Image of the day

That's a great idea, Cliff! (and a most wonderful photo.) I grow a few Pulsatilla species, but not vernalis.  I just received seed of it this year.  Have you (or anyone) found anything different as to its germination requirements in comparison to other Pulsatillas?

Many thanks Rick.  The Spring Pasque Flower is one of my favorite plants and one of the absolute gems of the high altitude snow melt zones in the European Alps.  Not difficult to germinate if the seed is fresh the resultant seedlings can be quite variable but usually worth persisting with until flowering. Please do not be tempted to pamper these seedlings in any way.

It grows here in a state of virtual neglect out in the front yard - no special care or attention at all.  Mine are white-flowered, re. the variability that was mentioned.  Seed starting was straight-forward - easy, warm germinator.

I tried vernalis once...ended up being just plain old vulgaris.  Love the tawny silkiness of vernalis!

Great idea Cliff and to keep the ball rolling I offer this. Its Rhodothamnus chamaecistus, not in cultivation, but photographed in the mountains of western Slovenia. I just think it is beautiful.

Another of my all time favorite plants, Malcolm and one that we are fortunate enough to see thriving in the Dolomites each year (and flowering, but not as well, in large pots in my garden).

Beautiful image of a super plant.  Who will rise to the challenge tomorrow?

McGregor wrote:

Great idea Cliff and to keep the ball rolling I offer this. Its Rhodothamnus chamaecistus, not in cultivation, but photographed in the mountains of western Slovenia. I just think it is beautiful.

This plant is one of the real charmers of the Ericaceae.... my favourite plant family.... and your photo shows it in peak condition, Malcolm.
Still under snow here in Aberdeen, so such pictures are a treat!

Maggi Young

And its intriguing because it's a limestone plant, unlike most of the Ericaceae! 

What a wonderful plant!  I'd love to try one in Newfoundland...we are the king of ericaceous plants when it comes to natives...however, if Rhodothamnus needs lime it might not be happy here.

I don't think its too fussy in cultivation, just in the wild, as I understand it.

That Townsendia condensata is one of my favourite, the flower is 5cm in size, soft hairy leaves, fast grower in sunny very dry place, unfortunately monocarpic. I just like it - looks like a soft ball.

is this photograph of wild plants, or are they ones you are growing in Poland?  They are very nice - quite charming.

I have seeds of this one to try this year...yes it's too bad they are so short-lived.  makes for a lot of work to keep them going year to year.

Townsendia grows rather easily in the sunniest part of our Arboretum Rock Garden.  We've had no expreience with condensata at the Arboretum, though.  I think hookeri or maybe montana.  I don't know if any of our Minnesota Chapter members have tried T. condensata.  We will certainly keep it in mind!  Thanks for the photo.

McGregor wrote:

is this photograph of wild plants, or are they ones you are growing in Poland?  They are very nice - quite charming.

This is photo from my garden, plants are located under roof overhangs by my house in pure granite gravel. In regular conditions in my garden it would rot off very quickly.

Boland wrote:

I have seeds of this one to try this year...yes it's too bad they are so short-lived.  makes for a lot of work to keep them going year to year.

It may be much easier to keep it going by immediate sowing. I've done it last year just after seed ripening and new seedlings shot after a couple of weeks in the same place. Now new plants are of 2cm size but probably 'll be flowering next year.

Pretty plant from the Dolomites for today's image ... the gorgeous honey-scented Thlaspi rotundifolium.

THLASPI ROTUNDIFOLIUM

Hello to all. Greetings from north central Tennessee. Pouring rain here today. Attached is one of my favorite Cornus shot at Cataract Falls, Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland Summer 2007. Actually Todd it was the day my wife & I visited you in St. John's.
Great job with the website. I'm still learning how to use it ;D

Regards to all, Paul H. Schneider, Eastern Sun Studio & Gardens, Portland, TN

Welcome to the forum, Paul!

As a kid who spent nearly every summer weekend in wild northern Minnesota near the Ontario border, I am very familiar with this species.  Back then I dismissed it as "boring", since many other more "interesting" flora abounded in the area - pitcher plants, sundews, more than a dozen species of orchids, etc.
But I have now become rather fond of Cornus canadensis, and have seen it native in a few places in southern Minnesota, too.

Cornus canadensis is perhaps THE most common woodland plant in Newfoundland...we also have Cornus suecica which is equally as nice.

Great looking Thlaspi Cliff!

RickR wrote:

Welcome to the forum, Paul!

As a kid who spent nearly every summer weekend in wild northern Minnesota near the Ontario border, I am very familiar with this species.  Back then I dismissed it as "boring", since many other more "interesting" flora abounded in the area - pitcher plants, sundews, more than a dozen species of orchids, etc.
But I have now become rather fond of Cornus canadensis, and have seen it native in a few places in southern Minnesota, too.

Thanks Rick, I grew up in northern NY near the Vermont border. We could find C. canadensis occasionally, usually in Vt. or NH. With clay soil & thuggish summer heat here in north central TN, it is one that I doubt would be very happy.

Here is my contribution to plant of the day...Diapensia lapponica...creme de la creme of our native alpines but extremely difficult to grow in cultivation.  We have a single plant in the Memorial University Botanical Garden alpine house that is now 3 years and going...every one we tried outside died within weeks.  This picture is in the wild where they are actually reasonably common in Newfoundland.

Gorgeous photos, all!

Very interesting, Todd.  What do you suppose is the critical difference between the alpine house and outdoors in your location, as opposed to where the plant grows in nature?

Lori

Outside I think it gets too hot where our BG is close to sea-level.  The alpine house is lightly shaded so the heat is not nearly as intense.  In the wild, Diapensia grows in open, windy areas that are often foggy thus intense heat is not a problem.  St. John's is far from hot but relatively speaking we are hotter than where Diapensia would normally grow.

An image from an Alpine Garden Society Show (at Blackpool, Lancashire, U.K. in March 2009) of a fine Saxifraga 'Lismore Carmine'.

SAXIFRAGA 'LISMORE CARMINE'

This is one of the most popular of the cultivars which has appeared in the last 20 years and this is one of those depressingly beautiful specimens that some people manage to take to alpine plant shows!

I thought I'd post this picture of Allium crenulatum. It's taken in the Olympic Mountains, Washington State, and I thought it was so attractive against the dark shale. I'll post another picture in the Bulbs section as well.

Stunning Allium Malcolm...I have lots of Allium in the garden but I have not tried that species.

That is a wonderful saxifrage Cliff but growing in an alpine house seems like cheating.  If it looked like that outdoors, then I'd be REALLY impressed.

This picture is from a few years ago and the whole thing has now gone but for four or five years it was as good as this. So it can be good outside.

'Lismore Carmine' is halfway down on the left hand side and round the right hand side there is 'Lismore Pink' which I think is even more beautiful. They are both hybrids involving Saxifraga georgei and really want a slightly more moist atmosphere than is typical here. We're not fantastically cold, or fantastically hot (often at least) but we are often very dry which is usually the determining factor for what does well long term.

I would think Newfoundland might be ideal for this sort of saxifrage.

Hi Todd and Malcolm,
I must begin by stating that the Sax' wasn't mine - simply another image captured at an AGS national show - but it may not have been grown in an alpine house - perhaps in a frame, perhaps simply covered with a sheet of glass to protect it at flowering time?
As Malcolm's image superbly illustrates these wonderful sax's can be grown and flowered extremely well outside (here in northern England anyway) and really, the use of an alpine house is little different to protecting the plant with glass.  Temperatures in an unheated greenhouse (in the depths of winter anyway) are seldom much greater than outside.
Greatly looking forward to meeting you in May, Todd - will be in touch by personal mail as soon as all the details are to hand.  If you could order a little sunshine in advance please?   :D

Those saxes from outside are impressive!  Yes, we can do fairly well with Kabschias, but they still do best in troughs or tufa rather than in the open garden...frost heaving is terrible in this climate but tufa/trough plants don't seem to suffer.

Here is one of my troughs...albeit with not too many blooming at the time.

What terrific-looking troughs (both Malcolm's and Todd's)!  Seeing those, I'm compelled to renovate mine yet again...

To brighten this winter day a little, here is an alpine potentilla species from Kananaskis Prov. Park, eastern slope Rockies...  (I have posted a photo of what I believe to be the same species in the ID forum, and I hope someone can identify it.)

That's an exquisite Potentilla Lori.....there are not too many alpinish types in Alberta.  Leaves remind me of nivea but the flowers are much larger than our local form of nivea.

Yes, I love seeing them!
Well, even with not that many to choose from, I'm getting totally confused - the alpine potentillas with trifoliate leaves that occur here are P. hyparctica, P. nivea, P.ovina (3 to 5 leaflets), P. uniflora and P. villosa (according to Moss & Packer)... Help!   ;D

(P.S.  Oops, forgot P. hookeriana too, with 3-5 leaflets...  ackk!)

