International Rock Gardener e-magazine

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General Alpines

The March Issue of the e-magazine from the Scottish Rock Garden Club is now online here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

.... you can be sure we have a hyperlink from the name of Zdeněk Zvolánek to the NARGS 2010 "Romancing the Rockies The Marriage of Plant and Stone " July 11-14, 2010, to be held in Denver & Salida, Colorado !

Here is a photo, by ZZ, from the March issue, of Adonis vernalis .....

Comments

deesen's picture

deesen (not verified)

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 12:17pm
Booker wrote:

Typing this on my laptop in a Best Western Hotel, near Malpenza airport, Milan after our flight to Manchester this afternoon was cancelled and we have been advised by our carrier that we MAY be on a flight tomorrow morning or we may not?  

I've already painted the banner "Bring the Bookeroo Home" I'll be outside 10 Downing Street in the morning ;D

cohan's picture

cohan (not verified)

Sun, 03/13/2011 - 2:26pm
Booker wrote:

Todd wrote:

I'm way ahead of you...have plans to do an article on the serpentine alpines of Newfoundland  ;)

Excellent Todd ... we await it with great anticipation!

Typing this on my laptop in a Best Western Hotel, near Malpenza airport, Milan after our flight to Manchester this afternoon was cancelled and we have been advised by our carrier that we MAY be on a flight tomorrow morning or we may not?  We have had the most amazing vacation by and around beautiful Lake Como (seeing incredible primulas, hepaticas, hellebores in white, pink and yellow, crocus, tussilago and ajugas among others), the weather has been beautiful and our trips into Switzerland, up to Snow Eagle in northern Italy and the stunning mountain areas near Sondrio have enhanced an already incredible holiday. Hopefully we will get home tomorrow ... touch wood!

Good luck with the travel! Lovely images of spring :)

Cliff Booker's picture

Cliff Booker

Mon, 03/14/2011 - 1:52am

Many thanks for your support David ... British diplomacy worked, we arrived home at lunchtime on Saturday.  Now we have to fight for some meagre compensation ... wish us luck, we will need it!   ;D ;D

Thanks once again Cohan.

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 1:28pm

The March issue of International Rock Gardener - IRG15 - is now online.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Mar251301088655IRG15_March_2011.pdf

Featuring -
Joan and Liam McCaughey's selection from the Tien Shan; 'Silk Road Blues'
Kata and Ferenc Zoltan's photo essay of  striking natural plant combinations: 'Alpine Groupings and Rock Gardens in Nature'
Vlastimil Braun on Daphne malyana
and introducing an article from Paige Woodward  on an Iris "re-found" in Afghanistan

Picture: Ranunculus glacialis photo by Zoltan Ferenc.

[attach=1]

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Fri, 04/29/2011 - 8:54am
Todd wrote:

I'm way ahead of you...have plans to do an article on the serpentine alpines of Newfoundland  ;)

And in issue 16 of IRG we have that very article!

IRG16 for April 2011 is now online.....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Apr281304030775IRG16_April2011.pdf

The cover photo is  Tulipa orthopoda by Vladimir Kolbintsev, formerly a research scientist at the Aksu-Dzhabagly nature reserve and regarded Kazakhstan‘s leading naturalist.

Also included are articles by Dieter Zschummel ,Todd Boland, Cedrik Haškovec and Štěpánka Haškovcová.

[attach=1]

Moltkia coerulea in the Ala Dag

Tim Ingram's picture

Tim Ingram (not verified)

Wed, 05/04/2011 - 6:09am

What a wonderful resource the IRG is - I've only discovered it through this website as I am ashamed to say I don't belong to the Scottish Rock (I have thought of joining for many years but always felt the South-East of England and Scotland were poles apart climate wise - although I regularly got seed from Jack Drake's nursery years ago). However, like you say elsewhere, Ian, the ethos of the SRGC lies much closer to my vision of gardening, and it seems a great surprise that the AGS remains rather resistant to any change. Having only recently realised how effective the web can be for discussion I am becoming a total convert. My only worry is that I may not get out in the garden as much as I would like!

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Wed, 05/04/2011 - 12:21pm

Thank you, Tim.... we do hope to get that reaction for the IRG!

