My husband and I took a walk one day in early summer up to the top of a mesa on his parents’ land near Colorado Springs, Colorado called Table Rock. The environment on top of the mesa is very dry, very rocky, and very windy, and as a result much of the flora hugs the ground closely. It is the first place on the ~80-acre parcel of land to dry out in the summer. There are small caves and splits in the rock at the top that create wildlife habitat and microclimates. A lot of wildlife calls Table Rock home, including mountain lions, bats, deer, foxes, raccoons, hawks, and falcons. In a permaculture design, the marginal land on top of Table Rock and its steep sides would be best left to nature as Zone 5.
Here is a sampling of some of the plants found on Table Rock:
Stonecrop (Sedum stenopetalum):