Hmmm, what to post, what to post...
Okay, here's Polemonium confertum, confined, sadly to a trough, and so far from its home in the Colorado Rockies. 
I'd truly LOVE to see some pix of this growing in situ, to appreciate its full glory in a beautiful setting...  Will any of the American alpine gardeners/hikers take up this challenge and show us some???  ;)

What, no one to take up the challenge?  How unfortunate...

Here is Anemone parviflora, one of the species that blooms just after the snow melt in the eastern slope Rockies.

Polemonium are among my favourites but I can't seem to keep the alpine types going for more than a year or two. Must say I've never grown P. confertum.

Anemone parviflora is a common alpine along the limestone barrens of northern Newfoundland where they bloom from late June through July.

Judging from the photo record, it looks like I probably got Polemonium confertum in 2007 (from Beaver Creek) so it will be interesting to see how much longer it lasts.  I did notice last summer that there are little offsets coming up around it in the trough.

Beautiful images folks ... can we encourage more members to post?

An outcrop in the Dolomites that would grace any garden.

Snowing lightly again here in Lancashire, England.

What a fabulous scene!  I recognize Silene acaulis and a gentian (maybe G. verna?)  What are the darker pink in the center right and the pale yellow at the top?

Hi Lori,
The darker pink is just another colour form of Silene acaulis and the cream-yellow is a Saxifraga (probably) caesia. 

I like Saxifragas and other small rock garden plants very much, unfortunately I can't grow many of them in my maritime climate. I can neither grow these plants,but I dreamt of when I saw them!

Cliff that image in the Dolomites is stunning.  Trond, your Kenyan (?) image is otherworldly!

Many thanks Todd - hopefully you might enjoy a few more images from these magnificent mountains on 5th May?  :D

Armeria maritima alpina

I haven't been to the Dolomites but I am dreaming of trek there some time.
And Todd, I forgot to say it is from Mt Kenya, Kenya.
I have never been so cold as when lying in a wet sleeping-bag high up in the mountain under the equatorial stars waiting for starting to walk early in the morning! But the vistas and the otherworldly (yes, exactly the right word!) plants made up for cold nights. (I am used to sleep  outside in the winter here in Norway, but my sleeping-bag got soaking wet and took time to dry.)

Image for today: Anemone narcissiflora in Maritime Alps - maybe it is not my favourite plant but in nature it looks fabulous in high alpine meadows - photo taken on 2000m on limestone ridge. It takes me back there to warm summer in our black-and-white too long winter.  :)

What a beautiful sight, Michal!  Thanks for posting it.

This Gladiolus we found growing in almost pure volcanic rock a few places on Mt Kenya. Don't know the species. Anybody who has suggestions?

I love all these Kenyans! I don't have a copy of Goldblatt's Glads north of S Africa, but I have a hunch this would be in there: what a wonderful color! Sunbird pollinated, I suspect.

My image is closer to home: Paeonia cambessedessii blooming with Gentiana acaulis in my home rock garden. This plant is my pride and joy: obtained five or six years ago from Arrowhead Alpines: it flowers so early that the flowers last for several weeks. It's a little bit too big for a classic rock garden, perhaps. But I am really bad at rules.

I always arrange a little party at my house when these are in bloom...it's fun to hear the little yelps as people walk around the bend and see these...

Panayoti, you're killing me with that peony!

Magnificent combination, Panayoti ... thanks for posting.

Hoy wrote:

This Gladiolus we found growing in almost pure volcanic rock a few places on Mt Kenya. Don't know the species. Anybody who has suggestions?

Trond, I posted links to both of your photos to the Pacific Bulb Society group, and I have an answer for you, it is Gladiolus watsonioides.  See the following two responses, there are some cultivation clues.

Response from John Grimshaw, Gloucestershire, UK:
This is Gladiolus watsonioides in its finest form, once known as G.
mackinderi. It is one of the outstanding plants of Mt Kenya.

I am currently selecting images for my talk 'Switchbacks Yes, Suburbs No:
Alpines in Tropical Africa' which I'll be presenting at the NARGS Western
Winter Study Weekend in Medford, Oregon, on Saturday March 6th - more
details available from:
http://www.nargs.org/images/stories/wwsw/west10home.html
Gladiolus watsonioides will be one of the plants I'll be speaking about.

Response from Ernie DeMarie, Tuckahoe NY:
It is Gladiolus watsonioides, which I remember well from some material a prof
brought back from a trip to Kenya and gave to me back when I was doing my thesis
work (on pelargonium species tissue culture) at Cornell. I grew it there and at
NYBG for many years, it never really goes dormant in the sense that it does not
like to go bone dry for long periods of time.  It makes scads of cormlets and is
self fertile.  In a cool greenhouse it tended to flower in summer.  A very
pretty plant and not terribly difficult to grow.

In keeping with the Gladiolus theme, here is G. saundersii growing at our BG in Newfoundland.  It is proving very hardy and reliable, blooming in September-October.

A closer view to show the exqusite markings.

Aaaaah, Todd. You warm the cockles of my heart with the Gladiolus saundersii. It brings sweet memories of the Drakensberg back to me. I have seen this quite a few places in Lesotho, although my first encounter was in March of 1997 with Jim Archibald on that magnificent place, Joubert's Pass, in the Witteberg spur of the Drakensberg. We saw both G. saundersii andG. dalenii growing along the road. It was a particularly tall, stunning form of dalenii. , which we thought we found in seed as well: the seed all turned out to be saundersii when grown on. Oh well!

There are probably a few dozen wonderful Glads in the Drakensberg, but my favorite South African glad has to be G. alatus, that grows in vast colonies in the West Cape (probably not very frost hardy). It does have some look alike cousins that make it up to the colder karoo, so we can dream, perhaps, of one day taming this. Although it does run at the root (tut! tut!) This picture was taken on a field trip out of that enchanting town of Franschoek.

This image is from the "cover" of the second issue of the online magazine International Rock Gardener....

main page here:  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

Bringing rock gardeners from around the world together...... 8)

Cover photo  is by Zdenek Zvolánek of  Iris rosenbachiana f. nicolai  ´Cormozak´ in his Czech garden.

IMYoung wrote:

This image is from the "cover" of the second issue of the online magazine International Rock Gardener....
main page here:  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international
Bringing rock gardeners from around the world together...... 8)
Cover photo  is by Zdenek Zvolánek of  Iris rosenbachiana f. nicolai  ´Cormozak´ in his Czech garden.

Ian and/or Maggi, that's a stunning Iris and a stunningly crisp photograph, indeed an image for the day... a welcome sight on this cold gloomy snowy-rainy day.  :)

Quote:

cold gloom snowy-rainy day.

You having that kind of weather too, eh? Horrible, isn't it? Thank goodness for sunny flower pictures to transport us to a better place!

ZZ is still having too much winter, as well.... I think we're all a bit fed up of it in the Northern Hemisphere, right now!

Glad you like the photo... it enlarges well for the pdf., I posted a reduced version here.

PS: It's Maggi aboard at the moment, by the way....after midnight here and the Boss is  fast asleep  :)

That is a fantastic a pic of a fantastic form!  I have seed of Iris rosenbachiana.  Let's hope for the best . . .

Mark, you are just way to creative with the avatar function here.  I suppose I could at least get a crayon and color mine in. :)

RickR wrote:

Mark, you are just way to creative with the avatar function here.  I suppose I could at least get a crayon and color mine in. :)

Well, I cut my teeth doing avatar fun on the Scottish forum.  What can I say, I'm unemployed, have lots of time on my hands during winter months, and I like to goof around and keep things lively, one of the fun aspects of being on a wiki-powered-blog-Forum such as this.  On your avatar, I'd like to see Audrey II start moving!  Here we have a plant "Image of the Day", but I keep pace with an Avatar of the Day as well.

Omigod, Marko! Hope you didn't use that Galanthoavatar on the SRGC site: they'd all be wanting seed and adding it to their collections! ;D

Well my avatar is a bit squished and I don't know why...where's Hugh?

That iris is to die for...but another that would not like the aquatic alpine conditions I have to contend with.

McDonough wrote:

Hoy wrote:

This Gladiolus we found growing in almost pure volcanic rock a few places on Mt Kenya. Don't know the species. Anybody who has suggestions?

Trond, I posted links to both of your photos to the Pacific Bulb Society group, and I have an answer for you, it is Gladiolus watsonioides.  See the following two responses, there are some cultivation clues.

Response from John Grimshaw, Gloucestershire, UK:
This is Gladiolus watsonioides in its finest form, once known as G.
mackinderi. It is one of the outstanding plants of Mt Kenya.

