Grower leads xeric evolution

David Salman is an unshakable force in the water-conservation movement. He’s steering consumers to xeric gardens, one exceptional selection at a time.

Santa Fe Greenhouses, the parent company of High Country Gardens, started focusing on xeric plants for its retail garden center in Santa Fe, N.M., almost 20 years ago. Salman made the transition to water-conserving plants when the state’s population began to swell.

“The population of New Mexico has doubled since we started, especially in the big cities,” he said. “It was apparent that water supply would be in great demand.”

In response, Salman created a palette of plants that didn’t require much water.

“We were at the forefront of a new style of gardening using waterwise plants,” said Ava Salman, David’s wife and business partner.

Xeric varieties are some of the best-adapted plants in the West’s challenging climate, David said. The West’s arid climate and high elevation create two of the biggest challenges for the region’s gardeners.

“Santa Fe’s elevation is 7,000 feet -- almost a mile and a half -- which provides some intense sun,” David said. “But native and xeric plants perform beautifully.”

Spread the word

Lack of rain or depleted water resources does not end at the West’s borders. The Salmans wanted to offer waterwise plants to the entire United States, and in 1993 they started High Country Gardens, a mail-order catalog that intensely focuses on xeric plants. High Country Gardens’ primary crops are herbaceous perennials, cold-hardy cactuses and succulents, ornamental grasses and shrubs. The High Country Gardens Web site (www.highcountrygardens.com) was launched in 2000.

Even with water supply issues, it was a slow transition to get a mass of people to take notice of xeric and native plants, he said.

“With droughts becoming more common across the country, particularly in the last five years, people have stood up and taken notice of natives,” he said.

“It was a slow conversion here in the West, but it’s accelerated.”

The Salmans have converted gardeners throughout the country.

“People outside the West have been testing our plants. In Virginia, for example, we were afraid the xeric and native selections wouldn’t do well, but they’re flourishing,” Ava said. “Because of the genetics, they’re doing quite well out of the West, especially with the hot, dry conditions that other parts of the country are seeing.”

Marketing savvy

The High Country Gardens catalog and Web site are the vehicles that have allowed the Salmans to market their plants nationwide.

“Our full-commerce Web site and four-color catalog are our most important sales tools,” David said. “We have extensive POP signage in our retail areas using our huge catalog photo library that we developed over the past 16 years.”

Photography is a sales tool for perennials, Ava said. Some photos are taken in house, and the Salmans also contract with professionals -- many who shoot for national gardening magazines, she said.

Marketing natives is sometimes a challenge, Ava said.

“David will find a native line and choose the best plant of that group,” she said. “He takes cuttings and grows enough plants to finally put them in the catalog. The process could take five years. That presents a marketing challenge -- we have this great plant, but we can only grow so many and it’s sold out soon.”

Wholesale on the horizon

High Country Gardens recently completed a new growing facility in Bernalillo, N.M., about 30 miles south of Santa Fe. The new facility will allow the company to add a wholesale division. The company’s impressive list of xeric plants will be available to other growers later this year.

“Previously, we never had enough space to grow extra for wholesale accounts,” David said. “We’re in the formative stages of the wholesale division.”

The new production site will allow local wholesale customers, such as Santa Fe-area landscapers, designers and residential developers, to pick up the plants. Wholesale accounts in other parts of the country will eventually be able to order from the Web site.

Several New Mexico cities are providing incentives for people to retrofit lawns to waterwise plantings, David said.

“Water resources are limited in the state, so there’s a great emphasis on natives,” he said.

The new Bernalillo facility was designed specifically for efficient mail-order processing and fulfillment.

“We grew into the Santa Fe facility over the years, so it didn’t flow well,” he said.

High Country Gardens has 110,000 square feet under cover and half and acre of outdoor stock beds. David plans to expand field production at the new production facility.

The company grows about 97 percent of the finished plants sold through High Country Gardens.

Water conservation concept spills into production

High Country Gardens’ founder David Salman has a passion for waterwise plants. And his mantra of preserving water is carried through the production process.

Salman supplements municipal water at his Santa Fe facility with a 39,000-gallon water cistern. It collects rainwater and snow melt from the greenhouse and cold-frame roofs.

The collection system was installed in 2000. Water is pumped from the cistern back to water the perennials. The water goes through a settling chamber before it enters the cistern, so there’s no need to treat it.

“In a good year, it allows us to use about an acre-foot of captured water for reuse,” he said.

Company creates plant introductions

Plants are rigorously tested and scrutinized before becoming a High Country Gardens introduction. Founder David Salman selects plants for vigor, cold hardiness and long bloom time. Introductions include obscure natives and adapted species to improved forms of existing plants.

The grower’s introductions include:

* Agastache ‘Ava’ (named for his wife).

* Castilleja integra.

* Elytrigia elongata ‘Jose Select.’

* Hirpicium armeriodes v. armeriodes.

* Prunus besseyi ‘Select Spreader.’

* Salvia pachyphylla.

* Veronica x ‘Blue Reflection.’

For more: High Country Gardens, (505) 473-2700; www.highcountrygardens.com.

High Country Gardens

Founded: Santa Fe Greenhouses, a retail garden center and greenhouse, was founded by David Salman in 1984. He founded High Country Gardens, a mail-order catalog, in 1993.

Locations: Santa Fe Greenhouses is located in Santa Fe, N.M. The High Country Gardens catalog operations are located in Bernalillo, N.M. Salman opened a High Country Gardens retail store in Albuquerque, N.M., in 2006, with plans for more stores throughout the state.

Crops: Xeric native and adapted plants such as herbaceous perennials, cold-hardy cactuses and succulents, ornamental grasses and shrubs.

Market: Santa Fe Greenhouses serves the local retail market, while High Country Gardens sells nationally and internationally through the catalog and Web site. A wholesale division will be operational later this year.

Employees: Up to 130 during spring.

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- Kelli Rodda