What do you see on your garden walks?

Boy, John, your garden looks terrific right now: I'd sure love to visit again.

Although not really MY garden, I will post three pictures I took yesterday at Denver Botanic Gardens of Plantasia Steppe, the South African Plaza, and Dryland Mesa

PK
Thank you so much for your kind compliment.
It's been very cool to cold around here. With a little warmth it should explode, with color. I will keep an eye on it and post more shots later.

OK I call you John?

Your garden is very nice! I would love to take a stroll in your garden and study plants on close encounter if possible. My garden is very untidy and quite different from yours. Here are some shots I took this afternoon.
The first is from my front door.

Apart from some 30 rhodos I have not many plants in flower for the moment - or rather they are dispersed all over my property.

Trond

So lush and green. That is one color we don't have enough of around here. Lots more of the Gray tones. Do I spy a couple of Yuccas by the steps in the first photo???  :-\  I must say your woodland with the Rhododendrons is very natural appearing and that woodland slope is assume!!

Weiser wrote:

Trond

So lush and green. That is one color we don't have enough of around here. Lots more of the Gray tones. Do I spy a couple of Yuccas by the steps in the first photo???  :-\  I must say your woodland with the Rhododendrons is very natural appearing and that woodland slope is assume!!

Lush and green are the right words! Even my house become green due to green algae so I (or my wife really) wash it every second or third year! Moss grows everywhere and other plants like grasses germinate where they shouldn't.

But I have to disappoint you  - it is not Yuccas but Cordylines (C. australis 'purpurea'). They stand in pots because I have to move them indoors in the worst winter days. It is also two New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) there. They are hardy here but stand in pots too.

My garden is steep and difficult to access with heavy tools so I have to carry what is needed. The vegetation is mostly natural but I put in plants I think fit there like the big Skunk Cabbages in the background.

I have a couple of Yuccas (Y. filamentosa) though but they don't flower for me. I haven't found the right site then for they flower in other gardens.

OMG!  Such greenery!  I'm still waiting for the trees to leaf here!

June 26, 2010
Photographed in the garden this morning.
1. Daphne velenovskyi 'Balkan Rose'
2. Daphne sp (label indecipherable)
3. Daphne (planted in natural rock crevice and regularly pruned by deer)

And more .......

1. Zinnia grandiflora
2. Paederota bonarota setting seed
3. Onosma albo-rosea with left-over seedheads
4. Tufa cliff in Irish stone trough
5. Acantholimon sp finishing bloom
6. mystery grown from seed and not what the seed pack said!  I.D. please
sorry, 5 and 6 interchanged

Your mystery plant is Pterocephalus: I will let you check my three pix and choose the one you think. They are notoriously bad germinators from seed, incidentally...

I am very fond of these, and am very anxious to obtain their cousin, Pterocephalus spathulatus, from Spain where I trod upon it one October by the acre in the Sierra Cazorla. It has powerdery white leaves and stunning pink flowers for contrast...and NEEDS to be in my garden...

The first is P. depressus from Morocco (the easiest in my experience, blooming all summer)
P. parnassii (or P. perennis v. parnassii) from Greece and the last P. pinardii from Turkey.

The genus is much larger, including taller, coarse herbs from Eurasia that I have not hitherto succeeded in overwintering.

Pterocephalus spathulatus caught Dwight Ripley's eye too; "... heads of rose-colored flowers sit almost stemless on the wide, chalk-pale cushions .."
There's been an empty space in my garden for this plant, ever since I read that description.

Incarvillea zhongdianensis is in bloom here now:

Lori, nice plant.  I see the ridged winged stems and nodding buds of Allium nutans nearby... would like to see a photo of it when in bloom.

