Douglas Tallamy, author of “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard,” proposes the clever concept of “homegrown national parks,” which he calls important urban/suburban wildlife corridors.

“We have national parks and land conservancies, but they’re isolated and relatively small,” Tallamy said. “The solution is to start practicing conservation outside of parks and preserves.”

Most wildlife species need ample space to thrive, and homegrown national parks allow local landowners to collaborate to expand breeding grounds while preserving ecosystems.

Maybe a native garden the size of a smallish Chipotle parking lot won’t leave you as awestruck as a trek through Rocky Mountain National Park. But after a month of touring Front Range native demonstration gardens, I found plenty to love.

Pocket habitats

These habitat pockets are alive in every sense of the word, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching hungry birds hunt caterpillars to feed their nestlings. Since native plants attract butterflies, I plan to return to my favorite gardens later in the season to see monarchs and other winged insects perform their tiny acrobatics between colorful, Colorado blooms.

After a brutal winter, watching diverse species return in full force is nothing short of magical.“Diverse ecosystems start with native plants,” said Karim Gharbi, horticulture specialist at the Denver County CSU Extension.

CSU Extension, a network of experts focused on issues such as agriculture and natural resources, offers growers expertise on planting, pest control, and more through its gardening programs.

Some gardeners prefer an old English aesthetic — i.e., perfectly manicured turf lawns with trimmed shrubs and colorful blooms. “It might look pretty, but it won’t provide habitat for the caterpillars our local songbirds need,” Gharbi said.

There has recently been a surge of interest in native landscapes, and master gardener Danna Liebert, who owns Grounded Growth Landscape Design, thinks this is great news.

“Planting native species,” she said, “Is one of the easiest ways to support local wildlife and reduce the need for excessive water and chemicals.

Through her service as a Wild Ones Front Range board member, Liebert helps advance the volunteer-run nonprofit’s mission of promoting “Coloradoscapes,” an idea that expands on the xeriscape trend by considering native plants.

While many native gardeners learn toward a “naturalistic style,” as Liebert puts it, you need only visit a few demonstration gardens to see that local flora is merely a palette.

“You can use them in any style that appeals to you,” Liebert notes.

Case in point: The Gardens of Versailles in France inspired Centennial Gardens, 1101 Little Raven St. This five-acre Denver area tract features a mix of elegantly arranged native and water-wise species, some unlike anything else in town. Think formal garden design, but with a delightful Colorado twist.

“What we need,” Tallamy told me, “Are model landscapes that are beautiful and ecologically functional at the same time.”

A mile above sea level, you can find places on a self-guided native garden tour that might be just what you need to breathe new life into your home landscape.

Front Range beauties

Liebert admits being biased but recommends starting in Englewood, at Depot Prairie Park, 601 W. Dartmouth Ave., a colorful, modestly sized public plot she helped design and plant in 2020 with Kenton Seth, owner of Paintbrush Gardens, and a team of volunteers.

The project replaced non-native turfgrass with primarily native plants, reducing water use by 70 percent in the first year alone. This cute space teems with wildlife today, and the bug hotel, created by 5th graders at Bishop Elementary, is a nice touch. Don’t miss the crevice garden on either side of the steps.

It’s a short, 2-mile walk or ride to Harvard Gulch Park, where Denver Master Gardeners maintain three demonstration patches, including the Children’s Home Memorial Garden planted directly in front of the CSU Extension building, 888 E. Iliff Ave.

Since its installation in 2013, I’ve hurried past this garden dozens of times. Next time you’re in the area, take a closer look.

In 2022, a volunteer group completely revamped the landscape, focusing on native plantings. Every June, Jefferson County CSU Extension runs its “Purge Your Spurge” event here, offering free plants to folks who bring in an invasive weed called Myrtle Spurge.

Continuing north, Liebert points me to a “public pocket park” a few blocks east of Washington Park. At Summer Home Garden, 651 S. Vine St., you’ll discover a lush, colorful habitat overflowing with native and xeric plants, flaunting a truly extraordinary crevice garden. The designers, Liebert said, used an AI to craft their plan.

Once a weedy patch of Kentucky bluegrass, The Gardens at Kendrick Lake Park, 9351 W. Jewel Ave., will get you pumped about native plants.

This vibrant tract features a variety of Colorado and regionally native trees, shrubs, and perennials. While the plot isn’t entirely native focused, Liebert said it’s a good example of a low-water option with native and Plant Select plants, the latter of which are resilient species inspired by the Rocky Mountain region.

Plant Select varietals grow alongside natives at Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St., and 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road. Both locations maintain native gardens, and the organization’s collection includes over 700 species known to occur naturally in Colorado and the West.

On Chatfield State Park’s far end is Denver Audubon Society’s Kingery Nature Center, 11280 Waterton Road. This important birding area claims a “Habitat Hero” native demonstration garden.

You’ll find five distinct native and xeric areas spread out just past the on-site nature center, including a fabulous hummingbird garden. The organization’s extensive landscape provides habitat for various resident and migratory birds—woodpeckers, waxwings, nuthatches, warblers, buntings, and tanagers, to name just a few.

These gardens peak in mid-to-late June, so plan accordingly.

In Douglas County, look for an array of local plant varietals thriving in a demonstration garden near the parking lot servicing Hidden Mesa Open Space, 3217 North 83.

