General Forum

Description

a forum for any general garden topic or question

Armchair botanizing for Extreme Milkweeds (Asclepias)

Submitted by Mark McD on

Love them or hate them, you cannot deny the beauty of intricately crafted milkweed blooms, often deliciously perfumed and beloved by butterflies. Some Asclepias are well known invasive weeds, many are course stalwart plants more suited to a wild prairie garden, and relatively few may gain admittance to a rock garden. The North American west holds a number of fascinating dwarf Asclepias species, most will be challenging to cultivate.

Northwest Flower show

Submitted by Kelaidis on

I have been back for almost a week now, and the show ended last Sunday, but I can't resist posting some of the nursery displays from this amazing show. There were a half dozen really fine nurseries with great offerings for rock gardeners: Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken's Far Reach Farm was mobbed the whole time, and Edelweiss Alpines from Portland had a great display including lots of Gentiana acaulis in full bloom!

Agastache

Submitted by Mark McD on

Agastache is a relatively small genus in the Lamiaceae (Mint family); mostly North American except a single species in Asia and Russia (A. rugosa). These are aromatic ornamental herbaceous perennials or subshrubs, the best and showiest ones from southwestern USA and Mexico.

NARGS Membership - Why or Why Not?

Submitted by Peter George on

Now that we've opened the Forum to everyone willing to take the time to register, I am very interested in knowing why some of you have not joined NARGS. This question is not designed to pressure anyone, but to actually find out the specific reason or reasons why so many people who are involved in rock gardening choose not to join the 'big' organization.

Weather 2011

Submitted by Mark McD on

Who doesn't love talking about the weather, particularly us plant-sensitive types, so I'm kicking off the Weather 2011 thread ;)

With a gentle 2"-3" (5-7.5 cm) topping of fresh snow, I waded out in waist-deep snow to snap a few photos. The new snow was the sticky type, beautifully serving to trace tree and shrub branching. Here are some of my favorite woodies:

Gaura mutabilis seed source?

Submitted by Saori on

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this question...

One of my friends from Japan is interested in hybridizing using Gaura mutabilis (http://www.polyploid.net/swplants/pages/Gaura_mutabilis.html) and is looking for Gaura mutabilis seed.

I have been looking around for quite a while but I haven't had luck so far.

Would anybody out there perhaps be able to share some seeds, or maybe know where I might
obtain some?

Thanks very much!

Saori