5 waterwise flowers to replace your turfgrass

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally appeared in RED in April 2022. It has been edited to ensure that all information is up to date. 

Across the American West, reservoirs are shrinking, thirsty populations are growing and several states are in conflict over the Colorado River and its rapidly diminishing water supply.

Meanwhile, huge areas of Colorado — residential lawns, curbside strips, highway medians, business fronts — are carpeted in heavily irrigated, plush grass that guzzles millions of gallons of water each year. In fact, turfgrass is the second-most irrigated resource in the country, said Jennifer Riley-Chetwynd, co-director of Metropolitan State University of Denver’s One World One Water Center and director of marketing at Denver Botanic Gardens.

“More than 60 percent of Colorado’s water is currently being applied outdoors, much of it on ornamental lawns,” Riley-Chetwynd said.

Going garden-native represents a triple win: It radically reduces water waste, cuts water bills and introduces regionally appropriate plants that will thrive naturally in Colorado’s dry climate.

“Our state’s native landscape gardens can actually look really beautiful,” Riley-Chetwynd said. “And compared with the monotony of green lawns, each one is totally unique — a multicolored world unto itself.”

Many counties in Colorado have already begun the process of replacing turf with native plants. The Life After Lawn program in Greeley has replaced more than 150,000 square feet of turf in just four years, saving an estimated 32 million gallons of water. And in 2022, the legislature passed House Bill 22-1151: Turf Replacement Program, which provides funding for turf-removal projects.

Riley-Chetwynd pointed out that the turf-replacement law retains “functional” green spaces, such as parks, recreational areas and sports fields.

“The key target has always been the thousands of square miles of lawns, curbside medians and strips along the highway that don’t have any useful purpose,” she said. “They are purely ornamental and not an efficient use of a limited resource.”

As of now, the program is open only to local governments, districts, nonprofits and federally recognized Indigenous tribes. While homeowners may be eligible eventually, residents don’t have to wait to get started drought-proofing their lawns. Riley-Chetwynd is convinced that replacing grass lawns with native plants will become the norm. “Oh, it will catch on. I am confident of it,” she said. “And if not during a voluntary stage, it will eventually become a mandated necessity.

“As a semi-arid climate, Denver gets just 13 inches of rain a year. It simply isn’t built to support turfgrass from end to end. Our current way of living just isn’t sustainable.”

5 native, waterwise flowers for Colorado gardeners

Selected by Annie Barrow, manager of Horticulture Outreach Programs at Denver Botanic Gardens

Chocolate Flower
(Berlyndiera lyrate)
This extremely tough May-to-October perennial not only smells like chocolate and cascades fetchingly over rocks and walls; it’s also an important pollinator plant.

Red Birds in a Tree
(Scrophularia macrantha)
This June-to-September perennial from New Mexico looks like what its name implies. Besides needing little water, it reaches 4 feet tall and adds height to a garden.

Yarrow
(Achillea sp.)
With beautiful blooms in yellow, white, pink or orange from June to October, this North American perennial thrives in dry or wet conditions.

Baby Blue Rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus nauseosus var. nauseosus)
Mixing a soft, fine texture with rugged toughness, this “tamed” version of a Colorado native shrub blooms bright yellow late in the season while providing a secure habitat for wildlife. 

New Mexican Privet
(Forestiera neomexicana)
Featuring white bark, yellow fall color and blue berries, this strikingly attractive native shrub can be pruned to showcase its multistem trunk and used as a small ornamental tree.

Want to know more? You can plan your whole garden with this Plant Finder.