10) Lewisia, Claytonia, Talinum and other Portulaceae

This forum on Lewisia has not had any entries since 2014.

I started a few  in the past season, and hope to plant them out next season.

Could some of you tell what are the best conditions for these plants ?

i took this picture of a part of my rock garden that has four different species of Talinum(if that taxon still is valid) T. okanoganense, T. spinecens, T. brachypodium and T. brevifolium.

The new Lewisia season has begun, at least here in the UK. My first two:-

Lewisia tweedyi Lemon Form

and an orange/red form of L. cotyledon

Doesn't appear to be a general Lewisia thread for this year so one started here where the Lewisia season is in full swing:-

Lewisia columbiana 'Alba'
L. columbiana 'Rosea'
L. columbiana ssp. wallowensis
and a couple of L. cotyledons from Ashdown nursery, the best UK nursery for sourcing Lewisia hybrids and species

They can call them Cistanthe if they want to but to me they have always been Lewisias and they always will be. So there, put that in your pipe and smoke it whoever you are ;D

My first one of the season, Lewisia tweedyi, this plant grown from seed quite a few years ago now. Around four years ago I had a very bad Lewisia year and thought I might loose the plant but it got a good haircut, lost an arm or two, and now it's looking qhite like it's old self again.

I've been incredibly busy for the past two months, and I apologize for not being around here, but I will have more time from now on to post and respond. I was in attendance at the NARGS Annual General Meeting in Everett, WA early in March, and I bought a bunch of plants, which I had shipped. Now that I've received them, I discovered that I have no idea what to do which a surprisingly large number of them. Among them is Lewisia glandulosa, which has a modest amount of information available on the net. Have any of you grown it?

Rarely encountered in it's high elevation habitats is Claytonia umbellata, The Great Basin Spring beauty. This tiny Clatonia is found on semi-stable talus ruble in from southern OR into northern CA and NV. The plants sprout from small tubers 1-2" across (3-5cm) found nesting on the soil only inches from the surface. After threading their way up through the course stone, the elliptic succulent leaf blades lie flat against the chunks of talus measuring about 1-1.5 inches across(3-4cm).

Growing on similar habitat to Cistanthe umbellata (Calyptridium umbellatum) but with a smaller overall range you will find Cistanthe monosperma (syn. Calyptridium monospermum). This Cistanthe's population is concentrated along the Sierra Nevada, Klamath, Siskiyou and Steen mountains. It looks for all practical purposes the same as C. umbellata with subtle differences (One that is observable with the naked eye, it's leaves are darker green and more slender) and requires the same culture in the garden.

Cistanthe umbellata (syn. Calyptridium umbellatum) is a low growing tap rooted perennial generally dispaying two or more basal rosettes of thick, spoon-shaped leaves about an inch long. The inflorescence are spherical umbels of rounded sepals and four small sharply pointed petals on each flower. The colors can vary from cream through light pink. In the Sierra Nevada it can be found growing at a wide range of elevations from 2,500'-14,000'. I usually find it on very gritty/clay slopes exposed to full sun.

Cistanthe tweedyi ( syns. Lewisia tweedyi, Calandrinia tweedyi, Lewisiopsis tweedyi ) sure has been renamed often through the years. I have my plants planted were they get light high shade in the heat of the day and twice a week irrigation. The substrate is a very well drained six inches deep layer of decomposed granite. The deeper layer is a clay/loam that is low in humus. They seem to do well for me but I have very low humidity and cool evening tempatures in the summer.