Re: Got the Blues

Ahh, I just knew this topic would bring out the crowds.   ;D  

Oh well, if only for my own amusement...
1, 2, 3)  Penstemon nitidus, in bloom in the front yard.
4) Myosotis decumbens

I used my blue poppy elsewhere and where I am now it is only a small, blue violet (Viola rupestris) in bloom. I am not sure my camera can capture it. Here the snow cover has just receded.

I managed to take a picture of the violet. It is only 3.5 cm high. It is growing in the sub-alpine zone in short grass.
PS! The penstemon seems to be a plant to search for!

Here's my version of Myosotis decumbens, a common native plant in the subalpine zone. The other is Ajuga pyramidalis, also common from the sea level to the lower alpine zone. The flowers are blue!

Hoy wrote:

The penstemon seems to be a plant to search for!

It always seems to be offered in the NARGS seed ex from various donors (I am one  :)).  I'll check if I still have seeds from last year and could send them if so, Trond... not sure it would like your wet climate, but with enough drainage... ??

Skulski wrote:

It always seems to be offered in the NARGS seed ex from various donors (I am one  :)).  I'll check if I still have seeds from last year and could send them if so, Trond... not sure it would like your wet climate, but with enough drainage... ??

You know, when you read a seed list like NARGS's you get a wish list much too long! I try to find pictures of plants I don't know but haven't time to look for all. This forum open your eyes for new species.
When you speak of climate I have three places to put down plants and two of the places have dry climate, at least much drier than at home. So I would like to give it a try!
(I have looked at your weather here: http://www.yr.no/sted/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/time_for_time.html )

Moltkia petraea is one of my favorites.  I'd call it a sub-shrub.  The flowers are a good blue and last a long time.  It seems to be very cold hardy (Zone 4b/5a here, noone knows for sure anymore)

MMcD, NARGS Moderator:  Anne, I re-uploaded your image as it was curiously named "convolvulus compactus 012.JPG", surely a typo.

That's a beauty, Anne, and it's great to hear of its hardiness.  I tried it from seed this year... no joy yet, though.

Hi Lori,
I'd rather grow from seed also, but if you have no luck I think that Harvey Wrightman has this in his catalog.
It gets better and better each year, a worthwhile investment.  My garden is very dry so I never worry about anything getting out of bounds, but I think this is really a sub-shrub and will behave itself.

Beautiful Moltkia Anne!  It is one of my favs too.  Mine is just starting to show buds.

Here are some of my current blues..the best is by far Gentiana angustifolia 'Frei', the others are Viola corsica and Viola cucullata.

Hi Todd, I agree that Gentiana angustifolia 'frei' is one of the best.  It definitely has staying power.  This year I'm trying G.angustifolia 'Iceberg' - do you know it? I heard from Cliff Booker that you were a long way from spring when he was there. This has just been a wierd winter with huge temperature swings and everything 3 weeks ahead of itself.

Another good one for the garden is Paederota bonarota. The blue is not as good in my garden as it is in nature but it's still a very nice color and an easy plant to grow.

When I see the pictures you all take I understand that I have to buy me a new camera. My old automatic simply won't focus of what I want!
I have not tried Moltkia before and Paederota is quite new to me. Is it a dry climate plant?

Anne, I have grown Iceberg...it is lovely but unfortunately it died this winter...heaved right out of the ground.  This has been one of the coldest springs on record for us.  Three days ago the temp finally reached above normal!  The trees are now flushing before my eyes.  Still have loads of daffs and tulips open...in fact, some tulips are still just green buds! The last place in North America to have tulips open....that is our claim to fame!

Paederota bonarota is from the Dolomites and is alpine, at least where I've seen it.  It starts at treeline and I don't really know how high it goes.  I've almost always seen it on limestone growing in crevices.  I have it planted in the tufa crevice garden where it seems to be permanent. It doesn't like hot and dry but survives it, perhaps because its toes are clinging to tufa. It is absolutely gorgeous in nature and pretty good in the garden, really worth growing. I'm attaching a picture of it growing in the Dolomites

Compared to some of the other plants shown, this one is a bit humble but a wonderful blue and easy to grow - Dracocephalum argunense.  The picture shows it growing next to the driveway where it is regularly plowed in the winter but comes through with a smile. It starts to bloom in June and continues to hard frost. If you like primary, it's great pared with Zinnia grandiflora.