Native flowers ring the historic cabin. Bonus: Enjoy 4.7 miles of natural surface trails taking hikers through a meadow and along a rocky outcrop after viewing the garden.

Continue south, and you’ll eventually reach the Colorado Springs Utilities Garden, 2855 Mesa Road. This large, xeric-focused, water-saving expanse has five do-it-yourself landscape displays.

Don’t miss the on-site Conservation & Environmental Center, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering interactive water efficiency displays, tours, classes, and additional programming.

Liebert points to this location with one caveat: The plants are drought-tolerant but not necessarily native.

“Keep in mind that native plants have specific benefits beyond drought tolerance,” she said, adding, “Gardeners are always complaining about Colorado’s ‘terrible soil,’ but native plants grow well here, and you won’t have to amend your soil or use fertilizer.”

From Denver, head north, stopping first at the Majestic View Nature Center, 7030 Garrison St.

The National Wildlife Federation named the charismatic 25,000-square-foot demonstration garden surrounding the nature center a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Each zone showcases native and regionally appropriate plants that provide food and nesting space for wildlife.

Continue north to Lyons to visit Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens, 100 4th Ave. I stumbled upon this botanical gem shortly after it opened in 2021, and I’ve been back a few times to learn about low-water gardening.

Winding paths lead guests through demonstration gardens divided into Colorado’s five key ecosystems. The colors and smells of dwarf wild indigo, prairie verbena, golden smoke, firewheel, and purple aster, among other flora, are easy to love. The gardens offer public classes throughout the year; check online for details.

Mrs. Walsh’s Garden, off West Elkhorn Avenue, across from Performance Park in Estes Park, is another botanical sanctuary I randomly encountered when my normal Estes Park running route was blocked due to moose.

The garden is open to the public daily from dawn to dusk, and landscapers cultivate various plants native to Estes Park and the surrounding region.

Fort Collins has The Gardens on Spring Creek, 2145 Centre Ave., a 12-acre botanical oasis showcasing plant material based on theme and elevation. Gardeners focus on underused and attractive species with high wildlife value. If you’re into viewing unusual natives, don’t miss the site’s egg-shaped Undaunted Garden.

Nix Native Plant Garden, 1745 Hoffman Mill Road, is another Fort Collins site that proves native plants can easily rival the attractiveness of non-native alternatives. Plants are labeled either “Fort Collins Native” or “Colorado Native” for easy reference, and collections include a “Hidden Habitats” garden, prairie bouquets, and a fabulous rock garden.

Thirty miles southeast, in Greeley, don’t miss the Houston Gardens, 515 23rd Ave., where a natural surface trail runs through a peaceful 4.3-acre courtyard featuring Colorado ecosystems.

The water features (ponds and a flowing creek) are a nice touch for anyone looking to unwind in a lush, natural setting. Educational workshops on topics such as soil health, native planting, and xeriscaping are offered for urban gardeners.

From Colorado’s high country to the Western Slope

Founded in 1985 by the Vail Alpine Garden Foundation, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, 522 S. Frontage Road, is a scenic place where 3,000 species of high-altitude plants grow in four distinct zones.

More than a visual delight, this garden is a guardian of fragile mountain landscapes. Don’t miss informational panels and rotating exhibits at the Education Center, on the far end of the gardens, and take time to gawk at the crevice garden, too, with alpine plants that tumble over rocks like a floral waterfall, thriving, somehow, in the most severe conditions.

You won’t regret the drive to Three Ladies Park, 31 Butte Ave., where Crested Butte Botanic Gardens members have installed an educational native display garden designed to inform visitors about the fragile ecosystem at 9,000 feet. The garden is still in its planning phase, so there’s no large-scale botanical garden to visit.

Nestled in the Yampa Valley in Steamboat Springs, native flora blooms at the Yampa River Botanic Park, 1000 Pamela Lane.

Follow the site’s main path past 60 individual gardens with different themes. While native plantings appear in every garden in some capacity, a few patches are focused strictly on local species.

This wonderful garden is open seasonally, from dawn until dusk, between early May and the first heavy snow.

Planted within yards of each other inside the Mesa County Fairgrounds, at the CSU Extension Tri-River Area office, 2775 U.S. 50, the Chinle Cactus & Succulent Society Demonstration Garden, and the Clifford Duncan Ute Learning Garden are Grand Junction beauties.

The cactus garden will flower in late spring and early summer. The Ute Learning Garden, meanwhile, offers guests insight into the various plants that sustained Ute life. Visit the organization’s website to schedule a free guided tour with a docent.

Plant your own

Once you’ve scoped out a few gardens, you might want to head to a local nursery to pick up a few native varieties for your homegrown national park.

“One of the big harbingers to progress in this arena is the fact that native plants aren’t widely available in commercial nurseries,” said Maggie Gaddis, executive director of the Colorado Native Plant Society, which publishes a free list of low-water native plants on its website.

For those who’d like to experiment with native plants at home, there’s the Utah-based High Country Gardens, 801-769-0300, an online-only sustainable garden store that ships plants to Coloradans.

Try Bookcliff Gardens Nursery & Landscape, 755 26 Road in Grand Junction for a brick-and-mortar option. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you want to geek out, CSU Extension’s Native Plant Master classes and courses are always an option.

“What can one person do?” Tallamy wondered aloud. He quickly answered his question: “My message is that one person can do a lot, and it doesn’t take long for nature to respond.”