What do you see on your garden walks?

[cohan]

Very true, Panayotis--no midsummer lull here--mid-summer is the whole season  My sempervivum, for example, have good colour all year--or rather the half of it they are not covered with snow Our snowcover is about to reach the 5 month point--longer than usual without interruption, since it stayed from mid-Nov, usually it comes and goes into December...
Now I have to go out and gather some firewood--after some nice 'warm' days up to and above 10C/50F, we are back to just barely above freezing, with snow in 4 of the next 7 days forecast.. so far we are predicted less than either south or north, we'll see if that holds-- I think Lori's area already has snowfall warnings?

Some small parts of my future rock garden (pots sunk for winter in mounds of soil from digging) are out of the snow now... for now...

[Hoy]

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?



Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!


Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

   


Saxifraga juniperifolia (I believe??)  I suddenly discovered thisone that I had completely forgotten growing on a concrete slab.

[Weiser]

Hoy
Love the Scilla. What a lovely colony!

[cohan]

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Saxifraga juniperifolia (I believe??)  I suddenly discovered this one that I had completely forgotten growing on a concrete slab.

Nice patch of Scilla! the Sax planted itself on concret? or you put it there?

[Lori S.]

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?

Trond, those are flower rosettes forming on the ends of the stems of an adult plant - they are evergreen; it's a relatively short-lived, self-seeding perennial, and not particularly small (at least not in regular soil) - the plants get to about a foot across and about 6" high.  It is notable here for how early and late it blooms and for repeat bloom through the season.  
Here are some better photos of Alyssum wulfenianum:
   

Nice Scilla!

[McDonough]

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Very pretty, love the ice blue color, but I'm wondering if this really isn't Scilla rosenii; maybe a different Scilla species or Puschkinia scilloides (...or var. libanotica).

Scilla rosenii
http://www.augisbulbs.com/catalog.php?c=64   (scroll down)
http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/260406/log.html  (scroll down)
http://homepage3.nifty.com/alm/gallery_lili6.htm
http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/download_lo_res.html?id=670084620

[Lori S.]

Assuming this really is what the seed was claimed to be, Limonium perplexum is remarkable hardy for a coastal Mediterranean species.  (It is also apparently critically endangered in its very limited native range in Spain.)
Here it is after coming through the winter and a spring snowstorm... (it's nothing to write home about, particularly... just surprisingly hardy.  )   



It was ready to bloom in fall last year, in its first year from seed, but frost killed the flowers before they could open - a typical-looking Limonium flower spike.

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://bdb.cma.gva.es/ficha.asp%3Fid%3D16860&ei=Ck6mTZeYLoHGsAPx__35DA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ7gEwADgK&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dlimonium%2Bperplexum%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26prmd%3Divns
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2072327730047134247GLrfmj

[Lori S.]

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Very pretty, love the ice blue color, but I'm wondering if this really isn't Scilla rosenii; maybe a different Scilla species or Puschkinia scilloides (...or var. libanotica).

Very pretty, whatever they are!!  A close-up photo directly into a flower may help to firm up the ID... from what I can make out on the flower detail photo, I don't think I see the fused ring of stamens that (I think) distinguishes Puschkinia and Chionodoxa from Scilla... is that (still) a valid distinction?  I know the taxonomists have been messing around with these genera.

Puschkinia libanotica, below - note fused stamen ring:


That's a photo from a week ago last year... which was also a late spring, but this year is really late!

[AmyO]

These were under snow just two days ago! The past couple of days the snow melted away very fast and now some roads are flooded.

[cohan]

I love retic Irises in general , and that's a lovely colour,Amy; I'll need to watch for some
I'm jealous of the coum, since I don't think its possible here...

[Hoy]

Hoy
Love the Scilla. What a lovely colony!

Thanks John. It has increased well the last two years but not by seeding.

Nice patch of Scilla! the Sax planted itself on concrete? or you put it there?

Cohan,
I planted the Sax nearby in a hollow concrete slab - it is a bigger plant a foot away but without flowers! It has somehow spread to the rim of the slab.

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Very pretty, love the ice blue color, but I'm wondering if this really isn't Scilla rosenii; maybe a different Scilla species or Puschkinia scilloides (...or var. libanotica).

Very pretty, whatever they are!!  A close-up photo directly into a flower may help to firm up the ID... from what I can make out on the flower detail photo, I don't think I see the fused ring of stamens that (I think) distinguishes Puschkinia and Chionodoxa from Scilla... is that (still) a valid distinction?  I know the taxonomists have been messing around with these genera.

I do believe I planted these as S rosenii but I won't swear. I have Puschkinia and Chionodoxa too and those are different as Lori's pictures show.
Here is a close-up:

[Hoy]

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?

Trond, those are flower rosettes forming on the ends of the stems of an adult plant - they are evergreen; it's a relatively short-lived, self-seeding perennial, and not particularly small (at least not in regular soil) - the plants get to about a foot across and about 6" high.  It is notable here for how early and late it blooms and for repeat bloom through the season.  

Thanks, Lori. I didn't know this Alyssum species. Your first picture showed something I thought would be 5cm!

[RickR]

Alyssum wulfenianum, is known as the easiest true alyssum to grow here. 

But that sure doesn't take away from its beauty!

[Lori S.]

These were under snow just two days ago!

Very pretty, Amy!  Ahhh, that's what we wait all winter for!!

[cohan]

A few shots from 3 days ago, before the fresh snow turned everything white again, showing the extent of our melt, so far..
The bare areas are either along paths which we shovelled all winter, or along spruce trees which keep the snow more shallow.. next to some of these bare spots, the snow was still knee deep, with another 15-20cm now on top....
The 'rock garden' views show the area where I have excavated my old overgrown rock garden from my teenage years which was untended most of the 25+ years I was away, soil was mounded and pots sunk for the winter, rocks piled around awaiting more work this year...