What do you see on your garden walks? 2012

Lori, you really grow a wide range of plants, amazing.
Pictures below taken on a new trail we took this year.

It's all eye candy, every photo....
Or as my friend likes to say: horticultural porn  :D

As a comparison to Lori's native Spiraea betulifolia in Alberta, this one, grown from wild seed collected in western Russia (but grown in Minnesota).
Spiraea betulifolia

Lori, does yours spread much?  Since 1997, mine grows about 2ft high and has spread to 5ft. in heavy clay soil.

Continuing along our trail in the Dolomites.

And farther along the trail

And farther up the trail more great plants, and finally, on the way down, a great rest stop.

Another pedicularis and then the rest stop

Lori, as an absolute novice rock gardener years ago, I grew Papaver rhaeticum and Gentiana verna from seed and planted the seedlings together.  I thought they would make a great primary color combination.  And boy did they!  It was a sensational show for two years and then they died out.  I was horrified at the time because they were growing well and my assumption was that it was a permanent planting.  The real tragedy was that they were never photographed.  I don't recall seeing this combination in the wild although nature certainly loves strong color combinations.  The poppy grows in steep limestone rubble.  If it's steep enough and rough enough to make you slide around, the poppy is sure to be there.

Hosta the morn'n to ya! In 'My Little Shade Garden': Hostas (clockwise from top left): 'Sum and Substance', Fluctuans 'variagata', 'Lakeside Dragonfly' and 'Thunderbolt': Second photo: 'Eternal Flame' in front of 'Blue Mammoth' and last; a longer view of the daylily sparkler.

Up on the froggy depths of Yacky Pond!: Eriogonum umbellatum from the Rockies reblooming: and the takeover Teucrium on a tear.

Anne: Great stuff. I'd like to make sense of that confounding Rhodothamnus!

Michael, where I usually see the finest Rhodothamnus chamaecistus is on limestone, often cliffs or huge boulders.  Companion plants might be Papaver rhaeticum, Paederota bonorata and Anthyllis alpestris.  Have you tried this one from seed yet?  You seem to be able to grow a huge range of plants successfully, including many plants which have chosen not to stay in my garden.

Looking at Anne's glorious pictures from the Dolomites, and Michael's lush garden in New York, I hesitate to trot out some of the toughies that are still managing to survive our very hot summer. It amazes me than when temps have hovered over 90 (and quite a few days in the 100's) that anything survives at all. A few strategic rainy days have saved us from despair, but nonetheless, it's been a trying summer in the garden and in the mountains. The rains have been timely (every ten days or so--and some substantial) so that lawns around Denver are emerald green (thanks to irrigation of course) that despite drought warnings from the utility, things appear normal...

I have been too busy dragging hoses to take many pictures in my own garden, but I have snapped a few in the last week on some of my garden visits, and these I shall post (they qualify as walks even if I drive to them?--I do walk around once I am there!)

1) The first is a really dazzling dwarf South African forget-me-not that I photographed at the test garden of a local seed company: they are about to produce the seed commercially in China: typical Anchusa capensis (introduced through Plant Select last year) gets 18" or more tall, but this one is under 10" and should be a winner for the larger rock garden. It is a short lived perennial for us (2-4 years) but self sows abundantly and blooms all summer!
2) I had to include a picture of Delosperma FIRESPINNER, our Plant Select blockbuster of the year. This one is reblooming for us in my garden. Is it bright enough for you?
3) These are flats of Delosperma karooicum ("Ouberg"), a plant I collected in the East Cape on my wonderful expedition funded by NARGS in 1998. It is a perfect size for the rock garden and blooms heavily through the summer. These are for sale at Timberline Gardens, our best local nursery.
4) Here is a shot in the sales area where there are a great variety of Delospermas blooming their hearts out in Mid July!
5) Sorry I did not put the proper name under the picture: this is Phlox nana, which most serious plant nuts in Denver have big patches blooming all summer. Paul Maslin, my mentor and first president of the local rock garden club, loved this plant and wrote about it for the English AGS journal. A few local gardeners find it weedy, but tolerate it because it looks like this for 5 months: this is at the home garden of Mike Bone, propagator at DBG.
6) Mike has propagated and promoted this hybrid between the wonderful, but somewhat fussy Heterotheca jonesii (a rare plant from Utah) and our ubiquitous and weedy Heterotheca villosa (possibly the commonest plant in the Great Plains and Rockies!). The hybrid is almost sterile and blooms for months in the heat. Best of all, it's easy to grow!
7) Inula verbascifolia from Mt. Olympus is a highlight of my summer rock garden
8) Opuntia erinacea (very near to the Grizzly Bear--O. trichophora) at Timberline: even non cactus lovers fall for this.
9) This is a poppy we are growing locally that is from Central Asia and allied to P. nudicaule: unlike the "Iceland" poppy, this is soundly perennial in our heat, and even blooms through this infernal heat: we love this plant!
10) The last show is the same Heterotheca I mentioned above next to a wonderful mat of Pterocephalus perennis (parnasii) at Mike Kintgen's private garden, which is a treasure trove of gems....

