This is my first year growing saxes and I would be curious to see how other members saxes are doing this fall in their troughs. Pictures would be appreciated and we could use some newer postings related to saxifrages. Thanks
I know that gardeners in Newfoundland and Norway can grow saxifrages readily, but I am getting tired of losing my favorites year after year. When I went through my garden and my file cards yesterday, I discovered I had three left in the ground--'Winnifred Bevington,' tucked against a piece of tufa on a slightly shaded north bank, 'Findling,' a mossy saxifrage, down low on that same bank, and 'Apple Blossom,' a pleasantly sprawly but totally non-blooming plant high on that same bank. Also, in a trough in a somewhat shady spot 'Correvon' and in a pot, 'Peter Pan.'
The sax season has finally started in Newfoundland....just a few open yet...lots in bud. here is Saxifraga oppositifolia and S. sancta
I was looking for plants when I came upon a school of butterflies (Can you say "...school of butterflies"?). It was the common "blåvinge" ("blue-wing" (Polyommatus icarus) as we call it here) and some of them sat here by the saxifrage, to rest?
Edit correction: Fjellblåvinge (Albulina orbitulus)
Stjernesildre ("Star saxifrage", Saxifraga stellaris) grows in cold streams and meltwater or where the snow last linger. Always cold feet.
Gulsildre ("yellow saxifrage", Saxifraga aizoides) is common along mineral rich seepage lines in the alpine zone. The common color is yellow but you often encounter populations with orange or even near red flowers.
My Kabschia season is just starting, despite wet sloppy snow today! Open now is S. apiculata 'Gregor Mendel' and S. X kellereri 'Suendermannii'. Both are in troughs.
March 22 and this native is just about ready to pop! It is growing in the the alpine house at work so more protected than those outside. Might be open tomorrow if it gets warm enough.
Lyall's, or red-stemmed, saxifrage (Saxifraga lyallii) is one of the most common saxifrages in this area, and it can form dense tracts along the banks of snow-melt streams up high, and in places where water runs under the scree. Where it grows in number, it adds big swaths of colour!
It seems, from the USDA range map, that this tends to be a more northerly species:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SALY3