These people want to sell you something of course but you may enjoy their list. I like them myself. High Altitude Plants | High Altitude Gardening | High Country Gardens : Suitable Above 7000 ft - ''Our high altitude plants are exceptionally hardy and have been garden-tested in the high altitude (7,000 ft.) of Santa Fe, NM. These plants thrive in a harsh, high desert climate with intense sun, hot, dry summers, cold winters, and poor soils. The plants featured here are perfect for high altitude gardening conditions. Learn more with our High Altitude Gardening Tips.''

You may need to reload using a filter option in the left margin.

Colorado State's Extension service has quite a few free online publications that might help:

http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/native-herbaceous-perennials-for-colorado-landscapes-7-242/

http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/trees-and-shrubs-for-mountain-areas-7-423/

http://douglas.colostate.edu/hort/hort_docs/dougco_gardening.pdf

Best wishes,

L :)

Hi Susan,

At 7,000' you should be able to grow pretty much the same things we grow here in Denver--assuming you're not in some "unusually cold" spot like the bottom of a valley where the cold air settles in or something. I go on two trips each year to SW Colorado and southern Utah and I take starts for perennials from my yard along for the cabin owners at the places where I stay. Most of them are from about 6,000' to 7,000'--Cortez/Towaoc, Ignacio, Blanding, Torrey, Crawford on the east side of Grand Mesa, and more. What you can or can't grow has more to do with your minimum temperature and other "weather conditions" than with absolute altitude. We're mostly zone 5 down here in Denver too, so pick out some perennials (and shrubs) you love and Go For It!

Welcome to RMG,

Skybird

My parents live above 7000 feet near Carbondale. My step-mother grows much of the same things I grow here, including lilacs, hostas, peonies, iris, agastache, lupines, etc. But they are usually a couple of weeks behind mine.

Thanks to you all for the good info. The Colorado State Extension lists are what I was looking for...very specific. I've gardened in Colorado for 25 years and couldn't figure out why I can't grow certain plants! As you all know, we certainly have our challenges gardening in the Rockies,

Thanks again for taking the time to share your knowledge. Out to the garden now,..you may hear more from me when the weather turns.