I am currently selecting images for my talk 'Switchbacks Yes, Suburbs No:
Alpines in Tropical Africa' which I'll be presenting at the NARGS Western
Winter Study Weekend in Medford, Oregon, on Saturday March 6th - more
details available from:
http://www.nargs.org/images/stories/wwsw/west10home.html
Gladiolus watsonioides will be one of the plants I'll be speaking about.

Response from Ernie DeMarie, Tuckahoe NY:
It is Gladiolus watsonioides, which I remember well from some material a prof
brought back from a trip to Kenya and gave to me back when I was doing my thesis
work (on pelargonium species tissue culture) at Cornell. I grew it there and at
NYBG for many years, it never really goes dormant in the sense that it does not
like to go bone dry for long periods of time.  It makes scads of cormlets and is
self fertile.  In a cool greenhouse it tended to flower in summer.  A very
pretty plant and not terribly difficult to grow.

Hello folks, I am back! Been offline for a week (skiing cross country in the mountains).

Thanks Mark, I have registered the name! Watsonioides is an appropriate name, the glad reminded me of Watsionias i saw in South Africa.

In case anyone is wondering, I just edited the colour of the text in the quote above, so that it was visible against the white background... my first official act as moderator.  8)

Sounds like a wonderful trip, Trond.  I assume it was back-country skiing, as opposed to track-set routes?  I hope you were able to take some photos!

Here's a scenery-based photo for today... the subalpine-alpine meadows of Healy Pass in Banff National Park, which can filled with Erythronium grandiflorum around the July 1st weekend in a good bloom year.  

Skulski wrote:

Sounds like a wonderful trip, Trond.  I assume it was back-country skiing, as opposed to track-set routes?  I hope you were able to take some photos!

Not back-country this time! We had to follow tracks as the snow was very unfirm. Even with skis you sank 1m deep due to no mild weather at all since the first snowfall. We have a small cabin at the timberline - it is not alpine, more an undulating plane with no high peaks, just piggybacks! Furthermore it was cold, about -20 oC and I did not bring my camera either! (My wife had hers.)

Here's how the landscape looks like 1100-1200m (last spring and last fall):

I like your Banff picture, Lori! The Banff area seems to be worth making  acquaintance with! And I should love to beheld Erythroniums in situ. I have some selections in my garden and they behave quite well.

Just to show where we go skiing. This is from last year.

What a fascinating area, Trond!  Would the word "tundra" be an apt description?

Skulski wrote:

What a fascinating area, Trond!  Would the word "tundra" be an apt description?

Maybe it looks a little like tundra, but it is not. It is no permafrost and one of the reasons for few trees is that the area has been grazed for centuries (mountain dairy - a usage disappearing). The soil is shallow and acidic, consist of huge deposits of moraine or hard quartz type bedrock. The flora is relatively poor. Norway spruce (Picea abies), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Downy birch (Betula pubescens) make up the treecover. Common juniper (Juniperus communis) and dwarf birch (Betula nana) are the commonest shrubs in addition to a lot of different Ericaceaes and crowberry (Empetrum nigrum).  You can find pockets with better soil and more interesting plants (at least for me) like orchids and wintergreens (Pyrolaceaes).

What a beautiful bearberry in fall colour.  
I guess the setting is not quite so wild as it looks, then (re. grazing).  Mind you, there is also grazing in some of the foothills & mountain parks around here (e.g.  Kananaskis Provincial Park)... land that is publicly held, but in which old grazing leases are still honoured.  (This is of beef cattle, though, that summer in the highlands, relatively untended, not dairy cattle.)  In your ski trip area, is it public land, on which farmers/ranchers hold grazing leases?

The farmers down in the valleys have rights from "the dawn of time" to let their cattle and sheep graze in the mountain pastures in summertime. The cows were for milk to make cheese and butter. The farmers also have rights to wood and fish and game, however, the land is free to be walked in for everybody and you can buy licences for fishing and hunting. It is not very far from roads or cabins, unfortunately.

It always amazes me that there is still so much open land in Europe.  If Americans (from the U.S.) had populated Europe for the same amount of time, every little bit of land would be gobbled up.

Wonderful pitures, Trond.

Undoubtedly true... and yet Europeans seem to come to the Canadian mountain parks, at least, to experience some vestige of  wilderness - to see a place that is not colonized by villages, almost regardless of elevation, where not so many mountain passes have been traversed by roads, and where not so many of the valleys have had ski-lifts and chalets built... places that have not been so thoroughly used by people for so long.  Perhaps that is merely my impression, from the (few) people we run into in the backcountry... I stand to be corrected, if so.   :)

RickR wrote:

It always amazes me that there is still so much open land in Europe.  If Americans (from the U.S.) had populated Europe for the same amount of time, every little bit of land would be gobbled up.

???  I have ventured across the USA by car back and forth 3 times, and one thing that always amazed me, is the vast VAST areas of no habitation and development whatsoever.  In the last decade and a half, my travels have been limited to coast to coast travels via airplane, but looking down upon the scenery from airplane heights still show vast areas of nothingness (in terms of development), or near nothingness.  It amazes me that there is so much open land in the USA, but that's a good thing.

Since this is supposed to be the Image of the Day thread, let me post a few photos of a wonderful crocus from 2009, Crocus suaveolens.

So, how much longer for those to start blooming again in your area?  I'm sure I'll be green with envy to hear the answer!
Bulbocodium vernum is always my earliest way up here in the hinterlands, with March 20th being the earliest bloom; crocuses (I only have the commonly-available species/varieties) won't start until early April, at the earliest, all weather-dependent, of course.

Along with everything else about it, I really like the short, stubbiness of your C. suaveolens, Mark.  Does the trait continue as the foliage grows too?  In other words, are the leaves shorter too, compared to other crocus?

RickR wrote:

It always amazes me that there is still so much open land in Europe.  If Americans (from the U.S.) had populated Europe for the same amount of time, every little bit of land would be gobbled up.

Wonderful pitures, Trond.

Thank you!
But for the open land in Europe - You can't draw conclusions about Europe from pics of Norway! Lots of Germans and Dutch people (and others)  come here to escape crowdedness (and pick mushrooms).

Well Mark, now I have to go out digging in the snow to look for my crocuses! Last year they were in full bloom at this time.

Skulski wrote:

So, how much longer for those to start blooming again in your area?  I'm sure I'll be green with envy to hear the answer!
Bulbocodium vernum is always my earliest way up here in the hinterlands, with March 20th being the earliest bloom; crocuses (I only have the commonly-available species/varieties) won't start until early April, at the earliest, all weather-dependent, of course.

My photos are named with the image date, so last year was a lucky early spring and I took those photos on March 27, 2009, about 2 weeks earlier than normal, most years they flower early to mid April.  The first crocus to bloom is always C. vitellinus, blooming with the snowdrops.  My snowdrops, planted close to the sunny south side of my house, are in bloom now, and C. vitellinus has sprouted (no flowers yet), but most of the yard is entombed with a thick crust of icy snow; it is snowing again today.  For a bit of sunshine, here is a photo of Crocus gargaricus, another early bloomer.

The snow is receding, the crocus are poking up through the soil, and it will not be long before they're in flower.  To help get us there, here is a photo from last march of Crocus angustifolius, with a fine stand of C. etruscus 'Rosalind' in the background.

Do you keep record of all your plants, Mark? I have not names for all mine. I loose the labels and don't bother to make new ones.
I am waiting for my crocuses now, but this plant was in flower at Xmas times when it was covered in snow and has not been seen since!

Hoy wrote:

Do you keep record of all your plants, Mark? I have not names for all mine. I loose the labels and don't bother to make new ones.
I am waiting for my crocuses now, but this plant was in flower at Xmas times when it was covered in snow and has not been seen since!

Trond, I'm not very good with records, although I try to keep some, particularly on things I collect, like Epimedium.  A couple rules help; I always place two plant labels when I plant, one in front and one in back of the plant, so if one label gets lost, there should be another.  I also photograph plants and pull out the label and make a "personal information photo" with label in sight, to remind me just what plant I'll looking at (again, most important for collections of things).  One thing I'm bad at, is renaming my digital photos... they often are just downloaded with default numerical names, so it can be tough later on to figure out what is what.

Your having a beautiful red Hellebore in bloom at xmas time tells me our winter is much harder, no Hellebore would dare show any activity here until March at the earliest.  Just checked my earliest one, H. niger, but it is still half encased in ice, it'll be 2-3 weeks more before it is in bloom.  Just checked my photo records from last year, and see H. niger was in good bloom on March 27th... two photos uploaded.  The second photo has an arrow pointing to a seedling.  In fact, they are beginning to seed around a lot, which I'm happy about.

Mark, your H. niger looks healthy and floriferous!

I have two  different clones, and one starts flowering in December, the other in March. On both he flowers are often a little hidden by the big leaves. I don't like to cut them off.
And I am not good at keeping records of my plants. Try to remember as much as possible but cultivar names  .... not a chance!

