Image of the day - 2012

Nice place, Trond! More varied than the field I showed, which |I am quite sure is a cultivated one-- many fields here are sown in grasses and/or legumes for hay and grazing for some years, then they will be plowed and put to a grain/seed crop such as barley, oats or canola (rape)- not as much wheat in my immediate area... and then repeat, etc..
So in this kind of filed, there are not a lot of wildflowers as they don't have time to establish before its plowed again- the Campanula will have come in from the roadside ditch, and may be only in a strip along the edge that does not get plowed! Other places we have pastures for grazing that are just cleared of trees, but not plowed, and they can have more diversity..

Rick-- great blue! I suppose someone in Alberta must be growing flax for seed, but I have never seen a field...

Mark, I always forget about flax- there are a few spots I've seen Linum growing wild (down south and in the montane zone; also pale blues) but have not been there at the right for seeds, or didn't look for them.. need to correct that, I'd like to have some seeding around, they probably wouldn't have as easy a time of it here as in your climate, but I could keep them in semi/wild places so they have lots of competition...

Every now and again farmers here grow flax in place of rape - it is far more beautiful to see a field of blue! The field below our garden was planted this way one year and after harvesting the remaining stems were brought together in heaps and burnt. It seemed as though the whole field was on fire! (and my wife thought I had blown up the shed at the bottom of the garden!)... I wish some other linums would grow as well; L. narbonnense has always been a favourite of mine but seems to set very little seed and is very difficult to root cuttings from. Very beautiful silver-blue flowers though.

Hoy wrote:

cohan wrote:

Nice place, Trond! More varied than the field I showed, which |I am quite sure is a cultivated one-- many fields here are sown in grasses and/or legumes for hay and grazing for some years, then they will be plowed and put to a grain/seed crop such as barley, oats or canola (rape)- not as much wheat in my immediate area... and then repeat, etc..
So in this kind of filed, there are not a lot of wildflowers as they don't have time to establish before its plowed again- the Campanula will have come in from the roadside ditch, and may be only in a strip along the edge that does not get plowed! Other places we have pastures for grazing that are just cleared of trees, but not plowed, and they can have more diversity..

"My" meadow is kind of cultivated as a small herd of calves do graze here every summer. Woody species spreading into the meadow are also removed on a regular basis. The soil is mostly fine quartz sand.

I've seen small patches of flax here in some gardens but not meadows! Although flax (Linum usatissimum)  has been grown here since the bronze age it is not found wild and not grown commercially since 19th century (American cotton replaced it ;) ). Another plant grown for its fibers is nettle (netle or nesle in Norw), a very important fiber plant as the word net (nett in Norw.) and "å netle" (= to sew) show. The latter plant is found wild ;)

I know nettles are supposed to be very nutritious, but I didn't know they were used for fibre! Something to look into...

Trond, you seriously overestimate me....lol

Hoy wrote:

cohan wrote:

Trond, you seriously overestimate me....lol

Don't you have google?  ;D

I use google translate on occasion- it has some limited value for short, straightforward texts- a short list of facts etc, but overall, I find it more likely to produce something more like abstract poetry than any useful information, so usually I don't bother, unless I really can't find the information in a language I can make some sense of myself..lol

I was posting some images of what I decided is probably Gentiana affinis the other day, in my Alberta Wanderings thread; I found some more images of them, later in the season.. more pics here, showing some of the variation in leaf form, and fall colours, ranging from in bloom to nearly, but not quite, ripe seed:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=591.msg14622#msg14622

Yikes, you sure get the snowfalls out there, Todd!

We are back into a warm spell, with the snow disappearing fast.
Thinking of spring to come, here's a shot of Penstemon nitidus with other spring/early summer flowers in the front yard:

Todd wrote:

Well, we have been inundated with three consecutive snow storms.  Over 100 cm with winds in excess of 80km/h.  Hard to believe I had open lawn a week ago.  Guess no early spring for me!  I think we have the only snow in all of North America.

We heard the East was getting hammered! We have not had significant new snow in some time, but there is still plenty on the ground- piles a couple feet deep where its shovelled around our parking/house etc... lots of bare spots under trees, but open areas mostly still under several inches to a foot... all my plantings are still covered, though some rock garden bits will be showing soon +6 today, -5C monday, then just below or just above most of the week-- still warm for Jan!- but snow will only be melting in sunny places..