Great garden shots all around!i

I am seeing a lot of Opuntia polyacatha blossoms scattered around the Garden this time of year. Here are a few, to wet your appetites.
Opuntia polyacantha var. polyacantha (North Dakota)
Opuntia polyacantha var. polyacantha (Idaho )
Opuntia polyacantha var. polyacantha
Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea- syn. var. ursina (Mt. Charleston,NV)
Opuntia polyacantha var. hystrucina
Opuntia polyacantha var. polyacantha ("Crystal Tide")
Opuntia polyacantha aff. nicholii
Opuntia polyacantha var. polyacantha-syn. var. rhodantha (Idaho)
Opuntia polyacantha hybrid “Snowball”
Opuntia polyacantha hybrid Claude Barr selection

Kelaidis wrote:

Your mystery plant is Pterocephalus: I will let you check my three pix and choose the one you think. They are notoriously bad germinators from seed, incidentally...

I am very fond of these, and am very anxious to obtain their cousin, Pterocephalus spathulatus, from Spain where I trod upon it one October by the acre in the Sierra Cazorla. It has powerdery white leaves and stunning pink flowers for contrast...and NEEDS to be in my garden...

The first is P. depressus from Morocco (the easiest in my experience, blooming all summer)
P. parnassii (or P. perennis v. parnassii) from Greece and the last P. pinardii from Turkey.

The genus is much larger, including taller, coarse herbs from Eurasia that I have not hitherto succeeded in overwintering.

I think it must be P. pinardii.  That seems to ring a bell.  It seems OK in the lime bed. Thanks

Skulski wrote:

Incarvillea zhongdianensis is in bloom here now:

Lori, I'd kill (not really) to see that in my garden, what a gorgeous plant.

Mark, I'll definitely post a photo of the allium when it's in bloom.  I bought it labelled as Allium senescens ssp. montanum var. glaucum - dang, have to correct those records again, but Allium nutans sure rolls off the tongue a lot more easily!  Thanks for the ID! 

Ann, I always collect seeds from the incarvillea for the seedex, so let me know if you would like to try it.  I must say, that particular plant is looking pretty good this year, but Todd Boland's incarvilleas, grown in his alpine beds, always look much better than mine!

Here's the first flower on Telesonix jamesii var. heucheriformis , bought this year from Beaver Creek and stuck in the new tufa bed... and what an interesting flower!

I am jealous on those Opuntias!
Here the Incarvilleas have gone to seed and the Sedums rule. It is very dry here now at the south east coast of Norway where I have my summerhouse.

...and one unknown (not S. album or anglicum).

My cellphone allow me to post only one picture at the time.
View from summerhouse.

This Tradescantia is nice but the flowers are open only in the morning.

Be careful!

Hoy
I like the habitat shot. Have you ever tryed growing Opuntia fragilis or it's hydrids in that area? It grows in similar enviroments in Canada. I think it may do well for you planted in the shallow soils that thread through the rock outcroppings. Two others that would be worth a try are Opuntia macrorhiza and Opuntia humifusa.

Skulski wrote:

Mark, I'll definitely post a photo of the allium when it's in bloom.  I bought it labelled as Allium senescens ssp. montanum var. glaucum - dang, have to correct those records again, but Allium nutans sure rolls off the tongue a lot more easily!  Thanks for the ID!   

Ann, I always collect seeds from the incarvillea for the seedex, so let me know if you would like to try it.  I must say, that particular plant is looking pretty good this year, but Todd Boland's incarvilleas, grown in his alpine beds, always look much better than mine!

Here's the first flower on Telesonix jamesii var. heucheriformis , bought this year from Beaver Creek and stuck in the new tufa bed... and what an interesting flower!
Lori, thank you, I'd love to try some seed.

Weiser wrote:

Hoy
I like the habitat shot. Have you ever tryed growing Opuntia fragilis or it's hydrids in that area? It grows in similar enviroments in Canada. I think it may do well for you planted in the shallow soils that thread through the rock outcroppings. Two others that would be worth a try are Opuntia macrorhiza and Opuntia humifusa.

That's an idea! I think I will try. I have never tried cacti here. Maybe the deer don't eat them either although they seemingly prefere plants with thorns like my roses.
I'll look out for seed.

