Image of the day - 2012

[cohan]

Leontopodium do well here...I have L. alpinum and here is L. conglobatum.  I started two new species from seed this year.

Looking good! Looking forward to seeing the others- I've seen lots of species listed on the Czech seed lists, but don't know much about them...

[Hoy]

I have tried several Leontopodiums from seed and the seed germinates well enough. But assuming that Leontopodiums are rock garden plants I have planted the seedlings in too lean and dry soil for their liking. Growth is slow and several have died. Now I have only a few plants left and they sulk.

Trond that Arena is indeed a knockout!  It would never stand here that close to the sea...hardly stands here miles from the sea!

Todd, it has withstood pretty strong wind even in summer, and some years ago the pine growing next to it fell down in a winter gale and had to be removed. Seems the lily liked less competition
I am more anxious for the sheep now that nobody looks after the garden

[Booker]

Scutellaria alpina

[Todd Boland]

Grown from seed this year and currently blooming is this species obtained from the AGS called delphinium aff. smithianum...which it certainly is not!  Nice enough but with 277 species in China alone, unlikely to ever be named.

[Lori S.]

From our hike the other day...

[RickR]

Looks like they all wanted to be in the photo, Cliff!
  And they've been "captured" perfectly.

  In fact I was just trying to photograph some scutellaria in the wild here, and they did not want to cooperate at all! 

[cohan]

Beautiful, Cliff!
We have a species here, S galericulata, which grows in wetlands- lovely plant but obviously not as compact or dense as the alpine species..
Rick what species do you have there?

Lori- great site!
Todd-- 277! Are they really distinct or in need of some lumping?

[RickR]

Yes Cohan, the species I alluded to that grows here is Scutellaria galericulata, too.  And it seems I did get some nice pics out of the many I took.  (Thank goodness for digital cameras!)  I'll be posting them in the travel section along with many others, once I've gone through them all.  

[cohan]

Looking forward to seeing how the species looks in your area,  Rick I've been so focussed on garden building this year, I haven't even been out onto the farm (beside my acreage on two sides) to look at plants in ages

[Hoy]

Cliff, perfect picture!
I have tried to grow this species (Scutellaria alpina) from seed but never got germination. Anybody growing it?

G. galericulata grows here too often on beaches. I thin it is a pretty plant. I grow G. lateriflora in my garden (it is called American scullcap (amerikansk skjoldbærer) in Norwegian).


Todd, it's nice, and in some months only! All my Delphiniums grow slowly if they survive - leaves are eaten by slugs.

Lori, just an afternoon walk or a long one?

From the inner wall of my compost bin, possibly a Coprinus: Edit: More likely a slime mold!

[Lori S.]

Trond, I have several Scutellaria alpina plants, both the usual purple/white-flowered and a white-flowered with only a purple flag... one of these was originally purchased as a named cultivar ('Romana'?)
 
Anyway, if I get out there and collect seeds, I can send you some.  Most of the species I've tried have germinated in a relatively short time at room temperature.

Trond, isn't Coprinus a mushroom?  Or are there fungi with less structure in that genus too?

Another hike photo... I'll post a few photos in the Trips section, and describe it a bit more:

[Hoy]

Trond, I grow several Scutellaria alpina, both the usual purple/white-flowered and a white-flowered with only a purple flag... one of these was originally purchased as a named cultivar ('Romana'?)
Anyway, if I get out there and collect seeds, I can send you some.  Most of the species I've tried have germinated in a relatively short time at room temperature.

Trond, isn't Coprinus a mushroom?  Or are there fungi with less structure in that genus too?

Another hike photo... I'll post a few photos in the Trips section, and describe it a bit more:

Lori,

- yes please, name doesn't matter!

- yes, Coprinus is a mushroom; and if you look close you can see the small "bulbs" which are the initiated young mushrooms or to be precise: the fruiting bodies. The weft is the mycelium and hence the mushroom.
As said it is more likely a slime mold as the "slimy" outer edges (feeding plasmodium) suggest. The threads are mature plasmodium and the "bulbs" are maturing sporangia. 

- please do

[McDonough]

Grown from seed this year and currently blooming is this species obtained from the AGS called delphinium aff. smithianum...which it certainly is not!  Nice enough but with 277 species in China alone, unlikely to ever be named.

Todd, beautiful color on that Delphinium, whatever species it is, an elegant slender spire.   The few species I have in the garden are typically chewed up by rabbits, possibly by a marauding woodchuck (ground hog) that I battle with.

[cohan]

trond- cool mushroom- it's interesting to see what would usually be going on below ground out of sight.. there are a lot of fungi and mushrooms here, of course you typically see only the fruiting body, I imagine the undisturbed soils are full of them..

Lori, the Scutellaria is looking good (both forms).. is it growing in the border as opposed to rock garden, or does it just look that way from the photo?
Behind one of the new rock beds I'm building, I have another 'ridge' which is just a berm of soil, and will have a bit of gravel in the top couple of inches only, I'm planning to put some things there (like Hieraciums for example) which don't seem to need the rock garden (and/or may be too tall in flower) but will still be raised for display and drainage, so I'm thinking of things I can stick in that sort of planting too...

[Lori S.]

Yes, very educational about the mushroom... I would have guessed it was a slime mold or some such thing.

Cohan, those scutellarias are in the border, as they don't need the rock garden conditions (and predated having any rock gardens  ).  I imagine they would be very nice in the rock garden or berm, and I haven't seen any undesirable habits (e.g. excessive self-seeding or spreadiness).  I can send you some seed if you like.