I grow some Dracocephalum species here but none has started flowering yet.
Paederota bonarota is now on my expanding wish list!

Lithodora diffusa 'Heavenly Blue' has become a popular plant here after introduction some years ago. My plant has crept into the street where it is regularly hit by cars!

Love all these blue things, once grew that Draco, must get it back one day, the Paederota really turns my head... one of those obscure names easily overlooked until one sees a photo (as they say, a photo is worth a... ;D), and what's not to like about the heavenly blue of Lithodora. 

This sunny hot days beckons me to be outdoors, and when I go outside from my basement door, the first thing I see are the blue globes of an extra fine form of Allium caeruleum "DBG Form" (Denver Botanic garden) that I received bubs of a few years back.  The flowers are sweet scented, and I caught a photo with a wasp (around these parts called "yellow jackets") feeding on the nectar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket).

Glad to see the Allium is blooming for you: It's been blooming here for a week or so and is hanging in there...

That Paederota is awesome, Ann! I've grown its yellow cousin (not very well) but never gotten the blue one. It reminds me a bit of a wonderful veronica I saw in Mongolia; I shall see if I can put my hands on its picture. It may be in the next NARGS bulletin come to think of it..never got a name for it: shoot!

Got back from a 2 week holiday to find these few 'blues' open....Globularia nudicaulis (I think), Veronica prostrata and Aquilegia flabellata 'Ministar'

Oooh, nice blue series Todd!

Globularia has never been a success for me. And the small Aquilegias disappear fast too.
Veronicas are better!

This one I obtained as V. integrifolia.

Nice Veronica Trond....I've made a note of it!

I have this one but mine does not look as good as the one we have in the BG...V. peduncularis 'Georgia Blue'

Todd wrote:

I have this one but mine does not look as good as the one we have in the BG...V. peduncularis 'Georgia Blue'

I grew this once, liked it very much, but lost it and much of the garden in my "garden is completely neglected" years when my two girls were young and life-demands were many.  Both this one, and V. integrifolia that Trond shows, are great looking veronicas.

I seem to have many things in bloom now that are a lot more purple than blue, but I finally found some that are more-or-less blue (to my eye, at least)!
1) Mertensia primuloides, starting to bloom.
2) Although I have already posted them, I'm going to post a very nice blue Penstemon nitidus, just because they are still in bloom (and now blooming in the wild locally) and so gorgeous!
3) Penstemon cyananthus
4) First flower on Campanula chamissonis (syn. C. dasyantha, C. pilosa) - nice proportion of flower to plant!  (I should explain - this puny thing is from seed the previous year!)

I have Mertensia primuloides too. It is one of the few Mertensias that slugs don't eat. My seed wishlist is growing longer and longer. I definitely have to try blue penstemons again. Had some fine plants years ago but they disappeared ......

My M. primuloides is just about gone..too crowded out I'm afraid.

Lori, I may have caught up to you...my C. dasyanthera is in full bloom too.  Along with my Meconopsis and a Linum alpinum.

Todd, your new camera is showing it's fine capabilities again (and of course, the photographer's talents), really beautiful shots.

Thanks Mark!

Some more blues...Campanula barbata, Veronica fruticans and my own hybrid sino-siberian iris created by crossed I. chrysographes 'Dark Form' and I. bulleyana (a form wild-collected from the ACE expedition).

Very nice, especially the iris!  What was the ACE expedition?

I'm reluctant to admit this, but after several years growing a couple Iris from seed, both species mentioned, including the ACE I. bulleyana, I just dug them up and threw them out.  Although looking at Todd's fine hybrid, perhaps I was rash in this decision.  But for me, the foliage-to-flower ratio was way too high on the foliage side, lots of big and messy foliage, retreating into greater semi-dormancy drying leaf messiness after flowering, and only a few less-than-exciting flowers.  Maybe they didn't like my climate or garden assignment too well, but they are history here now.  I'm going to stick with the small Iris.

