What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

[Hoy]

 
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.

Yes, thanks, Lori  I hope too that they will survive the summer and the severe slug onslaught! I was home a couple of days ago and found several nasty slimey creeps around the pots although I have tried to place the pots out of reach.

[Bundraba!]

Dark night of the rock gardeners soul. Tell me we aren't on target for a summer heat record in the northeast. Sunshine every day does make for a gorgeous summer however. I'm quite stingy with the hose but it is the only thing between these bright Phlox cultivars and severe dessication.

 

The south face of The Rock in high summer. The dark bun at upper left (north face) is a Daphne arbuscula much, much larger than a man's head. It may, indeed, qualify as gargantuan for the species! The white patches are lime dabbing. The second photo shows my most proud trough with Sedum pluricaule, a welcome August blooming alpine. I think that's a 'Jaqueline Verkade' spruce in there too, Selaginella densa covers the ground, a silver Saxifrage has seeded into the central chunk of Bighorn dolomite. It is a trough upon which all has been well for well over a decade.

 

One of a small number of choice small ferns currently here is this Chielanthes from the Rockies. The fronds are generally faced to the east and perpendicular to the north side of the adjacent rock. It seems a thinking fern.

[Kelaidis]

Your rock work, Michael, is really awesome! Looks so good even this time of year.

I just got back from 4 days in Spokane, Washington...an awesome destination for rock gardeners. It is situated between the Palouse prairie (now pretty much wall to wall wheat and lentils, alas!) and the Idaho panhandle mountains. That prairie had to be one of America's natural wonders: in addition to dozens of rare endemics, it harbored some exotic fauna including a giant earthwork (up to a meter long!) which was thought to be extinct, but was recently rediscovered in a protected prairie remnant. And there is even some restoration going on...

But I digress! I shall post just a few pix I have also put on my blog: if you want more extensive commentary, check the blog: http://www.prairiebreak.blogspot.com/2012/08/spokane-visit.html

The first two pictures were taken in the garden Maralee Kowalsky and her husband John--here Maralee is next to her giant Salvia pachyphylla. The second picture is of a champion Origanum libanoticum in her garden as well. Although not technically "rock gardeners" they grow many rock plants very well.

3) Origanum laevigatum 'Pilgrim' at Manito Park in Spokane: I saw this in several gardens there, by far the showiest oregano for color effect. I had never seen it before. Now to get a start!
4) I was hosted two days by Alan Tower, a superb plantsman and nurseryman in Spokane who took me to Steptoe Butte, a remnant of wild vegetation surrounded by wheatfields. (you can see these in the background). Alan's nursery has a wealth of rare plants of all kinds (conifers and shrubs to all kinds of xeric, woodland and alpine plants).
5) Calochortus macrocarpus still blooming there
6) Gentiana oregana is a large flowered steppe cousin of the subalpine G. calycosa: I would love to grow this!
7) Heuchera cylindrica was still blooming prolifically on the Quartzite cliffs of Steptoe,
Eriogonum heracleoides was still in fresh bloom, although some were going over enough to get seed!
9) Alan had a magnificent specimen of Gypsophila aretioides on her rock garden: I have never seen a better grown specimen.
10) He has grown a number of unusual gentians from various Czech collectors, and he had many Gentiana striata in bloom--a plant I am not familiar with--from Gansu. Also lots of Gentiana szechenyi, several of which found their way back to Colorado, as well as what he called "Gentiana siphonantha" only it appeared to be compact and attractive. We shall see!

[RickR]

What a treat, PK!
Love the Oreganum and the calochortus, especially.
--------------
Dark Night of the Soul is among my favorite poems, in Spanish or any translation I've read.  I liked your play on the words, Michael, though not at all the original meaning of the phrase!   As usual, your gardens leave me envious, and I would love to see a close up of that trough...

[Hoy]

My points go to the gentians . . and of course the Sagebrush Mariposa lily but not for food

Bundraba, I can use some of the heat here, please! The weather forecast says warmer weather the next week - when I have to start working again

Impressive Daphne, and a pretty fern!

[Hoy]

Every day I take a stroll in the "garden" here in the subalpine zone. The meadow is a former pasture used when the farmers (or rather small boys) herded their livestock (mostly milking cows) to graze in summer. My father-in-law used to be a "cowboy" in summer when he was young. At that time the landscape was open with very few trees. Now birch and spruce march in and cover the previous pastures, only a few sheep try to keep the shrubs down but don't suffice. I try to manage a small plot near our cabin by mowing once every year in late fall. I have also introduced some native plants that had disappeared or occur naturally in similar areas. The flowering meadow is attractive to insects too!

Arnica montana is endangered in Norway due to disappearing pastures. Leucanthemum vulgare is common but this montane form is more delicate than the lowland form. Rosa majalis grows in the low alpine zone some places.