It looked as though there's nothing listed for today, so I propose Clausia aprica as plant of the day: I grew these from seed from Alexandra Bertukenko nearly ten years ago. At first they spread like wildfire and I feared this would be the new pest...but then one day they were suddenly all gone and I am yearning to have them in my garden again. Very fragrant and it bloomed for quite a long time. Anybody else had consistent luck with this striking Central Asian?

Hedysarum hedysaroides nestles at the base of the imposing Cinque Torre in the Italian Dolomites.

Kelaidis wrote:

It looked as though there's nothing listed for today, so I propose Clausia aprica as plant of the day: I grew these from seed from Alexandra Bertukenko nearly ten years ago. At first they spread like wildfire and I feared this would be the new pest...but then one day they were suddenly all gone and I am yearning to have them in my garden again. Very fragrant and it bloomed for quite a long time. Anybody else had consistent luck with this striking Central Asian?

Hmmm, that's a fine looking plant, like an exceptional erysimum.  I once ordered from Bertukenko, all kinds of wonderful sounding stuff, but the seed arrived in the days of my being impossibly tied down from work and with a very long 3-hr daily commute, and did not have much resulting from the expenditure.  I still have one Euonymus from her collection in a pot, a most slow growing thing so far.

So Panayoti, what do you think is the clausia of your plant's demise... er, I mean cause.

I get the biggest kick outa your avatars, Mark! Keep it up...

Now back to Clausia etc.: I know it looks superficially like a wallflower, but I think it's more closely allied to Parrya etc. I posted about it hoping someone else could elucidate my dilemma.

I have had the "explosive invasiveness followed by untimely demise" syndrome happen repeatedly to me in various gardens. I recall how Viola koreana looked as though it would swamp the Botanic Gardens and then disappear. The same happened with Silene keiskei, Viola cornuta, Geranium sessiliflorum var. nigricans and lots of other items: often when the garden is freshly tilled, some plant will find the condition perfect, but as the soil settles down and other plants fit in, some aspect of the soil texture or chemistry suddenly makes the seemingly invasive plant settle down to a dull roar, or even become hard to grow. I have wondered if it wasn't possibly due to a virus infecting these plants. I've observed the same phenomenon with some of the supposedly invasive weeds that get native plant people so worked up (I believe there are plants that are truly weedy, but instances like this make me angry at their extreme reactionary point of view): thirty years ago I remember seeing vast swaths of our Front Range foothills turned a brilliant yellow by Linaria dalmatica: I panicked. A few years later, ask I hiked the same areas, I noticed the Linaria was completely gone. One cannot generalize on one year's experience, obviously!

Assuming it is acceptable via the "fair use" provision of material posted on the internet, today's Image of the Day is Townsendia aprica, a rare endemic of Utah.  To cover the bases, in addition to the photo itself, I include the link to the photo on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife web site. 

Every now and then one comes across a quintessential image that embodies a genus, this is certainly it.  In this view, the flower color is light peach pink, but the flowers can be yellow, joining with Townsendia jonesii var. lutea as the only two Townsendia that have yellow flowers.
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/rareplants/profiles/tep/townsendia_apri...

Kelaidis wrote:

I get the biggest kick outa your avatars, Mark! Keep it up...

Now back to Clausia etc.: I know it looks superficially like a wallflower, but I think it's more closely allied to Parrya etc. I posted about it hoping someone else could elucidate my dilemma.

I have had the "explosive invasiveness followed by untimely demise" syndrome happen repeatedly to me in various gardens. I recall how Viola koreana looked as though it would swamp the Botanic Gardens and then disappear. The same happened with Silene keiskei, Viola cornuta, Geranium sessiliflorum var. nigricans and lots of other items: often when the garden is freshly tilled, some plant will find the condition perfect, but as the soil settles down and other plants fit in, some aspect of the soil texture or chemistry suddenly makes the seemingly invasive plant settle down to a dull roar, or even become hard to grow. I have wondered if it wasn't possibly due to a virus infecting these plants. I've observed the same phenomenon with some of the supposedly invasive weeds that get native plant people so worked up (I believe there are plants that are truly weedy, but instances like this make me angry at their extreme reactionary point of view): thirty years ago I remember seeing vast swaths of our Front Range foothills turned a brilliant yellow by Linaria dalmatica: I panicked. A few years later, ask I hiked the same areas, I noticed the Linaria was completely gone. One cannot generalize on one year's experience, obviously!

Can't it be that the plants use up a necessary nutrient or produce a toxin killing itself?

It is a grey day (I have been up for some hours but you folks are probably still sleeping...) so I look through my pictures of spring flowering bulbs (waiting for the snow to recede). 'Katherine Hodgkin' (or is it Katharine?) is one of the best early irises to grow here and it incrises well and take wet winters with no problems. However early slugs can devour the flowers.

AAAaaah! 'Katherine Hodgkin': One of my favorites too. It thrives for us, and normally would be in bloom now, but we are weeks behind this spring. I have been amazed the Dutch have managed to mass produce this that it's for sale cheaply in Garden Centers all over Denver in the Fall! They must produce hundreds of thousands of these. And I remember when it was a very expensive bulb...

I think your suggestion that the demise of exploding populations of would be invasives in our garden is due to using up nutrients is a real possibility. Probably likelier than a quick virus or other disease...how to test it?

Back to the Hodgkins: I remember Jim Archibald speaking fondly of them as growers and collectors. I was surprised to read about them recently in one of Bruce Chatwin's book of essays: their son is a famous contemporary English painter, Howard Hodgkin. http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=1...

They are also related to the scientist who discovered Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Fascinating how things tie together!

Kelaidis wrote:

I have been amazed the Dutch have managed to mass produce this that it's for sale cheaply in Garden Centers all over Denver in the Fall! They must produce hundreds of thousands of these. And I remember when it was a very expensive bulb...

Word of caution on any of the mass produced bulbs, they can be virused.  I bought a 25-count bag at Home Depot (chain of super-sized home & garden building supply stores) for a ridiculous low price, as I recall about $6 or $7 dollars.  Here are two photos, one in 2008, the other in 2009.  Virused plants show up having the blotchy blue streaks, most evident at the top of the standards.  Do I hand dig and remove the ones that show the virus, or dig them all out?  Some of the reticulate Iris are just showing their noses poking through the soil today.

Trond, in terms of the correct name on this cultivar, I have seen it as Katherine (least often), Katharine (very often), and Kathryn (also very often).  You are correct, I believe it is supposed to be 'Katharine Hodgkin'.  I tried to google and find links to lists of registered Iris names, but in the few minutes I looked did not find it.

Not quite sure which of your two pictures mean to show the virused plants: they both look mighty good to me!

I know the traditional clone of Iris bucharica we grow is probably virused (in junos they show up as yellowish mosaic like squares on the leaves (hence, perhaps, "mosaic" virus) I've been told it's tobacco mosaic virus, vectored by smokers fingers as well as aphids). I think that they can recover (just as humans recover from viruses)--at least in our climate the virus is less evident than it used to be and I did not remove them. I know that sounds blasphemous...but..but...but. If we did everything we were told to do we would be saints and our gardens would probably be empty...

Kelaidis wrote:

Not quite sure which of your two pictures mean to show the virused plants: they both look mighty good to me!

I know the traditional clone of Iris bucharica we grow is probably virused (in junos they show up as yellowish mosaic like squares on the leaves (hence, perhaps, "mosaic" virus) I've been told it's tobacco mosaic virus, vectored by smokers fingers as well as aphids). I think that they can recover (just as humans recover from viruses)--at least in our climate the virus is less evident than it used to be and I did not remove them. I know that sounds blasphemous...but..but...but. If we did everything we were told to do we would be saints and our gardens would probably be empty...

When I uploaded the 2008 photo on SRGC, it generated some shreiks of "Virus".  In fact, it is common on the active Crocus message threads on SRGC for virus warnings to be declared.  Janis Ruksans, having extensive experience with mass producing plants, seems particularly alert to the possibility of virus in the images posted by forum members.  It seems that many of the Dutch grown bulbs are indeed virused, and that some varieties of Crocus chrysanthus for example, have been lost or nearly lost due to virus. It might have more to do with monocultures and mass producing on a large scale.  I was warned to destroy the virused Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin' before it infects and destroys all my reticulata Iris.  

I re-uploaded the 2008 and 2009 photo (this is the same patch), notice in 2008 there is more of the tell-tale dark blue irregular blotching and streaking, whereas in 2009 there is less. In the photos, I added red "vectors" to show where the naughty patches are  :o

I have looked at my picture of Katharine H. but can't see signs of virus. The photo is not the best, though, I can remember that I was a couple of days late - they had been at their zenith.

My Katherine appears virus-free as well.  I am surprised it does as well as it does in Newfoundland considering our rainfall (we just had 118 mm in 24 hours!)