This plant has a rather brief bloom (for me), and to be honest, really doesn't have a whole lot in its favour (again, IMO)... except for these gorgeously blue flowers!
Lindelofia anchusoides...

Have you christened your pretty iris cross, Todd?

Mark, I am always reluctant to remove any plants. Even some weeds like annual geraniums and perennial Sonchus let I live - for some time. Yesterday we removed hoards of Galium aparine (seems to have many common names?) that I had left too long. (I like the leaves of that one!)

Lindelofia anchusoides, brief bloom or not, really has blue flowers!

Lori the ACE expedition was an American seed collection trip made to China sometime in the late 1990's.  Left-over seed were offered in the NARGS seed exchange.  A local member got 2 lovely Arisaema from that collection although she has yet to ID them.  I got I. bulleyana and a Spirea, the latter which is blooming for the first time this year.

Mark, the bulleyana I got is quite small.....only 45 cm tall with sparse foliage.  My hybrid is quite leafy but blooms are not shy!  It was my first cross done while working at the BG.  I have since created 25 or more hybrids, mostly sino-siberians which do very well in our climate.  I'll aim to get whole plant shots in the next week...right now I have only closeups.

Yeah, veronicas are good for splashes of blue (and purple):
1) Veronica thymoides ssp. pseudocinerea, now done blooming.
2) Trying to get arty... Veronica liwanensis x pectinata 'Reavis' and Alyssum tortuosum (or is it A. stribnyi?)

Todd wrote:

Lori the ACE expedition was an American seed collection trip made to China sometime in the late 1990's.  Left-over seed were offered in the NARGS seed exchange.

Just a gentle correction Todd ... the ACE Expedition was organized by the Alpine Garden Society and visited China in 1994.  Surplus seed was subsequently offered to exchanges around the world.   There were a number of excellent introductions from the original seed.

http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/news/The+AGS+Expedition+to+China+Anni...

If I remember correctly, NARGS bought shares in the ACE expedition which gave them a percentage of the original seed disbursement. I don't think it was "leftover seed" since they were subscribers. They may also have come into some leftover seed, I don't recall.  I do remember our seed lot including wonderful androsaces and Chesneyas, unfortunately renamed Spongiocarpella and who knows what it's called now. At any rate, they were gorgeous peas from high screes.

Anne, on that note... and if you don't mind me asking... and diverting for a moment from the subject at hand...

I was asked a while back by an extremely accomplished local alpine gardener to inquire as to what conditions are required for growing Chesneya (formerly Gueldenstaedtia) to beyond the first leaf stage, or preferably, to flowering?

Would you happen to have any advice?

I believe you are right Anne ... subscriptions were taken for the original expedition.  Todd mentioned the 'late 1990's', so I presumed he was referring to a subsequent distribution or garden seed produced from an original collection?

Skulski wrote:

Anne, on that note... and if you don't mind me asking... and diverting for a moment from the subject at hand...

I was asked a while back by an extremely accomplished local alpine gardener to inquire as to what conditions are required for growing Chesneya (formerly Gueldenstaedtia) to beyond the first leaf stage, or preferably, to flowering?

Would you happen to have any advice?

Lori, I got 100% germination from the Chesnya seed I received from the ACE expedition. The seeds were quite large and of course very hard. I recall using an exacto knife on them! Sounds harsh but it worked and I had large, healthy seedlings. Then we had a long drought period and I was unable to water my seedlings. They all died before I could actually get them into the garden. I  believe these are high scree plants and would probably like your conditions better than mine. The flowers are large and gorgeous but considering where they come from they would probably prefer a cooler summer and moisture. It would be worth any effort to get them growing and I hope you'll try.

Enough talk! I have to post a plant although it is not the bluest. Prunella grandiflora tolerates both dry and moist situations. Here it is in my seminatural rock bed. Not native to Norway but you find it in Sweden.

Thanks for clearing up the ACE situation Cliff and Anne.  I was obviously fuzzy on the details...all I really knew is that the seeds came from China!

