In bloom here now... this close-up of Phlox hendersonii shows the "diamond-dusted" foliage that was described in another post:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=122.msg2640#msg2640
A truly beautiful plant!
EDIT: Photos restored, Nov. 27/14 -
Leptodactylon pungens ssp. pulchrifolium (or now Linanthus pungens ssp. pulchrifolium, I guess) has proven impressively hardy here! From a grand total of 2 flowers last year, it has outdone itself this year with quite a few more pleasantly-scented, phlox-like blossoms.
If anyone has photos, I'd love to see what more mature, better-grown specimens look like, in the garden or in nature!
On my way home the other day, I noticed a few Phlox hoodii in bloom on the eroded clay slopes along the Bow River uplands bike path.
I got this from Beaver Creek several years ago: one of the great pleasures for rock gardening for me is figuring out how to grow a challenging plant. I am always amused by those who say they only try things three times (sorry Tony, I know you mean AT LEAST three times). There are plants I have probably grown twenty times before finding the right microclimate for them to persist and proliferate. This may be the first microphlox I sited perfectly the first time, in a sunny trough...it is miniscule and has quickly become one of my faves. Now if I only had another half dozen flower forms!
Another fabulous gilia, and very distinctive, is Gilia subnuda. It is widespread on slick rock throughout the American Southwest--at least Canyonlands and the San Rafael Swell. It's main claims to fame are its Lewisia like, leathery, nearly succulent rosettes, it's everblooming habit (in the garden with a bit of water, it can bloom all summer). It is also perennial, although not a Methuselah.
It lasted two or three years for me before pooping out. It didn't self sow, and I neglected to sow seed, so it's one I must recollect.
Attached is a picture of Phlox nana in the garden of Joel and Pat Hayward, gardeners extraordinaire who live in Masonville, Colorado. This so called "Santa Fe" phlox (it actually grows pretty widely across New Mexico and a bit into neighboring states) grows with almost obscene vigor in their garden. They dig up pieces and pot them up for friends every year.
Wouldn't you know I can't find a closeup (in digital format anyway), but since this poor Phlox category has been going begging, I can at least show an overall shot of an outstanding phlox of the Southern Rockies: for some reason, we find Phlox condensata very hard to grow in the open ground for more than a few years: it peters out. But in a trough it spreads and is magnificent (a phenomenon true of other alpines as well). Here in the first picture it is in a trough featuring plants of Pikes Peak at Denver Botanic Gardens.
The alternate title for this thread is "Damned Biennials"... a recurring theme in my gardening experience.
I was absolutely smitten (or was I smote?) by Ipomopsis macrosiphon, the former Gilia aggregata var. macrosiphon. What a flower machine! The plants bloomed heavily throughout their second year but unfortunately, I lost it - no seedlings the next year. How wonderful it must be to see this one... or the other gilias.... in the wild!
Not quite as congested as the sky pilots, this frilly leaved Polemonium pulcherrimum is widespread through the montane elevations of the Northern Rockies. I first collected seed near Dog Gone Lake (I kid you not) in Montana where it grew thickly under the pines and spruce. It thrives in the same sort of conditions that suit Auricula primulas and Heucheras--well drained high shade--and has lasted for years in my rock garden. I think it may be my favorite Polemonium, one well worth seeking out.