What do you see on your garden walks?

[Spiegel]

Incarvillea zhongdianensis is in bloom here now:

Lori, I'd kill (not really) to see that in my garden, what a gorgeous plant.

[Lori S.]

Mark, I'll definitely post a photo of the allium when it's in bloom.  I bought it labelled as Allium senescens ssp. montanum var. glaucum - dang, have to correct those records again, but Allium nutans sure rolls off the tongue a lot more easily!  Thanks for the ID!   

Ann, I always collect seeds from the incarvillea for the seedex, so let me know if you would like to try it.  I must say, that particular plant is looking pretty good this year, but Todd Boland's incarvilleas, grown in his alpine beds, always look much better than mine!

Here's the first flower on Telesonix jamesii var. heucheriformis , bought this year from Beaver Creek and stuck in the new tufa bed... and what an interesting flower!

[Hoy]

I am jealous on those Opuntias!
Here the Incarvilleas have gone to seed and the Sedums rule. It is very dry here now at the south east coast of Norway where I have my summerhouse.

[Hoy]

...and one unknown (not S. album or anglicum).

[Hoy]

My cellphone allow me to post only one picture at the time.
View from summerhouse.

[Hoy]

This Tradescantia is nice but the flowers are open only in the morning.

[Hoy]

Be careful!

[Weiser]

Hoy
I like the habitat shot. Have you ever tryed growing Opuntia fragilis or it's hydrids in that area? It grows in similar enviroments in Canada. I think it may do well for you planted in the shallow soils that thread through the rock outcroppings. Two others that would be worth a try are Opuntia macrorhiza and Opuntia humifusa.

[Spiegel]

Mark, I'll definitely post a photo of the allium when it's in bloom.  I bought it labelled as Allium senescens ssp. montanum var. glaucum - dang, have to correct those records again, but Allium nutans sure rolls off the tongue a lot more easily!  Thanks for the ID!   

Ann, I always collect seeds from the incarvillea for the seedex, so let me know if you would like to try it.  I must say, that particular plant is looking pretty good this year, but Todd Boland's incarvilleas, grown in his alpine beds, always look much better than mine!

Here's the first flower on Telesonix jamesii var. heucheriformis , bought this year from Beaver Creek and stuck in the new tufa bed... and what an interesting flower!
Lori, thank you, I'd love to try some seed.

[Hoy]

Hoy
I like the habitat shot. Have you ever tryed growing Opuntia fragilis or it's hydrids in that area? It grows in similar enviroments in Canada. I think it may do well for you planted in the shallow soils that thread through the rock outcroppings. Two others that would be worth a try are Opuntia macrorhiza and Opuntia humifusa.

That's an idea! I think I will try. I have never tried cacti here. Maybe the deer don't eat them either although they seemingly prefere plants with thorns like my roses.
I'll look out for seed.

[Lori S.]

1, 2) Asyneuma limonifolium, from seed last year - an impressive number of flower stems for such young plants!
3) Carduncellus pinnatus
4) Spiraea decumbens

[Spiegel]

Lori, wonderful pictures.  Your asyneuma seems much tighter than mine. Do you grow it in full sun? Mine has a little shade, maybe that's a problem? The carduncellus is marvelous and has just made it on my want and need list.  Have you had it long? What can you tell me about it?

[Lori S.]

Thanks, Anne!  The asyneuma is in full sun; the tallest stems are 5-6" (although there are also a couple of little cuties in the same bed with blooming stems only 1.5" tall!)  Having only grown it this short time, I don't know anything more about it, other than that it does seem to like lime, as I had read.  
The carduncellus is a bit of a conundrum... I've had it for many years, and have sent seed to the seedex for a long time, but unbeknownst to me, apparently it is very difficult to start from seed or possibly even self-sterile...  (Upon hearing this, I did give it a try last summer and got no germination at all from fresh seed after a couple of months (moist paper towel/baggie method).  A very experienced grower over at SRGC has, reportedly, tried seed at all different stages with no germination, and hence, suggested that it may be self-sterile.)  It does propagate itself by producing the odd offset a few inches away, not at all rambunctiously.  Other than the apparent germination problem, it's very carefree in these conditions.

Edit:  Hmm, as I do have 2 different plants/little colonies, bought from different sources, I should try cross-pollinating them...

[Lori S.]

Fabulous gardens, all!  How I wish they were in my neighborhood, so that I could walk by and admire them!  

Here are some recent pix, some alpine-ish, some not at all.
A couple from seed last year...
1) Oxytropis megalantha
2) Penstemon virens

Others:
3) Saxifraga paniculata var. minutifolia 'Red-backed Spider' - I know I showed this one before, but my saxes out front got eaten by rabbits, so I'm asking for indulgence!   :
4) Saxifraga 'Mrs. Winifred Bevington' - some bird took a liking (or a dislike?) to it this spring and pulled chunks out of the rosette, so there are not so many flower stalks as in previous years, unfortunately.
5, 6) Dracocephalum botryoides
7) Scutellaria orientalis ssp. alpina
8 ) Mimulus guttatus, along the greenhouse edge, where they enjoy the runoff from watering/messing-around-with-the-ponds inside.
9) Oriental poppy 'Dwarf Allegro'.  (Actually, there's never been anything particularly dwarfish about them.)
10) Salix x boydii... Hmm, the ant activity on a couple of those stem tips suggests that I need to go out tomorrow and squash some aphids...

[Lori S.]

What a terrific place you have there, Trond!  Pardon my ignorance, but does your fjord connect to the sea (salt water, or at least brackish?), or is it blocked off (hence, fresh water)... ? 

1) One bloom each on Erigeron aureus, from seed this spring - a pleasant surprise. 
2, 3) The start of bloom on Penstemon speciosus var. kennedyi