Alpines in May

[Todd Boland]

Wonderful photos Jim!  Please consider adding them to the image gallery.

Most nights are close to freezing here too...not much signs of global warming in my area this spring.

[RickR]

Wonderful pics.  Collomia has been on my want list since Panayoti introduced it to us.

[Hoy]

Rick, you said in another thread that the grass isn't greener on the other side but surely it often seems to be!

[Lori S.]

This is nothing to write home about yet (if ever), but I'm pleased to see it!  
Here is the miniscule first showing of a Ligularia soldanella, from seed in 2009.  (The tufa gravel is ~1/2 inch nominally, so you can see how tiny it is!)  When I started these, it took forever for a true leaf to form - actually I don't even recall if a true leaf ever did form before the two seedlings went dormant.  I wondered at the time if the species actually required cold conditions after germination(?)  Anyway, after they went dormant, I planted them out, finding strong healthy white roots all the way to the bottoms of the pots.  
So far so good!

[Hoy]

I thought all Ligularia were big not-so-good-for-rockery plants! What is the ultimate size for this dwarf?
Here are two of my "rockery" plants. They grow wild everywhere here at my cabin. The Viola tricolor finishes flowering early but the Armeria maritima goes on almost all summer but are best in June.

PS! Not exactly alpines but I had no better for the moment!

[RickR]

You are a brave one, Lori; the thought of transplanting such a tiny plant would never have crossed my mind!

[McDonough]

This is nothing to write home about yet (if ever), but I'm pleased to see it! 
Here is the miniscule first showing of a Ligularia soldanella, from seed in 2009.  (The tufa gravel is ~1/2 inch nominally, so you can see how tiny it is!)  When I started these, it took forever for a true leaf to form - actually I don't even recall if a true leaf ever did form before the two seedlings went dormant.  I wondered at the time if the species actually required cold conditions after germination(?)  Anyway, after they went dormant, I planted them out, finding strong healthy white roots all the way to the bottoms of the pots. 
So far so good!

Lori, what is the latest taxonomic standing on this species, between Ligularia as opposed to Senecio?  Checking the USDA and the new online Flora of North American, both maintain Senecio as the genus.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SESO
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250067509

This is a stunning species, whether one calls it Ligularia or Senecio... good luck with bringing it to maturity, I was never able to.

http://www.laporteavenuenursery.com/html/senecio_soldanella.html
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/imgdown.cfm?img=5104095&res=3
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/imgdown.cfm?img=5104099&res=3
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/imgdown.cfm?img=5104100&res=3
http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Yellow%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/ligularia.htm

[Lori S.]

You are a brave one, Lori; the thought of transplanting such a tiny plant would never have crossed my mind!

Really?  Well, by contrast, growing seedlings on in pots for more than the absolute minimum length of time would never cross my mind!     (I like to get everything in the ground ASAP... it makes for lower maintenance, and no pot jungle.  Just my preference... I'm very lazy!)

[Lori S.]

Yes, indeed, Mark, it looks like Senecio soldanella is the correct name these days:
http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=36183

Oh well, to be honest, I can never remember either name!  

A few in bloom here:
1) Astragalus gilviflorus, starting to bloom; as the bloom continues, the leaf stems will start to elongate somewhat.
2) Gentiana verna
3) Hacquetia epipactis, amid the bulb foliage
4, 5) Our native Oxytropis sericea out in the front yard
6) First couple of blooms on Iris taurica, about 6.5" tall (a little more than twice the height of my I. suaveolens)
 

[Lori S.]

1) The start of bloom on Aubrieta deltoides 'Blue Indigo'
2) The first pristine flower of the year on Ranunculus pyrenaeus
 

[Hoy]

Now the spring (or early summer?) has arrived in full? No more snow and freezing at night?
I have a plant, Ranunculus amplexicaulis, which is very similar to your R. pyrenaeus.

[Lori S.]

Trond, I actually have bought both of those, and I wonder if I am mistaking this one now?  I'll have to look more closely at it tonight!

EDIT:  Yes, it is actually R. amplexicaulis, from the clasping leaves - thanks for the correction to my photo records!  

To answer your question, we have gone 9 nights now without frost, and we are close approaching the average last frost date (~May 23).  Does that mean it's over?  Who knows?  I ride my bike to work through spring/summer/fall, and I've seen frost on the grass along the river in every month of the season here.  On this holiday long weekend (Victoria Day) - perhaps because of it   - it frequently snows in the mountains and foothills, if not here too!

[Lori S.]

Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Papageno':

[Lori S.]

Not an alpine but...
This is our native Viola adunca, which somehow made its way into the flower bed outside the fence many years ago.

[Hoy]

Nice violet! I like the wild Viola sp better than the maximized pansies although some of them can be very attractive too. Our native V. canina and other species is in full flower here now.
But I choose to show a picture of a Dryas, D. x suendermannii. Last winter it was hit by a car and almost exterminated.