           


Solidago virgaurea is also very common. The lowland forms become 1m tall but the alpine forms have only a few flowers. Here they are inbetween those. Vicia cracca do spread but gives a nice colour. Cirsium heterophyllum is coarse and dominating but the flowers are very attractive for insects and the seeds are bird food in the autumn.

               


The Scarce Copper isn't scarce here but common. Here are both the male and the female. Hopefully we get a new generation next summer!

           

[Tim Ingram]

Wonderful pictures Michael and Panayoti! Origanum laevigatum is a good plant here but 'Pilgrim' is a fine selection (we grow a robust form called 'Hopley's'). I would have to strip down the garden and start again to get that great rock planting of Michael's - lovely to see plants so beautifully displayed.

Silver and grey foliage plants are such a feature of dry landscapes and we aim to propagate more of these as the nursery gets going again. This one is Scabiosa cretica (from a friend's garden on the coast which is very mild). A small Mediterranean sub-shrub which I hope might do against a warm wall.

[Lori S.]

Love those scenes, Michael, and the construction of that rock cliff, especially!

Nice to see what's happening in that part of the world, Panayoti, especially the nature scenes. 
I'm curious about your comment about Gentiana siphonantha:

(Alan) has grown a number of unusual gentians from various Czech collectors... as well as what he called "Gentiana siphonantha" only it appeared to be compact and attractive. We shall see!

I get the impression there may be uncertainty about the identity or description of Gentiana siphonantha?

The ones I grew in 2010, with one flowering this year, were from seeds from Pavelka, with seeds collected from 4300m, Anyemaquen Shan, Quinghai, China (description: "densely tufted, narrow leaves to 10cm, dark blue flowers in heads 10-15cm, stoney slopes, very good; 2008 seed"), and they seem to fit the eflora description: 
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200018083
The basal foliage is 10cm tall, and the fully extended flower stalks (now in seed) are 16cm.  Would you say this is actually Gentiana siphonantha?

   

[Bundraba!]

Bundraba, I can use some of the heat here, please!

Careful what you ask for!

[Kelaidis]

Is there anything you don't grow, Lori? I bet it is the same plant as your's: I believe G. siphonantha should be much bigger than that. But I am glad I got this little one! Boy, would I love to visit your garden, Lori: you really need to write it up for a book (or at least some articles in NARGS!)...

I love the copper butterflies in your Subalpine walk, Hoy! It looks so cool and inviting there--we have had a beastly hot summer, but at least a bit of rain the last few weeks (more than most areas in continental USA)...

I think I posted a pic of my current pride and joy, Silene plankii: it has a few more flowers, so I am adding that as a final flourish...

[Lori S.]

Panayoti, to answer your question literally ( ), yes, I don't grow almost everything.     I do grow a few things, though, although sometimes only for brief periods.  You would be most welcome to visit if you're ever in this neck of the woods.  I would love to visit your garden and the Denver Botanic Garden too, it goes without saying!  Thank you sincerely for the comments!  Honestly, I wouldn't even know what to write about for even a short article... I really just mess around and experiment enthusiastically, but mostly rely on trial and error!  It is fun though!

Love the Silene plankii - terrific colour!  I picked one of these up last year but it didn't winter over... (actually I don't even recall if it survived the season.  )

Beautiful photos, Trond - lots of colour there, and even if it is too much rain, at least everything looks very fresh and lush!

Another wonder from you, Tim - Scabiosa cretica - without the flowers, I would have never taken it for a Scabiosa.

[RickR]

Hosta nigrescens, Buxus sempervirens 'Vardar Valley' amongst Hosta 'Vanilla Cream' and Hosta clausa var. clausa flowers.  I need an "iredescence" button in my photo imaging program.  The color is actually flat compared to real life.
        

              

Impatiens balfourii and Impatiens glandulifera(or is it glandulosa?)
        

              

Ruellia humilis in the garden and, if you don't mow your grass for a few weeks, sometimes you get a nice surprise...
        

[Hoy]

Lori, I second Panayoti - you should write an article or two! You have lots of possible headings I would say, even " My successes and failures" could be interesting!

Rick, I like the flowers of your Hostas! I have not been very interested in that Genus - a lot of similar big-leaved slug-baits! But some have nice flowers too Ruellia is lovely!

Panayoti, the colour of Silene plankii is vibrant! One I would love to have at my summerhouse  

[Hoy]

Two plants from the rockery at our summerhouse (it's all rocks here though): Orostachys iwarengi and Rosularia sedoides. They are very late this year.

[RickR]

This is what I have from seed labeled as Orostachys iwarenge from the NARGS seed ex.  I don't know if it will ever look like yours, Trond.  I wonder what it is...
              

I have to agree, I don't really understand the hosta mania, either.  Although I do keep several around.  In fact, another one of my favorites is all green leaved, too:  Hosta 'Sparkling Beauty'.  Fairly (but not completely) slug resistant.