Back to blues, here is my Iris chrysographes 'Dark Form' X I. bulleyana (from ACE)...Mark, you can see they are floriferous in my cool climate!

Looks a bit like Iris delavayi too...

Maybe I've proven delavayi is a hybrid! I know they think bulleyana might be.  They are a messed up group between chrysographes, delavayi and bulleyana....at least clarkeiis distincy...as for wilsonii vs. forrestii....another conundrum.

More yet...
1) Baptisia australis... well, it looked blue outside but purple in the picture!
2, 3) Dracocephalum ruyschiana

The Baptisia looks blue for me! I have tried it but not succeeded. Dracocephalum ruyschiana is a native of Norway but I have never seen it in the wild.

Two blue here. Geranium 'Rozanne' never seeds but flower nonstop for months! The other is a biennial, Jasione montana, extremely tolerant of dry acidic soil.
Mark, do you find the onion in the first picture?

Hoy wrote:

Mark, do you find the onion in the first picture?

Didn't notice the onion at first, but I believe I see the little pink few-flowered Allium mairei (syn. A. amabile) just starting to flower.  Watch out, this tiny allium is easily swamped by larger plants, even handsome blue ones ;)

McDonough wrote:

Didn't notice the onion at first, but I believe I see the little pink few-flowered Allium mairei (syn. A. amabile) just starting to flower.  Watch out, this tiny allium is easily swamped by larger plants, even handsome blue ones ;)

Thanks, Mark. I had completely forgotten both the plant and its name till I noticed the clump when I took the picture. Mistook it from grass at first. I will look after it now!

A few more blues from my garden.  The Dracocephalum was labelled as tanguticum, but looks like ruyschiana so who knows.  The Delphinium is D. kamaonense, then the common Phyteuma schutzeri and Codonopsis clematidae.

A nice blue quartet, Todd, regardless of what the labels say.

Back from the Dolomites and over the jet lag.  This picture of Horminum pyrenaicum seemed to belong in this thread.  The only bad thing I've heard about it is that in the garden the ratio of flowers to leaves is poor.  I grew this some years ago and didn't find this to be true. Unfortunately, it was killed due to neglect, but it is a very nice plant with wonderful leaves.

I grow Horminum pyrenaicum in my garden but the flowers seem to be smaller than on your picture. Have never been to the Dolomites, think it is a place to go one day!

Not true blue but a stout and huge plant where the soil is moist and rich. Used as a wolf-poison in earlier times hence the name wolfsbane.
Aconitum septentrionale is very common in low alpine and at the treeline.

Snøsøte ("Snow sweet", Gentiana nivalis) is the bluest flower in Norway. Not uncommon in the alpine zone you do not notice the tiny plant if the flowers are closed. They open only in sunshine above 10C.

That nivalis is intense!  It is also native to Newfoundland but only in the most northern areas of Labrador, in areas too remote to ever be visited!

Terrific stands of aconitum!!

Not for the rock garden though but very blue....  and the red not-fertilized seeds of a peony.

This is a Hydrangea macrophylla-hybrid of unremembered  name.

That is a very beautiful hydrangea.

1) Here's Eritrichium canum var. canum, which was received last year in a mislabelled seedex packet, and has since proved itself to be a pleasant addition to the garden.  It seems to act, so far, as an annual here, though it is said in the following account to be a perennial.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=250084608

2) Gentiana septemfida, one of the few plants flowering in the troughs here lately.

I just received this message from Barbara Ward Grubb:
"Strong circumstantial evidence suggests that Lithodora diffusa 'Grace Ward'
was named after my mother. I have easily found that plant, but I am searching
for the variant named 'Baby Barbara.'  The same circumstantial evidence
leads me to suspect that it was named after me around 1954.
  I would love to find pictures, actual plants, or seeds of 'Baby Barbara,'
just so I know what it looks like.
  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Barbara Ward Grubb"

If anyone can supply information or - especially! - a plant or seeds, please contact Barbara directly at:
[email protected]

Thanks for your help -
Joyce

A couple of current blues from my garden...Scabiosa columbaria and Gentiana cachemerica.

My goodness, I forgot to post my Cyananthus lobatus!

How could you ever forget the Cyananthus, Todd!

