Eritrichium howardii

Forums: 
General Alpines

Somehow it seems wrong that no one has posted on this rather important little genus...

I don't have pictures of Eritrichium pauciflorum on this computer...I will post on that some time. It was the universal forget me not of the Mongolian mountains that grew by the thousands in all manner of turf and meadows, screes and tundra..I did get quite a bit of seed of it and shared it with some alpine nurseries. I have a fantasy it will be an easy alpine.

But for us in Denver, Eritrichium howardii is the one of choice: up by Choteau and here and there on the Great Plains of Montana (in a climate very similar to Denver) this grows thickly in the sparse grasses. Roy Davidson wrote of one locality where it was virtually the only thing growing for miles where cattle were browsing: he wondered if it was their fodder?

This clump has graced this trough for almost ten years, petering out a bit one year, and coming back the next. It has produced a finer display of bloom, but this is all I have on hand right now...so you must settle for it!

Comments

tropicalgirl251@gmail.com's picture

tropicalgirl251... (not verified)

Fri, 05/17/2013 - 8:57pm

Hi Lori
great plant grown to such perfection,

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Fri, 05/17/2013 - 9:30pm

Evidently, it's found the conditions to its liking so far, at least (though I've only had it a short time).  To answer your question from the other thread, Krish, it's a plant I bought in 2012 from Beaver Creek at the CRAGS plant sale.

Anne Spiegel's picture

Anne Spiegel

Sat, 05/18/2013 - 8:53am

Lori, your E. howardii is lovely.  If you got it from Beaver Creek you're halyway to success, because Roger's plants are always beautifully grown.
I promised Michael I'd take photos of my E. howardii self-sown seedlings.  I'm enormously pleased with them although I didn't do anything.  The first is three years old and was self sown into nearby tufa.  The next two I just noticed this year.  They're near the tufa but not in it.  The mother plants are in the tufa garden but not planted in the tufa itself.  Also self-sowing is Androsace villosa, just proving that if eventually you find a place where the plant is happy, it will do your work for you.

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Sun, 05/19/2013 - 1:03am
Lori wrote:

The start of bloom, with many, many more buds to go!  (I'll try not to be too big of a nuisance with these photos...  :D)

Don't let my teasing let you down Lori. Please bring as many pictures as you can!
But often when I am on my stomach looking at or photographing these green things my friends (and my wife too) think I am a bit nutty. Sometimes I agree.

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Sun, 05/19/2013 - 10:23am

Not to worry, Trond!  :D  I'm just trying to be a bit selective, rather than posting a picture for every additional flower that opens... I assure you I am taking a picture for every additional flower that opens though.  ;D

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Sun, 05/19/2013 - 3:35pm

That may tax both my photographic and computer skills, Trond.  ???
Here's a photo from this morning though... as I mentioned, lots of buds to come:

Good, strong-looking little seedlings there, Anne.  Yes, any congrats for growing my plant well go to Roger at Beaver Creek, definitely!  (I really haven't "grown" it yet; I just planted it in a place where it seems to be happy so far.)

Michael Peden's picture

Michael Peden

Sun, 05/19/2013 - 3:38pm

Anne, they will self seed here too. I have one that I've been watching for a couple of years. It is growing slowly, if at all, and I intend to leave it right where it is! They can be long lived, even here. The plant I previously posted is still putting forth a scattering of bloom and a couple of seedlings (2009 collection) are blooming as well. I'm trying to amp seed set by hand pollinating but not seeing much pollen so will see how that goes. The African Violet food seems working well so far. Lori: great plant and you have the climate and soils. The Bighorn's Eritrichium has grown out around any seed set so I will not be collecting if they are there. I know some plants to do this; Vitaliana is a good example: plenty of seeds but finding them? -not so easy!

Anne Spiegel's picture

Anne Spiegel

Sun, 05/19/2013 - 4:19pm

Lori, what wonderful bloom!  And very short stems, too.  I found that mine kept putting out flowers and the first ones lasted a long time, but the stems elongated a little bit. 
Michael, the little seedlings grow very slowly but the one in tufa has made a number of little rosettes after three years.  Still waiting for it to bloom.  Who says gardeners are not patient?

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Thu, 05/30/2013 - 8:03am

What a beautiful sight for a morning garden walk, congratulations Michael and Lori (and Jim and Anne too, looking through earlier posts in this topic) on growing super fine Eritrichium.

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Sat, 06/08/2013 - 7:55pm

Looks like your plant is more compact than mine, Michael - looks great!
Still blooming with stems elongating...

Anne Spiegel's picture

Anne Spiegel

Mon, 06/10/2013 - 6:54am

Lori, that one looks more like mine with the stems elongating a bit.  If the one that seeded itself in tufa would please bloom I could see if that made a difference. Mine are growing next to but not in, tufa.

deesen's picture

deesen (not verified)

Mon, 06/10/2013 - 11:20am

Lovely little plant Lori, how does it cope with the winter wet please?

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Mon, 06/10/2013 - 9:28pm

I only planted it in 2012 so it's early days, but I don't believe we really get anything here that you'd recognize as winter wet, David.  It's a pretty dry climate.  We do get a lot of snowfalls and melting (and sublimation) through the winter but no rain.  There's really no standing water ever, and the ground is only sodden for short periods mainly during the spring rains (June). 

deesen's picture

deesen (not verified)

Tue, 06/11/2013 - 4:46am

Mmm. Thanks for that Lori, little snow and lots of rain are my problems.

Michael Peden's picture

Michael Peden

Tue, 06/11/2013 - 6:43am

Oh.... I posted this photo of it in bloome a few days later on one of the rock garden facebook groups.

PK replied something to the effect that there might be something silly going on over here. The man is spending WAY too much time in the garden  ;)

Anne Spiegel's picture

Anne Spiegel

Tue, 06/11/2013 - 2:13pm

Michael, that is just a fantastic plant.  I've never seen it bloom like that in cultivation.  You're certainly doing something right because the northeast is not an ideal place for these plants.

Pages