More sweet dreams of spring...
Asperula boissieri:

It's been a very satisfying grower, with bloom starting in the first year from seed, and flowering lushly over a very long period in its second year (when this picture was taken).  I started the seeds at room temperature, then, with no germination after about 2 weeks, moved them to the cold room, where germination commenced after another 12 days.  (From that, I'm not sure if chilling is required or not, or if it would have germinated in warm conditions with time.)  The seeds were collected by Mojmir Pavelka from rocky limestone slopes at 2200m elevation in the Killini Mts., Greece.  As one might expect from its appearance, it's evergreen.

Great little plant, and looking right at home in your tufa!

Looks good, Todd! I've been trying to figure out whether there are any other (ex) potentillas that can be confused with this species? I've seen it in towns/cities occasionally, and near shores in seemingly dry (growing flat) or not (taller) locations-- Flora of Alberta lists it as being native and having a habitat of lakeshores etc.. is this all the same plant or is there another stoloniferous Potentilla? Is it always native in North America, or in urban situations would be an introduced form?  I'll dig for pics...

Okay, found some, first three are in an empty lot in the town of Sylvan Lake, Alberta; as the name suggests, this is a lakeshore town, though this site is not near the shore, still on flats that might have been shore long ago..

Second set is at the shore of Gull Lake, Alberta.. some low plants, and some in a moist grass area that are taller..

Argentina anserina is the former Potentilla anserina and is common across the prairies... as a kid, I remember seeing it mainly on the edges of mud puddles along the sidewalks!  I've always thought of it as being somewhat invasive but I've never grown it so I don't know how well founded that assumption is.  I've found it sort of amusing that Fraser's Thimble Farms has sold it for many years now (surprising to me but why not, I suppose - though until seeing Todd's photo, I hadn't thought of it as being all that ornamental) and secondly, that they refer to it as hardy down to zone 6.   :rolleyes: ;D ;D  (It would be nice if the natural range of plants would be considered when zone ratings are published!) 

Finally the last place I've photographed this plant ( I think!) in 2007, on the Leslie Spit in Toronto; this is a park and breakwater of reclaimed/built up land ( I suppose there was a spit there that they added to?)- part are still being extended - or were in 2007- with construction /demolition rubble etc.. plants are a mix of native and urban weedy species (and I never did know the Ontario flora enough to always know the difference- I think i will have to post more from this place- there are things I still don't know what they were!), and I suppose some of the natives have been deliberately planted....
These plants are growing in a sandy spot that seemed very hot and dry in mid-summer though it's possible the watertable is not very far below, and likely at other times of year it would be wet....

McDonough wrote:

Judging from the USDA Plant Profile page on Argentina anserina and native range, it grows all the way up to the Northern Territories and Alaska, so hardiness is probably not an issue. 

Yes, my point exactly with respect to the "zone 6" rating!  (On that note, another favourite misleading-zone-rating example is for  another northern prairie plant, anise-hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)...  also "zone 6"...  :rolleyes:

Lori- I have some places in the yard where I think it would be a nice addition to the 'lawn' though paying closer attention to the habitat,  now I'm wondering if its drought tolerant as I always thought from city sightings.. When I get some seed or cuttings, I can try it in the dry and wet ends of the property... I've always really liked the plant, especially when its flat, and some are more silver than others, not sure if that's varietal or environmental..

So is the consensus that all the North American plants are native? And are all the stoloniferous Potentilla this species? I didn't find any other candidates....

Mark- if it's growing around here, hardiness is not an issue ;) I wonder if the arctic forms are any smaller?

The zone thing is funny-- I understand there are plants that are less cultivated, and vendors can't say anything more than that they are hardy in the nursery's zone, but for plants native to- for example Alberta, as something I saw in a B.C. catalogue was listed, a zone 4 rating is kind of funny (very small areas of z4 in Alberta) and widely grown plants in zone 2 listed as z 6- Sempervivum is another- funny indeed-- a few minutes on google could give a catalogue writer better info than that!
The Agastache grows near here too...  we are z 3 more or less on the map, these days, but long term still expect some z 2 winters...

After digging up the Argentina/Potentilla images from an old Toronto album, I got the whole set onto Picasa, and started a thread here:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=986.msg14913#msg14913
an interesting 'wild' space in view of the CN Tower...

Hoy wrote:

Potentilla (I prefere that name!) anserina is common in all Norway, also the far north. It is nitrophilic and you commonly find it at the seashores. I am used to two different forms - one with silvery hair on both sides of the leaves - often the biggest - and one with green leaves and hair only on the underside of the leaf. It is so common that I haven't bothered picturing it!

I have only this pic:

Its often the case that we ignore very common plants, even if they are nice! I tend to overlook Fragraria here for that reason, among others, even though they are quite lovely!

