Knowing where your plants grow naturally can give you many clues to growing in your garden. Woodland plants are likely to do best in shade, streamside plants will like moist soil and mountain plants are likely to be deep rooted and hardy.

On the dry south side of a mountain you may find plants that can live in poor soil with very little water. They may be evergreen, with leathery leaves and very deep roots or have sharp thorns. This photo has regular mist to irrigate the very short rhododendrons that grow like weeds.

Some mountain plants only seem to live in these conditions because stronger plants eliminate them from elsewhere. Some mountain plants are relatively frost-sensitive and can only survive where snow builds up in winter to insulate them from the hardest frosts.

Moss, grass, heath and heather can often thrive above the tree line on mountain slopes. Many small but beautiful alpines grow on the mountains as the name implies.

Colorado State University has a list of mountain plants to grow above 8,000 feet – Mmmm a bit higher than my garden then. It is interesting that so many of our successful garden plants come from high altitudes such as the Himalayas and the Alps.