1, 2) Asyneuma limonifolium, from seed last year - an impressive number of flower stems for such young plants!
3) Carduncellus pinnatus
4) Spiraea decumbens

Lori, wonderful pictures.  Your asyneuma seems much tighter than mine. Do you grow it in full sun? Mine has a little shade, maybe that's a problem? The carduncellus is marvelous and has just made it on my want and need list.  Have you had it long? What can you tell me about it?

Thanks, Anne!  The asyneuma is in full sun; the tallest stems are 5-6" (although there are also a couple of little cuties in the same bed with blooming stems only 1.5" tall!)  Having only grown it this short time, I don't know anything more about it, other than that it does seem to like lime, as I had read.  
The carduncellus is a bit of a conundrum... I've had it for many years, and have sent seed to the seedex for a long time, but unbeknownst to me, apparently it is very difficult to start from seed or possibly even self-sterile... ???  (Upon hearing this, I did give it a try last summer and got no germination at all from fresh seed after a couple of months (moist paper towel/baggie method).  A very experienced grower over at SRGC has, reportedly, tried seed at all different stages with no germination, and hence, suggested that it may be self-sterile.)  It does propagate itself by producing the odd offset a few inches away, not at all rambunctiously.  Other than the apparent germination problem, it's very carefree in these conditions.

Edit:  Hmm, as I do have 2 different plants/little colonies, bought from different sources, I should try cross-pollinating them...

Fabulous gardens, all!  How I wish they were in my neighborhood, so that I could walk by and admire them!  

Here are some recent pix, some alpine-ish, some not at all.
A couple from seed last year...
1) Oxytropis megalantha
2) Penstemon virens

Others:
3) Saxifraga paniculata var. minutifolia 'Red-backed Spider' - I know I showed this one before, but my saxes out front got eaten by rabbits, so I'm asking for indulgence!   ::)
4) Saxifraga 'Mrs. Winifred Bevington' - some bird took a liking (or a dislike?) to it this spring and pulled chunks out of the rosette, so there are not so many flower stalks as in previous years, unfortunately.
5, 6) Dracocephalum botryoides
7) Scutellaria orientalis ssp. alpina
8 ) Mimulus guttatus, along the greenhouse edge, where they enjoy the runoff from watering/messing-around-with-the-ponds inside.
9) Oriental poppy 'Dwarf Allegro'.  (Actually, there's never been anything particularly dwarfish about them.)
10) Salix x boydii... Hmm, the ant activity on a couple of those stem tips suggests that I need to go out tomorrow and squash some aphids...

What a terrific place you have there, Trond!  Pardon my ignorance, but does your fjord connect to the sea (salt water, or at least brackish?), or is it blocked off (hence, fresh water)... ? 

1) One bloom each on Erigeron aureus, from seed this spring - a pleasant surprise. 
2, 3) The start of bloom on Penstemon speciosus var. kennedyi

Skulski wrote:

What a terrific place you have there, Trond!  Pardon my ignorance, but does your fjord connect to the sea (salt water, or at least brackish?), or is it blocked off (hence, fresh water)... ?  

Thanks, Lori! We all love to be here. (Now my two daughters are travelling on their own - the eldest is in fact visiting LA these days!)
Yes, this fjord connects with the ocean. It's about 10min with my boat and I'll see the open sea (Skagerrak). A lot of small islands and skerries are sheltering us from the oceanic waves.

Are the Erigeron aureus planted out in your new mountain? If so it isn't strange they flower first year in such a pristine environment!
I am sorry i have never succeeded with Scutellaria orientalis from seed.

1, 2) Inula rhizocephala - while the plant in the tufa bed looks clean and pristine, these out along the sidewalk collect all manner of fine sand, spent salvia petals, pulsatilla seeds - you name it - on their fuzzy leaves.  I actually worked on them for a while with a brush before taking the photo... yeah, the neighbors already know I'm odd.   ;D

3, 4) Saponaria suendermannii... I suspect this is a hybrid, as it doesn't seem to produce seed?

5) Phlox hendersonii - the bloom has sparse at any one time, but very extended this year.