Amazing that the first flower of the season is open in my garden.  Erica carnea 'Bell's Extra Special'.  It bloomed under the snow as the snow just melted from it 5 days ago and today is the first chance I got to look at the spot of pink in the yard.  None of the other Erica even show colour.  I guess in warmer climes this one would bloom in December-January.  Meanwhile, a few crocus are just poking through the ground.  I did see crocus and galanthus in bloom in parts of the city up against the south side of houses.  Spring can't be far off!

Enough Virus Talk! Your 'Katharine Hodgkin' look pretty nifty to me, Mark. But I suppose discretion is the better part of valor.

I don't think an image has been posted for today: I propose Tradescantia tharpii, surely the most magnificent dayflower I know of. It grows in rocky glades in Kansas, Missouri and perhaps neighboring states as well. It is quite local in nature, apparently (and I think variable). Bluebird nursery wholesales this plant, and their form is outstanding: virtually stemless. and very hairy. It blooms for a long time. Flower color is either pink or lavender blue. It is easy to grow and has not shown signs of weediness (unlime most any other dayflower)...

Boland wrote:

Amazing that the first flower of the season is open in my garden.  Erica carnea 'Bell's Extra Special'.  It bloomed under the snow as the snow just melted from it 5 days ago and today is the first chance I got to look at the spot of pink in the yard.  None of the other Erica even show colour.  I guess in warmer climes this one would bloom in December-January.  Meanwhile, a few crocus are just poking through the ground.  I did see crocus and galanthus in bloom in parts of the city up against the south side of houses.  Spring can't be far off!

Todd, it's a beautiful and bright heather, and the burnished orangy foliage adds to the bright effect.  I am the kiss-of-death with heathers, I go to a NARGS meeting and see a presentation on them (with plants available for purchase), I get excited and buy a bunch, but at home the plants sulk and die with surprising speed waiting for me to construct a heath bed someplace... pathetic.  But I'm keeping it on my "ToDo" list, to one day grow heaths and heathers and create a pathwork quilt of bright foliage and flowers.

Kelaidis wrote:

Enough Virus Talk! Your 'Katharine Hodgkin' look pretty nifty to me, Mark. But I suppose discretion is the better part of valor.

I don't think an image has been posted for today: I propose Tradescantia tharpii, surely the most magnificent dayflower I know of. It grows in rocky glades in Kansas, Missouri and perhaps neighboring states as well. It is quite local in nature, apparently (and I think variable). Bluebird nursery wholesales this plant, and their form is outstanding: virtually stemless. and very hairy. It blooms for a long time. Flower color is either pink or lavender blue. It is easy to grow and has not shown signs of weediness (unlime most any other dayflower)...

Panayoti, if you keep slinging this native plant eye-candy at us, we're all going to catch the plant-obsession VIRUS (if we don't already have it).  I want 2, 3 or 10 of those tharpii thingies please.  There was a period when I was investigating some of the native midwestern Tradescantia, not sure how I missed T. tharpii, it's a furry must-have beauty.  OHHH, I see it is available on the 2009-2010 NARGS Surplus Seedex, so in goes my order tomorrow ;D ;D ;D

I bought this as Tradscantia tharpii. Obviously not.  Compared to regular hybrids like Purple Profusion (T. x andersoniana) which I grow, flowers are the same size, height half to two-thirds of PP,and leaf length half of PP.  Stems thicker, and very succulent.  Any ID guesses?

The last pic shows true color.

P.S. Purple Profusion really does have purple shoots in the early spring, but the color does last long.  I received it from the cultivar's originator.

Dang! I sent in my suplus seed order yesterday!

I know that feeling so well. I'm hoping that my surplus seed request manages to secure Trifolium macrocephalum which Mark posted great pictures of in the "Trifolium" board. Plus all the other goodies that I didn't get round to last time - like Allium flavum ssp. tauricum - this time from Mark's "Allium Central" website.

McGregor wrote:

I know that feeling so well. I'm hoping that my surplus seed request manages to secure Trifolium macrocephalum which Mark posted great pictures of in the "Trifolium" board. Plus all the other goodies that I didn't get round to last time - like Allium flavum ssp. tauricum - this time from Mark's "Allium Central" website.

My Surplus Seed Order is being sent in today... Malcolm, I hope you didn't snag the last bit of Trifolium macrocephalum, I put it on my list too!  And if you don't get any A. flavum ssp. tauricum, let me know, I can send some... you need to have little orange, red, and pastel sunset shade onions in your garden.

I hope we both get it - otherwise I hope there's enough in the packet to split it.

And you're quite right about what I hope I'm going to get with the Allium - it just looks so good -wonderful and so summery in the color mix and the mix of sizes.

I had ordered T. macrocephalum as well.  Us three (maybe more?) will have to post if we get them and have enough to share.

Don't forget, all you working guys, Lori reminded us that Trifolium macrocephalum is available from Alplains, along with some other choice alpine Trifolium, http://www.alplains.com/

Image of the day:  Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus, started blooming yesterday, beating its earliest flowering by 2 weeks!  It is a wee thing, very cute... so cute that I'm showing several photos.  The sun was strong yesterday, with the glare it was hard not to get washed out photos, but you'll get the idea.

Very lovely, Mark! I have some biflorus in my garden too and other species as well but they are still covered by 40cm of snow. Some should have flowered by now.

Hoy wrote:

Very lovely, Mark! I have some biflorus in my garden too and other species as well but they are still covered by 40cm of snow. Some should have flowered by now.

Yours will be up soon enough I'm sure.  What surprised me, is that the ground is still quite frozen in most of the yard and garden, so walking around looking things over this past weekend, the two days unusually warm and sunny, I did not spot any crocus near flowering except Crocus vitellinus, normally always the first to bloom.  Then suddenly these were in bloom yesterday, popping out of the bare ground like magic :D

If I'm lucky, I might have my first crocus open by April 1...rare for them to be open earlier.  That is a lovely C. biflorus selection.  I have C. biflorus var. tauri.

wonderful crocus, Mark.  Love the markings on the perianth tubes and the backs of the sepals too.

Photo of the day: Rhodiola rosea.  Here is one that enjoys a distribution throughout the northern hemisphere.  Locally, they grow within the kiss of the sea and as you can see, don't require much soil to thrive!

Superb rhodiola, Todd ... and a lovely photograph.

Todd, I have seen many "rosenrot" (Rhodiola rosea) in Norway. They grow from sea level to the highest mountains. But I have never seen an individual like this!

Boland wrote:

If I'm lucky, I might have my first crocus open by April 1...rare for them to be open earlier.  That is a lovely C. biflorus selection.  I have C. biflorus var. tauri.

You know, Todd, you live in VINLAND and I thought the climate was mild there?

Rhodiola rosea is extremely common everywhere in the Altai mountains I traveled last summer in both Kazakhstan and Mongolia. I took a lot of pictures of it, although the one I am appending is rather typical. I found some monstruouse forms and quite a few other Rhodiola spp. on the trip as well, which I wrote about in Ray Stephenson's terrific Sedum Society Newsletter (first half of my piece is in January 2010, number 92; the second half is out in the next issue).

This is being harvested in Russia in large quantities because of its supposed medicinal properties: There's actually a huge literature on its healing and vitality-enhancing properties, and there is quite an industry promoting and selling it (I'm a bit concerned about overcollection over time). Not quite as serious a problem as Rhinocerus horn or Tiger bones, but worrisome.

Just noticed we're a day or two behind on Booker's little project here, so in honor of my son's eighteenth birthday (yes, it is today!) I shall post what I think is the most beautiful and wonderful of all Rhodiolas: actually, there are quite a few gems in the genus, but this one is one I actually grew for many years (as Rhodiola kirilowii--a different species actually). This apparently should be called Rhodiola linearifolia, and I found it in a lush meadow just below treeline in the Tien Shan, just above Almaty (one of the most magnificent days in my life, which I am writing up for the NARGS bulletin)...This grows in somewhat drier spots than most of the R. rosea I have observed. Not for those who don't love orange!

Just found my monstruose image of Rhodiola rosea from Mongolia.

It's really kinda ugly!

Amazing how well distributed Rhodiola rosea is.....never thought about them being in the Altai!

[/quote]You know, Todd, you live in VINLAND and I thought the climate was mild there?
[/quote]

Who told you we were mild?  Were you reading the Viking Sagas?  Lies, all lies!  LOL! We are not nearly as mild as you my friend.  We have the cold Labrador Current while you get the Gulf Stream.

Wonderful Rhodiola everyone, enjoyed seeing the variation of R. rosea.

A reprise on a former "Image of the Day"; I had more flowers on Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus open, but one is different, it has 10 petals!  I am told that this can sometimes happen, and that in subsequent years the flowers will go back to normal, although there are a couple stable multipetalous forms in cultivation. 

