Don't forget the red ones!

[Hoy]

This  (Antennaria dioica) is a common plant in the subalpine zone and in the lowland woods and higher up in the mountains too. You get it in different colors between red and white. The red ones are showiest.

[McDonough]

This  (Antennaria dioica) is a common plant in the subalpine zone and in the lowland woods and higher up in the mountains too. You get it in different colors between red and white. The red ones are showiest.

I really like Antennaria, after all, it's my namesake for my two email addresses. There are some very good species and forms, and yes, I too like the more colorful forms. One that I grow in troughs because it stays small enough, is Antennaria gaspensis (from the Gaspe peninsula, collected by George Newman), making a flat silvery ground cover, and while not showy it is interesting in flower, with blackish heads.  However, like many pussytoes (who doesn't like a plant with a cute common name like that) the flowering stems elongate and flop and entangle themselves, looking quite unkempt.  Which reminds me, time to go out with a sharp pair of snips and cut those ugly stems off before all the "fluff" starts shedding.

I had germination on one called Antennaria rosea ssp. pulvinata from NARGS seed this year, listed as cream, pink or rose, 4-17 cm.  Checking out the USDA data page on it, it has a huge array of synonym, with A. gaspensis included!  Recent taxonomic revisions have taken the approach of massive lumping.  It'll be interesting to see how it compares to A. gaspensis
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ANROP

Ooh, look at this one, Antennaria corymbosa,
Antennaria corymbosa E.E. Nelson - flat-top pussytoes
http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=anco_003_ahp.jpg

[RickR]

So apparently, there is no longer a A. neglecta var. gaspensis, and A. gaspensis is A. rosea ssp. pulvinata, according to the USDA.

Personally, I like the bicolors best.

Antennaria rosea ssp. confinis

[McDonough]

So apparently, there is no longer a A. neglecta var. gaspensis, and A. gaspensis is A. rosea ssp. pulvinata, according to the USDA.

Personally, I like the bicolors best.

Antennaria rosea ssp. confinis

Ooh, I like that one (A. rosea ssp. confinis), very nice .  So, regarding the "gaspensis" thing, if I get a nice pink-flowered plant out of the NARGS A. rosea ssp. pulvinata seed, instead of the black-and white flowered "A. gaspensis" that was collected in Gaspe, all it means is that the lumpers have done some heavy lumping.

[IMYoung]

One that I grow in troughs because it stays small enough, is A. gaspensis (from the Gaspe peninsula, collected by George Newman), making a flat silvery ground cover, and while not showy it is interesting in flower, with blackish heads.

My geographical knowldge is dire so I had to look up the whereabouts of the Gaspe Peninsula in wikipedia!!
Perhaps others, especially non-North American readers might have the same curiosity so here is what it told me.....

"Gaspé Peninsula  is a peninsula constituting part of the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, in Quebec, Canada. It extends into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and is separated from New Brunswick by the baie des Chaleurs and the Restigouche River.Gaspesie is a touristic region of Quebec.

The interior is rugged, being a northward extension of the Appalachian Mountains. This range is called the Chic-Choc Mountains. A section of the International Appalachian Trail travels along the peninsula. Route 132 circles the peninsula, with one branch following the coast and the other cutting across the peninsula at Sainte-Flavie. Forillon National Park is found at the northeastern tip of the Gaspé."

[Todd Boland]

The Gaspe Peninsula is very much like the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland...many of the plants are indeed the same except we don't have A. rosea!  We have plenty of the brown Antennarias and a lovely one called Antennaria eucosma..the one in our BG is almost open.

In my garden red alpines are rare...here are two curently open.  Primula auricula 'Dale's Red' is truly red!  And I realize all of your Aquilegia canadensis bloomed weeks ago but mine are just starting.

[Hoy]

Your 'Dale's Red is very red, Todd. This year I have managed to germinate lots of seed of A. canadense. I hope they are true!
I liked your black pussytoes, Mark, whether the name is this or that!
And your bicolored pussytoes, Rick, here the wild ones are either white (male plants, I am told) or red (female). I have to look out for bicolored, what kind of sex do they have?

Yesterday we had a nice trip in the mountains here (or rather the undulating "mesa". The highest point is 1200m and there were patches of snow all over. One of the few plants to flower was Loiseleuria procumbens.

[Todd Boland]

Our Loiseleuria are blooming at the moment too....so Newfoundland is on par with the mountains of Scandanavia....yet our snow has been gone for 3 months....a testiment to just how cold this spring has been.

[Hoy]

Our Loiseleuria are blooming at the moment too....so Newfoundland is on par with the mountains of Scandanavia....yet our snow has been gone for 3 months....a testiment to just how cold this spring has been.

The spring here has been colder than normal too, but not that cold!
Here's your weather forecast bay the way!
http://www.yr.no/place/Canada/Newfoundland/Saint_John%27s/hour_by_hour.html

[Todd Boland]

Thanks for the link!  Never saw this site..I now have it bookmarked.  Today actually hit 19.4 C..the warmest day so far this year...mind you it was pouring rain!

[Kelaidis]

Such a heat wave, Todd! We have finally gotten into the 90's...and kinda enjoy it...

[McDonough]

Such a heat wave, Todd! We have finally gotten into the 90's...and kinda enjoy it...

Been there and done that in New England, a number of spring days to the mid 90's F already, with a boat-load of days in the mid 80s or more... our season as a result is so advanced, I'm sure its a record breaker.

[Hoy]

Such a heat wave, Todd! We have finally gotten into the 90's...and kinda enjoy it...

That would be a little too hot for me!
Here's your weather forecast:
http://www.yr.no/place/United_States/Colorado/Hyatt_Regency_Denver_at_Colorado_Convention_Center/hour_by_hour.html

[Hoy]

Thanks for the link!  Never saw this site..I now have it bookmarked.  Today actually hit 19.4 C..the warmest day so far this year...mind you it was pouring rain!

Hope it works for your place! It is fairly accurate for where I use it.

[IMYoung]

Gentlemen, you'll forgive me I hope, if I am less than enthusiatic to hear of your high temperatures.... I believe we may have hit the dizzy heights of 65 fahrenheit here in Aberdeen, Norht East Scotland----for an hour or two on a couple of days in the last few weeks---- but for the most part we get pleased if we make 55 at this time.....

Lovely photos of the Loiseleuria.... sometimes called the Trailing Azalea....... I LOVE this plant.....we have it in Scotland, too and it is one of our prettiest little plants, I think.

M.