6) A new prize, Caragana jubata.  (A gift from a gardening friend at work!  :) )

Yes, Trond, the Erigeron aureus are in the tufa bed, where I'm sure they will be happy, judging from their natural habitat here.

1) I lost my old Salvia juriscii this year, so was pleased to remember this little one along the sidewalk.  What bizarre and interesting flowers!

2) Erigeron pumilus var. condensata

3) Hieracium villosum

4) Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina - this little thing is a bit of a wanderer, but is so tiny, that I hope it will not seem a problem. 

5, 6) Silene saxifraga - I like this one a lot - pristine little flowers and a long bloom.

Skulski wrote:

4) Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina - this little thing is a bit of a wanderer, but is so tiny, that I hope it will not seem a problem.   

Lori, maybe Bob Nold will chime in on Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina.  He sent it to me many years ago, along with another small blue one, S. angustifolia, with "you've been warned" warnings about how invasive they can be.  Initially I grew mine in pots in a bark mulch "plunge" area, and they of course escaped their confinement in short order.  Eventually, S. nana v. sapphirina died out, but I still have S. angustifolia mildly romping about in the decomposing bark mulch layer over hard rocky clay soil.  I found a couple pics of S. angustifolia from June 2001.

So, I was checking into Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina, and couldn't find it initially... what's going on I ask?  Seems that S. nana and S. sapphirina are now two separate species, but initially using the USDA pages and typical sites I use to find this info, wasn't coming up with much, but I did finally find the following:

USDA classification for Scutellaria
http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid...

This USDA classification cites S. nana var. sapphirina as a synonym of S. sapphirina... aha, found it
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Aria&mode=sciname

USDA page on S. sapphirina
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SCSA6

USDA page on S. nana:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SCNA

CalPhotos page on Scutellaria nana (note: some great looking dwarf cream to pinksih-yellow dwarfs)
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where...

Ahhh, thanks for the warning!  I think I'll exile it to the hellish conditions of the front yard, where it can fight it out with fireweed, invasive native asters, and the remnants of Euphorbia cyparissias.

S. nana and S. sapphirina are both occur in Nevada.  S. sapphirina at high elevation in the southern mountans. S. nana is found locally in northern Nevada.
I have been thinking about hunting down S. nana, just haven't taken the time.
I think I have a leg-up though!  Gary Monroe the Photographer of S. nana on the USDA link is a very good friend, and Warm Springs Valley is only fifteen miles away. 

A rainy day here, after a hot one yesterday (28 deg C).

Nice to see the membership slowly rising.  Come on, folks - we'd all love to see photo-tours of your gardens!  :)

Not a very alpine-ish selection today:
1) Helianthemum nummularium 'Ben Nevis'
2) One of the many self-sown Verbascum phoeniceum... I used to refer to the colour of this plant, somewhat disparagingly, as "puce" but it's grown on me over the years.   ;)
3) Silene zawadskii with a groundcover of Linnaea borealis, which also drapes down the side of the raised acid bed (4)
5) Last of the bloom for the Dodecatheon
6) Astrantia
7) Interesting seedpod on Papaver lapponicum
8 ) Talinum sediforme
9) Codonopsis clematidaea
10) Helianthemum oelandicum ssp. alpestre

I have no objections to rampant plants! At least not if I can grow them here at my summerhouse. No formal beds, just seminatural plantings - that is native and foreign plants put down where they are supposed to thrive and spread! They have to cope with summer dryness and deer and trampling of sheep and people. I gladly receive rampant plants!

Skulski wrote:

1, 2) Inula rhizocephala - while the plant in the tufa bed looks clean and pristine, these out along the sidewalk collect all manner of fine sand, spent salvia petals, pulsatilla seeds - you name it - on their fuzzy leaves.  I actually worked on them for a while with a brush before taking the photo... yeah, the neighbors already know I'm odd.   ;D

3, 4) Saponaria suendermannii... I suspect this is a hybrid, as it doesn't seem to produce seed?

5) Phlox hendersonii - the bloom has sparse at any one time, but very extended this year.