So there! There is hope for us, even on this hopelessly hot year on the windy, parched plains of America!

Wonderful poppy. Panayoti.  A Papaver nudicaule that doesn't perish in heat, wow.  Seed of that would be worth having.
This year we hiked with Sue and Cliff Booker and found a "first" - a white-flowered Papaver rhaeticum and also a pale
creamy yellow form.  I'll post pictures soon.

Gee, I could spend all day commenting on how wonderful EVERY pic is here.
  So one big WOW and THANK YOU to everyone must suffice!  :o

Fire Spinner has made it all the way to Home Depot in Minnesota.  Wonder if it is really hardy here. ???

Spiegel wrote:

Michael, where I usually see the finest Rhodothamnus chamaecistus is on limestone, often cliffs or huge boulders.  Companion plants might be Papaver rhaeticum, Paederota bonorata and Anthyllis alpestris.  Have you tried this one from seed yet?

Anne, I have not. I have 'Anthyllis montana' ? for many years from seed and a 'good' pink form I purchased. I did try the poppy and failed but I am quite a bit keener these days!

I swear that Rhodothamnus is whispering: "grow me".

I'm sitting at my cabin waiting for the sun to drive away the clouds and the temperature to increase.
What's better then to admire your garden walks whether at home or abroad ;)

Michael, if the plant is whispering to you, listen.

Love you pix, Lori! Imagine, Peonies in mid July (our's are popping seeds already)...

Love the Thymus 'Pink Chintz' shot: thymes are so easily overlooked. I seem to have more and more over time (along with lots of unsolicited hybrids)...

I posted many of these pix in Facebook, but realize most of you don't belong, so I am reposting them: plants from this past week in my garden.

1) Bulbine abyssinica which has made it through the last few winters.
2) Campanula fragilis var. cavalinii and Orostachys japonica
3) Eriogonum allenii
4) Jovibarba heuffellii ('Silver Ingot'? any help on cultivar name?)
5) Lantana horrida (a form hardy in Oklahoma, which I hope will make it here--only its first year)
6) Muhlenbergia torreyi (the wondeful ring muhly of the Great Plains--one of the best miniature grasses)
7) Pinellia pedatisecta: a tad weedy, but manageable in our climate. I saw this on Confucius' grave in China
8) Seseli gummiferum (a large, but very worthwhile umbel from Greece)
9) Talinum rugospermum: quite local from the Midwest. More delicate than the commoner T. calycinum.
10) Trachelium rumelianum: a pale specimen, but good view of details.

Tim: the Seseli is widefly available hereabouts, and in almost every "serious" gardeners garden. It does self sow, although never to the point to annoy. I am told there is a dwarf race in Sweden (which we must obtain!): you are right, it loves Colorado. And Colorado loves it!

My Orostachys japonica is not blooming this year, but I may have old seed, Cohan..As you can see, I have lots of offsets: some could """"accidentally""" fall into an envelope, if you know what I mean  ;) (finally found a use for the emoticons).

If Crassula seed is viable, it comes up right away: I know that old Rosularia seed can be very viable (I gave my friend Bill Adams seed of several Rosularias stored at room temperature for ten or fifteen years and they came up like cress). The seed is very tiny, and subject to lots of pathogens--and grows slowly. So lots of things can happen in transit, so to speak.

I can't help it, these are just way too cute to not post some more pics:

Echinocereus reichenbachii ssp. baileyi and ssp. rigidissima
       

Echinocereus reichenbachii var. perbellus, E. triglochidiatus and E. viridiflorus
       

RickR wrote:

I can't help it, these are just way too cute to not post some more pics:

Echinocereus reichenbachii ssp. baileyi and ssp. rigidissima
   
Echinocereus reichenbachii var. perbellus, E. triglochidiatus and E. viridiflorus
   

Agree! But small and cute - they seem to be able to defend themselves ;)

We have no ordinary garden here but it is always some plants to admire - and other colorful accessories!

