What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

[Lori S.]

Beautiful summer scenes, everyone!  Do your kiwis produce fruit, Trond?

Dalea purpurea:
 

Dianthus knappii:


Echinops sphaerocephalus 'Arctic Glow':
 

Campanula x tymsonii:


Greenhouse roses:


One of the best Austin roses, 'Golden Celebration':


Heuchera 'Sherry Kiss' and others; Lallemantia canescens:
 

[Lori S.]

Campanula x carpatica 'Thor Pedo':


Allium nutans:
 

Allium flavum:


Clematis 'Pamiat Serdtsa':


Assorted ligularias along the greenhouse:


Aconitum, including one white self-seeded individual:


Linum flavum 'Compactum':


Sidalcea malviflora:


'Purple Pavement' roses out in "Palliser's Triangle" (the boulevard - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palliser's_Triangle):

[Tim Ingram]

I am fascinated by the Dalea. I am trying a few of these from seed. The picture of purpurea looks a most distinctive legume which I have never seen cultivated in the UK.

Trond - we have had the same experience with the alstroemeria and unfortunately it seeded into an alpine bed nearby and I am forever pulling out shoots. The tubers go down a mile!

[cohan]

Your garden doesn't stop, Lori Dalea is great among so many others! Have you ever grown the white Dalea?- saw it on Alplains, he said basically a white flower on D purpurea type plant, I forget the species name...

[Lori S.]

I would like to have Dalea candida - and the various other species that are available from Alplains, for example, too! - but Dalea purpurea is the only one I've managed to grow successfully so far.   It is a much more impressive plant in cultivation than I've ever seen it in the grasslands around here.  Even in the very poor, dry clay along our fence, a plant will have hundreds of stems and form a full vase-shape, whereas in the wild, I see plants with three or four stems and often very small, button-like flowers. 

[cohan]

It certainly looks to be in full bloom in your photo

I was just wondering if this could be a mystery plant I've seen a couple places in ditches as we whizz past on the highway- taller than everything around it with pink flowers on tall bare stems- they're not super far away, between here and Eckville, but not a place you could stop, and I've never seen anything like it on my backroad botanising... Probably not this though, as I think the sites are probably damp, and I saw flowers several weeks ago..

[Lori S.]

Maybe you're seeing Geranium viscosissimum? 

[RickR]

I'll save seed of D. candida for you both.  In the wild here in Minnesota, both Dalea purpurea and D. candida remain at the general height of nearby plants.  I wonder if what you are seeing, Cohan, might be a species of verbena.  Typically in the  Minnesota wild, V. hastata and V. stricta flower above surrounding plants and most often with just one or two stalks.

 It [Dalea purpurea] is a much more impressive plant in cultivation than I've ever seen it in the grasslands around here.  Even in the very poor, dry clay along our fence, a plant will have hundreds of stems and form a full vase-shape, whereas in the wild, I see plants with three or four stems and often very small, button-like flowers. 

Ditto for both D. purpurea and D. candida in the wild here.

[Hoy]

I am fascinated by the Dalea. I am trying a few of these from seed. The picture of purpurea looks a most distinctive legume which I have never seen cultivated in the UK.

Trond - we have had the same experience with the alstroemeria and unfortunately it seeded into an alpine bed nearby and I am forever pulling out shoots. The tubers go down a mile!

Tim, I'm not unhappy with the spreading Alstroemeria! It keeps other weeds away and where it grows it can't swamp anything special.

I have some Dalea seedlings going - hope they are still alive when I get home - it has been a tremendous slug summer I've heard >

[Spiegel]

Dalea purpurea came through the winter and flowered for the first time.  I look forward to its continued success in the garden.
It is, after all, a pea!

[Lori S.]

I'll save seed of D. candida for you both.  In the wild here in Minnesota, both Dalea purpurea and D. candida remain at the general height of nearby plants.  I wonder if what you are seeing, Cohan, might be a species of verbena.  Typically in the  Minnesota wild, V. hastata and V. stricta flower above surrounding plants and most often with just one or two stalks.