The SRGC has an international membership and a truly active international membership at that.... the Forum of the SRGC Website, which we are delighted to say formed part of the model for this NARGS Forum, is a meeting place for our thousands of members around the world and is a vibrant resource that is open to all, whether "official" SRGC members or not.... how else could we properly fulfil our charitable remit to spread knowledge and encourage interest in the mountain plants that so fascinate us?
You would soon find that there are a great many others involved in the SRGC with similar growing conditions to yourself.... not least fellow English folk! :D

Maggi Young

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Thu, 05/12/2011 - 11:51am
Todd wrote:

I'm very pleased with the layout of my serpentine article...looks great! (or course the entire IRG looks great!)

Thanks, Todd.

We've added a 'paypal donate button' so that folks who appreciate the work the SRGC volunteers are doing with the website projects can show their appreciation in a tangible fashion, should they so wish!  Such donations will help to pay for the increased bandwidth needed for all the IRG and Bulb Log readers  8)

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Fri, 05/27/2011 - 5:09am

IRG 17 for May 2011 is now online:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011May261306444476IRGMay2011.pdf

We celebrate the centenary of the rock garden at Wisley, with Paul Cumbleton and introduce a new section in the IRG Forum area, devoted to the Garden History  : http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7231.0      Dr John Page is well known for his interest in this subject and welcomes any contributions to the Forum pages on the history of gardens , particularly rock gardens, around the world.

This month's IRG cover picture is  Campanula morettiana, photographed by Gita Piatková of the Czech Republic.

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Wed, 07/06/2011 - 5:30am

Oops! I quite forgot to let you Folks know that the June IRG is online......many thanks to the NARGS member who reminded me :-[

IRG  June 2011 is here - http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Jun271309163193IRG18-June2011.pdf

As a seeming antidote to all those summer holiday venues, there's a trip to the Awakino Ski Field in New Zealand  :o  Don't panic, this is the southern hemisphere we're talking about, so Steve Newall's pictures are of some of NZ's finest alpine plants... but no snow!!

This map shows the location.....

Anne Spiegel's picture

Anne Spiegel

Wed, 07/20/2011 - 7:35am

Yet another fascinating issue, Maggi.  You just keep topping yourself.  I'll be on the lookout for the Leptinella pictured.  There is something absolutely irresistible about plants with exserted stamens (Phacelia sericea, Valeriana supina etc.)

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Thu, 07/21/2011 - 6:24am

Thanks Anne.

Quote:

There is something absolutely irresistible about plants with exserted stamens

Yes, isn't there? Funny how these things catch our attentioin and admiration.

In the next issue there are echoes of the latest NARGS bulletin, with reports from the Picos de Europa from the Czech pairing of Cedrik and Štěpánka  Haškovec .... I think there will be much to please readers  ;)

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 5:53am

Apologies to those of you trying to acces the SRGC website and Forum today, 26th July 2011 and contacting me to ask what is wrong. 
Our server is experiencing some sort of technical disruption and the sites are temporarily inaccessible.
Sorry for any inconvenience... at least we have the NARGS Forum to enjoy !
Will  make another post to let you know when "normal service" is resumed :)

Maggi

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 5:57am
IMYoung wrote:

Apologies to those of you trying to acces the SRGC website and Forum today, 26th July 2011 and contacting me to ask what is wrong. 
Our server is experiencing some sort of technical disruption and the sites are temporarily inaccessible.
Sorry for any inconvenience... at least we have the NARGS Forum to enjoy !
Will  make another post to let you know when "normal service" is resumed :)

Maggi

Thanks for letting us know Maggi,

I was wondering what's up with the connection, assuming the SRGC server was down for some reason.  Hope that service is restored soon, imagine the withdrawal SRGC Forumists will be going through :'(

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Thu, 07/28/2011 - 11:40am

Time for a new IRG edition: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Jul281311872373IRG19.pdf

This month's IRG has contributions from Jules Fouarge, Cedrik and Štěpánka Haškovec, Zdeněk Zvolánek and  J. Ian Young.

There is talk of Campanulas, Gentians and  Hypericums, from Turkey and the Himalayas,  as well as visits to the Picos de Europa and the Cascades.

If the IRG is showing you plants that you would love to grow, remember the wonderful Seed Exchanges of all the main plant organisations  such as NARGS, SRGC and AGS that can give you access to such seed and also support them with donations of seed from your own garden.

These photos of orchids from the Picos de Europa are from the Haškovecs.
Ophrys apifera
Orchis provincialis

There is more about the IRG here: http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?board=34.0  :)

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Sat, 08/27/2011 - 3:51pm

Maggi, I've tried downloading the August PDF both from the link here on NARGS, and from the main IRG page, and it starts downloading then gives a message that it cannot download the file because it is damaged. Does anyone else get the same results I'm getting? Maybe the PDF needs to be reposted?

