*
Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa)*
Chokecherry (Prunus melanocarpa)*
Dwarf Arctic Willow (Salix purpurea)
Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)
Snowberry(Symphoricarpos albus)
Three Leaf Sumac (Rhus trilobata)*
Western Sand Cherry (Prunus besseyl)*

Hardy To Zone 4 ( appx. 8,000 ft)
Amur Maple (Acer ginnala)
Barberry (Berberis spp.)
Blue Mist Spirea (Caryopteris incana)
Boulder Raspberry (Rubus deliciosus)*
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii)
Firethorn (Pyacantha coccinea)
Leadplant (Amorpha canescens)
Mockorange (Philadelphus spp.)
Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)*
Rock Spirea (Holodiscus dumosus) *

Nan Spence plants mostly native shrubs with the addition of lilacs, roses and butterfly bushes for their glorious fragrance and ability to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. You can contact her at nmspence@att.net or read her previous High Country Horticulture articles on YourHub.com.