General Forum

I usually only drop in on Bob Nold a couple times of year: every time I do so I am annoyed with myself that I don't drop by more often. For those of you who know him only through his wonderful books, I can assure you that he is even more charming and interesting in person. I am appending a few pictures of Bob and his new "world's ugliest rock garden", which he assures me is prettier now that he has finished it. And one of the many plants that Bob has naturalizing in his yard (which was a fleeting visitor to mine): namely Asphodeline damascena.

Some thoughts while stating to download pictures:
1. I guess it is not possible to change the caption of a photo once it has been downloaded?
2. I'm glad the rock garden scenes has been broken into sub-galleries, but I wonder if I should be broken down further: Northeast USA, Midwest, Arid States, Pacific States, Europe, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand and others.

Here is some of what I saw on a stroll today, after work.

I never really thought about making hypertufa stones in quantity for a rock garden. (Thanks for putting that in my head, Trond.)

-- What issues would one need to be cognizant of while embarking on such an endeavor?
-- Since hypertufa contains lime that leaches into surroundings, would a weathering period be wise before use?
-- Any adjustments in the mix?
-- Would the hypertufa decompose faster or slower than above ground as troughs?
-- Any experiences from you all out there?

This species needs only cracks in the rock to establish itself. The seeds are dispersed by ants. Cymbalaria muralis grows along the coast in southern Norway and is used as a garden plant.

So, tomorrow, we start building the extension to last year's little tufa garden... after our backs rest up from today's efforts, aided hugely by the 2 strong young fellows from the tufa supply company, at unloading the truck! Here is a portion of the raw materials scattered through our yard... a pallet (a ton) of tufa in various sizes, plus 5 massive boulders (several hundred more pounds), and 5 bags of half-inch tufa gravel...

A New York Times article features Michael Riley of the NARGS Manhattan Chapter. Read more about Michael and vertical gardens at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/garden/06vertical.html?pagewanted=1&ref=garden

I saw this link to a Denver Post article in garden gadgetry, and was particularly interested in the waterproof PlantCam, which purports to be able to make time-lapse animations of plants growing and flowering.

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14751271

While it is also the earliest spring ever here for crocus to start blooming, it is nowhere near as advanced as the much more southerly and/or warmer areas we've been seeing here... but things are progressing!
1) There will be flowers open today on the most precocious of various self-seeded Hepatica nobilis; the leaves on hepatica take quite a beating over the winter here, so it seems it is only much warmer areas that can produce those photos showing spectacular flowers and beautiful leaves at the same time!

Instead of participating in the Eastern Study Weekend I decided to go West. The weekend in Medford was very well organized, interesting speakers and beautiful open gardens. Several of the gardens had been constructed by Joseph Halda with his wonderful crevices. It was specially interesting from someone like me from the East, to learn about plants from the Siskiyou region. I had never been to Oregon and despite the reputation of constant rain, we had 10 beautiful days. Another highlight was the Chinese garden in Portland.