Image of the day - 2012

[cohan]

The Androsace I know reasonably well, though I also know its height will vary; my question wasn't clear though, I was actually wondering what the altitude of the sites with the Townsendia would be?

[Todd Boland]

Maianthemum stellatum var. crassum...the dwarf Newfoundland form.

[Lori S.]

Nice Townsendia- the Androsace gives me the scale- big flowers! but I guess anything would look big beside the Andro...lol.. how high would this be?

Oh, sorry!  That site is at about 2200m elevation on an alpine ridge.

[cohan]

Thanks, Lori- I thought it was probably up high

Nice one Todd- how tall is the dwarf M stellatum? It also appears to have broader leaves than most here (plants in shade have broader leaves here, but a much more open, taller form) and less glaucous than plants growing in the open here..

[McDonough]

Maianthemum stellatum var. crassum...the dwarf Newfoundland form.

I think I have commented on this one before, love it!  Judging from the foliage this plant certainly has Juno Iris ambitions.  Is this dwarf NF form being cultivated?

[Hoy]

Maianthemum stellatum var. crassum...the dwarf Newfoundland form.

Todd,if you ever get hold of seeds of this one!

I have two other clones of M. stellatum and they are quite different. Does it grow in company with some Empetrum?

[cohan]

Campanula rotundifolia, in the edge of a hayfield..

   

[Hoy]

A very cosy and familiar look! Although it is flatter than most places here

Here are a few pictures of my one of my favorite meadows on the island of Jomfruland:





The dominating species at this time of the year (early summer) is Armeria maritima, Lychnis viscaria and Saxifraga granulata among a dozen more:

       

[RickR]

Since we are showing meadows, here is a non-native one covered with flax.  I am totally ignorant as to what the flax field crop flower looks like, but these were growing among established grasses and a few other forbes, so I am guessing it is an introduced wildflower type.

        

[McDonough]

Nice flowery meadows.  A number of times I tried getting Linum perenne established in my garden, and they failed to persist. But finally got some growing and seedling around.  Now it has become a weed and I'm ripping out hundreds upon hundreds of seedlings; I fear that my allium garden will become a flax meadow in a few more years.  Some pure white forms appeared too.

[McDonough]

I recall taking lots of photos of the spontaneous white Linum perenne plants, but most photyos were terrible, taken with my phone camera.  The blue ones vary in shade, mostly light blue colors, not a deep as the ones Rick showed, and a passable photo of the white-flowered one on the right.

[cohan]

Nice place, Trond! More varied than the field I showed, which |I am quite sure is a cultivated one-- many fields here are sown in grasses and/or legumes for hay and grazing for some years, then they will be plowed and put to a grain/seed crop such as barley, oats or canola (rape)- not as much wheat in my immediate area... and then repeat, etc..
So in this kind of filed, there are not a lot of wildflowers as they don't have time to establish before its plowed again- the Campanula will have come in from the roadside ditch, and may be only in a strip along the edge that does not get plowed! Other places we have pastures for grazing that are just cleared of trees, but not plowed, and they can have more diversity..

Rick-- great blue! I suppose someone in Alberta must be growing flax for seed, but I have never seen a field...

Mark, I always forget about flax- there are a few spots I've seen Linum growing wild (down south and in the montane zone; also pale blues) but have not been there at the right for seeds, or didn't look for them.. need to correct that, I'd like to have some seeding around, they probably wouldn't have as easy a time of it here as in your climate, but I could keep them in semi/wild places so they have lots of competition...

[Hoy]

Nice place, Trond! More varied than the field I showed, which |I am quite sure is a cultivated one-- many fields here are sown in grasses and/or legumes for hay and grazing for some years, then they will be plowed and put to a grain/seed crop such as barley, oats or canola (rape)- not as much wheat in my immediate area... and then repeat, etc..
So in this kind of filed, there are not a lot of wildflowers as they don't have time to establish before its plowed again- the Campanula will have come in from the roadside ditch, and may be only in a strip along the edge that does not get plowed! Other places we have pastures for grazing that are just cleared of trees, but not plowed, and they can have more diversity..

"My" meadow is kind of cultivated as a small herd of calves do graze here every summer. Woody species spreading into the meadow are also removed on a regular basis. The soil is mostly fine quartz sand.

I've seen small patches of flax here in some gardens but not meadows! Although flax (Linum usatissimum)  has been grown here since the bronze age it is not found wild and not grown commercially since 19th century (American cotton replaced it ). Another plant grown for its fibers is nettle (netle or nesle in Norw), a very important fiber plant as the word net (nett in Norw.) and "å netle" (= to sew) show. The latter plant is found wild

[Tim Ingram]

Every now and again farmers here grow flax in place of rape - it is far more beautiful to see a field of blue! The field below our garden was planted this way one year and after harvesting the remaining stems were brought together in heaps and burnt. It seemed as though the whole field was on fire! (and my wife thought I had blown up the shed at the bottom of the garden!)... I wish some other linums would grow as well; L. narbonnense has always been a favourite of mine but seems to set very little seed and is very difficult to root cuttings from. Very beautiful silver-blue flowers though.

[cohan]

Nice place, Trond! More varied than the field I showed, which |I am quite sure is a cultivated one-- many fields here are sown in grasses and/or legumes for hay and grazing for some years, then they will be plowed and put to a grain/seed crop such as barley, oats or canola (rape)- not as much wheat in my immediate area... and then repeat, etc..
So in this kind of filed, there are not a lot of wildflowers as they don't have time to establish before its plowed again- the Campanula will have come in from the roadside ditch, and may be only in a strip along the edge that does not get plowed! Other places we have pastures for grazing that are just cleared of trees, but not plowed, and they can have more diversity..

"My" meadow is kind of cultivated as a small herd of calves do graze here every summer. Woody species spreading into the meadow are also removed on a regular basis. The soil is mostly fine quartz sand.

I've seen small patches of flax here in some gardens but not meadows! Although flax (Linum usatissimum)  has been grown here since the bronze age it is not found wild and not grown commercially since 19th century (American cotton replaced it ). Another plant grown for its fibers is nettle (netle or nesle in Norw), a very important fiber plant as the word net (nett in Norw.) and "å netle" (= to sew) show. The latter plant is found wild

I know nettles are supposed to be very nutritious, but I didn't know they were used for fibre! Something to look into...