Update:  I'm getting the same error message on any IRG issue I try to download and view.

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Sat, 08/27/2011 - 11:07pm
McDonough wrote:

Maggi, I've tried downloading the August PDF both from the link here on NARGS, and from the main IRG page, and it starts downloading then gives a message that it cannot download the file because it is damaged. Does anyone else get the same results I'm getting? Maybe the PDF needs to be reposted?

Update:  I'm getting the same error message on any IRG issue I try to download and view.

No, Mark. I download all of them with no trouble at all. Each download in about to seconds.

Michael J Campbell's picture

Michael J Campbell (not verified)

Sun, 08/28/2011 - 2:52am

The same thing happened me,I downloaded Adobe reader update ( reader update 10) and it worked perfect then.

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Sun, 08/28/2011 - 6:31am

I had Acrobat Reader 9.4.5, and actually received an automatic update yesterday, so believed my Reader was fairly up to date.  Just upgraded to version 10.1, now the IRC PDFs download and view okay.

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Fri, 09/30/2011 - 4:54am

September 2011 Issue of International Rock Gardener is now online.

Here are some extra pictures from Cliff  Booker to add to his article..... there are yet others relating to this issue in the SRGC Forum: http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7893.0

Extra images from Cliff:

"These images were all taken in the Picos de Europa and feature as follows:-

IMAGE ONE :  The Bookers' travelling companions, John and Clare Dower, on a viewing platform above La Hermida gorge and John taking his life in his hands on this usually very busy road to capture a cliff-dwelling campanula.

IMAGE TWO :  Picos views and bottled temptations.

IMAGE THREE :  Serapias and Anacamptis blooms.

IMAGE FOUR :  Picos scenes and poppies.

IMAGE FIVE :  Orchis ustulata and Picos flowers.

IMAGE SIX :  Potes to Fuente De.

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Sat, 11/05/2011 - 1:18pm

RE: article on Colchicum in the 'International Rock Gardener'

In IRG 22 I expressed doubt that colchicum were truly to be found "wild" in the UK and  was pleased to hear from John Grimshaw, who wrote  that he " thought you'd be interested to know that C. autumnale is wild here at Colesbourne & around - there's a patch on the main roadside a couple of miles away, but always associated with ancient woodland. It's curiously inconspicuous in flower though".

John's note came with an accompanying photograph which he is happy for me to share here.
  I replied that I was much surprised by this and  "I'm sceptical  enough to think that they are naturalised, if ancient, escapees but it's an interesting record."

John replied again...
"Dear Maggi,

Your scepticism is unfounded: Colchicum autumnale is a genuine native with, at least formerly, a wide distribution especially in western England. The 1948 Flora of Gloucestershire says: 'Common over most of the county, especially on the Cotswolds.' Unfortunately, it has lost a lot of sites to agricultural improvement & thus from being essentially a meadow plant it is now found mostly in woodland. An old man in the village once told me he could remember meadows having their soil scraped off completely to eradicate Colchicum, it being potentially poisonous to cattle."

I remain doubtful as to how such a bulb might have truly survived ancient ice-ages to be considered "native" in so far as "the purists" regard the term.... but in the light of recent findings of Rhododendron ponticum pollen and remains  in the UK from extremely distant times, which would suggest that this much maligned "invasive" plant is in fact a true native, then perhaps I am just too suspicious for my own good!

Many thanks to John for this insight and for the use of his photo of these elegant flowers.

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Fri, 11/25/2011 - 5:45am

The November Issue of IRG is online now  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Nov241322170676IRG_23_-_November2...

We return to the ever popular subject of Turkey and her plants .... this country is, of course, species rich and the appetite to learn more of the plants who inhabit that large and diverse region seems undimmed.

For the bulb lovers, J. Ian Young encourages an interest in the dwarf narcissus of the "hoop petticoat" type, so invaluable for flowering through the northern hemisphere winter as well as into spring. 

Putoria calabrica in cultivation.... photo by ZZ (Zdeněk Zvolánek) 

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Fri, 11/25/2011 - 6:16am
IMYoung wrote:

Thanks, Mark. The diversity of the Turkish flora will never lose it's attractions, I think.

Yes, that Aethiomema is a cutie.... I see the Ontario NARGS chapter has a note about it's germination..... to sow the seed at  4 degrees .....  http://www.onrockgarden.com/germination-guide/aethionema-subulatum-subulata

Such a specific temperature sowing requirement, no wonder it's rare in cultivation ;D  Good to know it's being grown, must keep an eye out for seed.

