General Forum

The huge burst of activity on Alpine L recently, in particular a huge series of photograph uploads by Jane Hendrix, leads me to the logical question of what we in NARGS can do to support our numerous 'orphan' members. 'Orphan' refers to those members who are not members of Chapters, most often because they don't live near an existing one. We have members all over the world, and even in North America there are many members, Jane among them, who would have to travel hours to get to a meeting of their closest chapter.

Hi again: I would like to draw people's attention to what I consider a breakthrough by ORGHPS. At this time of year, when seedaholics are busy making selections from some very large seedexes, and probably, like me, going a bit bug eyed flicking back and forth from the list (sometimes electronic) to Google (and putting on and taking off the bifocals like me), this wonderful group has made it all a lot easier for people like me. With each item, they have a link to Google pics, descriptions and germination instructions. But it is the easy accessibility of pics that is such a boon.

Hello folks,

We all like to talk about the weather, or complain about it, particularly as it pertains to our gardening efforts. And, because forumists are located throughout North America and the World, it is interesting to witness the climatic differences and challenges that each gardener faces, no matter where located.

Has anyone invested in the Flora ID Northwest software, from what I can see from the following links, it looks like a great idea and resource.

Advertised on the Native Plant Society of British Columbia web site, it shows screen capture of the software:
http://www.npsbc.org/
http://www.npsbc.org/Flora_ID_Northwest.pdf

Does adding a particular rock, such as limestone or granite, actually alter the planting medium of a trough in the near term? I define the 'near term' as a couple of years. Mikkelson posted a question about the potential benefits of adding serpentine to one of his troughs, and it struck me that I had no idea what, if any, effect, a particular kind of mineral/rock would have on the soil over a few years.

For those of us who garden near deciduous trees, how should we handle fall clean up? Do we simply leave the leaves alone, or do we clean them up? Are there some plants that won't mind a mulch of maple leaves? I'm about ready to act, and I'd like to know what to do. Thanks.

This situation [how to remember names of plants growing in troughs] reminds me of a question I've almost asked about 1000 times, which is 'How do you label trough plants without destroying the trough's aesthetic? So now I've finally asked it. Any suggestions?

Photos courtesy of Ted Kipping, taken in the White Mountains of California.

In the Berkshire Chapter Newsletter. A year round synopsis of your climate is very helpful (and interesting).

In mid September (2010) I had the distinct privilege of visiting Darrell Probst's hybrid fields, but I'm not talking about Epimedium here, this time around it was to walk a field of 5000 hybrid Coreopsis seedlings. The seedling field represents 10 years of hybridization efforts in hardy Coreopsis. The key phrase here is hardy Coreopsis, as many of the recent hybrids that have flooded the market, such as 'Sweet Dreams', 'Limerock Ruby', are crosses made with annual C.