Here are two photos of my decempetalous form (in the lower right in each photo).

Wow! Love that waterlily flowered crocus Mark...

Not to mention that lovely form of Crocus biflorus..my crocuses are starting to kick in in earnest. Looks to be a good year for bulbs. Waiting for it to warm up enough to go out and make a big dent in spring cleanup today (gorgeous sunny weather).

McDonough wrote:

Wonderful Rhodiola everyone, enjoyed seeing the variation of R. rosea.

A reprise on a former "Image of the Day"; I had more flowers on Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus open, but one is different, it has 10 petals!  I am told that this can sometimes happen, and that in subsequent years the flowers will go back to normal, although there are a couple stable multipetalous forms in cultivation. 

Here are two photos of my decempetalous form (in the lower right in each photo).

Mark, You must keep an eye on this one! Maybe it is stable. I have had crocuses with 7 tepals  but none like this regular pentameric one.

That is one stunning crocus! 

We finally hit 40 F today...warmest day for 2010.  Still lots of snow in the garden but in the few melted areas, I see a couple of crocus and daffs just poking up.

We had 40F last week but today we have had 35F snow and sun alternating. However I observed the first crocuses  (C. tommasinianus I think or a hybrid) in my garden! While I were looking a hawk took one of the blackbirds too!

It is a beaut!  I had a yellow crocus - one of the common commercially available sorts - produce a flower with extra petals (not sure if it was truly double) one year, but it seemed to be a one-time thing.

Here's a photo for today.  Minuartia austromontana is quite common on dry alpine slopes here, but is probably not one that attracts much attention... The effect it makes, even though it lacks or has only rudimentary petals, is really quite interesting.

Here's a close-up, too, to show the sepals and few, rudimentary petals.

That Minuartia is a new one for me: I don't think we have it in our austro montanas...

The various Arenarias and Minuartia are really a terrific lot, and generally good performers in the garden. I notice more and more accruing over the years in my garden. I must photograph some this coming year!

I puzzled over the identity of that one for a very long time... I think I finally pinned it down, but if anyone has a different opinion, please let me know!

Kelaidis wrote:

The various Arenarias and Minuartia are really a terrific lot, and generally good performers in the garden. I notice more and more accruing over the years in my garden. I must photograph some this coming year!

I, for one, am certainly looking forward to seeing them!

In Norway the wild Minuartia are small but can be showy if you use a magnifying glass. Some of the Arenarias are better when you find them in the high mountains along glaciers etc.

The genus I choose today is not very common in Norway, but this species I found in Turkey last summer at about 3000m on the rim of Nemrut Volcano where it was very common. Do anybody grow Orobanche in their garden?

Must say I've not grown any Minuartia although we have a couple of descent species in Newfoundland.

Trond, being parasitic, I expect Orobanche are next to impossible in cultivation....you'd need the host species for starters!

Hoy wrote:

The genus I choose today is not very common in Norway, but this species I found in Turkey last summer at about 3000m on the rim of Nemrut Volcano where it was very common. Do anybody grow Orobanche in their garden?

That looks like an Orangebanche to me ;D ;D ;D  I find these things interesting wherever you find them.  I wonder what it parasitizes?

I don't grow any Orobanche but I had one arise spontaneously in the front yard one year - not so spectacularly-coloured as yours but I found it very interesting nonetheless!  I'll have to look back through my old photos and figure out the species (of the 3 that occur here).

Boland wrote:

Trond, being parasitic, I expect Orobanche are next to impossible in cultivation....you'd need the host species for starters!

Yes, I know! But people seems to try to grow anything, so why not this?
I have tried to infest my ivy with ivy broomrape but no luck yet. (That is I haven't seen anything.)

I thought I had responded to this post on Orobanche, but apparently haven't as I read over it. I think I was trolling my thousands of digital pictures trying to find the picture of it, but indeed, Orobanche can be grown and I have grown them very well on several occasions. I believe the species I grew was our local one (fasciculata?) which resembles O. uniflora in its white phase--very small, looking like a miniature Indian pipe. I found some in seed once and collected it, and then I scattered it on the Pawnee Buttes trough at Denver Botanic Gardens (I collected it in a prairie, and this was a prairie trough, I figured it might like it). You can imagine my chagrin a year or two later when a hundred or more stems of the Orobanche popped up all over the trough---I think quite a bit of the seed germinated. The gardener in charge of the garden freaked out, not knowing what I had done. I explained it was not a bad thing, but he wasn't convinced. I have been guilty of this sort of "seed scattering" strategy throughout the gardens over the years, so that now that anything anomalous occurs everyone blames me. Scattering seed of challenging plants is usually the best way to grow them: that's how I first grew Dactylorhiza as well. Fritz Kummert showed a spectacular slide of Phelypaea coccinea, possibly the most spectacular temperate Orobanch, although I have seen a very showy scarlet Orobanche in South Africa as well (and a spectacular bright purple one in Kazakhstan last summer: I shall have to dig into my files and dig these up!) . My trough orobanches lasted two or three years and petered out (they were parasitic on Artemisia frigida, I believe: the artemisia persists). I grew them in the ground as well, where they lasted a bit longer.

Fascinating comments on Orobanche and such, will return to this subject, but first, a couple new images of the day:

After 3 days of gale force winds and 10" of rain, yesterday the sun came out, and so did a number of Crocus chysanthus hybrid seedlings in their 4th year from seed.  Interesting too, that the chrysanthus hybrids are blooming 2 weeks earlier than in any of the past 10 years, but even with the early date, bees were busy visiting the blooms.  The first two photos show a purplish-beige and yellow combination (showing genes from C. chysanthus 'Advance'), the last photo showing the same plant but with flowers more closed rendering a cream-beige appearance.

Is this a deliberate cross you have made or just Mother Nature? My crocuses self sow but I have never collected seed. I let them spread in the lawn.

Hoy wrote:

Is this a deliberate cross you have made or just Mother Nature? My crocuses self sow but I have never collected seed. I let them spread in the lawn.

Mosty Mother nature, but I assist with the effort (pollen painting, seed harvesting then scratching in the seed in situ).  Mother Nature and I, we're a team  :D

Tis crocus season here.  One of my very favorite croci is C. gargaricus, a Turkish delight.  It is amusing how the little golden "lipstick" spears show brilliant color as they emerge directly from the soil.  The small golden orange goblets are among the brightest of all crocus species.  Update photo,2 days after the first photo.

My want list just keeps getting longer and longer...

Iris tigridia (I hope I have the name right) is usually the first of the rhizomatous irises to bloom for me, and I notice it was up (glorious weather in the 70's last two days: now several inches of snow are expected today and tomorrow--otherwise it might even have popped). I obtained it from one of the Czechs (Jurasek?) years ago and have grown it under this name: can anyone verify it? It looked a bit like the Iris potaninii I saw last summer in Mongolia, and doubtless they are allied in the same section (Pseudoregelia, I believe). It has a bit of a resemblance to humilis and manchurica for that matter: these little Central Asian miniatures are all lovely: I wish I had lots of collections of all of them to really have a sense of their range of variation (and relationship to one another)!

"Iris tigridia" is sold by Beaver Creek (otherwise perfect in their names), but I am reasonably sure their plant is actually I. bloudowii: will show pix of that when it blooms again in a few weeks: it is more closely allied to humilis: I saw it last summer in Kazakhstan. It grows in more alpine, wetter habitats.

(image renamed to indicate possible identity correction - MMcD)

Wetter habitats!  I'll have to see if they still offer it...I am planning an order with Beaver Creek shortly.

Kelaidis wrote:

Iris tigridia (I hope I have the name right) is usually the first of the rhizomatous irises to bloom for me, and I notice it was up (glorious weather in the 70's last two days: now several inches of snow are expected today and tomorrow--otherwise it might even have popped). I obtained it from one of the Czechs (Jurasek?) years ago and have grown it under this name: can anyone verify it? It looked a bit like the Iris potaninii I saw last summer in Mongolia, and doubtless they are allied in the same section (Pseudoregelia, I believe). It has a bit of a resemblance to humilis and manchurica for that matter: these little Central Asian miniatures are all lovely: I wish I had lots of collections of all of them to really have a sense of their range of variation (and relationship to one another)!

"Iris tigridia" is sold by Beaver Creek (otherwise perfect in their names), but I am reasonably sure their plant is actually I. bloudowii: will show pix of that when it blooms again in a few weeks: it is more closely allied to humilis: I saw it last summer in Kazakhstan. It grows in more alpine, wetter habitats.

(image renamed to indicate possible identity correction - MMcD)

Panayoti, I think you nailed it, looking through Jim Waddick and Zhao Yu-tang's Iris of China, I would agree this lovely Iris comes closer to Iris bloudowii; the disposition of the flower components, particularly the sudden erect bifid style-arms at the apex, fit the description, and of course, the yellow flower color. I renamed the uploaded photo accordingly.  Iris tigidia is described as having violet flowers.  We need to get Iris-maestro Jim Waddick over here onto the NARGS Forum!!!

