A Lawn in Bloom

A water-wise lawn allows for a brilliant display of spring bulbs

Mike Kintgen is a horticulturist at the Denver Botanic Gardens in Colorado . At work , he curates the alpine plant collection . At home , he has created a beautiful display in his front lawn that combine water - wise horticulture proficiency for his teetotal , western clime , and a really beautiful show of medulla oblongata .

Mike ’s front lawn is engraft with buffalo grass ( Buchloe dactyloides ) , which need 30 % to 75 % less body of water than traditional bluegrass lawn and demand less mowing . The downside is that buffalo grass goes brownish and sleeping in the winter and train longer to green up and come up into outgrowth in the spring . Mike has turned those negatives into plus by plant up his lawn with early give lightbulb . Because buffalo Mary Jane takes longer to pop out growing in the spring , the bulbs have time to flower and complete their spring growth rhythm before the first mowing . Most common bulbs , like the crocuses and bulging iris Mike has planted , are native to climates with dry summer , so they acquire much good in a dry out buffalo supergrass lawn than they would in the much surface-active agent consideration require by bluegrass .

The result is an incredible exhibit that economise piddle , is good for the environment , and is beautiful to boot ! That ’s what I call a win - winnings .

find out more about crocus .

See a pic of a buffalo grass lawn in the summer .

brilliant sensationalistic clumps ofCrocus ancyrensis(Ankara crocus , Zones 4–8 ) in full bloom against the tawny - colored torpid buffalo forage .

Mixed crocus diversity in unlike color spread over the lawn .

Healthy clumps of the delicately coloredCrocus‘Blue Pearl ’ ( geographical zone 4–8 ) .

Another view of the motley crocus in efflorescence .

brilliant plot of color from yellowCrocus ancyrenismixed with purpleC. tommasinanus(Tommy crocus , Zones 4–8 ) andCrocus sieberi‘Tricolor ’ ( tricolor crocus , Zones 4–8 ) . These mickle of coloring material just get bighearted and better with each passing year .

bloom at the same time as the crocus is the little bulbousIris reticulata(Zones 4–8 ) .

Iris reticulata‘J.S. Dijt ’ has robust purple flowers .

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