New Zealand Alpine Flora

[Lori S.]

Samolus repens is really beautiful!

Wil take my woolie hat with me just in case I head north across the border .

Well, a hat is good...  For our hikes here, even though we usually pick fair weather and go out in shorts and T-shirts, we have never regretted carrying packs filled with all-weather gear (rain jacket, fleece jacket, insulated pants, gloves, warm hat, light wind pants and jacket) - we quite often use it all!    

This thread is very helpful for getting some kind of a grasp on which New Zealand natives might be possible to grow here.  Thanks!

[Toole]

Oops --just realized i hadn't included a pic of the Raoulia hookeri
var hookeri in my last posting ---Duh !! 

Cheers Dave.

[McDonough]

Very nice Dave, we always think of Raoulias as high mountain plants, not as beach-goers; very interesting.  Great scenic shot.

[Hoy]

Oops --just realized i hadn't included a pic of the Raoulia hookeri
var hookeri in my last posting ---Duh !! 

Cheers Dave.

Easier to see it here, I admit that. Was sure you talked about some of the whitish heaps in the first picture

[Booker]

Oops --just realized i hadn't included a pic of the Raoulia hookeri
var hookeri in my last posting ---Duh !! 

Cheers Dave.

Well worth waiting for, Dave!!!

[cohan]

Dave-I agree about Samolus- very cute
Steve, what gear you'd need across the border would really depend on where you cross- interior southern  British Columbia would be more of a continuation of some of the places you visited this year in the U.S. with hot dry summers, and parts of southern Alberta, away from the mountains, can also be quite warm, though Alberta generally has more of its rainfall in summer than B.C.. Lori and I are nearer the foothills, so our summers can be pleasantly warm and sunny with chilly nights, or we can have some wet and chilly days thrown in through the summer (with nights not far above frost or even frost, possible at almost any time), and being a bit farther north,and just barely outside the foothills biome in boreal mixed forest,  my climate is a fair bit wetter than Lori's, year, round. This past summer, while we had more warm days than the couple of previous years, I still had to water outdoor seed pots only a small handful of times between May and August, and actually germinated some winter growing South African plants outdoors over summer! (they had to come indoors in early fall).. so, hot and dry are not big concerns in my garden  -  dry years are not unknown here, just not recently!
Any seed you think might have a chance would be welcome indeed Thanks!

[Jandals]

  For our hikes here, even though we usually pick fair weather and go out in shorts and T-shirts, we have never regretted carrying packs filled with all-weather gear (rain jacket, fleece jacket, insulated pants, gloves, warm hat, light wind pants and jacket) - we quite often use it all!    

Lori - This is exactly what we do in NZ
Cohan - Thanks for the climate info . The problem with NZ plants in most of the USA is the double hit of extreme cold and extreme heat ( and humidity ) . Plants that could take the heat can't take the heat and vice versa . The West coast is an obvious exception . If your summers are not too hot then it may be possible to grow some interesting stuff like Ranunculus crithmifolius , R.haastii and R.piliferus ( in order below ) outside . Maybe some covering of the dormant plant might help . I will try to find seed for you and Lori as it would be very interesting to see how you get on .

[cohan]

Thanks, Steve- any of those would be interesting to try. Heat really is no big issue here- even on the (usually very few) days when we hit 30C, it's only for a couple of hours in the afternoon..
That's a distant memory at this time of year, of course...lol

[Toole]

The Southern Rata ,Metrosideros umbellata ,is in full bloom currently here on the coast ,(you can see the wind shear in the first pic).

Another Metrosideros, M.excelsia grows in the North island and is commonly known as the 'NZ Christmas tree'.

I think that 'title' could easily apply to our local species as well.

Cheers Dave. 

[Hoy]

You are lucky to have such gems growing wild! Wikipedia says you have 12 endemic species in NZ  And not one is hardy? I mean hardy enough to grow here!

[Toole]

Traveled up country to join members of the Otago Alpine Garden Club ,fellow forumist Steve and Harry Jans and his wife Hannie.
(Harry is out in NZ speaking at the NZAGS Discussion weekend in 6 days).

I headed up on Friday and decided to visit Northern Southland for a look around before meeting up with the others in Fiordland at night.

Masses of Craspedia uniflora ,(woollyheads), were in bloom.

Melicytus alpinus ,(porcupine shrub) on a rock.

A small very hairy Myosotis sps growing out in the open .( Not sure where it ‘sits’ in the new publication "Above The Treeline").

Pentachondra pumila in fruit ,creeping around.

In a bog ,Gentianella amabilis .

One of the locals sun bathing.

The ever reliable Celmisia densiflora in flower.

Unfortunately I had a little hiccup coming down the hill and came off the bike in loose gravel so yesterday I was unable to climb right to the saddle with the others and to be honest my mind wasn't really on plants  .... so just a couple of pics .

Gentainella divisa .
Fiordland.

Hopefully Steve will post some of the goodies i missed.

Cheers Dave.
  

[McDonough]

Some nice goodies there Dave (well, except for the skink ), I'm particularly drawn to Craspedia.  I hadn't realized that Gentiana divisa is currently classified as a Gentianella, it's a lovely thing. I tried growing it from seed once, I didn't fair too well

[cohan]

Sorry to hear about the spill, Dave
Some great plants there- awesome foliage/form. Esp love the Melicytus- very cool looking! and great leaves on the Myosotis..

[Hoy]

How do you do Dave? Nothing broken? Are you able to get on your two-wheeled vehicle?

I have tried to sow the shrubby violet Melicytus twice but never achieved germination. Any advice?

[cohan]

I looked at Melicytus a bit on google, not enough apparently- I didn't get the connection to violets! That being said, if its hard to germinate, maybe GA3?