Helleborus niger is soooo sloooooowwww, taking years to bulk up, but so worth it.  In summer I scratch in the seed that reliable sets, and now have many seedlings growing close by.  This species is much lower growing than many Helleborus species, and hardier too, thus an excellent one for shade to partially shaded rock garden situations.  The deep green foliage always looks great.  The winter-burned leaves evident in the photo are of a nearby Epimedium which needs to have its leaves cut off before the spring flush.

We've had H. niger blooming here and there for several months now, and holding up quite well. I clicked on your picture, and your's doesn't quite look like any of ours (and each one I grow or the dozen or so at Denver Botanic Gardens each has its own character). Yes, H. niger is the queen of Hellebores and certainly one of the most essential garden plants. It's starting to self sow a bit much for me and I hate digging up the seedlings, even if they do go to good homes! You never know if a slightly pinker or slightly larger flowered one might not be among them. Our Lenten roses are now kicked in, and Helleborus thibetanus is almost over. We finally have Helleborus versicarius: there's a picture of it at the bottom of Mike Kintgen's recent blog: http://www.botanicgardensblog.com/2010/03/16/whats-happening-in-the-rock...
Our sun is so intense that there are daffodils blooming on south walls all over town, while the crocuses in shady parts of the garden have yet to open. Tulipa biflora is blooming its head off at the Gardens (the white Iranian form). Spring is defnitely sprung!

Kelaidis wrote:

Our sun is so intense that there are daffodils blooming on south walls all over town, while the crocuses in shady parts of the garden have yet to open. Tulipa biflora is blooming its head off at the Gardens (the white Iranian form). Spring is definitely sprung!

That's the difference between your climate and mine! Although the spring is definitely sprung here too, the sun is low in the sky and not intense at all. Today we reached the 10C mark for the first time this year :) But H.niger and others of the genus are in flower and a lot of others too.

No garden plant today but a wild plant I found two or three years ago. First find ever in Norway! It is more common further south and I think it also are found in North America. Summer-flowering.

Hoy wrote:

No garden plant today but a wild plant I found two or three years ago. First find ever in Norway! It is more common further south and I think it also are found in North America. Summer-flowering.

A pretty plant.  The extent of its distribution seems vaguely reported.

Limonium vulgare, Mediterranean Sea lavender, found in 2 Canadian provinces
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LIVU3
...although disputed in the new online Flora of North America
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=118606

Distribution of L. vulgare is generally attributed to Western Europe and North Africa, although I found Russian web sites that report the species is there too.

Nice photos of L. vulgare here:
http://molbiol.ru/forums/uploads/a001/b007/post-12150-1159887673.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/71/195433996_cd13683c83.jpg?v=0
http://www.zoonar.de/img/www_repository2/f4/d9/58/10_6c96f6f4d8846382bd0...

I have tried small rock garden species like bellidifolium and minutum in the past, but none lived long here  :(

More open-pollinated Crocus chrysanthus hybrids, I do like these very much (so do the bees, and in this case, a fly).

Seeing the suggestion that Limonium vulgare occurs in Saskatchewan and Ontario (a very peculiar and nontypical distribution for Canadian species), I was surprised and had to take a closer look... It's actually introduced.   It's described as a "waif" - "an ephemeral introduction, not persistently naturalized".

I think this (status: introduced) would explain the apparent "dispute" with eFlora of NA.

OK, I can rest easy again... LOL!

Updated Image of the Day: this year perhaps due to some combination of weather conditions, Helleborus niger is changing to a strong pink color, more so than in previous years.  Here's the photo link taken just 4 days ago, and two photos taken recently.
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=24.msg1123#msg1123

Mark, your H. niger seem still to be in good shape! Mine are at their final stage. But others, among them several H. orientalis seedlings, are coming in full stride now.

I would have liked to be able to stay home these days enjoying the garden.  With no freezing temperatures for the last three weeks, even at night, plants develop fast. The maximum yesterday was 13C and the night temperature 10C. Alas, tomorrow we head for the mountains and snow for a week!

Today's Image of the Day highlights an excellent dwarf Tulipa species, T. vvedenskyi, worth growing just for the fantastic squiggly serpentine silver foliage, but the flowers are red hot as well.  It is shown here growing on one of Phil Pearson's high-fire clay pots (Phil is proprietor of Grand Ridge Nursery in Issaquah, Washington), this pot still intact and unbroken after being exposed outside for 25 years.  This Tulipa was planted out in the garden a few years ago, always appearing each spring although some years it doesn't flower.

Curiously, last May 2009, I spotted a bright red flower about 100' downhill and away from my solitary planting of T. vvedenskyii, and to my surprise, it looks like a vvedenskyi hybrid seedling :o

Very cool!  I ha some seedlings germinated last season of these.  I hope they are cold hardy enough.

For our American inquisitive minds, regarding the pronunciation of the "vv" in the epithet, if the slavic language from which it comes is like Slovenian (also a slavic language), I can offer this morsal: when a "v" is followed by a consonant (and there is seemingly no vowel in the syllable to pronounce) then the "v" is pronounced "oo" as in moon.

RickR wrote:

Very cool!  I ha some seedlings germinated last season of these.  I hope they are cold hardy enough.

For our American inquisitive minds, regarding the pronunciation of the "vv" in the epithet, if the slavic language from which it comes is like Slovenian (also a slavic language), I can offer this morsal: when a "v" is followed by a consonant (and there is seemingly no vowel in the syllable to pronounce) then the "v" is pronounced "oo" as in moon.

Rick, so how would you phoeneticize "Vvendeskyi".  I tried looking at some web pages on Russian alphabet to English equivalencies, assuming that A.I. Vvedenskii, contributing author to Flora of the USSR, is indeed Russian (for which this Tulipa is named), but found it too confusing.

Um . . . it's pronounce just like the original name would be, with an "i" on the end.  (How's that for a cop out.)  Actually, it is one of the few steadfast rules in botanical latin - if the botanical latin is a latinized version of a name of a person or place, then the pronunciation of said name is preserved.

But I would think the "vv" would be
oo - w...
The second "v" would be a "w" in American English.

Does anyone know anyone of Russian descent?  When I first saw this spelled, I thought is was a 'w', not two 'v's.  I have the species, purchased from Ruksans....no sign of it yet.

Mark, that niger is wonderful...mine never turns pink.

RickR wrote:

Um . . . it's pronounce just like the original name would be, with an "i" on the end.  (How's that for a cop out.)  Actually, it is one of the few steadfast rules in botanical latin - if the botanical latin is a latinized version of a name of a person or place, then the pronunciation of said name is preserved.

But I would think the "vv" would be
oo - w...
The second "v" would be a "w" in American English.

That was the part I don't know about, how to begin pronouncing Mr. Vvedenskii's name; so based on what you suggest, it would be pronounced
oo-wed-den'-ski ?  Thanks for the "vv" or vee-vee tip  :)

Boland wrote:

Mark, that niger is wonderful...mine never turns pink.

Just took a quick stroll in the garden with umbrella in the pouring wind-driven rain, and the Helleborus niger is darker pink still... will try and get a final pic.  I typically get a lot of seed from this plant, I'm happy to share seed, although not sure if the pink coloration will hold true in seedlings or not.

I'd like to try some fresh seed, Mark.  Hopefully, one of us will remember when the time comes . . .

I do have a fellow employee, Lena, who is a Ukrainian immigrant. (That's pronounced Lee'-a-nah, from Olena, and not Scandinavian.)  Of course, she speaks fluent Russian too.  Tomorrow I think my shift will overlap with hers and I'll ask.  I am constantly asking here language related questions.  There are so many similar words in Slovenian, Russian and Ukrainian, but most have a slightly different slant to the meaning.  Very interesting, at least to me.

Nice tulips, Mark. I have not dared to try this one and that's not because of the name!  (Aren't the es pronounced ye by the way?) Few tulip species like my wet climate and I don't like to grow in pots.

Regarding the red niger, isn't the  red color a sign of it been pollinated  and age? Many Ranunculaceae have this trait.

Hoy wrote:

Regarding the red niger, isn't the  red color a sign of it been pollinated  and age? Many Ranunculaceae have this trait.

True enough Trond, but while it always takes on a pink color at late anthesis, never has it shown such deep color as this year.  Here's one more photo of my Helleborus niger, taken in the pouring rain and gale force winds yesterday... sorry it's a bit out of focus (the plant would not sit still).

You are right, Mark! The color is extraordinary. Looks more like a lenten rose in color. I have seen similar color change in some windflower (Anemone nemorosa) here. Some years they achieve deep red flowers (or what you will call the color) other years not so. If I move them often the color fails to develop altogether!

