New Plants for 2026 + Recent Favorites
Every year, Plant Select introduces a new collection of beautiful, waterwise and resilient plants. Plants are tested and evaluated for 3-5+ years at Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado State University, and public and private gardens across the High Plains and Intermountain West. The selected plants have excelled in our trials.
We’re excited to share our new plants for 2026! You’ll also find some of our fave introductions from the last few years that have become more widely available. (It can take a few years for plants to build up availability.)
New plants for 2026
UNFORGETTABLE™ hummingbird trumpet
Epilobium x canum 'PUND03S'
UNFORGETTABLE™ hummingbird trumpet is a showy, late season powerhouse. This waterwise perennial has narrow leaves and vivid, extra-long flowers. A magnet for hummingbirds! It grows upright, reaching two feet tall.
GRANITA® pussytoes
Antennaria dimorpha 'PJS03S'
GRANITA® pussytoes is a selection of Antennaria that’s native to almost every state in the West. This native groundcover has small, tightly-formed, silver-green leaves that look good year-round. And it is very low maintenance.
MANDY™ sun daisy
Osteospermum 'Mandy' PPAF
MANDY™ sun daisy is a charming, low growing perennial with pink, daisy-like flowers. This long-blooming perennial puts on a show in late spring with a burst of flowers. It can re-bloom with a little deadheading.
Silver Shield French sorrel
Rumex scutatus ‘Silver Shield’
Silver Shield French sorrel is an attractive, perennial herb with tangy, edible leaves. It grows in full sun or bright shade. (Yes, shade!) We like it as an accent plant. It has creamy, variegated leaves that create contrast in waterwise gardens.
Full sun-bright shade. Zones 5b-9. 6-12″ tall by 12-24″ wide. Average, loam or well-drained soil.
FLATIRON™ sand cherry
Prunus pumila var. besseyi 'Boulder Weeping'
FLATIRON™ sand cherry is a multi-season beauty. This native sand cherry offers white flowers in spring and cherry red foliage in fall. FLATIRON™ was selected from the wild for its very low stature, reaching only one foot tall. Great for native pollinators and birds.
More waterwise perennials (from recent years)
Ultra Violet salvia
Salvia 'Ultra Violet'PP 21,411
Hardy to zone 5, this western salvia is more cold hardy and compact than many of the Salvia greggii types on the market. Better Homes and Gardens magazine lists it as a top perennial for dry sites. Rabbit and deer resistant.
HALF PINT® pineleaf penstemon
Penstemon pinifolius 'Compactum'
Native to Arizona and New Mexico, this compact, early summer bloomer has evergreen foliage and orange-red trumpet flowers that attract hummingbirds. This plant grows best in full sun with a bit of elbow room for maximum heat and sunlight. It thrives in small-textured, rock mulch.
WAGGON WHEEL® bluemat penstemon
Penstemon caespitosus 'P022S'
Native to Colorado and Wyoming mountains, this bluemat penstemon has vibrant, kelly-green foliage and tends to grow in a low, circular shape. It keeps its leaf color through fall and much of winter — great for winter interest. In early summer, purple-blue flowers appear like tiny gems.
Tushar bluemat penstemon
Penstemon xylus
Tushar bluemat penstemon is a tiny and tough penstemon from Utah. It has lavender flowers from June to July and blue-silver foliage. This penstemon’s foliage is nearly evergreen. This straight species penstemon is happy in gritty soils and full sun.
WINTER FIRE® sedum
Petrosedum rupestre 'Rice Creek'
WINTER FIRE® sedum is a succulent groundcover. It transforms from a rustic summer green, to an ember-like color in fall, to dark burgundy in deep winter. Ideal for winter interest! With its low stature and high moisture content, it’s a natural addition to firewise landscapes.
SARADA'STM Greek mountain tea
Sideritis syriaca ‘P023S'
SARADA’S™ Greek mountain tea is a drought-tolerant perennial with soft, silver-gray foliage and pastel yellow flowers. If winter temps stay mild enough, it keeps its silver-colored foliage through much of winter, adding interest. Typically rabbit and deer resistant.
RAMBLER™ mountain fleabane
Erigeron formosissimus 'P022S'
RAMBLERTM mountain fleabane produces lavender, daisy-like flowers in May and June. This native mountain fleabane was selected from the wild for its short stature, profuse blooms and its ability to grow at elevations up to 13,000 feet. Plant it in full sun or part shade in nearly any well-draining soil.
DREW’S FOLLY® hardy snapdragon
Antirrhinum sempervirens 'P020S'
DREW’S FOLLY® hardy snapdragon is a hardy perennial in USDA zones 5-8. This perennial blooms so heavily in late May and June that its leaves are almost completely masked with colorful, pink flowers. It thrives in many soils, including clay.
Leprechaun southernwood
Artemisia abrotanum 'Leprechaun'
Foliage plants — like Leprechaun Southernwood — can add attractive structure, contrast and breathing room to gardens. This lush, green foliage plant is a compact selection of the ancient herb, Southernwood, growing to 2-3’. It grows at elevations up to 8,500′ and tolerates both sun and shade.
EVERSILVER™ creeping germander
Teucrium 'Harlequin’s Silver'
EVERSILVERTM creeping germander offers a carpet of silver foliage all year round. In early summer, it gets charming, purple flowers. It doesn’t need any deadheading. Very heat and drought tolerant. A great problem solver for tough spots!
