What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

[cohan]

Michael- I have seeds of some fancy heirloom wheat I bought to plant as an ornamental (and for any birds interested) It just hasn't happened yet!

Krish- the Dodecatheon are painting some ditches pink here right now- it always happens that they start and I see them from the car but am not able to make an excursion to photograph them until they are past their prime Hopefully this same wet weather that will keep me from getting out on the bike will keep them fresh, since its also chilly!

[Lori S.]

Very nice, Krish!  It looks like your Primula vialii has access to the moisture it would probably want.  How long have you had them there?  I've had them survive a couple or three years only, in our dry soil (and have given up on growing it long ago)... I never bothered to create the environment it would probably need to give it a chance of longer term survival.

More mouth-watering photos from your superb garden, Michael!  Keep 'em coming!

[Hoy]

Here primula vialii is always shortlivedbut easy from seed.

Clintonia andrewsiana is in flower now, 50cm (1.6') tall.

[Krish]

Hi Lori the Primula vialli I got from Canadian Tire one month ago.It was in a sad state when I bought it.As soon as I planted at one end of the stream it was happy.The one next to it is Primula rosea I germinated from NARGs seeds last year.It grew well in a different section and had only one flower this year. I took a piece of it and planted near viali.

[Tim Ingram]

Now that is a sight for sore eyes Trond! I have tried Clintonia andrewsiana several times but never managed to establish it. It must like the cooler Scandinavian climate. Such distinctive flowers.

[Hoy]

Now that is a sight for sore eyes Trond! I have tried Clintonia andrewsiana several times but never managed to establish it. It must like the cooler Scandinavian climate. Such distinctive flowers.

It definitely likes it where it is growing now, anyway. I had another plant - much smaller though but still it flowered reliably - but it was shaded out by a rhododendron. I have to keep an eye on this one as the neighbours are greedy and spreading . . . .

Here is the whole plant by the way, forgot to post it. I do like the leaves too! They have spots of shed petals from a rowan tree.

[RickR]

Leaves are very similar to our native Clintonia borealis, except ours seldom grows more than two or three leaves.

Trond, your stylophorum in the pic prompts an observation:  I have always known S. diphyllum to look like this:

               

Isn't it interesting that such a wide variation in the wild occurs.

[Bundraba!]

Another first in this garden for 2012; I was surprised and (extremely) delighted to find Aquilegia jonesii had suddenly pushed a flower! Ask not what is the blue glow in the center of obscurity: look it over! From seed collected in the Bighorn mountains in 2009.



Last bloomer Rhodo; Rhododendron chionoides backs up a firecracker Penstemon. These Penstemons like the Northeast USA. I have two sorts here and wish to improve seed set so that there may be more in the days to come. PEB's (Penstemon eating bugs) are one of the vial reproaches to my desire. The weather is, of course, another but our summer can be like that on the peaks of the Southwest where these naturally grow: fickle and apt to be wet.



Sempervivum ciliosum is a top rate wall plant IMO. This thing grows on air, and rock too.



And as the rock garden fades into summer: a mini-rose stands guard.



Peonies are a poor choice for acid sand but I plant them anyway. Four miles south they grow splendidly; something for geologists to fathom. Iris 'Super Ego' at hint in this picture is rather better here than the Peony but it is so nice when they get together. All the Peonys in my garden took a huge hit in the "spring" of 2011; they aren't aquatics. I lost, and probably will not replace, some rather nice tree peonies.



At the bottom of the picture is Liatris spicata. It will bloom later. The rock garden is going over but the garden season does not ever go over.



This is Vaccinium oxycoccus 'Wright Peak', a very choice ground covering plant. The Empetrum at the top of the photo is also from the Adirondack Mountains.



Campanula muralis, Thyme; a nicely colored form, and Aruncus aethusifolius.

[Hoy]

Michael, you have some exiting plants! I think the peonies do good at your place to

Leaves are very similar to our native Clintonia borealis, except ours seldom grows more than two or three leaves.

Trond, your stylophorum in the pic prompts an observation:  I have always known S. diphyllum to look like this:

Isn't it interesting that such a wide variation in the wild occurs.

Rick, this time the variation is more than usual! It is an entirely different species! The yellowflowered plant accompanying the Clintonia is the very weedy perennial Meconopsis cambrica. It is showy when in flower (like now) but sprout like cress everywhere. But I agree, the flower is very similar to S. diphyllum and the leaves too.




I have tried to get Stylophorum diphyllum but it always turns out to be S. lasiocarpum! Here it is with my toes as a meassure.
The seedpods belong to Helleborus foetidus.

[RickR]

Rick, this time the variation is more than usual! It is an entirely different species!

Too funny!  My initial thought was that it was a different species, too.  But when I started googling around, I convinced myself that I would be foolish posting such a suggestion.  Look where that got me...(Where is our blushing emoticon?)

[Lori S.]

Penstemon confertus and Antennaria dioica:

[Bundraba!]

Change is afoot on Cactus Park. The cactuses really steal the show for a time. Opuntia flowers are good for a day but don't detract a whole lot from the new blossoms after they're done. Opuntia is a strong and willing genus here but my garden holds just a scant few; no particular reason for that, I guess, just that there's an awful lot of plants one can collect (and real estate seems to be becoming more and more dear)! It might also be said that Opuntias are rather "standoffish"; a stern hand is useful when dealing with them. But, as other less adventurous gardeners may be settling in to the cool greens of shade gardening; I'm pretty happy right here.

This is Opuntia 'Claude Arno' putting on a decent show; but I've seen it buried in these pink chalices.



I showed the bun cluster in a previous post; the cactus is O. 'Red Glory'



Bailey's Lace Cactus is freer of bloom than the Claret Cup here; at least so far. All of the Bailey's Lace Cactus shown here were grown from seeds produced by two parents. That's right; years ago on a visit to Santa-Fe greenhouses; I bought the pot with two plants in it. They are both still doing fine.



Salvia takes a blue cue from Veronica and carries it into summer. Salvia officianalis (culinary sage), among Artemisia here, has to be among the most unsung of all ornamental perennials. I grew these from seed; how else to get it?

     

I thought I might use these as ground cover but they respond quite differently to the garden's conditions than Opuntia does. That said: I'm still after "plan A".

[Krish]

Michael the opuntias steel the show. I love their vibrant color.What is the Diantus in the second picture
krish

[cohan]

Trond- the Clintonia is striking- not a colour I'd expect!

Michael- nice cactus show!
I was thinking about your z4b- doesn't sound so much different than our z3 ( though I still have some skepticism about even calling us z3) but the 4 1/2 months frost free sounds very different! We hope for mostly frost free in June (though were I planting anything really tender, which mostly I don't bother doing) I'd probably wait till a week into June.. July is pretty safe, but by mid-August all bets are off! There is frost in every month in the record, and a couple years ago, many areas in the province had summer frosts, though we were okay here. All the more reason to grow alpines and northern plants that couldn't care less about about a few degrees below freezing!

[Hoy]

Cohan, I like that colour very much as most flowers at this time is yellow or dirty shades of pink

Michael, wonderful cacti!