International Rock Gardener e-magazine

[McDonough]

I had Acrobat Reader 9.4.5, and actually received an automatic update yesterday, so believed my Reader was fairly up to date.  Just upgraded to version 10.1, now the IRC PDFs download and view okay.

[IMYoung]

Sorry to hear you have had this difficulty, Mark and Michael.  The IRG pdf is saved to be backward compatible to Adobe Acrobat reader 7 so I am at a loss to know what was wrong. 

[IMYoung]

September 2011 Issue of International Rock Gardener is now online.

Here are some extra pictures from Cliff  Booker to add to his article..... there are yet others relating to this issue in the SRGC Forum: http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7893.0

Extra images from Cliff:

"These images were all taken in the Picos de Europa and feature as follows:-

IMAGE ONE :  The Bookers' travelling companions, John and Clare Dower, on a viewing platform above La Hermida gorge and John taking his life in his hands on this usually very busy road to capture a cliff-dwelling campanula.

IMAGE TWO :  Picos views and bottled temptations.

IMAGE THREE :  Serapias and Anacamptis blooms.

IMAGE FOUR :  Picos scenes and poppies.

IMAGE FIVE :  Orchis ustulata and Picos flowers.

IMAGE SIX :  Potes to Fuente De.

[RickR]

I just previewed the September IRG, and can't wait to start reading!

Wow!

[IMYoung]

October IRG is online...... http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Oct271319742037IRG22October_2011.pdf
 we hope there is something there to interest you.......

You will find a link to a pdf  full index of the IRG including this latest issue here: http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4850.msg217837#msg217837

[IMYoung]

RE: article on Colchicum in the 'International Rock Gardener'

In IRG 22 I expressed doubt that colchicum were truly to be found "wild" in the UK and  was pleased to hear from John Grimshaw, who wrote  that he " thought you'd be interested to know that C. autumnale is wild here at Colesbourne & around - there's a patch on the main roadside a couple of miles away, but always associated with ancient woodland. It's curiously inconspicuous in flower though".

 John's note came with an accompanying photograph which he is happy for me to share here.
  I replied that I was much surprised by this and  "I'm sceptical  enough to think that they are naturalised, if ancient, escapees but it's an interesting record."

John replied again...
"Dear Maggi,

Your scepticism is unfounded: Colchicum autumnale is a genuine native with, at least formerly, a wide distribution especially in western England. The 1948 Flora of Gloucestershire says: 'Common over most of the county, especially on the Cotswolds.' Unfortunately, it has lost a lot of sites to agricultural improvement & thus from being essentially a meadow plant it is now found mostly in woodland. An old man in the village once told me he could remember meadows having their soil scraped off completely to eradicate Colchicum, it being potentially poisonous to cattle."


I remain doubtful as to how such a bulb might have truly survived ancient ice-ages to be considered "native" in so far as "the purists" regard the term.... but in the light of recent findings of Rhododendron ponticum pollen and remains  in the UK from extremely distant times, which would suggest that this much maligned "invasive" plant is in fact a true native, then perhaps I am just too suspicious for my own good!

Many thanks to John for this insight and for the use of his photo of these elegant flowers.

[IMYoung]

The November Issue of IRG is online now  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Nov241322170676IRG_23_-_November2011_.pdf

We return to the ever popular subject of Turkey and her plants .... this country is, of course, species rich and the appetite to learn more of the plants who inhabit that large and diverse region seems undimmed.

For the bulb lovers, J. Ian Young encourages an interest in the dwarf narcissus of the "hoop petticoat" type, so invaluable for flowering through the northern hemisphere winter as well as into spring. 

Putoria calabrica in cultivation.... photo by ZZ (Zdeněk Zvolánek) 

[McDonough]

Another superb issue, all of the Turkish plants shown are mouth watering gems, I like Aethionema subulatum the best, what a stunning cretaure it is.

[IMYoung]

Thanks, Mark. The diversity of the Turkish flora will never lose it's attractions, I think.

Yes, that Aethiomema is a cutie.... I see the Ontario NARGS chapter has a note about it's germination..... to sow the seed at  4 degrees .....  http://www.onrockgarden.com/germination-guide/aethionema-subulatum-subulata

[McDonough]

Thanks, Mark. The diversity of the Turkish flora will never lose it's attractions, I think.

Yes, that Aethiomema is a cutie.... I see the Ontario NARGS chapter has a note about it's germination..... to sow the seed at  4 degrees .....  http://www.onrockgarden.com/germination-guide/aethionema-subulatum-subulata

Such a specific temperature sowing requirement, no wonder it's rare in cultivation   Good to know it's being grown, must keep an eye out for seed.

[IMYoung]

Vladislav Piatek sells seed.. and perhaps some of the other Czechs....
Not sure if Wrightman Alpines stocks the plant......

[Lori S.]

Can't wait to delve into this issue!

In case others are wondering, the oh-so-specific temperature for starting the seed comes, I'd be willing to bet, from Dr. Deno's publications of his germination work... In his very regulated studies, a "cold" period for seed conditioning was standardized at 40 deg F... hence the 4 deg C quoted on the ORGS website.  (A "warm" period was standardized at 70 deg F or 20 deg C.)  In order to hold to scientific method and get real comparative data on germination rates, he had to do this, but the home gardener need not be so exacting.  

[cohan]

My understanding of this 4C temperature is that typical stratification requirements are for a period of cold but not freezing temperatures? Not counting those that need freeze/thaw to break tough seed coats or inhibitors...

Stunning issues as always-- I was behind by a few and had a pleasant evening a few weeks back catching up

[IMYoung]

Certainly the strangely fluctuating temperatures we are having  here  in the UK at the moment must be confusing the living daylights out of the seeds... plenty plants seem mixed up and as for the gardeners... well! 

Good to hear we are producing happy reading for you, Cohan. 

[RickR]

My understanding of this 4C temperature is that typical stratification requirements are for a period of cold but not freezing temperatures? Not counting those that need freeze/thaw to break tough seed coats or inhibitors...

See here, Cohan:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=274.msg12949#msg12949