1, 2 Campanula barbata. Although native in Norway I have introduced it here.

3, 4 Gentiana purpurea, also native and introduced in the meadow here.

5 Xanthorhoe montanata. Rather common but easily overlooked.

6 Erebia ligea (the Arran Brown). Very common here.

Campanula barbata is one of my favorites of a huge wonderful genus: I grew it quite well for a long time (even self sowed!), but notice it's now long gone. And always a treat to see European lepidoptera--very different from ours mostly.

Kelaidis wrote:

Campanula barbata is one of my favorites of a huge wonderful genus: I grew it quite well for a long time (even self sowed!), but notice it's now long gone. And always a treat to see European lepidoptera--very different from ours mostly.

Panayoti, if you want to renew Campanula barbata, please tell me!

Yoga Yoga Yoga frog and Sedum debile.

The best lilies of the year in my garden. Strength and, perhaps, culture has saved them from complete beatle anhiliation; 'Black Beauty' and 'Stargazer'

Allium cyaneum and a Phlox that looks like the Phlox nana that Panayoti recently posted. This was found growing on Rowe Mesa in New Mexico. It's woody and probably short lived but seems everblooming.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides blooms for a long time and last; a Talinum on Cactus Park.

Some more images from my "other garden" in the Dolomites.

cohan wrote:

Trond- some of the views with the Campanula are very similar to views here, though it would be rotundifolia, with Solidago around, and the most abundant Stellaria/Cerastium are weeds (though we have some natives I'm fond of).. Great colour on the Gentiana..

Anne- great to see the vast flower meadows, and interesting to see the colour variants on R glacialis- would these grow near one another or in separate colour populations?

They all grew together at the same place.  The darkest pink one, almost red, hadn't fully opened.  The others were fully opened and the range between sparkling white to pale pink to mixed pink and white to deep pink and red was really wonderful.  Of course the best ones were below on a steep sliding scree with nothing between you and the bottom if you started to slide.  It's my favorite trail but each year more of it slides down the mountain.  I suppose one of these years it will be gone.  

cohan wrote:

Trond- some of the views with the Campanula are very similar to views here, though it would be rotundifolia, with Solidago around, and the most abundant Stellaria/Cerastium are weeds (though we have some natives I'm fond of).. Great colour on the Gentiana..

Anne- great to see the vast flower meadows, and interesting to see the colour variants on R glacialis- would these grow near one another or in separate colour populations?

Rotundifolia is the common species here too. Barbata is very rare in Norway, however it has started to spread a little around our cabin. It sets seeds (and so does the gentian) if you would like some ;)

Anne, nice to see your other garden! The flora is obviously richer then here.
Cohan, I think the red colour of glacialis is due to age. When fertilized the flowers redden to increase the heath absorbency to quicken the ripening of the seed.

Trond, from my experience this does not appear to be true.  All of my pictures were taken at the same site and the colors varied from a pure white to almost red.  There were white ones going over without a hint of pink, and there were red ones, some of which were still in bud and obviously not yet fertilized.  At this site there just seemed to be a wide color range.  I have been visiting this trail for almost twenty years and this has always been true here.

Spiegel wrote:

Trond, from my experience this does not appear to be true.  All of my pictures were taken at the same site and the colors varied from a pure white to almost red.  There were white ones going over without a hint of pink, and there were red ones, some of which were still in bud and obviously not yet fertilized.  At this site there just seemed to be a wide color range.  I have been visiting this trail for almost twenty years and this has always been true here.

Anne, that's interesting! I've learnt that it is like I said. However, I don't doubt your observations. In fact I did a similar observation some years ago:

in Norway when I found a redflowered colony with flowers of all ages.

Cohan, if I am at the right spot when they seed, I'll collect some ;)

When the thunderstorm ended (it lasted almost all the day) I took a stroll in the garden. Had to use wellingtons though, it was very sodden.

The Actinidia deliciosus vine almost swamp the house. The new shoots are several meters long already. The Campanula lactiflora (actually a seedling in a wrong place) has been flattened by the heavy rain. Clematis vitalba threatens to swamp my greenhouse. Phygelius capensis seems to like some rain.

Alstroemeria aurea has spread to cover several square feet. Tropaeolum speciosus doesn't seem to mind growing in deep shade.