Thanks, Rick!  I'll be looking forward to trying Dalea candida.  I was given seeds once before but had no luck at germinating them for some reason.  Our observations about plant habit for Dalea are the same.
The only verbena we have here is V. bracteata which is a prostrate plant.  Geranium viscosissimum would fit for bloom time, colour and for holding its flowering stems high above the surrounding grasses - it is very showy in the roadsides.  

Great to hear that your D. purpurea plants have succeeded so far, Trond and Anne!  Trond, as seedlings, I imagine they might be vulnerable to slugs but as adults, with very tough (even woody at the base) stems and small, skinny leaves, surely the slugs could find more succulent things to eat?   I hope you can get them past what would seem to be the most vulnerable stage.

[cohan]

Thanks, Rick, seeds of candida would be cool, I haven't tried any Daleas yet..

As Lori mentioned, our only Verbena seems to be prostrate, its not a plant I know, probably not in my area though I didn't check the map..
Lori- viscosissimum would be interesting, map doesn't quite show it in my area, but that has not stopped a number of other species! but I wonder if it would really have such long bare stems as I'm seeing- of course just looking from highway speed I could be off by a bit, but it seems to me the plant I see has at least a good 20-30cm or more of bare stem with flowers at the tips (if there were tiny reduced leaves I might not see them, but nothing much)..
I've really hoped to run into the plant in another place on bicycle, but no luck so far, and only one outing this year to date...lol
I just flipped through Alberta Wayside Wildflowers (Kershaw) with no further clues- the only thing that caught my eye was Monarda- about right for colour, flower head shape and possible height, though I'm pretty sure it's too leafy..

[Lori S.]

I wouldn't describe Monarda fistulosa (our only monarda) as the same colour as Geranium viscosissimum and Dalea purpurea (it's a lavender-ish rather than the hot pink of the latter two), and I've never seen it so tall as what I imagine you're describing... it seems to be another one that doesn't really extend itself above the surrounding vegetation, from what I've seen.  
Guess you're just gonna have to stop the car some time!!  

[Lori S.]

This was supposed to be Erysimum humillinum but it's shaping up to be a orange-flowered Mimulus, from what I can tell so far.  I do reuse potting soil from year to year, so who knows where it came from?  Poor thing is rather pallid (I have given it fertilizer) though the flower will be quite vivid:


Talinum sediforme, not looking as well as in previous years (and it has never looked extremely vigorous):


Agoseris glauca; to answer your question from a while back, Cohan, I wouldn't say the flowers are ever so variable as to make them uncharacteristic, though there is variation.  Well, I like seeing this in the wild, but I don't really think it needs a place in the rock garden - too big, too dandelion-ish, IMO.


Hemerocallis 'Bela Lugosi' (with its usual "off" colour in my conditions - should be very deep purple) and 'Yellow Pinwheel'; strangely enough, many of the daylilies didn't even bloom last year but there is a more normal showing this year:
 

Liatris punctata(?), with Salvia juriscii in seed in the background.  I'll have to check that ID - please let me know if you recognize it:


Campanula hofmannii, blooming heavily:


Agastache pringlei, an alpine native to the mountain ranges of New Mexico and Mexico, starting to bloom - despite the usual zone 6 rating, it is much hardier - with Achillea sibirica in the background:


Salvia nemorosa ssp. tequicola is spectacular, colourful, and very long-blooming (but needs staking up in my conditions... oh well):


Telekia speciosa; the huge leaves that took a battering from hail earlier on have been replaced:

[Lori S.]

Trifolium rubens... much reduced in the last couple of years from its former glory since the jackrabbits have discovered it - apparently, it's very tasty!; a couple of seedlings have turned up this year, which I will move inside the fence to safety:


Rosa 'Amsterdam' is putting on its second big flush; I think it's a really spectacular rose with gorgeous foliage and blooms (notwithstanding that it was shipped as something else, that was supposed to be double and fragrant!):