Seniors moment!  ;D

Welcome in the club!

Not sure if this classified as an alpine but y willow gentian, Gentiana asclepiadea is starting to open.

Very nice!  That seems to be one that I cannot get established... no reason for it, though.

Here are some from out in the wild blue yonder... very late ones, and probably the last I will see this year:
1) Veronica wormskjoldii
2) Delphinium bicolor
3) Myosotis alpestris, now Myosotis asiatica

A couple of iris captured in Anne Spiegel's beautiful New York State garden.

Many images of Anne's special garden are to be found on this 'topic' of the SRGC. Please follow this link:-

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4656.225

Wow, Ann!!! You don't have a garden, you have a park!!!  Truly amazing!

Yes, isn't it incredible?? 
Anyone who has not yet followed Cliff's link to gaze in awe at Anne's stunningly beautiful garden, you can't imagine what you are missing!  :)

Unreal garden!

BTW, nice article Trond!

I finally figured out what article you are referring to, Todd!  ???
http://www.bnargs.org/NewsPDFs/2010August.pdf

See link above for some very interesting reading, including terrific articles by both Cliff and Trond! 

Thanks, Todd and Lori.

I am glad nobody has been to Anne's garden (excellent described by Cliff) first and mine afterwards. They are different worlds and mine is the wild jungle.

Join the club, Trond!   (Except any jungle, I trust, would be vastly more interesting than my yard, needless to say...  :()

... Which, nonetheless, brings up an interesting point... When one has the opportunity to visit more than one garden, it is worth putting some thought into the order of visits.  Satisfaction is maximized if each builds on the previous, with the finest saved for last!  Argue it if you wish, but the logic is irrefutable!  ;D

Some more blues... Gentiana paradoxa:

Both are excellent articles, Trond and Cliff!  I do get email copies of the many (maybe most?) of the NARGS Chapter newsletters, including Berkshire's, but I admit I hardly ever have time to read them all.  I think it is very advantageous that chapter editors exchange newsletters.  They get many ideas from each other that each builds on in their own way.  Our Minnesota editor offers to forward copies (of other Chapters' newsletters) that she receives to members who wish them. 

Let me say how truly wonderful it is to host any chapter speakers, from the NARGS speaker tour or otherwise.  Here, chapter members seem to be a bit hesitant to host, thinking they are not "worthy," or just not realizing the great opportunity they are missing.  I keep encouraging them, and I want to encourage any readers here, too.  The wealth of information and experience that guests hold simply pores out in torrents.  You need only open the gate.  I have very fond memories of each of my hostings, and feel a little greedy that I am among the five or so of us that seem to alternate getting the prize.  Let me also emphasize that having a nice garden is not a prerequisite!  With my first hosting, I only owned a dozen or so alpines at most! 

I would expect in some chapters, there is a healthy competition between members, for the honor and privilege of hosting.  Indeed, a contest worth winning!

Skulski wrote:

Join the club, Trond!   (Except any jungle, I trust, would be vastly more interesting than my yard, needless to say...  :()

... Which, nonetheless, brings up an interesting point... When one has the opportunity to visit more than one garden, it is worth putting some thought into the order of visits.  Satisfaction is maximized if each builds on the previous, with the finest saved for last!  Argue it if you wish, but the logic is irrefutable!  ;D

Some more blues... Gentiana paradoxa:

Where's the paradox?

I agree with you Lori, but if you are more than one person paying visits, then you can have more than one opinion! What one person  think is perfect, the other(s) not necessarily agree to.

Many thanks, Rick.

I fully support your message regarding hosting speakers. I have done so a few times myself.

It's the same when it comes to garden visits. A lot of people think that their gardens don't qualify but they forget that most people have quite ordinary gardens and would enjoy looking at similar ones. It shines through if you tend your garden with care and love although you don't have the rarest plants.

Hoy wrote:

Where's the paradox?

Oops, sorry - here it is:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_pair_of_ducks.jpg

;D ;D ;D

But, seriously, I have no idea what is paradoxical about G. paradoxa.   ???