Mine might turn a slight pink but that one is stunning!

Checked out the bulb frame at the Botanical garden today....Scilla miczenkoana in full bloom.  Mine outdoors is nearly open too....maybe by early next week it will be open along with some crocus if we get the 4 days of 8-10 C they are forecasting.

A simple Scilla sibirica looking especially dapper.  March has been so unseasonably warm and dry here . . .

Boland wrote:

Mine might turn a slight pink but that one is stunning!

Checked out the bulb frame at the Botanical garden today....Scilla miczenkoana in full bloom.  Mine outdoors is nearly open too....maybe by early next week it will be open along with some crocus if we get the 4 days of 8-10 C they are forecasting.

That's a beautiful Scilla, good winning proportion of flower and scape to the short spreading foliage.  I'll have to be on the lookout for that one.  I'm a sucker for that milky blue color too :o

A daily-double, the final fling on Crocus malyi 'Sveti Roc' and the first bloom on the tiny dwarf tulip, Tulipa bifloriformis... even the crocus blooms are bigger, but it such a sweet little thing isn't it?  This Tulipa species, and the rather similar T. turkestanica, are confusing... but typically the dark-anthered ones are attributed to T. bifloriformis.  It's a good doer, and can easily be raised from seed, scratched in around the mother plant, seedlings flowering in 4 years.

I think I have some plants of that tulip - if they are still alive. Tulip species almost never live long by me except some T. sylvatica. I have never observed seedlings either.
But I have to try that crocus, Mark!

Hoy wrote:

I think I have some plants of that tulip - if they are still alive. Tulip species almost never live long by me except some T. sylvatica. I have never observed seedlings either.
But I have to try that crocus, Mark!

Crocus malyi make loads of seed, which germinates like grass when sown outside.  Happy to send seed later this summer when ripe.

McDonough wrote:

Crocus malyi make loads of seed, which germinates like grass when sown outside.  Happy to send seed later this summer when ripe.

Thanks, Mark. I thought of buying corms from Janis Ruksans, but seed is better! You usually get more plants.

A beautiful Sebaea thomasii that won the Farrer Medal (for best plant in the show) at Cleveland national Alpine Garden Society Show in northern England yesterday (3rd April).  This was exhibitor; Tom Green's first Farrer Medal at any show.

CLEVELAND SHOW 2010

TOM GREEN - FARRER MEDAL WINNER
SEBAEA THOMASII - FARRER MEDAL WINNING EXHIBIT
VIEW OF ONE THE COLOURFUL SHOW BENCHES

Maybe its sour grapes but I find these UK shows 'over the top'...spectacular plants but too primped and coddled.  Lets see how well that Sebaea would do outside!

No doubt the plants shown are spectacular specimens, but these types of high-end plant competitions don't resonate with most North American rock gardeners as they don't have similar opportunity for plant shows, they don't really exist in the fashion as they do in the UK.  Local NARGS Chapters might have "plant shows", but these are very casual affairs, more for show-and-tell than a true competition.  I will also generalize that most North American rock gardeners are primarily outside gardeners, preferring to see what survives the open ground than coddling plants in greenhouses.

That said, I will still oggle (for hours) the delectable views of immaculately grown domes of Dionysia and other tasty treats that I see in the SRCG and UK plant show reports.  In fact, in your last photo, I spy Hepatica 'Millstream Merlin' winning 3rd place.  Since this was one of Linc Foster's best Hepatica hybrids, I would love to try growing it outdoors in my garden just about 120 miles northeast of the Millstream garden in Connecticut, so surely it should fair well here.  I would like the chance to photograph it in a garden setting, with leaves intact, not decorated with a sphagnum collar.

Boland wrote:

Maybe its sour grapes but I find these UK shows 'over the top'...spectacular plants but too primped and coddled.  Lets see how well that Sebaea would do outside!

Oh, Rick, as you wrote that the chances are that any UK exhibitor reading it would choke on their coffee! ;D ;D

Yes, it is true that a lot of the plants seen at alpine and rock garden club shows in the UK are bigger and blousier than any of their kind you will see in the wild.... and this in spite of much muttering a mong the judges about plants needing to be "in character" ... what a joke... the truth is no -one would be given a prize for a plant that truly reflected that species grown in nature: wind-blown, chewed by insects and grazing animals, one-sided from exposure.... no, a truly "natural" plant would win nothing!
But:it must be remembered that all these plants are native to some country, somewhere, where they certainly do grow in natural conditions ! 
The constraints of keeping them alive at all in the false conditions of cultivation (even if under glass because there is no way the plant could survive outdoors conditions in a country alien to its origin) often mean that it is a real triumph to keep the plant alive at all, let alone grow it to the magnificently robust proportions of the average show winner!
Yes, the shows are mostly about "theatre" and often times the big show winners are grown under glass (though in the UK, that is a sensible move for many plants.... if only for the survival of the rain soaked gardener!) but the sight of a show hall bursting with the glamour and colour of these spectacular exhibits is something to cheer the dullest day and saddest of hearts......and is a great day out to meet friends.
Be generous, cut us poor Brits some slack! ;)

Don't get me wrong...the UK growers are obviously passionate about their alpines and you growers can grow them to perfection to say the least.  Still, to see them in the wild looking that good (they rarely do) or better still in a garden (even more rarely) seems more awe-inspiring, at least to my eyes.

Meanwhile, you Brits are on to something.....I think we growers in Newfoundland need to grow under glass as well....we get just as much if not more rain than the UK!  Ah, so many drylanders I'd like to grow.  I have to be content with growing some of these in the alpine house at work...maybe I should build an alpine house in my back yard!

It is nice to stir the tea leaves occasionally and see what brews!  I would be amazed if anyone in the U.K. can grow Dionysias or Androsaces to this show standard without resorting to cover from our heavy and regular precipitation?  Most of the keen growers don't need or use heat (an occasional spell in a fridge is a more likely scenario for most of these plants) and the best exhibits usually spend as much time without any form of protection as they do under glass.  I am not really partial to cut flowers at alpine events, but these tiny flower arrangements still attract my camera lens at every show.  I agree with Todd that it is magnificent to see a beautiful alpine plant growing in it's natural habitat in a magical mountain setting, but surely growing a plant in a pot is little different to growing it in a garden - they are both created habitats and of equal merit?
The tea is still brewing ... just awaiting another stir ...?

Booker wrote:

It is nice to stir the tea leaves occasionally and see what brews!  I would be amazed if anyone in the U.K. can grow Dionysias or Androsaces to this show standard without resorting to cover from our heavy and regular precipitation?  Most of the keen growers don't need or use heat (an occasional spell in a fridge is a more likely scenario for most of these plants) and the best exhibits usually spend as much time without any form of protection as they do under glass.  I am not really partial to cut flowers at alpine events, but these tiny flower arrangements still attract my camera lens at every show.  I agree with Todd that it is magnificent to see a beautiful alpine plant growing in it's natural habitat in a magical mountain setting, but surely growing a plant in a pot is little different to growing it in a garden - they are both created habitats and of equal merit?
The tea is still brewing ... just awaiting another stir ...?

As a tea lover (only strong English or Irish tea, or selected varietal green teas please), I'll stir the tea leaves a bit.  There was an interesting discussion and series of photos on the SRGC "Hepatica" thread, with the focus almost entirely on flowers, and the fact that most often when displayed at plant shows in the UK the leaves are cut off, whereas in Japanese plant shows, they always have the leaves on.  I asked to see the leaves, and in some of them the leaves are beautiful indeed, like mottled leather.  One could argue endlessly about evergreen-leaved plants, like Asarum or Hepatica, whether to cut off the old leaves or not... so I'm not going there.

Instead, I will talk about a UK plant show "norm" of cutting off all leaves of certain plants, like some of the western American Allium such as A. falcifolium, leaving behind a wholly unnatural lollipop effect.  Now, it is true that some allium species tend to have foliage "going over" as the plants flower... that is how they grow and flower in nature.  It is also true, that if one were to look at plant photos as they occur in nature (CalPhotos is a good source), viewing western American Allium, sometimes the leaves are completely toasted by flowering time, other times they are beginning to dry, or the leaves can be in perfectly good shape... so they run the gamut of possibility.  The trick for people who grow such plants (this is where the skill factor comes in), is to give sufficient moisture in spring to maintain the foliage while the plants flower and not have the foliage die back too soon.

I upload a photo of Allium falcifolium (on the left) which has foliage still green at flowering, overshadowed by Allium platycaule at center stage, with dramatic falcate leaves... just starting to show dry tips.  To cut off the bold falcate leaves of A. platycaule just to enter it in a plant show (knowing that any sign of foliage "going over" will mark down the plant's possibility of winning) destroys the true persona of that plant.  Years ago I had a round of email communication with a well known SRGC member about this procedure, relative to A. falcifolium, yet I still find this unnatural technique u