<== Site Review (2007-06-23) ==>

Rocky Mountain Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society

Denver loves it gardens. I am always amazed at the talents and insights held by area gardeners.

Recent drought years and a continuing boom in Colorado's population has many people rethinking their landscaping and putting in new gardens. The most appropriate gardens for this Rocky Mountain area is an art form called a "Rock Garden."

The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society is a club promoting the art of rock gardening. The club hosts tours and the members of the society are always eager to share their gardening experiences with other gardeners. Along with the society's newsletter and membership information, you will find a helpful plant profile index with information about plants that grow well in a rock garden.

If you love gardening, this just might be the club for you. While traditional gardens and agricultural forms hate rocks. Rock gardens take a different approach and combine this natural landscaping element with the garden. Rock gardens in the Rocky Mountain region often try to recreate an alpine environment which includes granite outcroppings with abundant wildflowers. I like the idea of concentrating on the species that naturally grow in the foothills of the Rockies.

In my opinion, the best rock gardens are those that work to preserve the native vegetation of Colorado.

During recent drought years, there was a great deal of talk about xeriscaping. In the broad sense, xeriscaping simply means designing a garden for the climate of the area. By default, a native rock garden is a form of xeriscaping.

In the narrow sense, xeriscaping refers to the specific gardening techniques used for low lying desert regions like Albuquerque, Los Angeles and Phoenix. In this regards, I feel that rock gardening is a better ideal for a garden than xeriscaping.

There are some extremely beautiful high water rock gardens that feature traditional European plants such as tulips, pansies, petunias, etc.. From a gardening standpoint, I prefer the native plant rock gardens that concentrate on the preservation of native Colorado plants such as the columbine and the plethora of plants adapted to the high desert plains.

The Rocky Mountain Rock Garden Society is a chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGs). Since Colorado has the Rocky Mountains, Denver just happens to have the best of all the rock garden societies.

Personally, I practice a Darwinian approach to gardening. Each year I plant things, some survive, most perish.