Colorado natives: flowers and function in the home landscape

for years to come. Sow seed directly into the garden and keep moist. It also germinates readily in pots, but transplant it into the garden early as it does develop a taproot. Mentzelia will quickly become a favorite as the striking white owers open each night, smelling sweetly of honey, only to close again before morning.

Kannah Creek Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum var. aureum)

We love this little groundcover. Best suited for well-drained sites with little to no irrigation, sulphur ower buckwheat is incredibly durable, long-lived and great for weed suppression. In early spring, the lush mat of green foliage is topped with char- treuse pom poms that mature to deep orange. Flower stalks can be sheared after ower for a tidier appearance, or left through winter and sheared in March. In fall, the foliage ages to a deep burgundy and persists through the winter season.

Not sure how to add these to the landscape? Try pairing them with some of our native grasses like blue gramma (Bouteloua gracilis) and little bluestem (Schizachryum scoparium). Using groundcovers and grasses reduces the need for maintenance like weeding and mulching each season.

Betty Jean Souders, a long-time resident of Sterling Colorado, entered eternal life on Friday, January 6, 2023, surrounded by her sons. Betty had just celebrated her 91st birthday.

As a gardener in the urban Front Range, each season brings new challenges, or the same challenges just in a di erent order. Rabbits, salt, cold temperatures, hot temperatures, drought, foot tra c — sometimes the list seems never-ending. However, an almost foolproof way to ensure the success in the home garden is to look to our native plants for inspiration. I spoke with some of my colleagues at Denver Botanic Gardens and we came up with three of our favorites to tackle tough conditions while delivering on ower power. ese plants are all native to Colorado and provide signi cant ecological bene t to our pollinators. ey are all adaptable to our urban soils and should only require supplemental water during the rst year of establishment.

Chocolate flower (Berlandiera lyrata) is extra cold-hardy member of the daisy family is a garden powerhouse. e bright yellow owers oat

GUEST COLUMN atop gray-green mounding foliage, and last from early spring to frost. e golden pinwheels surround dark red centers that are full of nectar — attracting both butter ies and occasional hummingbirds. As an added bonus, the foliage is said to have the aroma of chocolate. As things wind down in the fall, leave the last crop of ower stalks to enjoy the intricate cup-shaped seed heads, which are both beautiful and a functional food source for birds.

Ten-petal blazing star (Mentzelia decapetala)

A native, night-blooming, fragrant, drought-tolerant, pollinator magnet? Say no more! Ten-petal blazing star is a sta favorite around here — and for good reason. Although it is a biennial or short-lived perennial, once this plant is established in the garden, it will persist from seed e Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 10th at 10:30 am at the ChaneyReager Funeral Home at 443 South Second Street in Sterling, Colorado. ere will be a Celebration of Life luncheon after the service at e Sterling Elks Lodge. e address is 321 Ash Street, Sterling, Colorado, 80751. Betty believed in kindness so we did not pick a charity as she felt like a smile and a helping hand could brighten anybody’s day. She was born on November 30, 1931, in Champion, Nebraska to Ida Mable (Reuter) Griess and Edward Griess. Betty was married to Lloyd Nelson Souders in Fort Collins, Colorado on March 10th, 1951. Her elder son Jerry Souders, of Sterling, and younger son, Rick Souders, of Golden, Colorado, survive her. Betty is survived by her older sister Arlene Kinney. Her honorary son Steve Heimbegner and wife Cher of Greeley, Colorado also survive her. Betty’s brothers Dale, Melvin, Ronald, Raymond, Jim, John, Wayne, Bob, and Morris are all deceased. Her sister Suzanne is also deceased as well as her daughter-in-law Lisa Souders. She is survived and loved by several nieces and nephews.

Betty worked at the Trinidad Benham Bean Factory in Sterling in her younger years. She also worked at Snyder’s Photo Studio and Schures Photo Studios in Sterling. Betty loved photography. She was an amazing hand color artist with colored pencils on black and white portraits and she loved printing black and white photographs. Betty was very involved with friends and family. Betty helped with projects for her younger son in Scout Troop 15 in Sterling. Betty loved to bake. She loved yard sales and re nishing antiques. She had a green thumb and always had beautiful owers and garden produce. She enjoyed shing, going on long drives in the country and having co ee with her sons and friends. One of her favorite seasons was summertime and the butter ies. Betty Jean, as her sisters a ectionately called her, was a kind and caring person that always had a smile and would do anything to help friends and family, whatever their needs.

Travel with family was also a great joy for her. She was able to go on a western Caribbean Cruise and travel through Canada. In 2010 she was able to travel with Rick and Jerry to Australia to celebrate Rick’s 50th birthday. Hawaii was on the agenda in 2014 to visit dear friends. In 2016, she was able to travel to Iceland.

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Search-and-rescue dogs embody the mail carrier motto: “Neither snow, nor rain nor gloom of night” will keep these trusty canines from their appointed rounds — searching for people or items with single-minded purpose.

For the dogs and their trainers who are part of the Colorado branch of SARDUS — Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States — training is a weekly, if not daily, endeavor to prepare dogs to certify in an area of search and rescue or to keep the dog’s skills sharp after certi cation.

“ e training continues for life,” said Cathy Bryarly, a retired Boulder sheri ’s deputy who trains search-and-rescue dogs. “ is has to be part of your life. It goes way beyond a hobby, or it’s not going to work. It’s a calling.”

SARDUS members agree that it’s a labor a love based in their strong resolve to help others. Not only do the dogs and their handlers train multiple times a week, enlisting family and friends to hide, so the dogs have someone to search for, but handlers also attend seminars on a variety of topics and work together by laying trails for others to follow.

Trainers are always learning, so they can improve their canines’ ability to help in emergency situations.

Search-and-rescue dogs and their handlers are not paid; in fact, handlers spend a lot on the dogs, the equipment, the training and more. e goal is to be certi ed to go on missions, the term for helping law enforcement nd people, bodies or objects needed in an investigation.

Call the people trainers or handlers, but more importantly, they’re dog lovers who want to work as a team with their pets to help others.

The humility of training e trainers say it simply: Training their canines is humbling.

“Our dogs don’t make the mistakes,” Anjie Julseth-Crosby of Morrison said. “We do. ere’s so much to remember. e training is about me trying to understand what (the dogs) are saying. e human fails, not the dog.”

In fact, Julseth-Crosby, who started training her bloodhounds two years ago, has compiled a 19-page document called “ ings I wish I knew two years ago.”

Training involves having a dog follow a scent for several miles, helping the dog return to the SEE DOGS, P17