What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

[cohan]

Great flowers, Doreen- the Ranunculus is lovely..

Amy- love the patch of Sanguinaria.. this is another one I'd love to establish here (its not native) I could give it a nice place to spread out like the patch you show .. haven't got any yet (on the list...lol)

[AmyO]

When these set the copious amounts of seed they always do....I'll let you know and perhaps we can do some swapping! 
I don't know if you need two clones for pollination...but everywhere I have planted them they always set lots of seed. I have to get in early to clip off the seed pods, otherwise they would take over large areas of my garden...and I don't have the space to let them go. But I love the look so I keep them in check and let smallish patches spread.
Here's a close-up of the Bloodroot and of the Trillium erectum growing in the same area.....

[David Sellars]

Fantastic pictures Doreen.  Thanks for posting.

In general garden alpines do not look as good as wild plants.  However I have seen Ranunculus parnassifoliuis growing wild in the Pyrenees and it did not look as gorgeous as your garden plant.

[Doreen]

Glad to have brightened up your wintry days up in the northern hemisphere! Thanks for all your kind comments.
Amy: lovely to see your pictures of the bloodroot growing wild. Glad I'm not the only one carving up my plants!
Did anyone see Hilary Birks' photo of a stunning ribbon of the single form growing in immaculate condition in her garden in Bergen, Norway, on the UK AGS on-line show that just ended in December? Well worth a look.
Trond: I had just one plant of the single form in my garden 3 or 4 years ago but lost  killed it. But just this spring I noticed three or four little seedlings had popped up where the parent had been, so it looks as if it's self-fertile, at least to some degree.
David: I agree with you about cultivated plants generally being poor imitations of the wild plant. Would love to see the ranunculus in the wild (especially the Nuria form) and if a few seeds might happen to drop into my pocket ...   

[Lori S.]

Wow!  I'm just joining the chorus of admiration for your plants, Doreen!  It seems that growing in rock garden conditions really brings out the best for Ranunculus parnassifolius... I must remember to move some seedlings into similar conditions!!

How wonderful to have a woodland full of bloodroot and trillium, Amy!  It's lovely!

[RickR]

           Eight Candles - Sanguinaria canadensis

              


     If it looks like an old photograph, it is!  Scanned from 1980.

[Hoy]

          Eight Candles - Sanguinaria canadensis
     If it looks like an old photograph, it is!  Scanned from 1980.

Rick, same alluring attitude as 32 years ago!

[Doreen]

Rick, it just looks like you've intentionally done an artistic soft-focus sepia portrait! Love the clasping leaves.

[RickR]

We've had a couple dreary winter foggy days in this snowless winter, and the frost is beginning to build.  Leaving some of the perennials intact through the winter has proven to a wise decision this year.

Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats) has much of its seedheads still intact.

        

Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' and Eryngium amethystinum (Amethyst Sea Holly)

          

Symphiotrichium(Aster) sericeum (Silky Aster) with Melica ciliata (Silky Spike Melic) and Silky Aster close up

          

Fargesia rufa (Rufa Bamboo) and a Senna sp.

          

[RickR]

Needles of Pinus pondersosa (Ponderosa Pine) and Pinus strobus 'Wintergold' (Wintergold White Pine)

          

Our wild Juniperus virginiana (Eastern Red Cedar)

          

Picea asperata (Chinese Dragon Spruce)

          

Thujopsis dolbrata var. hondai (Hiba Arborvitae)

          

[cohan]

Lots of great winter texture and colour, Rick! We have had very little frost this winter compared to the last few- not an especially photogenic winter- the last few I took a lot more photos..

[Lori S.]

Very nice, Rick!  Does the foliage on the bamboo survive the winter?

[RickR]

Very nice, Rick!  Does the foliage on the bamboo survive the winter?

It survives the winter fine.  It's the early spring that does them in.  I usually remove about half of the foliage before serious growth commences.  Since we are having such a mild winter, maybe the ground will thaw fast enough to not have this problem this season.  (It has only dipped below zero (-18C) for three nights this season!).

               

[Lori S.]

Well, I'm amazed enough that the bamboo survives the winter, let alone the above-ground parts!  Must try that one someday, if I come across it.

[RickR]

There was no cultivar name attached when I bought Fargesia rufa in Madison, WI as a large plant, bulging the #5 pot (about 4 gal. size).  I divided it into three parts, two of them kept whole, and the third further divided.  The two did great.  Any division less than six culms, died.  My advice: don't divide any less than ten culms.

Fargesia rufa seems to do far better than F. nitida for me.  I had F. nitida for 5-6 years, and it poked along, never getting bigger or smaller.  Then the year when all the F. nitidas in the world bloomed (mine tried to, too), it didn't last through the following winter.