What do you see on your garden walks?

[cohan]

Maggi, when faced with those ribs and bacon, good to remember another Miss Piggy quote:
"Never eat anything bigger than your head"

Lori, nice Verbascum--a world apart from the big weedy one!

[Lori S.]

Maggi, finding a plant that's unfamiliar to you is an accomplishment indeed!   

A few from today:
Silene falcata; Silene nigrescens; first flower on Hypericum aviculariifolium ssp. uniflorum - it looks like it will be a very showy plant!
   

Yellow Delosperma... the oldest plant was decimated after last winter (who says snow cover is good??), the other slightly different plant is seemingly unaffected, however:
 

[RickR]

Another cute plant Lori: Hypericum aviculariifolium ssp. uniflorum.

It doesn't look very "uniflorum"(?)  But that's a good thing.

[Spiegel]

The Silene bolanthoides is wonderful, Lori.  How long have you been growing it and what do you know about it?

[IMYoung]

Maggi, when faced with those ribs and bacon, good to remember another Miss Piggy quote:
"Never eat anything bigger than your head"

Yup, another good reason to  follow the teaching of the Great Piggy.

Maggi, finding a plant that's unfamiliar to you is an accomplishment indeed!

Heck no, Lori, you flatter me - it happens every day here or in the SRGC Forum. I keep seeing new plants and scurrying off to read all I can about them.. it's a real education... or it would be if I could remember more than half of what I read nowadays.
 

[Lori S.]

The Silene bolanthoides is wonderful, Lori.  How long have you been growing it and what do you know about it?

Anne, I ordered it from Mojmir Pavelka and grew it in 2010, so it's come through one winter in the tufa garden and this is the first bloom; it's 2" across at present and a little under a 1/2" tall.  Here is the description from Mojmir's seed list: "1700m, Kaz Dag, Turkey; dwarf dense cushions, short linear leaves, flowers solitary or 2-4, stemless or very short scape; white to pale pink petals deeply bilobed, flowers 1.5cm across; New, rare, one of the best silene kinds. Stoney places. 2008 seed."

[IMYoung]

The Silene bolanthoides is wonderful, Lori.  How long have you been growing it and what do you know about it?

Anne, I ordered it from Mojmir Pavelka and grew it in 2010, so it's come through one winter in the tufa garden and this is the first bloom; it's 2" across at present and a little under a 1/2" tall.  Here is the description from Mojmir's seed list: "1700m, Kaz Dag, Turkey; dwarf dense cushions, short linear leaves, flowers solitary or 2-4, stemless or very short scape; white to pale pink petals deeply bilobed, flowers 1.5cm across; New, rare, one of the best silene kinds. Stoney places. 2008 seed."

A case in point about my memory.... I first "met" this plant when it was featured in the International Rock Gardener of May 2010 .....
 http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2010May271274998232IRG_5_May.pdf    ......
and determined then to seek seed.... promptly forgot until I saw this plant doing so well for Lori... have now made a written note to self re seed!

[Lori S.]

I have been appreciating the beautiful foliage on this plant, especially the intricate new tips, and while I had thought of it as a woodlander, I've just discovered it's a plant of alpine meadows (though certainly one of the bigger ones) - Sanguisorba dodecandra:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/170361/0/full
 

Dracocephalum botryoides:
 

Thymus doerfleri:

[Lori S.]

Update on Ajuga lupulina:
   

Erigeron aurantiacus; Dracocephalum heteophyllum:
   

[Lori S.]

I have been a bit surprised to realize that some alpines are at their best when the sun has passed over...
Dianthus leucophaeus is a little unusual for a dianthus, having fragrant flowers (not overly showy, however) that remain closed during the day but open in the evening:
 

Leptodactylon pungens ssp. pulchrifolium also has flowers fully open, and sweetly fragrant, in the evening:
 

I know I've been pushing this one a lot lately but here it is again... (until some more stuff starts to bloom or someone else starts posting!   )... Silene falcata's flowers look somewhat spent during the day, but revive and look fresh in the evening:
 

And a few others in bloom now:
Incarvillea himalayense zhongdianensis; Primula kisoana; something that I have noted as Silene pusilla but isn't, I don't think (as it lacks the incised petals that it should have??):
     

[cohan]

I always wonder where you fit all these plants on a city lot, Lori!
Maybe not surprising that some of those plants you mention as looking their best in the evening are white/light and fragrant-- traits common among moth pollinated plants..

[Lori S.]

Where do I fit all these plants?  Actually, I'd like to get a lot more different and interesting perennials and reduce the repetition of ones I have!   But, as I've mentioned before, it's just the absence of lawn that provides more than the usual amount of planting space (though it doesn't always feel that way), and having said that, our lot is a little bigger than average (it's just shy of 1/3 acre).   

Here's Osteospermum barberiae var. compactum 'Purple Mountain'... perhaps not so floriferous as the many bedding plant versions that people grow here, but certainly impressive for its hardiness (and I'm afraid to move it to a sunnier spot!):

[cohan]

Where do I fit all these plants?  Actually, I'd like to get a lot more different and interesting perennials and reduce the repetition of ones I have!   But, as I've mentioned before, it's just the absence of lawn that provides more than the usual amount of planting space (though it doesn't always feel that way), and having said that, our lot is a little bigger than average (it's just shy of 1/3 acre).   

Here's Osteospermum barberiae var. compactum 'Purple Mountain'... perhaps not so floriferous as the many bedding plant versions that people grow here, but certainly impressive for its hardiness (and I'm afraid to move it to a sunnier spot!):
*INCORRECT USE OF [attachthumb=#]. You need to specify the attachment number, for example [attachthumb=1].

I understand not wanting to repeat plants to have more space, but then swathes of one species can be so nice! (space luxury, I understand)
The Osteo is cool--you could always try some seeds in a sunnier spot...

[Hoy]

Busy time keeping pace with you Lori!

Have not had much time to take pictures either but here are one from a few days ago:
This unfortunate bumblebee met her end working hard for her siblings

[cohan]

Wow-- I shot a similar spider with a fly-ey thing the other day, but didn't think they could hold something as big as a bumblebee!