What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

[Lori S.]

Lots of beautiful things there, Charles and Mark!

Doronicum orientale; Salvia juriscii, with its upside-down flowers; Antennaria along the sidewalk:
     

Castilleja miniata in the front yard; there is one particularly vivid plant that I'm glad to see has seeded itself:
 

I grew this from seed long ago as Anemone x lesseri:
 

Anemone canadensis - pretty in bloom but very invasive:


Eremurus himalaicus - I broke this one off last year under the soil surface while weeding and assumed I'd killed it - not so:

[Lori S.]

Lupinus nootkatensis, looking more blue in the photo than it really is:


A sucker or seedling of Lupinus argenteus has turned out to have pink flowers, as opposed to the usual lavender (on the right):
   

Dianthus sp. in front yard:

[cohan]

Lori, interesting how your season starts so much sooner than mine, but in our short summer things become compressed and we are not as far behind on some things now- Anemone canadensis and Castilleja miniata have just started flowering in the wild here..

Your Rosa primula is interesting, this seems to be the same as many massive old plants that were flowering all over in the nearby town of Sylvan Lake when we were there last week- I commented that some local nursery years ago must have promoted these heavily many decades ago since there are so many -grown as 'hedges' (I use hedges a bit ironically since it suggests something much more tame than what I actually saw) and over archways etc- clearly very very hardy and splendid in flower.. I think I've seen some in Rocky Mountain house as well... I collected a hip from one at my mother's doctor's office some time ago, but have not sown...

[Lori S.]

Cohan, if you get a closer look at those white roses sometime, try to note the thorns.  Rosa primula has winged thorns (left), while another possibility, Rosa spinosissima (another very hardy, early, once-blooming white rose) has straight, fine thorns (two photos to the right):
   
It would be interesting to know if it's one of these, or something else again.

Alliums; a rather cute little Hemerocallis that I moved from elsewhere in the yard... no name springs to mind, unfortunately; Erigeron aurantiacus:
   

An odd little Delphinum with most unusual felty leaves and aconitum-like flowers - Delphinum vestitum; I rescued this from the border last year, where it was being overwhelmed, and stuck it in one of the acid beds, where it is recovering:


Irises:
   

[Lori S.]

A very dark 'Nora Barlow'-type columbine that has sprung up; Aquilegia chrysantha 'Yellow Queen'; a very old iris:
   

Zigadenus elegans in the front yard:
 

Only the odd flower left on any Pulsatilla vulgaris now (though P. turczaninovii is still producing fresh flowers):


Oh, and I noticed the other day that I have finally had an Ixiolirion tataricum survive in the garden!  

[Howey]

Hi Lori:  Love your pictures - I have Zigadenus elegans too but not so photogenic as yours.  You mention an "acid bed".  I don't seem to be able to grow the acid loving plants I covet and wonder if there is any way one can create such a bed and grow things like Kalmia, Bunchberries, etc.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

[John85]

To make a acid raised bed over limy soil:shape the soil in a upside down V shape to allow drainage and cover with a plastic sheet(protected on both side with clean sand or a membrane as used to make pounds)
Put rocks,logs or planks to retain the acid rooting medium on the edges of the bed.You can fill with what is available:peat, composted bark,garden compost even acid soil from another location.
Compost made from conifer needles is very acid.
A lot of ericaceae have thin shallow roots so a depth of 1'1/2 will allow several species but not big rhodos of course.

[Bundraba!]

Getting small for a moment. Sedum hispanicum 'minus' in front of Vaccinium uliginosum.



Lady's Mantle, Sundrops, 'Good Omen'...... yada yada (OK -getting into the perennials a bit much but this is a garden walk and I'm just the reporter).



Small Cobweb in Selaginella densa.



Small Cobweb flower avant Draba rigida imbricata in seed. The plants are showing stress because of heat (this is normal). We can get fifteen hours of daylight at this time of year and this is followed by summer. It is warm for June here but the weather is finally (by 2 or 3 years) "normal" - just some thermal degrees elevated and with a tropical twist.



Small Cobweb in Arabis bryoides with Selaginella rupestre.



Vaccinium 'Hamilton' is another extremely choice ground cover; but, like my previously displayed V. oxycoccus -start now if you like it and expect it to cover ground; these things are really pokey.

[Bundraba!]

When the thermometer hit eighty plus in mid March I swapped the wooden planter frogs, totally appropriate to last spring, that had been in a south window for a couple of years, with a toaster.

                        

Summer enters with a blaze of fury. I knew these were threatened on the south face of The Rock but, after a day of record heat, they now appear to be toast; A tiny Saponaria and two buns of Gypsophila aretioides. That could be eight years down the drain on those Gypsophilas. I'm glad I have back ups, for now, at least. There are seven species of Acantholimon here that seem more resistant; and, of course, cacti. If the Gypsophila lives it's set to be moved from this area. The Saponaria has kindly made lots of seeds.

Cacti couldn't be happier; The weather has been perfect for them. I'm doing some remodelling on Cactus Park; making it more cactusy. This Opuntia macrorhiza(?) has value beyond simply being fun to look at so this is what I've done: taken several lengths of un-blooming growth from beneath an existing plant and layed them atop the ground in the radial pattern they will naturally take on as they grow. There are few roots now but that will change quickly.



