How to Get Red Fall Color in Your Mountain Garden -- By Irene Shonle

There is no denying the splendor of stands of aspen as they turn gold.  Hordes of leaf-peepers have been turning highway 119 into a parking lot as they take pictures of the brilliant yellow contrasting with the bluebird sky.
Many lament the lack of reds in the fall palette, but I would like to speak up for Colorado fall reds.  Okay, so they may not steal the show like the aspen do, but if you look carefully (and design them into your garden), they provide a lovely contrast.
Here are some of my favorites:

Golden currant, Ribes aureum

Cotoneaster lucidus

Wild geranium, Geranium caespitosum

Leafy cinquefoil, Drymocallis fissa

Native mountain-ash, Sorbus scopulina

Other worthy contenders: 
Red-twigged dogwood, Cornus sericea
Wild roses often turn a lovely red
Ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius
Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana
Red-leafed rose, Rosa glauca
Pig-squeak, Bergenia
Waxflower, Jamesia americana
Sulfur flower, Eriogonum umbellatum

Plant these all with abandon in your mountain garden, and you will enjoy a wider range of fall colors (and they all are very garden worthy in other seasons as well!)