Hoy wrote:

Skulski wrote:

Join the club, Trond!   (Except any jungle, I trust, would be vastly more interesting than my yard, needless to say...  :()

... Which, nonetheless, brings up an interesting point... When one has the opportunity to visit more than one garden, it is worth putting some thought into the order of visits.  Satisfaction is maximized if each builds on the previous, with the finest saved for last!  Argue it if you wish, but the logic is irrefutable!  ;D

Some more blues... Gentiana paradoxa:

Where's the paradox?

I agree with you Lori, but if you are more than one person paying visits, then you can have more than one opinion! What one person  think is perfect, the other(s) not necessarily agree to.

Many thanks, Rick.

I fully support your message regarding hosting speakers. I have done so a few times myself.

It's the same when it comes to garden visits. A lot of people think that their gardens don't qualify but they forget that most people have quite ordinary gardens and would enjoy looking at similar ones. It shines through if you tend your garden with care and love although you don't have the rarest plants.

/Somewhere I once read a well-known garden writer saying that any loved and well-tended garden is beautiful.  I tend to agree because people's perceptions are incredibly varied.  What's beautiful to one is boring to another etc... I might personally make an exception for garden gnomes but I know there are people who absolutely love them.

Very pretty little Himalayan annual ...

GENTIANA SYRINGEA

Booker wrote:

Very pretty little Himalayan annual ...

GENTIANA SYRINGEA

Cliff, that's a gorgeous little item, do you grow it?  Does it make the seedex rounds?  What sort of conditions would it need; I'm assuming moist and peaty?

McDonough wrote:

Booker wrote:

Very pretty little Himalayan annual ...

GENTIANA SYRINGEA

Cliff, that's a gorgeous little item, do you grow it?  Does it make the seedex rounds?  What sort of conditions would it need; I'm assuming moist and peaty?

Hi Mark,
The image was taken today in my garden ... this little gem is growing in a trough/planter in a peaty/gritty compost where it was planted after being purchased from Aberconwy Nursery in early summer. (£3, quite expensive for a tiny annual).  I am very hopeful that it may seed itself in this trough, but it is only tiny at present and will probably produce a miniscule amount of seed. It is not being specifically watered any more than anything else in the garden but our summers are considerably damper and cooler than New England!

Booker wrote:

Hi Mark,
The image was taken today in my garden ... this little gem is growing in a trough/planter in a peaty/gritty compost where it was planted after being purchased from Aberconwy Nursery in early summer. (£3, quite expensive for a tiny annual).  I am very hopeful that it may seed itself in this trough, but it is only tiny at present and will probably produce a miniscule amount of seed. It is not being specifically watered any more than anything else in the garden but our summers are considerably damper and cooler than New England!

Cliff, I wish you success in growing that little annual Gentian, and getting it naturalized in your trough.  I'm sure you'd have a much better chance of success in the UK than here.  I like the idea of encouraging small or smallish annuals in a rock garden, to naturalize and help infill and weave together other plants.

One of the more unusual members of the genus Caryopteris is Caryopteris divaricata, from China, Japan, Korea, growing in mixed forests on mountain slopes and along roadsides; 700-2900 m.  While appearing shrub-like when viewed in flower in late summer (August - Sept/Oct), this species is actually a deciduous perennial, sprouting from ground level each spring and growing to about 5'-6'.  

In late summer it erupts into a cloud of beautiful blue butterfly-like flowers, and those fascinating downward curled stamens and style.  The loose, open panicles of individually large and separate flowers look very different than the clustered inflorescences of the more familiar shrubby Caryopteris species and cultivars; so much so that it fools many people when seeing this plant for the first time.

Beware of the foliage however, pleasant enough to look at, and a good backdrop to the blue flowers, but they exude a rather obnoxious acrid stink when the foliage is brushed up against or bruised.  Pulling unwanted seedlings is similarly fraught with the unpleasant scent issue. However, in the garden no ill scent can be detected unless handled, so don't let this "feature" put you off too much; it remains one of my favorite late summer / early autumn garden plants.  There is a lower growing white-variegated leaf form named 'Snow Fairy' frequently available in nurseries, but I don't grow that form.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200019299

PS:  the flowers bear a striking resemblance to the annual Bluecurls, Trichostema dichotomum, see:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=282.msg4076#msg4076

Wow, a Caryopteris I might actually, purposely grow!  If it flowers early enough for you to get seed, Mark, then I should be able to at least get flowers in my climate.

