EPA Level III Ecoregion
Southwestern Tablelands
829 native plants for the Southwestern Tablelands ecoregion (Pueblo area).
The Southwestern Tablelands are the broken canyon and mesa country along the edges of the High Plains, running from Pueblo and Trinidad in Colorado through Raton and Clayton in New Mexico into western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. Erosion has cut the flat tableland into breaks and draws, so soils are shallow and rocky where the plains above them are deep. Natives like Missouri primrose, foxglove penstemon, and blackfoot daisy are suited to that thin rocky ground and to a dry, windy, high-sun climate.
Conditions: Shallow rocky soils over sandstone and shale breaks, 13–20 inches of rain mostly in spring and summer storms, high wind, wide swings.
Cities and areas: Pueblo, Raton, Trinidad, Woodward, Childress, Clayton.
829 Native Plants for the Southwestern Tablelands
HOA-friendly picks listed first. Pet-safety status varies by species; each plant page shows its sourced ASPCA status. Native range data from vouchered herbarium specimen records and regional native plant society lists.
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
Common Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Common Sneezeweed
Helenium autumnale
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
False Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
Purple Lovegrass
Eragrostis spectabilis
Nodding Onion
Allium cernuum
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
Smooth Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve
Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans
American Fox Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea
Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Aromatic Sumac
Rhus aromatica
Red-osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Scarlet Strawberry
Fragaria virginiana
Blue Grama
Bouteloua gracilis
Azure Sage
Salvia azurea
Prairie Junegrass
Koeleria macrantha
Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana
Leadplant
Amorpha canescens
Fall Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
Mexican Hat
Ratibida columnifera
Winecup
Callirhoe involucrata
Bur Oak
Quercus macrocarpa
Missouri Primrose
Oenothera macrocarpa
Wafer Ash
Ptelea trifoliata
Bear-grape
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Virginia Wildrye
Elymus virginicus
Prairie Wildrye
Elymus canadensis
Golden Currant
Ribes aureum
Wild Woodland Strawberries
Fragaria vesca
White Prairie Clover
Dalea candida
Narrow-leaf Coneflower
Echinacea angustifolia
Solomon's-plume
Maianthemum racemosum
Firewheel
Gaillardia pulchella
American Germander
Teucrium canadense
Horsemint
Monarda citriodora
Stiff Goldenrod
Solidago rigida
Short-beak Sedge
Carex brevior
Showing 48 of 829. Enter your ZIP for the natives matched to your yard.
Fall care in the Southwestern Tablelands
What to do right now for plants commonly grown here. Each links to the full regional care guide for that species, with sources.
- Mealy blue sage
Let it bloom right up to the first freeze, then cut it back once frost blackens the foliage, since it will not return as a perennial here.
- Missouri primrose
Fall is cutback season here. Once frost knocks the foliage back, one trim tidies the plant for winter.
- Narrow leaf coneflower
Fall is when growth winds down in Colorado Springs, and when to decide whether to cut the plant back or leave it standing for winter.
- Sideoats grama
As nights cool toward the first fall freeze, the clump fades from blue green to a warm reddish tan and growth slows.
- Smooth aster
Fall brings the show, with blue-purple flowers feeding late pollinators across the dry tablelands.
- Prairie dropseed
Fall paints the tableland clumps golden-orange and puts seed on the table for birds.
- Little bluestem
Fall is the showpiece season, when the plains clumps turn a warm mahogany-red topped with silvery seed tufts.
- Black eyed susan
In fall, Black-eyed Susan finishes blooming and sets seed, and a light touch now sets up next year's plants around Colorado Springs and Pueblo.
- Switchgrass
Fall is switchgrass at its best, turning gold and holding its seed heads while feeding birds and sheltering insects, and it is fine to leave standing.
- Wild bergamot
Fall is for tidy-up and dividing before the tablelands cool down.
Build a plan for the Southwestern Tablelands
The Pollinator Patch App turns plants like these into a front-yard plan tuned for the soil, climate, and HOA expectations of the Pueblo area.