Edible, Cold & Drought Tolerant Plant List for Western Colorado Landscapes & Gardens

 Edible Landscaping and Forest Gardening in the High Desert Steppes – Arid, Cold Climate

Forest gardening, or as I like to think of it, “Forage Gardening,” is a fun way to plan and plant your landscape. The main objective is year round abundance for all involved, the people, land, bugs and other critters.  The list below outlines many of the plants I am currently growing.

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Guilds

Functional groups of mutually beneficial plants form a guild. Conceptually, guilds mimic the plant communities of ecosystems, but are focused around species that are useful for people. Most of the plants in my list seem to work well together. Comfrey, yarrow, lovage, clover and crown vetch are my main under-story plants. The shrubs and berries fill in above them with a fruit tree, mulberry or nut as the over-story. Here’s an example of a simple guild: comfrey around a pear tree with strawberries and asparagus underneath. This is a semi-drought tolerant guild.

Drought tolerant guild: mulberry with siberian pea shrub, nanking cherry, yarrow and crown vetch. (Watch out for crown vetch, it spreads!)

Getting Started with Perennials

Direct seeding is best in the fall or early spring as soon as the ground thaws. Transplanting can be done in the fall or early spring as well, however coniferous trees and some deciduous trees and shrubs require winter water and are prone to failure if planted in the fall and left without water.

All drought tolerant plants need water to get established. The only exceptions are the ones that are able to self seed and some cactus cuttings.

Plant Zones

For reliable cold tolerance choose zone 5, borderline is zone 6b, some frost risk and  protection required in some years in zone 6a. With ambitious micro-climate creation and protection, low-water zone 7 plants can survive, for example: figs, rosemary.

Cold and Drought Tolerant Plants

A drought tolerant edible hedge in Western Colorado. Plants visible in this photo include: Choke cherry, buffalo berry, chives, clovers, salsify, holly hock and comfrey

These are all plants which I grow at 5,600 ft in Western Colorado. Annual rainfall is 8-10 inches and winter temp extremes can reach -20F.  The top soil is mostly heavy clay, sometimes over shale, sometimes over caliche, sometimes over river gravel deposits. It is often very alkaline.

I use supplemental irrigation for establishment and to speed up growth. Most plants are also mulched when planted to suppress weeds, retain moisture and create long term fertility. Some earth works and structures are helpful: berm and basin for water retention. For trees, snow-fences or planting on the north side of structures can help keep roots moist through the winter and delay flowering to escape late frost.

Here’s the list of plants, in no particular order:

• Apricot (Prunus armeniaca) – Plant from local seed  or see: Burnt Ridge Nursery and  Trees of Antiquity
  • Fruit is prone to spring frost damage
  • Can self-seed
• Mulberry (Morus sp.) – The white varieties are more drought and cold hardy
  • Reliable producers
  • Can self-seed
• Cherry (Prunus sp.)
  • Nanking Cherry – See Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS)
    • Drought tolerant, long flower period for reliable production.
    • Extreme bird damage to crops
  • Sweet cherry – somewhat tolerant, prone to frost
  • Sour cherry – more reliable fruit
  • Western Sand Cherry (Prunus besseyi)- native, low growing
  • Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana – native, spreading, astringent berries make great jam. Birds love them.
• Buffalo Berry  (Shepherdia argentea) – (CSFS)
  • Western Colorado Native, drought tolerant, nitrogen fixing
  • First flowers in the spring for bee food
  • Edible, but astringent berries
• Golden Current (Ribes aureum) (Native) – (CSFS) Cold hardy, drought tolerant, reliable fruit
  • Black Currant (not as drought tolerant)
  • Red Currant
  • Birds love them
• Gooseberry – Needs some irrigation, cold hardy
• Lavendar
  • Drought tolerant once established
• Curry Bush (Helichrysum tianshanicum) – Extreme drought tolerance, fragrant, not edible
• Goji Berry  Burnt Ridge Nursery and  Trees of Antiquity
  • Drought tolerant once established
  • Reliable fruit 2x per year (extreme bird and wasp damage)
• Yellow Horn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium) – Drought tolerant, dislikes transplanting
  •  See:  Burnt Ridge Nursery
• Crab apple (Malus sp.)
• Pear  (Pyrus sp.) – Standard (standard and self-seeded, full-size varieties are more hardy and drought tolerant.)
  • See: Burnt Ridge Nursery and  Trees of Antiquity
• Apple (Malus sp.) – Standard
  • See: Burnt Ridge Nursery and  Trees of Antiquity
• Hawthorn – Drought tolerant, cold tolerant, reliable production
  • Black, Douglas (Crataegus-douglassi)
  • Crataegus sp.
• Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
  • Not necessarily edible but highly drought tolerant tree
• Service berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) – Cold and drought tolerant
  • Native varieties
  • Production varieties = Saskatoon
• Russian Sage
  • Bee forage
• Oregano
• Culinary Sage
• Chives
• Thyme
• Asparagus
  • Can self-seed
• Dandelion
• Burdock
  • Deep rooted, annoying ‘burrs’, bee favorite, biannual, delicious and medicinal root
  • Self-seeds
• Italian Dandelion (chicory)
  • Edible leaves and roots
• Clumping onions – Perennial, sweet flavorful greens in the spring. Dies back through the summer.
  • Note: these are not the same as bunching onions.
• Lovage – Needs some water, edible seeds, leaves, shoots, medicinal roots related to osha.
  • Every beneficial insect in the garden flocks to lovage flowers.
• Yarrow – Native, medicinal, drought tolerant, compaction tolerant, attracts beneficial insects.
• Grapes
  • Dependent on variety – Cold and drought tolerance
• Jujube (borderline cold tolerance= zone 6)
• Comfrey
  • Likes a lot of water, but thrives in our poor soil. Will survive drought for several years after 5+ years of establishment.
  • Excellent soil builder, mulch plant, dynamic accumulator, medicinal, bumble bee favorite.
• Prickly pear and other cold hardy edible cactus varieties see: http://www.coldhardycactus.com/
  • Puntia phaeacantha ‘Paradox Form’
  • Opuntia ‘Plum’, Opuntia macrocentra
  • Opuntia gilvescens
  • Coryphantha vivipara
  • Echinocereus stramineus
• Plums, Native – (CSFS)
  • Plums – named varieties see:  Burnt Ridge Nursery and Trees of Antiquity
• Native flowers and grasses see: WesternNativeSeed.com
  • (At some point, I will have to make another post on the amazing plants in this category.)
  • Juniper Pinyon Sage Ecosystem
  • High Plains Ecosystem
  • Short Grass Prairie
• Almond
  • Halls Hardy – thrives with some irrigation
  • Other varieties – variable
• Peach – Cold tolerant, prone to spring freezing, no drought tolerance.
• Hazelnut Varieties: Cold is not a problem, winter drought is an issue. Some irrigation needed.
• Raspberry – Not drought tolerant, native to nearby mountains. Some varieties thrive with irrigation.
  • Primocane varieties are my favorite for ease of management.
• Blackberry
  • Himalayan – thorny, amazingly vigorous, will suffer if not watered, but holds on for a long time
  • Cultivars: Natchez, Chester, Triple Crown (early, mid, late) thornless, not drought tolerant.
  • Use deep mulch and drip irrigation with lots of comfrey and clover nearby to keep fertility up.
• Walnut
  • Black Walnut thrives with some irrigation
  • English Walnuts thrive with irrigation.
• Sea berry – Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)
  • Nitrogen fixing
  • Cold and drought tolerant
• Oaks – Drought tolerant, cold tolerant, nuts
  • Gamble oak (Quercus gambelle) – Native, drought tolerant
  • Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) – drought tolerant, faster growing
  • Burr/Gamble crosses
    • Vigorous, faster growing,  produces crops of acorns at a young age.  Combines the drought tolerance of the Gambel oak with the cold tolerance of the burr oak.
• Siberian Pea Shrub (Caragana arborescens) (CSFS)
  • Extreme drought and cold tolerance
  • Edible pea
  • Bumble bee favorite

Golden Currant – Ribes aureum. The berries taste a bit like oranges.

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