RickR wrote:

Wow, a Caryopteris I might actually, purposely grow!  If it flowers early enough for you to get seed, Mark, then I should be able to at least get flowers in my climate.

Rick, I have long since given up on the familiar Caryopteris species and cultivars, they just aren't reliably hardy here.  But Caryopteris divaricata is 100% hardy here, and makes lots of seed (sometimes too many seedlings appear), but I can certainly share seed. I think it would do just fine in your climate.

Booker wrote:

Very pretty little Himalayan annual ... GENTIANA SYRINGEA

What a delightful little plant, Cliff.

That's a very interesting account of Caryopteris divaricata, Mark.  I'd love to try that one too, if you will be collecting seed.

"Too many seedlings" don't scare me.  I have three species of impatiens, Campanula americanum and even Thalictrum thalictroides is becoming a weed.  I still love them all, and don't mind their rambunctiousness.  Yes please, send the Caryopteris seed along, if you remember when the time comes.  Thanks.

McDonough wrote:

One of the more unusual members of the genus Caryopteris is Caryopteris divaricata, from China, Japan, Korea, growing in mixed forests on mountain slopes and along roadsides; 700-2900 m.  While appearing shrub-like when viewed in flower in late summer (August - Sept/Oct), this species is actually a deciduous perennial, sprouting from ground level each spring and growing to about 5'-6'.  

I grow this species too. It is perfectly hardy here and behave as you tell but grows only to 3' here.

Not the bluest and an annual too!
Gentiana campestris is an annual selfsowing in our meadow at the cabin in the mountains. The species is very variable, the tiniest plants have but one flower and the tallest have hundreds. It starts flowering in July and continue till October.
Here visited by Bombus hypnorum.

Certainly on the purple side of blue this beautiful little Meconopsis delavayi is one of my absolute favourites.  It flowered back in june and has now disappeared back under the compost ... building itself up for an even better display next summer ... hopefully!  :D

Beautiful plant, Cliff.
In bloom in the garden now in a trough - Oxytropis oreophila.  As the flowers fade they go through a period when they turn almost turquoise.  In our continued drought they are doing this in fast forward.

Cliff, that Meconopsis has me drooling!

I have never thought of looking at the flowers from behind, Cliff, and certainly not imagined the beauty of the reverse of a flower.

Anne, Oxytropis oreophila is a plant to desire! When I was a student I tried to collect all the native Fabaceae in Norway (about 70-80) and have ever since had an eye for pea plants.

Thanks folks,
Here is an image from a previous season ... from the front ...

MECONOPSIS DELAVAYI

Hoy wrote:

I have never thought of looking at the flowers from behind, Cliff, and certainly not imagined the beauty of the reverse of a flower.

Anne, Oxytropis oreophila is a plant to desire! When I was a student I tried to collect all the native Fabaceae in Norway (about 70-80) and have ever since had an eye for pea plants.

/ Trond, I'd love to hear which of the peas you collected were the best candidates for the rock garden.  I grow as many peas as I can, and many of them are wonderful in the garden when some attention is paid to their requirements.

Here's something in bloom today in the garden.

Campanula scheuchzeri is easy to grow from seed and not fussy in the garden.  I have had trouble with other Campanulas mostly from slugs but this one seems slug-proof.  And it keeps on flowering!

Spiegel wrote:

Trond, I'd love to hear which of the peas you collected were the best candidates for the rock garden.  I grow as many peas as I can, and many of them are wonderful in the garden when some attention is paid to their requirements.

I do not think it is many of the Norwegian pea plants which are usable as rock garden plants. Most of them are too big and/or too lax. Few, if any, are endemic her. I think many are circumpolar.
Sorry, I have no pictures of these plants.

