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<\/p>\nAs gardeners and lawn enthusiasts look forward to April\u2019s showers bringing May\u2019s flowers, many are considering which plants will make the cut in Calgary\u2019s tumultuous climate.<\/p>\n
Many garden centre favourites can struggle to thrive throughout a rainy (and occasionally snowy) early summer, a drought-prone late summer, and temperature fluctuations brought about by chinooks \u2014 all at a high altitude and within a relatively short growing season.<\/p>\n
Not to mention the ever-present possibility for water restrictions.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s survival of the fittest, but plants that are native to Alberta, though tougher to find at your local garden centre, are well-suited to the task.<\/p>\n
\u201cNative plants are really well-adapted to grow in our area,\u201d said Latifa Pelletier-Ahmed, co-owner of ALCLA Native Plants in Carstairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a horticultural point of view, it\u2019s advantageous because you can have plants that are chinook-tolerant, drought-tolerant \u2014 so we have more water-wise gardening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only do native plants contribute to a lower-maintenance garden that thrives year after year, they also have major benefits for the local ecosystem.\u00a0ALCLA Native Plants grows and sells native plants and seeds, but Pelletier-Ahmed said there\u2019s also an educational component to the work they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big piece of it is supporting wildlife and pollinators,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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A monarch butterfly at the Wilder Institute\/Calgary Zoo on April 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cApproximately 90 per cent of insects have a specific relationship with native plants. The most famous example is the monarch butterfly. The western population has declined by 99.9 per cent since the 1980s, and a big part of that is the loss of milkweed on the landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n
The female butterfly can only lay her eggs on specific types of plants, and some native bees can only feed on certain flowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of other insects have these specific relationships,\u201d Pelletier-Ahmed said.\u00a0Those relationships continue up the food chain, with the entire ecosystem ultimately supported by native plants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that anyone can do to support wildlife,\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole food web of life gets supported, whereas now a lot of this is fragmented because of habitat loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Native plants and smart watering the key to eco-friendly gardening<\/p>\n
Canadian prairie grasslands are actually one of the world\u2019s most endangered ecosystems, and aren\u2019t very well-protected, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of them are on private land as well . . . so educating folks can not only get them excited about preserving their own land or their own family\u2019s land, but also to help to restore,\u201d she said. \u201cWe get more and more folks wanting to have wildflower meadows instead of front lawns or on their acreages to support wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of Pelletier-Ahmed\u2019s garden favourites are bee balm, wild bergamot, wild strawberries, and native clump-forming grasses like giant wild rye.<\/p>\n
But native plants aren\u2019t the only contributors to a drought-resistant garden. Horticulturist Kath Smyth has mastered the art of keeping as much stormwater on her property, and out of the storm drains, as possible \u2014 and she shares her expertise through her work with the Calgary Horticultural Society.<\/p>\n
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Kath Smyth, from the Calgary Horticultural Society, and a well-known avid gardener, shows some water-wise (drought resistant) plants and flowers available at Greengate Garden Centre in southeast Calgary on Thursday, April 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cNine years ago, I got rid of all of my lawn,\u201d she said. \u201cI had no lawn in the backyard anyway, and in the front garden it became smaller and smaller because I just kept planting. My whole mission was to keep the water on my property, and by planting reasonably strong trees and shrubs, you do that \u2014 and then your perennials go in and around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The root systems of plants, she said, are extremely efficient at trapping water and holding onto it. She also has a rain barrel, and strategically directs all her downspouts to make best use of the runoff throughout her garden.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of my garden at the back has to cross the foot path and go into my garden, but I\u2019ve just run my downspout along the side of the fence and mounted it and it drains into weeping tile,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve created a rain garden, if you will. The water goes down underneath and allows the water to trap, and I use rock to direct the flow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having well-draining soil is key, she said, but mulch and ground cover plants also help to prevent water from evaporating.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a while, you start to practice some of the things that help, and always have,\u201d she said. \u201cMy grandpa always had a big barrel in his garden somewhere with the downspout running in . . . He kept his watering cans beside it. I never saw my grandpa use a hose to water his vegetable garden, and it was a big one.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her, building drought resilience into her garden means working with the climate we have. It also means less stormwater is polluting the rivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur rivers are important to us, and they always have been in Calgary,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have to be the stewards of that, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Use potted flowers to bring the colour to your garden![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f1c8ba1dfdcc582a3cc88b5f2109a0f3.jpeg\"\/)
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Some drought resistant plants and flowers for Calgary\u2019s growing zone.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also a proponent of utilizing native plants, both for their resilience and for the environmental impact.\u00a0Though her garden is primarily made up of trees, shrubs and perennials, she still fills two large planters with annual flowers for her front porch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe garden centres are still selling really beautiful annuals and all of that, and I\u2019m not going to put them down. I think that there\u2019s nothing prettier than annual pots and doing some of that,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to sacrifice the pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n