Alpines October 2012

[Lori S.]

2 Saussurea nepalensis these still have long stemmed leaves from the seed pot, where they were in part sun and so packed in the pot they had to reach for light!

Your Saussurea nepalensis looks like the one I grew in 2009:

I think it was from a seedex though I am relying on my dim memories.  (Unfortunately, none of the seedlings wintered over.  I didn't get to see the bud shown in this photo in flower either.)

The Saussurea nepalensis I grew this year is also from a seedex and looks totally different:


Will the real Saussurea nepalensis please stand up?  

[cohan]

Great stuff, Lori- loving all the Labiatae!
The Arabis really is getting some nice drape- how old is it? The Inula and Orostachys are excellent!

My Saussurea nepalensis seed was from Philippe, at the alpine botanical garden in France whose name I will need to make a point of remembering..lol, but  I don't know what his/their original source was.. Hope mine will winter over...

[Tim Ingram]

Lori - you seem to grow all the plants I love growing (silvers and greys) but in a much better setting! I must discover a source of tufa. Do you protect any plants over winter? Or are winter snows persistant enough to do this? Our winters tend to be mild and soggy, with very occasional snow and I cover quite a few plants. A great future project would be a 'tufa cliff' (Roy Elliott made one these years ago, with a cantelivered canopy, and grew some amazing plants in it).

[Lori S.]

My Saussurea nepalensis seed was from Philippe, at the alpine botanical garden in France whose name I will need to make a point of remembering..lol, but  I don't know what his/their original source was.. Hope mine will winter over...

Yes, I think the one you are growing (and I grew in 2009) looks more likely...

On the other hand, it seems like the genus has an amazing range of leaf forms!   After growing Saussurea nupuripoensis this spring (from Holubec seed, so I assume it's correct) (on the left below) and Saussurea eopygmaea previously (from Pavelka seed), shown on the right below, I'm not too sure what might characterize Saussurea foliage!  
 

Tim, most of these plants were just grown from seed this year, so come next spring, I may well find the odd one that did not winter over for whatever reason.  I don't normally protect any plants outdoors though... I'm really only interested in plants that will be hardy without any particular fussing by me.  A possible difference between here and there is that protecting plants here is usually to insulate them against cold, whereas there, given soggy winters, it sounds like keeping water off might often be purpose for covering them (given that you are in so much milder a climate, compared to zone 3, that "cold hardiness" must be less of a concern).  Having lived/gardened in this same place for 16 years now, it seems the norm used to be very sporadic and inconsistent snow cover, with the usual periods of snow melt and exposure caused by chinooks.  The last 3 winters have been much snowier though, with much more consistent snow cover... not sure that this has been a particular advantage IMO.  (Last winter was quite hard on many plants that had been growing happily for years, despite the supposed advantage of snow cover.)  

Love those tufa cliffs and walls!  I wonder if anyone has done one here?  Without hearing of any local experiences, I suspect to have one here, in this dry climate, might require some sort of watering system... or else a lot more attention than I'm likely to provide...  

[cohan]

Lori- I think you are right that Saussurea foliage would be rather hard to typify- some have compound leaves, many others entire, with our without toothing, etc.. I like the one you show with linear leaves..

As for tufa towers, besides issues of water, I wonder about issues of exposure in winter for such a structure in colder climates? In fact, I'm a bit nervous about some spots on my new rock gardens, as I built them a bit steep/high to try for greater drainage without exceptional materials.. not too much planted at the peaks of all of them yet, time will tell if those spots have any more winter difficulties..

[RickR]

Lots of interesting plants, everyone!   Lori, that Campanula topaliana would sure be a genus stumper.  Mark would love that one.

Late blooming species always seem to surprise me with their "hurry up" growth so late in the season when I think there is never enough time to mature.  Such a plant seems to be Orostachys iwarenge for me.  

          23 September 2012                 1 October 2012
        


                             14 October 2012
        

I have no idea what well grown seed capsules should look like. Do they seem like they will have viable seed?

[Hoy]

I've never seen mature seed capsules on this species but assume they're not very different from the ones of other Crassulaceae It's a nice plant by all means, hope you get seed!

[Lori S.]

Little bits of fall colour in the rock garden...

Eriogonum caespitosum, bought from Beaver Creek last year:


This year's seedling of Dryas drummondii:


Aethionema saxatilis ssp. oreophila, showing what is likely to be one of the last flowers in the rock garden:


Androsace chamaejasme:

[Tim Ingram]

This is a tremendous form of Geranium xlindavicum, called 'Gypsy', bred by that great partnership Eric Smith and Jim Archibald at The Plantsman Nursery. It is a cross between 'Lissadell', a paler form of x lindavicum, and the vivid cinereum ssp. subcaulescens. Unfortunately it is slow and tricky to propagate, but I have thoughts of chopping the plant off at ground level and hoping it will produce multiple new crowns that can be separated. First I must get a second plant growing well as insurance!

[cohan]

Rick- I don't know how long it will take to ripen, but know Orostachys in general are very late.. seed capsules I'd expect not to look like much..

Lori- nice fall colour- the Dryas is looking big for one year!

Time- looks like a really nice colour and markings on the Geranium..

[Lori S.]

Interesting geranium, Tim... what very finely dissected leaves.

I hadn't even heard of the hybrid name before.  I found one site that says G. x lindavicum is a cross between G. cinereum (as you mentioned) and G. argenteum... is that your understanding?

[Tim Ingram]

Lori - sorry I'm afraid the photo tricks the viewer, the leaves are actually from a euphorbia seeding in the bed. But yes the hybrid name x lindavicum is cinereum x argenteum. I've had the latter once or twice but never managed to keep it going - in fact I haven't been hugely successful with many of these small geraniums. 'Gypsy' is growing in a pure sand trough, but very slowly! Just out of interest here are the leaves of G. lasiopus (which must be close to cinereum and argenteum). I bought this from Blackthorn Nursry last year but it hardly seems to have grown at all.

[externmed]

Exceptionally beautiful flower on that Geranium x lindavicum.  Hope someone will take notice and try to breed for ease of culture.

Charles Massachusetts USA

[Toole]

A couple of entries from our recent Alpine Garden Club show.

Best exhibit--Androsace sarmentosa

and another one,winner in it's class-- Androsace vandellii.

Cheers Dave.

[Lori S.]

Lori - sorry I'm afraid the photo tricks the viewer, the leaves are actually from a euphorbia seeding in the bed.

Oops, I should have realized the leaves were not a geranium at all... 
Geranium lasiopus has beautiful foliage.
Wonderful photos from the alpine show... I have to admit that I still find the concept of growing plants permanently(?) in pots sort of odd, but I'm warming up to it...