Green infrastructures, when implemented, need to consider the specifics of the local area and climate. The semi-arid climate along Colorado’s front range creates a challenge for plants in green infrastructure systems such as bioretention facilities and green roofs. These plants experience inundation and fast infiltration during rain events and long periods of hot and dry conditions between storms. To accommodate these periods of inundation and drought, Colorado native plants were evaluated due to their adaptation to the challenging conditions that occur in green infrastructure. The experiments in this study are intended to build upon existing work performed by our collaborators and funders Mile High Flood District, the City and County of Denver, and Colorado State University. We aim to improve green infrastructure facility design by using new bioretention media mixes, amended native soils with 5% compost (SSC) and amended native soils with biochar and zeolite (SBZ), green roof components/systems, new plant growth and establishment strategies, and lower irrigation regimes. In 2023 and 2024, data on plant survivability were collected from the bioretention facilities and the green roofs using 100 containerized and bare-root plants. The five native Colorado species selected were Agastache rupestris, Liatris ligulistylis, Amorpha canescens, Ratibida pinnata, and Schizachyrium scoparium. L. ligulistylis, in container, had a higher survival rate after one year on the green roof, on the other hand, it had a low survival rate after a year in the bioretention facilities. The bare-root L. ligulistylis had a higher survival rate, especially in the SSC media. A. canescens, bare-root, had a higher survival rate in the SSC media, while only 25% survived in the SBZ media. All other species overwintered and grew larger the second year on the green roof and bioretention facilities. The Colorado native plants tolerated challenging conditions better than the nonnative plants in the surrounding area.