FREEDA® Caterpillar Grass
Harpochloa falx 'Compact Black'
Native to South Africa, FREEDA® Caterpillar grass is also ideal for the North American steppe region. The flowers first resemble caterpillars… only to unfurl into playful, fuzzy-looking eyebrows. In the winter, this evergreen grass turns dark chocolate, offering lovely contrast.
Rocky Mountain goldenrod
Solidago multiradiata
Many goldenrods flower late in the season and grow large, but not this dwarf goldenrod which blooms in late spring! Rocky Mountain goldenrod is native to much of the West. The National Wildlife Federation and Dr. Doug Tallamy recognize it as a keystone plant for multiple eco-regions in the West. Keystone plants feed and host “significant numbers of butterflies, moths, and pollen specialist bees.”
Indigo blue dragonhead
Dracocephalum ruyschiana
There’s something special about an electric blue flower! Indigo blue dragonhead is an easy-to-grow perennial that blooms in late spring. It has needle-like leaves and fragrant, dark blue flowers. It grows well in different types of soil, including clay.
Golden Candles
Thermopsis lupinoides
Golden candles is a robust perennial that offers a splash of bright yellow color in early to mid spring. It blooms well before most perennials, making it great for early-emerging pollinators too. (Bumble bees like it!) Attractive mounds of lupine-like foliage persist the rest of the summer.
Meadow blazing star
(aka, Rocky Mountain blazing star)
Liatris ligulistylus
Bring on the butterflies with meadow blazing star! This straight-species native plant attracts butterflies and native bees in late summer with its rosy-purple flowers. Birds often enjoy the seeds in the fall and winter. A prairie delight!
Shimmer evening primrose
Oenothera fremontii 'Shimmer' PP19,663
Shimmer evening primrose has narrow, silver foliage and cheerful, lemon-yellow flowers that bloom profusely in late spring and re-bloom in the summer and fall. Shimmer is a great pollinator plant, attracting bees, sphinx moths, and butterflies. Native to Kansas and Nebraska.
Bellina pink cornflower
Psephellus simplicicaulis
Bellina pink cornflower is a well-behaved, small-scale groundcover that produces bright pink pincushions from spring through summer. It has frilly, matte green leaves and showy, bachelor button-type flowers. Great for rock gardens, borders or cut flowers!
Waterwise shrubs and trees (from recent years)
HOT WINGS® Tatarian maple
Acer tataricum 'GarAnn'
HOT WINGS® Tatarian maple is a small, ornamental tree. Many cold-hardy maples struggle in alkaline soils, but HOT WINGS® is an exception. This drought-tolerant maple is unlikely to develop chlorotic, washed-out leaves. It has rich, green foliage and a different leaf shape than traditional maples. This tree offers beauty from season to season!
Dwarf leadplant
Amorpha nana
Dwarf leadplant is a compact, native shrub. It blooms spikes of purple, honey-scented flowers in June. It’s deer resistant and cold hardy through USDA zone 3. A member of the pea family, this western dryland shrub looks green and healthy even in the most impoverished soils. Perfect for challenging, full sun spots in your landscape.
PINK ON REPEAT™ lilac
Syringa pubescens subsp. microphylla 'Cheyenne'
PINK ON REPEAT™ produces enchanting pink flowers from mid-May into early June. Then, in late summer, it produces an additional wave of blooms. It’s a wonderfully fragrant, pink-flowering lilac in a moderate size (not too big, not too small). And it’s tough! It adapts well to our tricky western soils and erratic weather.
Tidy littleleaf peashrub
Caragana microphylla 'Tidy'
Tidy littleleaf peashrub is a large shrub or small tree, depending on how you choose to train it. It was selected for reduced suckering, making it a perfect courtyard tree with a Southwestern look. It takes heat, intense cold, poor soil and xeric conditions. And it adds graceful beauty year round, including winter when its stems are cloaked with a dusting of snow.
SILVER TOTEM® buffaloberry
Shepherdia argentea 'Totem'
Grab this plant when you see it. It’s still building availability!
SILVER TOTEM® is native to states across the western United States and central plains. It has an upright, columnar growth habit, making it a great fit for many uses, from accents, to privacy hedges, to colonnades. In the spring, it can produce small clusters of tiny yellow flowers before its narrow, silvery green leaves emerge. Ideal for sunny, dry locations, but does equally well in moist conditions.
CRYSTAL FROST™ Arizona cypress
Hesperocyparis arizonica 'Fandango'
Grab this plant when you see it. It’s building availability!
CRYSTAL FROSTTM is a native tree that was selected from a higher elevation along the Arizona/New Mexico border. It’s extremely heat tolerant, extremely drought tolerant, and it can handle winter temperatures down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit (zone 5a). It has blueish-silver needles and an open, feather-like growth. It prefers well-draining soils. (Don’t plant it in clay.)
Where to buy Plant Select plants
Visit our tab—Where to Buy—to find a grower or a garden center that offers Plant Select plants locally or online. And be sure to ask for these plants when you visit!
Explore more of our low-water plants
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How to become a Plant Select grower or retailer
Please contact Director Ross Shrigley at (970) 481-3429. He’s happy to answer your questions.
