July 30, 2025
In my last post, I shared a tour of Ryan (@thexericgarden) and Allison Harter’s front-yard garden. Located in Castle Rock, Colorado, the garden features waterwise flowering perennials, small agaves, and a beautifully constructed crevice garden on a tricky, sloping lot.
Today let’s tour the back garden!
You enter through an agave gate, always a good start.
You soon find yourself enjoying this scene: liatris, blue oat grass, penstemon, daylily, yarrow, lavender, purple coneflower, and more.
The back garden is a few years older and more established than the front. A larger space, it contains taller plants. For example, Ryan transplanted several ‘Karl Foerster’ grasses from the front garden, where he prefers to use compact plants. Here in back, he lets loose with more color, more height, more fullness — more, more, more!
Liatris, penstemon, and daylily provide summer color.
The backyard slopes from one side to the other. Paths cut across the slope and help terrace the garden.
Looking downhill to where a greenbelt along the back fence makes a woodland backdrop.
Good views everywhere you look
Penstemon and ‘Karl Foerster’ grass
SteppeSuns® ‘Sunset Glow’ penstemon and blue oat grass make a gorgeous combo.
An orange daylily that came with the house was popping off in mid-July.
Smoldering against blue oat grass
One more!
Stepping back for a wider view, notice the small crevice garden in the foreground, one of several in Ryan’s garden.
‘Plum Dazzled’ sedum, ‘Wee One’ dwarf lavender, and ‘Phenomenal’ lavender combine with a blue pot of echinocereus cactus in a cool-blue vignette.
‘Freeda’ caterpillar grass — new to me — and purple coneflower
Another wide view
Looking to the lower patio
You can appreciate how much terracing went into taming the slope of the backyard.
I covet the blue conifers that Colorado gardeners can grow. The one at left is ‘Iseli Fastigiate’ blue spruce. Along the property line grow weeping white spruce, columnar Norway spruce, and ‘Woodward’ juniper.
This mid-slope patio was already here when Ryan and Allison bought the house. Today it’s a spot for a fire pit and a couple of Adirondacks, with a view of the lower garden.
Ryan added creeping veronica to soften the flagstones.
Catmint and lavender, part of the summer flower show
More catmint
Purple coneflower and yarrow
Sempervivum and buckwheat (and poor Yorick?)
Sempervivum flowers look like they belong on an alien planet.
‘Kannah Creek’ buckwheat, with grasses beyond that echo the gold in tawnier hues
Red-flowering heuchera
Yarrow, purple coneflower, and iris foliage
Let’s walk down to the lower patio.
Ryan and Allison added this patio to match the existing one. He planted creeping thyme among the stones.
A goth hollyhock
Rose campion
Heading back up. You’d get a good stair-climbing workout in this garden.
Upper garden view
Upper patio
Catmint, lavender, and a wind spinner to capture mountain breezes
My thanks to Ryan and Allison for a lovely garden visit at 6,000-ft elevation!
Ryan has turned his garden into a pollinator and hummingbird paradise. In fact, the whole time I was there, I heard hummers zipping around me.
Be sure to check out Ryan’s website if you’re a Douglas County, Colorado, resident and want help with a waterwise or fire-resistant garden design, or if you want a crevice garden. His Instagram is a great source of inspiration too.
Click here for a look back at Part 1 of my tour of Ryan’s garden.
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Digging Deeper
Want ideas for your yard besides lawn? Sure you do! I’m giving a talk called “Lawn Gone: 8 Great Ideas for Your Yard” on Saturday, September 13, at the Concho Valley Master Gardeners Fall Symposium in San Angelo, Texas. The cost for the all-day symposium with 4 speakers is $30 per person; refreshments and lunch included. Register by 9/10 at this link to attend. I hope to see you there, West Texas homeowners and gardeners!
My new book, Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State, comes out October 14! It’s available for pre-order now on Amazon and other online book sellers. If you’d like to read it or give it as a holiday gift, please consider pre-ordering. (I’m happy to sign pre-ordered copies at my book events!) Early orders make a big difference in helping new books get noticed. More info about Gardens of Texas here — and thank you for your support!
Come see me on tour! I’ll be speaking and hosting book events across Texas this fall and into next spring to celebrate the release of Gardens of Texas. Join me to learn, get inspired, and say hello!
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Read all about the Season 8 lineup here!
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