Plant Identification

Thought I'd share this, so often when growing penstemon species they can turn out to be the eastern North American P. hirsutus. Pictures is what was donated to NARGS Seed Exchange 2009-2010 as Penstemon arkansanus, but it turns out to be a regular light bluish-lavender for of P. hirsutus.

Three of these plants appeared in different spots in the garden last year. I have no clue where from (seeds brought in with other plants?). Two are in the sun and the foliage is chocolate color. One in the shade is greener. The foliage looks like bugbane's but flower buds are already forming in mid-May.

I grew seeds of Achillea holosericea this year, and ended up with two different plants. Most of the seedlings look like the plant on the left, which I suspect is not Achillea holosericea, judging from the few photos I can find, including the one in the article by Grahame Ware in the spring 2012 Rock Garden Quarterly. (It does look very interesting though!) Can anyone please comment or suggest what the one on the left might be (if it not Achillea holosericea)? Thanks.

I grew this a couple of years ago as Astragalus angustifolius, in order to compare to an old plant I have. It was soon obvious from the form that it wasn't Astragalus angustifolius at all. It's bloomed this year with rather attractive grey-purple flowers. Any idea what it might be?

A couple years ago I got seed through the exchange for "Petrocallis pyrenaica". One seedling survived, bloomed a bit last year, and is blooming again on a slightly more robust plant now. It's clearly not petrocallis - probably some kind of alyssum, aurinia, or something in that botanical corner. Any ideas? My page about the plant is up here: http://www.robsplants.com/plants/PetroPyre2 and I'd love to get the identification correct.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Growing at Quackin Grass Nursery in NE Connecticut USA. Early spring photo. Escobaria?

Many years ago i came across this plant while exploring a remote area of limestone outcrops in central Idaho. It seems the population was only on cliffs in a rather small area and was a bit of a hectic climb just to have a look(i could not repeat that today, i'm afraid). I am not really sure what it is as i have not been able to key it out in a satisfactory way and have never been skilled with keys anyway.

This was supposed to be Campanula raineri, but it clearly isn't. Looks to me like a geranium, though I haven't quite ruled out a weedy ranunculus, perhaps? Any thoughts?

Hi,

I bought this plant last year at a yard sale. No one knows what it is.

Evergreen, 2in tall, single stem, tri-leaf. No flowers as yet.

I have tried several times to attach a 12KB jpg of the plant to no avail. What is the secret to uploading a photo?

Thanks,
Sue Mandeville

I know next to nothing about ferns, and my efforts at trying to identify this one have come to naught! These photos were taken quite high in the alpine zone in northern Banff (~2600m elevation). It looks like it should be distinctive enough that someone may recognize the genus on sight. It's growing in crevices among quartzite boulders. Any help to ID it would be appreciated.