Re: Alpines August 2012

[Lori S.]

Hmm, very observant, Rick.  I can compare them to this year's seedlings of A. molle.  The flower colour (yellow throat, purple guidelines on upper petal) seem to match A. molle (from googling) but I don't have detailed descriptions of Antirrhinum species to compare.

Edit: ... and the old plant does seem to match the seedlings in that respect.

[cohan]

that Lactuca is getting some nice texture
Very nice to see the Antirrhinum hardy..
I have quite a few Cyclamen purpurascens seedlings that have survived outside now (some still in pots) for a couple of years; those in the ground were put there about a year ago and have not exactly taken off yet, though looking healthy, may have to try some different kinds of spots (though they aren't all the same) amazingly, one tiny plant with two little leaves has a bud! Some that I kept indoors as insurance flowered last spring already..

[Lori S.]

Great news on the Cyclamen, Cohan!  Whenever I poke around under the plants in the area where mine are planted, I find several single leaf seedlings... ants distribute the seeds around, due to their interest in the elaisome on the seed, apparently.  I should gather them up and plant them where they'd be visible... (I suppose that goes without saying.  )

[Todd Boland]

I have never had a cyclamen self-seed although one of our other members has had hederifolium self-seed. 

That perennial snapdragon only survived one winter here but I see a seedling popping up that will hopefully survive this winter.  I'll echo Mark that your Plantago is indeed a keeper!

Primula glomerata has been blooming here for nearly a month.  It is the last of the primroses to bloom, but florindae still has some blooms and saxatilis is beginning to rebloom again.

[cohan]

 I should gather them up and plant them where they'd be visible... (I suppose that goes without saying.  )

One of these days!

As I'm writing, the news is showing results of a big hail storm in Calgary yesterday- hope it didn't hit your area? We had thunderstorm watches and warnings yesterday evening, but didn't so much as see any storms passing by on their way to wreak havoc farther east...

Todd, that's a nice one for long blooming..

[Lori S.]

Beautiful, Todd!

Cohan, we did duck that hailstorm, fortunately!  There was some large hail (no damage) and a few millimeters of rain here last night but the brunt of it missed us.  The news says it hit other parts of the NW hard - lot of photos of golf-ball size hail posted!! - reports from car dealerships of car windows being broken and side mirrors knocked off!  Same of course for cars parked outside at people's houses, and also some house windows broken.  Sheesh, what a climate!

[Hoy]

Todd, lovely Primula glomerata! It is somewhat similar to P capitata, isn't it?

Lori, hail as big as golf-balls Somebody could get killed! The biggest hail I've ever seen were like peas in size.

[cohan]

They showed a lot of pictures of that hail and damage on tv..
Yesterday was warm here (25C) and very humid and then we had a significant thunderstorm today- we went to town earlier, wondering where all the rain forecast for today was, and it finally arrived in force before we left town- I was in a supermarket and the power went off- luckily they have generators unlike where I work, so some lights stayed on and electronic cash registers were still working.. outside was pouring and blowing, and there had been some small hail while I was inside. The drive home was low visibility between heavy rain blowing almost sideways and the heavy spray from vehicles, especially the constant big trucks.. Calm now, though cloudy, 12C, possibility of more rain/storms later, then supposed to be a sunny week, 26C saturday...

[Fermi]

Beautiful, Todd!

Cohan, we did duck that hailstorm, fortunately!  There was some large hail (no damage) and a few millimeters of rain here last night but the brunt of it missed us.  The news says it hit other parts of the NW hard - lot of photos of golf-ball size hail posted!! - reports from car dealerships of car windows being broken and side mirrors knocked off!  Same of course for cars parked outside at people's houses, and also some house windows broken.  Sheesh, what a climate!

Lori,
on my only visit to Calgary [so far!] after the NARGS conference in 1999 we drove down from Banff to visit gardens and could see a hail-storm ahead of us! When we got to the gardens many were the worse for wear. However one garden owner prodly showed us her Meconopsis punicea in flower - how had it survived? She had stood outside in the hail holding an umbrella over the flowers till the storm had passed! The climate was NOT going to deprive her of her moment of glory showing those stunning red flowers to the visiting masses!
cheers
fermi

[cohan]

That's funny! not feasible in general, sadly...

[Lori S.]

Yes, I can understand that impulse, Fermi!  If I had Meconopsis punicea in bloom, I might have done the same!    

Potentially fatal indeed, Trond - fortunately, no injuries were reported in the news.  I hate to think how livestock in fields would cope with horrible storms like that.  

Recognizing that the damage had been spotty the other night, Mother Nature did take another swipe at us today... no hail here but some elsewhere, with power outages and winds of up to 100 km/hr; the temperature dropped from over 20 deg C to 10 deg C in about an hour.  At least the bit of rain was welcome!

[Lori S.]

Anaphalis cf. monocephala, seedlings from the past winter, have bloomed constantly throughout the season with little strawflower-like flowers:


Saponaria pumilio has also been in constant bloom throughout the season:


A division of Campanula 'Haylodgensis', bought at the CRAGS spring sale:


The apetalous flower of Cancrinia tianshanica has finally opened on a seedling from this past winter -  not too impressive, but maybe someday   ... I found this poor little plant uprooted the other day, so it's not looking its best:


Primula scotica continues to bloom... pretty odd for the end of August:


Satureja montana ssp. illyrica in bloom and full of bees:


Serratula coronata:

[cohan]

More nice stuff, Lori!
I like the Anaphalis- recently saw a photo of a really fat white fuzzy species, very cool! though I can't remember where I saw it... here?  lol

Cancrinia is looking really good too- is this supposed to spread to form a mat?

How tall is the Satureja?

[Lori S.]

Thanks, Cohan.  Please mention the name of the Anaphalis if you think of it - sounds nice!
I don't know that the Cancrinia would form a mat really, as it is tap-rooted - I think I'd expect a small plant, as from Holubec's photos:
 http://holubec.wbs.cz/3Borohoro-Shan_-Xinjiang.html
... assuming it winters over that is.   

The Satureja is 20cm tall (~8") with a few stems a bit taller, and ~40cm across.  I never know what will survive and what won't when I plant, so it is actually crowding a couple of things, however, as the other plants are spring bloomers and seem happy enough, it might work out.

[cohan]

I searched a little for the Anaphalis with no luck-- I think I must have seen it on a page with some seedling I was researching, so maybe I will see it again...lol.. usually I'd save something like that, so I'm thinking maybe its on some page I expected to remember- yet clearly don't...lol

Oh- I remember seeing those photos of Cancrinia- love it Hard to tell from the images whether it might be slightly stoloniferous, or they could be seedmates... a little clump is nice..

Nice modest height on the Satureja