What do you see on your garden walks?

[Nold]

So, I was checking into Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina, and couldn't find it initially... what's going on I ask?  Seems that S. nana and S. sapphirina are now two separate species, but initially using the USDA pages

Well, the USDA thinks that Penstemon unilateralis is a valid name for Penstemon virgatus ssp. asa-grayi, which, as far as I know, no authority on the genus accepts, so .....
Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina wanders from its home, it doesn't spread. It leaves its original location for better pastures. S. brittonii and S. angustifolia, on the other hand, spread as fast as a rumor. These last two do have the decency to disappear for the summer, and, if you look at them from a cosmic perspective (like comparing them to the speed at which Veronica oltensis takes over everything in sight), they are fairly slow.

"Forgive the lateness of my reply."

[McDonough]

Well, the USDA thinks that Penstemon unilateralis is a valid name for Penstemon virgatus ssp. asa-grayi, which, as far as I know, no authority on the genus accepts, so .....
Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina wanders from its home, it doesn't spread. It leaves its original location for better pastures. S. brittonii and S. angustifolia, on the other hand, spread as fast as a rumor. These last two do have the decency to disappear for the summer, and, if you look at them from a cosmic perspective (like comparing them to the speed at which Veronica oltensis takes over everything in sight), they are fairly slow.

"Forgive the lateness of my reply."

Bob, the description of Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina as "wandering from its home" versus "spreading" is a useful-to-know nuance of it's growing habit... wish I still had it (Lori, are you listening, grow this plant on someplace, and keep it going, it's a dwarf cutie).

I'm also arriving at a point of assessing certain aggressive spreading tendencies, and with a small plant like Scutellaria angustifolia, and the fact it goes completely dormant and disappears shortly after flowering, one can make greater allowances for its spread when it is non-threatening to other more substantive plants.

[RickR]

Impatiens glandulosa alba. 
Also in pic
Impatiens balfourii (at base of I. gland.)
Aralia occidentalis (rear left) I've been having to keep it trimmed back so it does take over.  At four years old from seed, it grows larger than Aralia cordata var. sacchalinensis.  It will be replanted in the yard next spring.
Fargesia rufa (partial pic, far right) proving to be a very worth bamboo for my cold climate.
Allium stellatum (bottom left)

Second photo: Basal stem, Impatiens glandulosa alba

[RickR]

At six feet tall, it's a good thing Impatiens glandulosa alba has terminal flowers!

Gosh, I wonder how tall it would get if I didn't have dry soil?

[RickR]

Allium stellatum from seed from a native stand about 50 miles west of me in Minnesota.  For a wild onion, the bulbs are surprisingly tasty!

Campanula americana.  Just ending bloom to the right is Digitalis ferruginea.

[Hoy]

At six feet tall, it's a good thing Impatiens glandulosa alba has terminal flowers!

Gosh, I wonder how tall it would get if I didn't have dry soil?

They can grow a little taller! I have different color forms of I. glandulosa and they sow themselves all over my place. Have to mow them. I let some grow and the tallest reach about 3m. When I come home in a week I can show you pics.

[Lori S.]

Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina wanders from its home, it doesn't spread. It leaves its original location for better pastures.

Well, that sounds better than, say, "rampantly invasive"... Okay, I'll leave it where it is for now, though it will be interesting to see how far it has to go to find better pastures in my little plant gulag.  

At six feet tall, it's a good thing Impatiens glandulosa alba has terminal flowers!

Yeah, works for me but I wonder if short people would agree?      
Nice to see some of your garden, Rick.

A few in bloom from seed this year:
1) Asperula boissieri - seems to be a form with rather curly foliage.  From Pavelka: "2200m, Killini Mts., Greece; very dwarf compact silvery-grey cushions; stemless pale to dark rose flowers; limestone rocky slopes, 2006 seed."
2) Silene macrantha, or so it was said to be - it's supposed to have greenish-yellow flowers, however.  Big flowers on a tiny plant, anyway.  (Pavelka: "2000m, Komovi, Montenegro; small tufted plant, 5-15cm, pale green leaves; greenish-yellow flowers, stoney slopes; 2005 seed.")  
3) Arabis androsacea - wonderful furry rosettes, flowers nothing much to write home about yet.  (Seeds from Holubec: "ex. Turkey: Ala Dag, 2200m, limestone scree; small cushions, white hairy rosettes, white flowers on 4cm long stems; 2009 seed."

And:
4) Eryngium alpinum
5) DH's mislabelled rose, that could not have been further from what it was supposed to have been... but sort of appealing.
6) In DH's greenhouse ponds, Nymphaea 'Madame Ganna Walska'
7) Nymphaea 'Helvola'
8 ) Azorella trifurcata, or so it seems from the yellow umbels (vs. greenish-white, apparently, on Bolax gummifera?)
9) Another Inula rhizocephala
10 ) Just a garden shot

[Hoy]

Allium stellatum from seed from a native stand about 50 miles west of me in Minnesota.  For a wild onion, the bulbs are surprisingly tasty!

Campanula americana.  Just ending bloom to the right is Digitalis ferruginea.
[/quote
I didn't notice this post while I commented the Impatiens pictures! Both the Allium and the Campanula are new to me. Are the C. americana perennial? Seems to be plants to try here.

[Kelaidis]

Really enjoyed the pix of your garden, Lori: you have created a stunner there! Love to visit it some time...

PK

[Hoy]

Lori, do you ever have the heart to leave your garden except for short walks in the mountains?

[Spiegel]

Lori. your garden is beautiful, and you grow such interesting plants.

[RickR]

Trond, Campanula americana is a biennial, and in many (if not most) gardens a notorious self seeder.  I try not to allow to much seed production.  Most people don't think of it as garden worthy, I don't think. I have found that the plants can be susceptible to a wilt disease.  I know verticillium is present in my land, so I assume it is that. 

Allium stellatum is quite vigorous, and also a vigorous self seeder too, but it is easily prevented but cutting the stalks.  The bicolor umbels, with white buds opening to lavender remind me of fireworks.

[Lori S.]

Thank you for the compliments!  The great thing about photos and posting to remote sites like this, is that no one sees the really ratty parts of the garden.   

And, making another appeal... I'm posting all this stuff, not strictly for compliment-fishing (although I must say that that is very nice    ), as in the hopes of encouraging other, so-far silent, members to feel free to share a running journal of their alpines, and gardens in general.  I'm sure we'd all love to see what grows in different areas, and conditions, at different times through the season... (Hey, I need some ideas, too, for my future plantings!)

[Hoy]

Arrived home after 5 weeks vaccation. Met by a real wilderness. Have to mow and cut my way through the woodland.
These are not the worst:
The creeping Acaena ovalifolia have grown 3-4ft and cover the path.
Alstroemeria aurea have gotten 3 ft tall and fall over and block the path.

[Lori S.]

Interesting to see those plants flourishing!  The best I've ever done with Acaena was to have tiny bits survive the winter.  Are the seedpods as painful to step on as they look to be?
I imagine your Alstroemeria are perennial there too... another mind-bending concept for those in this zone!