For consideration today, here are the tiny and bizarre flowers of Mitella nuda, a circumpolar native, growing here in an acid/peat bed:

One of my favourites, Lori :) this is one of those that grows everywhere here (out of full sun, that is), including many mowed parts of our property; often quite large patches, though never all by itself, and many times threading through other species; I'd like to put some in a dedicated planting like yours where it can be appreciated :)

Here are some common local settings of Mitella nuda:
first with Pyrola asarifolia in bud, Cornus canadensis emerging leaves, aster and Rubus in the background, among others (very typical mesic forest community!) and a close-up of the same inflorescence with fuzz of poplars or dandelion stuck to it (at times the air and ground, every twig, blade and leaf are full of fuzz of various things); June 06, 2010

Then on a slightly raised strip in  a wet wooded area, with Equisetum, Galium, Rubus, Geum, etc.. June 16, 2010

Another example of en-fuzzed flowers from early June- Corallorrhiza trifida, which I don't remember from my youth, but which has become very common on parts of the acreage and the farm just beyond....

I've always wondered about growing Potentilla anserina. Here it is simply called 'silverweed'. I've never known anyone introduce it to gardens; I imagine it could become pretty invasive! On the other hand it could be good to have it spangling the lawn!

The picture of Lori's earlier on of Asperulain tufa is just tremendous; my tufa project is definitely coming to the fore!

Trond-- the big patch of P anserina is nice!
Tim- I agree you wouldn't want it in a small/choice garden setting, but I'd quite like to have it in my 'lawn' which is just mowed land including a lot of things other than grass already! Agreed about Mitella- the inflorescences are individually stunning, and quite wonderful when you see a patch of them..

Todd- Corallorhiza is not that early here- early June..

We have several other species of Mitella in Alberta- in google images they don't look much different, though I think they are all larger, with differences in hairiness and numbers of stamens etc!I don't think any of them should appear here-- looks like all should be in the mountains...

Corallorhiza maculata is not as common as C trifida is now, but not rare- there are at least two patches just on my 6 acres- much larger and showier than trifida, in larger clusters of stems, unlike the more scattered trifida.... C maculata seems very scarce on the map, but I suspect its underrecorded, based on my viewings around here, and I am hardly seeing any large portion of the suitable habitat!

There is also C striata, which I don't think I have seen, seems farther south on the map...

A few images of Corallorhiza maculata; I will have to try to get some better pics of this this year- it seems to defy me: a dark plant, growing in shady places- so images of light and camera shake, plus stems move easily in the breeze it seems- whatever the reasons, most of my pics are crappy (the one time I found it in sun, my camera had something on the lens and I didn't know, so half my photos that day were sort of 'soft focus')..
Anyway these are one one of the patches on my acreage, first July 09, 2011, in full bloom, not early in the blooming;

then July 14, 2010, same patch- clearly a little past their prime...

Trond- seed could easily be arranged if you have some suitable soil to dump it on...

Fermi- nice plants at any time :)

Hoy wrote:

cohan wrote:

Trond- seed could easily be arranged if you have some suitable soil to dump it on...

Cohan, what do you think is suitable soil? I have many possible sites ;)

As Todd mentioned, and as I'm sure you know, you need fungus in the soil- but this may not be such a problem in your woodland garden... on my property these are on average woodland soil which only has a thin layer of real humus over our usual 'grey wooded' soil which has some smallish amount of organic matter in a clayey soil, with a thin layer of leaf litter on top of that-- so obviously decomposing organic matter, but not any great depth of it! They are mesic sites- not dry, but not wet- home to things like Cornus canadensis, Maianthemum etc...
And this is why I said  to 'dump' it- you could try the Japanese non- sterile orchid germination (building up fungal cultures in plastic boxes- discussed on SRGC) but for this seed, I'd be inclined to just toss it in your woodland in some possible sites and see what happens- I could give you enough pods to be casual with if I catch them at the right time..lol

Good info, Trond- my knowledge of fungi is scanty, even though there are many here, a major part of the ecosystem, and I look at and photograph them a lot!

Mark- very pretty iris!

Swiping some pix from Stuart's backcountry ski trip yesterday to the Heather Ridge area in Banff N.P., I think these give some indication of the hardiness of northern Rockies alpines... on some windy ridges, they cannot even count on snow cover!

Lori wrote:

Swiping some pix from Stuart's backcountry ski trip yesterday to the Heather Ridge area in Banff N.P., I think these give some indication of the hardiness of northern Rockies alpines... on some windy ridges, they cannot even count on snow cover!

Nice views! At least this winter hasn't been very cold, but the winds must be very dessicating up there! I was just looking at Pyrola/Orthilia in the woods here, many spots exposed, and they tend to look very dried out when they are bare this time of year- and we don't have that much wind inside the bush!