Lori S.'s picture

Lori S. (not verified)

Fri, 11/25/2011 - 6:41am

Can't wait to delve into this issue!

In case others are wondering, the oh-so-specific temperature for starting the seed comes, I'd be willing to bet, from Dr. Deno's publications of his germination work... In his very regulated studies, a "cold" period for seed conditioning was standardized at 40 deg F... hence the 4 deg C quoted on the ORGS website.  (A "warm" period was standardized at 70 deg F or 20 deg C.)  In order to hold to scientific method and get real comparative data on germination rates, he had to do this, but the home gardener need not be so exacting.  ;)

cohan's picture

cohan (not verified)

Wed, 12/21/2011 - 9:19pm

My understanding of this 4C temperature is that typical stratification requirements are for a period of cold but not freezing temperatures? Not counting those that need freeze/thaw to break tough seed coats or inhibitors...

Stunning issues as always-- I was behind by a few and had a pleasant evening a few weeks back catching up :)

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Thu, 12/22/2011 - 5:20am

Certainly the strangely fluctuating temperatures we are having  here  in the UK at the moment must be confusing the living daylights out of the seeds... plenty plants seem mixed up and as for the gardeners... well!  :P

Good to hear we are producing happy reading for you, Cohan.  :)

cohan's picture

cohan (not verified)

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:57am
RickR wrote:

cohan wrote:

My understanding of this 4C temperature is that typical stratification requirements are for a period of cold but not freezing temperatures? Not counting those that need freeze/thaw to break tough seed coats or inhibitors...

See here, Cohan:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=274.msg12949#msg12949

Thanks, Rick, that's exactly what I have read elsewhere..  Note- winter here is certainly mostly below freezing for months here, but there are months in fall and spring with temps at night and/or ground level with temps not getting far above freezing.. I haven't yet done much experimenting with local species, but I think, like most places, various species have various strategies...

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 11:48am

According to Norwegian literature regarding stratification, the most effective temperature is about 5C.

The endogenous dormancy of seeds have several reasons but one is induced by the hormone abscisic acid and ended by the hormone gibberellic acid. This makes it necessary to have a certain metabolic activity.

Richard T. Rodich's picture

Richard T. Rodich

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 9:05pm
Harold wrote:

I always thought that germination/stratification temperatures referred to soil (medium) temperatures so temporal fluctuating air temperatures were misleading.

Exactly right. Air temperature can only be used insofar as to help generalize what ground temps might be.  Without the knowledge of actual soil temperature, we must realize that air temperature is only one of the factors that affects soil temps.

Richard T. Rodich's picture

Richard T. Rodich

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 9:08pm

Hoy wrote:

According to Norwegian literature regarding stratification, the most effective temperature is about 5C.

That's very interesting, Trond.  If you happen across the data again, I'd be interested in which types of seeds/germination modes were tested.

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Tue, 12/27/2011 - 9:45am
RickR wrote:
Hoy wrote:

According to Norwegian literature regarding stratification, the most effective temperature is about 5C.

That's very interesting, Trond.  If you happen across the data again, I'd be interested in which types of seeds/germination modes were tested.

Ok, I'll keep it in mind.
I found this however, but it is about seeds from forest trees (Abies, Pinus etc).
http://www.skogfroverket.no/Web/Froverksdrift/forbehandling.htm

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Mon, 01/02/2012 - 5:52am

Two years of IRG completed :
the December issue of IRG is now online.

A slight departure from our usual format, as you will discover; there is a calendar for you to print out. :D  
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

Thanks to all our contributors and helpers over the year and to those who have given encouragement.
To Glassford Sprunt and Richard Green for their proof-reading, Maggi gives particular thanks.

Glassford continues to prepare the IRG Index and the up to date index for all 24 issues is included in the December 2011 issue.

With kindest regards for a Good New Year  from Maggi, ZZ and JI

edit to add cover photo.....

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Mon, 01/16/2012 - 3:43am

Thank you Cohan for bringing this  site up! I hadn't looked at it for a while!
And thank you Maggi and all who have contributed to this beautiful magazine! I have now printed the calendar too  ;)

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Thu, 01/26/2012 - 2:48pm

Welcome to a new year of IRG.

The January issue is now online, beginning with a look back to some plants that are popular now as they were forty years ago. Some  things never change, it seems.

Grahame Ware explores his affection for a little snapdragon and Fritz Kummert shares his delight in an unassuming Idaho native. 

Ranunculus haastii... photo Doug Logan

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