Panayoti Kelaidis is the senior curator and director of outreach at Denver Botanic Gardens , a founding member and collaborator with the Plant Select plant introduction program, and an active member and past president of the North American Rock Garden Society. 

In his article on rock gardening for the October 2023 issue he says, “The dynamic juxtaposition between plants and well-placed stones has an intrinsically artistic, sculptural effect. And to top it all off, a rock garden will often persist with far less cutting back, deadheading, and fussing than a bed filled with perennials or annuals would require.” 

If you are interested in taking up rock gardening, Panayoti recommends starting with species that are native to your region, combined with plants from similar climates around the world. For example, Panayoti’s latest crevice garden is filled with plants from the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, supplemented with species from Central Asia, South Africa, and even Patagonia. The species used were chosen for their ability to survive Denver’s hot, dry summers and cold winters. These require less effort to establish and maintain than alpine plants from the European Alps, which have traditionally been used in rock gardens. 

While Fine Gardening staff was visiting Denver to shoot photos for Rock Gardening 101, Panayoti took a few minutes to record this video sharing some basic rock gardening pointers for beginners. The biggest take-away lessons: 

• Rock gardens can be fit into almost any garden space, large or small. 
• It’s a good idea to practice and plan before you start building. 
• Clustering rocks of different sizes helps an installation look more natural. 
• Alpine troughs are the perfect place to experiment with rocks and rock garden plants. 

Learn more

To read Panayoti’s recommendations for adaptable Western native species that can be grown more widely.

For a fun tour of another great Denver garden, check out this video.

If you’d like to substitute some Western native plants for commonly used, non-native species, here are some ideas.