Image of the day - 2012

[Hoy]

No lawns here.  They are all cut meadows and dandelions, buttercups and daisies are so welcomed in the spring.  They don't seem to object to being regularly mowed.

Dandelions prefere to be mowed. They actually disappear if a meadow isn't mowed for a while! The same if you spray with weedkiller - you get more weeds as they are  the quickest to reestablish themselves!

[Hoy]

Little plants amidst the mosses and lichens in this special little place (aren't they all!) in the garden are: Primula 'Peter Klein', behind Peter are Gaultheria hispidula, Arcterica nana, and Cassiope selaginoides var. 'globularis'. At the left is the reasonably rampant Lonicera crassifolia and a nice little "weed" here; Dicentra cucullaria. Individually these tiny scenes don't do much for the garden but they are, none the less, precious.

Very nice! I like it!

[Hoy]

Trond- nice field- is it now? Ours are still many weeks away.. Would T officinale be native to your area, or is it impossible to tell in Europe?

No, it's neither now nor my field I took the picture last spring when we were visiting our daughter who was in the town of Ålesund farther north along the coast.
However, the dandelions have started the blooming now.

T. officinale doesn't exist as a single species! It is a section with about 200 species!  It's several thousand species of Taraxacum (most are agamospermic) in Europe and in Norway as well. However, a lot of them are native but probably not the common road verge and field "weed" which consists of a plethora of species

Here you find a Norwegian endemic dandelion: http://www.rolv.no/bilder/galleri/fjellplanter/tara_dov.htm
and here's another one: http://floragutt.com/Aursundlovetann.htm

[Booker]

Iris latifolia photographed today in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Southern Spain in the most glorious weather.

[Lori S.]

That's a beautiful little vignette, Bundraba!  Welcome to the forum!

Trond, I like your woodland full of anemones better than your field of dandelions!  Not to say they aren't both showy. 

Ah, the start of the mountain season in warmer climes, Cliff!  Thanks for posting that wonderful scene!

[Tim Ingram]

There are some wonderful plants there - the vignette of primula and cassiope is very fine; beautiful to see plants growing so naturally. The only place I have seen a complete field of dandelions is in Norway (at Geirangerfjord, mixed with the meadow geranium, and they were all in seed!). In the UK such meadows are few and far between.

Most dramatic in our garden at the moment is a plant of Yucca whipplei beginning to flower - a surprise since is only seven or eight years from planting. I am taking a photo every day at the same time to follow its progress and aim to put them together into a short video! How tall will it grow I wonder?

[Merlin]

I Hate it when the garden is really starting to pop and my work schedule is so tight that i can hardly get a look. On the theme of yellows i took a few pictures before heading into the office this morning.
Cypripedium parviflorus, Not quite fully open flowers yet but very close. I have several different collections, they flower at slightly different times even when right next to each other. These tend to seed around alarmingly but i don't usually hinder them.

Dryas drummondii

Eriogonum caespitosa with the weed pasgue flower popping up in the middle of it.

Lepidium nanum, almost yellow flower

Another DYC hymenoxys lapidicola, very slow growing in my garden


Thats all the yellows i had time for before the sun came up this morning. will try to post up some of the non yellow a little later.

[McDonough]

I Hate it when the garden is really starting to pop and my work schedule is so tight that i can hardly get a look.

Jim, I understand perfectly, typically my garden viewings amount to a speedy dash at dawn just before jumping into the car, and at dusk; it's not fair!  Yes, everything is popping here too, all the more frustrating.  Fortunately, today I'm working from home, and can nip out into the garden every now and then

Excellent portraits of Dryas drummondii (my that's a good clear yellow) and Lepdium nanum.  I have two large clumps of Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens (photo of one clump attached), the one shown below is in a similar state of bud.  I counted over 80 pips emerging this spring on this one, not sure whay it doesn't spread, it seems happy to stay as a rather congested clump.  Never has a seedling show up, I wonder if your western form is more free with seeding, or perhaps your garden is more amenable to seedlings self sowing.

Tim, that is one dang impressive rocket shoot on Yucca whipplei, looking forward to seeing the progression of bloom.  Are you taking an wagers on the ultimate scape height?  I see plants and groundcovers under that geometric mass of dagger spears, how do you possibly weed underneath such a Yucca?

Cliff, always great to see fine Iris flourishing in native habitat, a beauty it is.

[cohan]

Trond- those darn composites don't like to co-operate with our tidy classification systems The first native one looks very cute- if it stays small with leaves like that.. second one doesn't show the plant as well...
I would most love a white dandelion, such as the arctic species as found in Svalbard and elsewhere! I've failed twice with seed of albidens from Wim 


Jim- wonderful things happening in your garden as usual

Cliff- looks like you are on another lovely trip!

[Lori S.]

Cypripedium parviflorus, Not quite fully open flowers yet but very close. I have several different collections, they flower at slightly different times even when right next to each other. These tend to seed around alarmingly but i don't usually hinder them.

Eriogonum caespitosa with the weed pasgue flower popping up in the middle of it.

Wow, I gotta say... you've really got some terrific weeds there, Jim!      Love the photos!

[RickR]

I don't think it is possible for any of us plant lovers to experience plant overload, but then, there is never enough time for them all, it seems, crazy jobs or not!

Everyone's additions are so nice and interesting.  And I'll single out Jim H., Michael P. and Sharon I. because you are all new participants here on the forum: welcome, and really, really wonderful plants and photos!

[Merlin]

It is nice to see such a variety of plants that people are able to grow, even in challenging conditions. I have a few more from this morning.
collomia debilis, this is the Idaho form i grow the superior Wyoming form but it flowers much later here. This is the perfect example of the much lamented (by Bob Nold, anyway) cottonwood season, if you have sticky plants.


Arisaema ringens


Clematis columbiana, this is the high elevation(non vineing) type, oddly my normal vine type specimens flower at exactly the same time. I know they are not distinct taxonomicly but they seem very different in a number of ways--except flowering time
 

[Hoy]

I Hate it when the garden is really starting to pop and my work schedule is so tight that i can hardly get a look. On the theme of yellows i took a few pictures before heading into the office this morning.
Cypripedium parviflorus, Not quite fully open flowers yet but very close. I have several different collections, they flower at slightly different times even when right next to each other. These tend to seed around alarmingly but i don't usually hinder them.

Can anybody tell why the weather is at its best and the flowering is at its peak when you have to work most?

I would never hinder any orchid to seed around in my garden!

Merlin, does your non-vineing C columbiana set seed? 

[Bundraba!]

Hey Rick; thanks for the special mention and Jim... you've been doing that for a long time! I remember attempting to get a garden visit when I was out that-a-way many years back. I called and even "scoped" the area (I have been known to knock on doors to satisfy garden lust!) but saw nothing of a rock garden. I suppose mapping would make it easier today. It is, indeed, nice to be able to see what's going on out there in rock gardening via this forum and its more accessible than Boise, at least from here!

[Spiegel]

It is nice to see such a variety of plants that people are able to grow, even in challenging conditions. I have a few more from this morning.
collomia debilis, this is the Idaho form i grow the superior Wyoming form but it flowers much later here.
 

  Jim, I really like your Idaho form of Collomia debilis.  How does the Wyoming form differ?  Is either one long-lived?