The best , in my opinion, are
- Astragalus alpinus. Some forms are quite good.
- Astragalus norvegicus.
- Oxytropis lapponica. Tolerates dry conditions better than the previous.
- Oxytropis deflexa norvegica.
- Oxytropis campestris sordida. The last two are rare in Norway.
- Lotus corniculatus. Some forms are very floriferous and good rock plants.

For the moment I only grow Astragalus alpinus and Lotus corniculatus at our cabin.

Nice campanula David...the saxes in the tufa are even nicer!  Never heard of that Campanula species...I do have the Phyteuma counterpart.  Only campanula still open here are a few rotundifolia and carpatica.

Todd:

We have seen Campanula scheuchzeri in the Alps and Pyrenees.  It is like C. rotundifolia except it is smaller and the leaves are narrow.  Here is one growing on a limestone boulder in the Pyrenees

A much better blue than the Meconopsis delavayi is this gorgeous little Aquilegia from the Dolomites.

AQUILEGIA EINSEINIANA

Booker wrote:

A much better blue than the Meconopsis delavayi is this gorgeous little Aquilegia from the Dolomites.

AQUILEGIA EINSEINIANA

I grew this many many years ago, when I was in college... the seed from a wild source so I believe it was correct.  It was a very cute little plant.  I suspect that most seed in the various seedexes will not come true, as they all freely hybridize in the garden, so would look to find a wild collected seed offering again.  Cliff, if I may offer a name correction, I believe the species name is Aquilegia einseleana Fr.Schultz.  How tall is your plant, did you get seed from a wild source?

David wrote:

Todd:

We have seen Campanula scheuchzeri in the Alps and Pyrenees.  It is like C. rotundifolia except it is smaller and the leaves are narrow.  Here is one growing on a limestone boulder in the Pyrenees

Beautiful plant in an austere setting! Just checked IPNI.ORG, and see that there are many subspecies as well.
http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do;jsessionid=08E89598A751E5...

McDonough wrote:

Booker wrote:

A much better blue than the Meconopsis delavayi is this gorgeous little Aquilegia from the Dolomites.

AQUILEGIA EINSELEANA

How tall is your plant, did you get seed from a wild source?

Sorry Mark, I must have given you the wrong impression.  The image was captured at Pragser Wildersee in the Dolomites (in July) and I don't actually grow this one ... but would like to!  There were quite a number of plants ranging from three inches high in cliff crevices to nine inches high in the open woods around the lake.  Your name correction is appreciated and has been amended above.
Another image ...

Pretty blue, this one. Is it as blue as the bluest gentians?

It is a very good blue Trond, but certainly can't compare to say Gentiana verna.

No,I thought so, Cliff. But Aquilegia einseleana is a good one.

Not many blue flowers here, the best at this time is Hydrangea serrulata which flowers from July and onwards.

The prettiest wildflower in these parts
Gentianopsis crinita

Oh my, Harold ... that is a gem!

Peachey wrote:

The prettiest wildflower in these parts
Gentianopsis crinita

Harold, superb photo!  Is this growing nearby someplace in upper state New York, or in your garden?  There is a small nature preserve nearby in town, right on the New Hampshire border, where this beautiful biennial can be viewed in moist meadows.  I wonder if it is flowering this year given our localized drought in this area.  Some sites still list it as Gentiana crinita, so look for it under that name too.  In New Hampshire, as in several other states, the Fringed Gentian on State Threatened plant lists.

Some links:

USDA Plant Profile page for Gentianopsis crinita
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=GECR2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentiana_crinita

Good photos here at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GECR2

These plants are in my garden, grown from seed saved each year originally from Nasami Farm where I talked Bill Cullina into sharing some seedlings with a propagation workshop.  I have seen them in Western Massachusetts at the Williamstown preserve growing in a calcareous seep

Aconitum uncinatum

That's very nice, Peachy.  How tall does it get?

Does Gentianopsis critina - which is gorgeous indeed! - need a lot of water, in your experience?

The A. uncinatum, native to southeast US grows about six feet and requires other plants for support-as shown it is growing under a large Walnut tree and is leaning on some native hydrangea.  G. crinita seems to do well in average garden soil, in my case neutral to mildly alkaline, with good water holding capacity, no extra watering required, it is, of course, biennial.