Plant Select-Plant Smarter

Plant Select^®is the country’s leading source of plants designed to thrive in high plains and intermountain regions, a non-profit collaboration of Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and horticulturists from around the world. Plant Select^® in 2014 recently went through a re-branding exercise after 17 years of introducing and recommending superior landscape plants for the Rocky Mountain Region and beyond. Plant Select^®has a smarter selection process and every plant endures a vigorous 7 point selection process, and winning plants must 1) thrive in a broad range of conditions, 2) flourish with less water, 3) be tough and resilient in challenging climates, 4) be one of a kind/unique, 5) have disease and insect resistance, 6) be long-lasting beauty, and 7) not be invasive. Over the years plants coming out of this program have many smart features including: beautiful, adaptable, durable, water wise, easy to care for, lower negative environmental impact and a higher positive impact and can be tough and beautiful at same time. These plants also have smart benefits to the consumer including: having the right plants for the right climate means more chances of success, having an environmentally smart garden, more garden beauty with less work, gardens that flourish longer with fewer resources, gardens that can save time and money and gardens that are smarter for the environment. Currently Plant Select^® has a total of more than 240 partners including 79 licensed propagators and 58 retail garden center members. We also have 80 public demonstration gardens throughout the region. Trials and evaluations are done at both Colorado State University and Denver Botanic Gardens where 45 species were trialed in 2013 & 2014. Evaluations are also done at most of the demonstration gardens and plants are rated according to their performance at each location. Plants were ranked according to elevation range and Acer tataricum ‘GarAnn’^PP15023 ranked highest in both the 3,000 to 5,500 and 5,500 to 7,500 feet elevation ranges. Prunus besseyii ^“P0015”, Pawnee Buttes sand cherry ranked highest in the range over 7,500 ft. Numerous marketing materials have been developed including a website with individual plant searches and customizable plant lists, video library, design gallery, downloadable designs, plant buyers source guide, newsletters, plant guide and brochures. For more information visit www.plantselect.org or email: info@plantselect.org.