Townsendia pics

[Lori S.]

"Alpine beach"??  Graham and Anne, you're going to have to explain that one!     (Rarely are alpine lakes large enough to have the wave action to form what one would think of as a "beach"... so far as I imagine, anyway!?)  I'm having trouble imagining what this might be, and I'm very curious!

[Kelaidis]

Looks like T. hookeri to my eyes...

[Booker]

"Alpine beach"??  Graham and Anne, you're going to have to explain that one!     (Rarely are alpine lakes large enough to have the wave action to form what one would think of as a "beach"... so far as I imagine, anyway!?)  I'm having trouble imagining what this might be, and I'm very curious!

Could this be 'loosely' described as an 'alpine beach'?   Pragser Wildsee in the Dolomites and the BEAUTIFUL lake,

[IMYoung]

Graham, would you be able to identify this one?  Label lost.

I think T. hookeri, Anne.... cute as a button.


Cliff..... your "alpine beach " is magical.... wonderful photo 

[Nicholls]

Looks like T. incana to me Anne.

Graham

[Nicholls]

Just to clear up the 'alpine beach' bit here are a few photos taken there when Anne. Joe & myself went hiking before the Snowbird conference. I highly recommend taking the hike as it's so rewarding. From Little Cottonwood Canyon drive up to Albion Basin & Park adjacent to the ski lift. Start hiking up. It climbs around 900' to reach Sunset Peak at 10240'. Here you are confronted by fantastic alpines growing in sand as if on a beach. You can view Catherine Lake from up here as well.
Graham

[Booker]

Wow ... what a destination!  Beautiful.

[Spiegel]

Just to clear up the 'alpine beach' bit here are a few photos taken there when Anne. Joe & myself went hiking before the Snowbird conference. I highly recommend taking the hike as it's so rewarding. From Little Cottonwood Canyon drive up to Albion Basin & Park adjacent to the ski lift. Start hiking up. It climbs around 900' to reach Sunset Peak at 10240'. Here you are confronted by fantastic alpines growing in sand as if on a beach. You can view Catherine Lake from up here as well.
Graham

  Graham, I remember that day and the plants so well.  It's one of my favorite destinations.  Elizabeth Neese explained some of the geology to me.   There's a layer of sandstone over limestone and the sandstone has worn down making that lovely "alpine beach".  The sand is very fine and comes over the toes of your boots and it's just dry as a bone.  I remember picking up a rock and it disintegrated in my hand into sand. Really amazing.  One of the hikes at the Conference was to the first part of the Pass but not as far as the place we went.  Apart from the Townsendia montana and Phlox pulvinata, there's Linum kingii (very old specimens w/gnarly trunks), gorgeous old cushions of Astragalus kentrophyta v implexus, Astragalus miser, etc.  Good thing Iris didn't come.  She would have been so bored with all the oohs and ahs and photographing. I wish I had had a better camera then.  Your wonderful pictures  bring it all back.

[McDonough]

Just so that we can get a better sense where this place is (Sunset Peak, Catherine Lake, Albion Basin, and "the alpine beach"), here are three Google Maps showing the terrain in the area.  We're talking about the Uintah Mts, in the Wasatch National Forest, Utah, USA.  The first is a vicinity map, showing the location relative to Salt Lake City, Utah (the red pin is Sunset Peak).  Map 2 shows the peak relative to Snowbird and that amazing canyon that runs west-east.  Map 3 shows the peak in a closer view, with Catherine Lake and other lakes nearby.

I have driven by these mountains a number of times on my cross-country travels, always wanting to explore them, it remains a wishlist item.

[cohan]

Every one of these is gorgeous, but I especially love the 'cottonballs' have they definitively been assigned to a species? Any particular location name to watch for in seedlists?

Here is another of my favourites, in the Alplains catalogue:
Townsendia jonesii v. lutea (2x4,Z5,P,L,3:6w) ....   (W) Sevier Co., UT, 5412ft, 1650m.  Ethereal yellow, stemless daisies. The reverse of the petals is lavender, imparting a mysterious tangerine overtone to the flower color. Elusive dweller of Arapien Shale deposits. Occasional cream forms in this population.  On shale ridges
http://www.alplains.com/images/TownJonesLutea.JPG
hmm, the image on the paper catalogue is more impressive...

[McDonough]

This year Townsendia rothrockii flowered better than ever before, here are some pics covered early and full flowering.

 


In the following views, you can see a new plant for me, Arabis koehleri, a tiny thing only 2" (5 cm) in flower, with bright pink flowers.  A couple of attractive North American native plants.

 


A couple days later, the Townsendia rothrockii flowers are fully expanded.

 

[Hoy]

It seems that I never shall get a complete collection of plants! There are always new ones to discover and wish for!

Cute little thing that Arabis, Mark, is it matforming or solitary?

[McDonough]

It seems that I never shall get a complete collection of plants! There are always new ones to discover and wish for!
Cute little thing that Arabis, Mark, is it matforming or solitary?

Trond, the plant of Arabis koehleri was from a NARGS seedling sale autumn 2010, so I don't know how it might develop, but my guess is from looking at the small North American Arabis species, they are not gregarious mat formers.  The single flower stem you see was cut off today, no doubt by a chipmunk, so no hope of seed this year.  I have declared all out warfare with chipmunks and squirrels, the latter are shredding and decimating Tulipa blooms currently, nipped off a number of Narcissus stems, and then started shredding blooms on Fritillaria pudica.  It is varmint warfare here.

[Hoy]

It seems that I never shall get a complete collection of plants! There are always new ones to discover and wish for!
Cute little thing that Arabis, Mark, is it matforming or solitary?

Trond, the plant of Arabis koehleri was from a NARGS seedling sale autumn 2010, so I don't know how it might develop, but my guess is from looking at the small North American Arabis species, they are not gregarious mat formers.  The single flower stem you see was cut off today, no doubt by a chipmunk, so no hope of seed this year.  I have declared all out warfare with chipmunks and squirrels, the latter are shredding and decimating Tulipa blooms currently, nipped off a number of Narcissus stems, and then started shredding blooms on Fritillaria pudica.  It is varmint warfare here.

You have my sympathy! I know the feeling >

[Gene Mirro]

McDonough, I use the pelletized mouse bait that you can buy at any hardware store.  Put it in a container with an opening small enough to keep cats and dogs out.  Or put some pellets in the burrow and cover with a rock.  The risk is that the dying rodents will be caught by a cat or dog, and end up poisoning it.  I have never seen this happen.  I think it would take a huge amount of bait to harm a cat or dog. 

Here is a clever trapping technique:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9cFspBjb-U