I always enjoy this little scene: Campanula glomerata in Cerastium tomentosum.



Potentilla thurberi enjoys the afternoon shade of tall trees to the west.



I noticed this morning the flowers on Lonicera crassifolia. Vaccinium uliginosum is at bottom of photo.



Moltkia petraea, Sedum dasyphyllum, and Allysum oxycarpum.

[Lori S.]

You mention an "acid bed".  I don't seem to be able to grow the acid loving plants I covet and wonder if there is any way one can create such a bed and grow things like Kalmia, Bunchberries, etc.  Fran

Hi, Fran,
Our acid beds are basically what John described, with the structures being raised beds made of landscape ties (one bed) or planks (the other bed).  The beds started out as pure peat, but have had soil incorporated in through time.  I can't say they have been raging successes for me, but they have given me a place to grow Linnaea borealis, Cornus canadensis, Vaccinium vitis-idaea 'Wabasca', a few alpine willows and mitrewort... plus some other things that don't necessarily require acid soil, but have been reasonably happy in there.  
I have tried various heaths and heathers and Phyllodoce in the acid beds but our winter conditions (the dryness particularly, perhaps) don't seem to favour them.

Linnaea borealis was beautiful in the acid bed (photos from last year) but all the draping parts were killed this winter... arrghh!  The rooted portions in the acid bed and the draping parts that rooted into the soil below survived, at least.

[Howey]

John and Lori: Many thanks for your info about creating an acid bed and your inspiring photographs - never saw Linnea borealis growing like that - reminds me of Fuchsia procumbens I have growing in a pot - leaves look similar but no flowers.  A case of unrequited love on my part.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

[Lori S.]

Wow, fabulous, Michael!

Let's see, where did I leave off?
Geranium phaeum 'Springtime'; Primula cortusoides(?) x2; Dracocephalum nutans:
     

Front yard; more Zigadenus elegans x2; Salvia pratensis;
   

Rain, rain and more rain lately, and the perennials are growing like gangbusters... Persicaria polymorpha is taller than I am:


Silene zawadskii:

[RickR]

Will my plant envy ever cease?  Doubtful.  But even just enjoying these wonderful photos enough.

I must agree, Lori, that that Zigadenus is a very nice form.  I've never seen it growing here, even though it is suppose to be native.  I'm probably just not out at the right time.  Wouldn't mind some seed of that one though...

[Bundraba!]

To make a acid raised bed over limy soil:shape the soil in a upside down V shape to allow drainage and cover with a plastic sheet(protected on both side with clean sand or a membrane as used to make pounds)
Put rocks,logs or planks to retain the acid rooting medium on the edges of the bed.You can fill with what is available:

I've often wondered about this. So, John, you've essentially created a low mound of material, covered it with an impermeable membrane, surrounded the whole thing with a low retaining wall, and topped it all up with an ericaceous compost? This would leave a shallow spot in the middle of the bed and the deepest soil on the edges. I'd think an issue with this would be keeping it moist enough. I might direct run-off from the roof, or something, into the bed.

why not sink the center instead (or just leave it level)? The edge of the membrane could still be finessed above the offending alkaline ground level. so long as the water going in is not alkaline I would think that a lack of drainage deeper in the bed would be unimportant. Another potential stumbling block might be the compactness of what is put in: from my experience, it takes a deal of effort to get light ericaceous composts compact enough for good plant growth. This is good stuff but not something that will provide much return to a guy who already gardens on pickling sand. In fact I'm running a test on Louiselueria procumbens pretty much just plopped right in. It's still alive, and seems healthy, after more than a year. Some of my dabblings were published in the Spring 2005 Quarterly (I'm still dabbling!). Lets hear more, if there is more, from folks in alkaline areas.

[Bundraba!]

Opuntia macrorhiza on Cactus Park



Asclepias tuberosa starting up.



My weedy vegetable garden: The poppies have been coming up in it for years and I like to eat the mustard which was long ago planted for that very purpose.



Security, in part, on my half acre of paradise, is a shed full of wood. The plant is Hydrangea petiolaris: In rough translation; He who gobbles sheds. There's a Vitis on the other side of this shed just to make sure the job gets done.



In the foreground is a truely gargantuan Daphne 'Carol Mackie'. Above is a Box Elder. Hey, it made a nice place for a shade garden in just ten years; never mind the fact that it sheds its leaves in June as well as the more-than-occasional branch or limb, and it seeds everywhere. I do so consider the chain saw. A conundrum indeed.



My crispy ash tree (Fraxinus exebitius? 'crispa'). If I knew what I do now about the best of gardens I may have sought out more things like this fifteen years ago; again conundrum; time and place and, of course, initial investment. Where does the sense to "just go" on this kind of thing come from -if there is such.



Yacky Pond; among the most contrived things I've ever done; but oh so much fun.



Big hostas, as well as shrubs and trees, being used to carve a garden into the rough.



A couple of photos of my latest crevice garden. I filled it with "compost" last fall and after a winter's settling have begun to plant it. I'll use seedlings, enforced patience, and selected stuff I can propagate from the garden to start it. It was done in the parallel style popular today though you will notice a slight curve in this one (second photo). From this angle it appears a low mesa thrillingly juxtaposed against the backdrop of the shining mountains in the grand distance beyond.