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Native Plants a Success

By Mary Burger

Every year since our inception, we have attempted plantings at various elevations on Pikes Peak. This year was no exception. We, once again, planted in cut slopes, and at Devil's Playground.

We performed a statistical evaluation of last year's planting success, and determined virtually 100% survival of our plants. This is truly exceptional performance especially considering the harsh environment. We believe this success rate is the due to using native species propagated from local seeds, and cuttings; timing the plantings to coincide with the maximum natural water availability, and using quality planting techniques and motivated volunteers. The care that goes into our planting shows in the success.

While plants at this elevation grow very slowly, we have demonstrated that they will grow, and restoration of the damage is possible. These are exciting findings.