Written by: Patricia O’Brien, CMG. 2018
In the fall of 2023, I began seeing the buzz about the upcoming Native Plants Conference to be held in Boulder in Feb. of 2024. This annual conference, offered in person after several years online, promised venders, local and further afield experts, and a community driven focus on the good that native plants offer communities across Colorado for both pollinators and people. Grabbing another CMG member and persuading her that this would be a great road trip to take for both Continuing Ed hours and the chance to visit Boulder, we registered and made plans to attend.
I imagine that those of you who have attended a conference like this recognize that the experience is like a firehose of information, so I’m not going to try to describe everything that I imbibed. It was too short of a day to absorb it all. Rather, I want to tell you enough of what inspired and informed me so that you will think about attending the 10th iteration of Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants. I also want to tell you about the Native Plant Garden Grant program that buys native plants for your garden.
Starting with what inspired me: both the opening of the conference and the keynote conversation reminded us of the sacredness of the land upon which we sit and expect to plant. The opening, provided by Jennifer Black Elk (member of the Ogala Sioux tribe) and her father sent up a unifying blessing, recognizing the harm committed against the land, and the need for replenishment and healing for all that inhabit the land we have taken as our own even when it is only borrowed.
The keynote by David Newsom of the Wild Yards Project followed that beautiful opening by reminding us of our basic nourishment in the green that surrounds us, not only for its structured beauty or function, but also for the life force that invites and enriches us as truly wild members of our surroundings. This presentation titled, “The Land Was Always a Garden,” was made available to us because, according to David, the plants and critters insisted. It was clear that his intent was to challenge us to rethink how we create native habitat in the name of indigenous gardens; a radical reshaping of why and how we plant in the name of honoring and enabling nature to grow, despite our tendencies to control her. Check out David’s website https://www.wildyardsproject.com/ that shares more of his backstory and photographs from his wild yard.
Once you are committed to the “wild” approach, information about how to best manage and maintain growth of native plants is useful. I found the rather “academic” presentation on “Soil Design and Mulching Best Practices,” by Michael Guidi and Dr. Syed Wali Jalalzai from the Denver Botanic Garden helpful and more interesting than I expected. Bottom line for all the tests of different materials and conditions for efficacy? Mulch matters. Of all the soil amendments as compared to various mulches, a layer of mulch is most effective at retaining moisture, reducing weed sprouting, reducing carbon, and adding to the health of the soil over time. You probably already have evidence that mulching has worked for you, but I like knowing that research confirms this.
An additional burst of inspiration and learning came from a panel of speakers, most of whom had received LWCNP grants in the previous year, discussing their native plant demonstration gardens under the heading of “Catalysts for Change.” This was a very energetic group of gardeners who all had community connection and, in some cases, justice at the center of their projects for developing native habitats. A vivid example was community activist Andrea Montoya who discussed lessons learned from her work establishing the pollinator community habitats gardens as a linkage to heritage and history in the under-resourced Goss-Grove neighborhood in Boulder. While hearing the crucial steps from conception to implementation of the gardens was important, even more impressive were the varied ways that organizers engaged and empowered community members in the process of “getting their hands dirty” for the common good.
In conclusion, I also learned about the coalition of organizations that planned the conference and together are working to build opportunities for developing pollinator, native, and wild habitats. These organizations include Colorado State University Extension, the Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Colorado Native Plant Society. It also includes the High Plains Environmental Center (https://suburbitat.org/) which has its own native plant nursery and opens for ordering on April 1. (See also their informative and downloadable native plant catalogue published by the Colorado Native Plant Society. https://high-plains-environmental-center.square.site/uploads/b/ace51df0-5ef5-11ea-89a0-19dbb090bb75/3fd815f0-95b4-11eb-8a8a-cb4e29c4e608.pdf )
As mentioned, the Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants garden grants cycle is open for application; See https://landscapingwithcoloradonativeplants.wordpress.com/2021-garden-grants/ for more information and to get inspired for thinking of how you might create a residential or public garden with a purpose. Plans for the 10th annual LWCNP conference are underway as the planning group announced they want to hire a part-time administrator to organize the 2025 conference. From my day spent at this year’s conference, I expect it to be even better and wilder next year.