6) A new prize, Caragana jubata.  (A gift from a gardening friend at work!  :) )

Lori, what a friend to have! Caragana jubata is a marvelous plant that I'm hoping to try. Yours looks really good. Ditto the Inula rhizocephala. I grew that once from seed and loved it. May garden at the moment is the Dolomites, have been taking many pictures but can't look at them on the computer since I left the camera connector at home. The other day I almost sat on Androsace hausmannii by mistake. The season is early and the plants have been fabulous!

Well, where I am usually reluctant to ask for things, he tends to be quite bold, so he got me this fabulous plant from another grower!  :D
We look forward to your photos, Anne!

1) A rather odd dianthus, Dianthus calocephalus, which has rather stiff grassy foliage and tall flowering stems with widely-spaced narrow leaves.  It's native to Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan.  From the NARGS seedex.  
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?13823

2) Edelweiss, Leontopodium alpinum

3) Athamanta turbith ssp. haynaldii - a long-blooming perennial here.
http://luirig.altervista.org/schedeit/ae/athamanta_turbith.htm

4) Another variation on the puce Verbascum phoeniceum (or hybrid thereof, as these are likely offspring of 'Helen Johnson', bought years ago, which I just read is said to be V. phoeniceum x bombyciferum?), this one approaching a pale yellow.  

5) Penstemon lyallii

6) Sideritis glacialis

Lori, you have more interesting plants than I have words!

Inspired by Lori's biking route!

Not my garden but a nice place to walk and see!

We have to take the boat 15 min to get there. This island is about 10km long and narrow consisting of glacial sediments from the last ice age.
On the sheltered inside the shore consists of fine quartz sand. The interior is mostly covered by deciduous trees and farms.
Cars are forbidden.

Very beautiful, Trond!  I love the stone wall and the rustic fence!  Lovely meadow and sea view in the first shot.

I had not finished yet! Can upload only one picture at the moment!
Last picture...

Nice sandstone outcrop - love the patterns of bedding and fracturing, and the lichen!  What sorts of deciduous trees do you see there?

Skulski wrote:

Nice sandstone outcrop - love the patterns of bedding and fracturing, and the lichen!  What sorts of deciduous trees do you see there?

The commonest trees are oaks, hazel, grey and black alder (Norw. names), crabapple, maple, elm, ash, rowan, whitebeam and maybe more. Lots of shrubbery (barberry, sloe and more).

Once again, I'm reminded of how easy it would be, in relative terms, to have a comprehensive knowledge of the native tree species here... which are so very few, by comparison!

Skulski wrote:

Once again, I'm reminded of how easy it would be, in relative terms, to have a comprehensive knowledge of the native tree species here... which are so very few, by comparison!

I almost forgot birch, gean and aspen! This is a species-rich area however. It is not like that everywhere in Norway. On the contrary, birch is the commonest deciduous tree.
Two more pictures..

Some of the area is heavily grazed by cattle. This is to keep down the undergrowth in the woods and keep the meadows open. They have too many animals so the meadows are very short-cut, and almost no flowers. Some areas are fenced off to keep the animals out.
These are common:

Geranium sanguineum and Galium verum.
Especially Lady's bedstraw, you can smell it far out in the sea.

Excuse the diffuse pictures. The camera lens was covered by salt (and so was my spectacles so I didn't notice!)

Very pretty!  Do I see Campanula rotundifolia in there too?  I had to look up "gean" -wild cherry?  (Not a familiar term for me - nice to learn things!)

Skulski wrote:

Very pretty!  Do I see Campanula rotundifolia in there too?  I had to look up "gean" -wild cherry?  (Not a familiar term for me - nice to learn things!)

Yes, you do; and yes, that's right! (The Norwegian name is fuglebær - "bird-berry".)

Here are the harebell, and a spruce to show that they also creep in the lowlands!

The island's name is Jomfruland = Virgin land.

I'm not sure of the white flower above - is it Daucus carota?

Just spent the evening "controlling" the virtual plague of self-seeded delphiniums out front, and moving other plants in front of them to hide their tatty, yellow lowermost leaves... mission accomplished, for a while, I hope.  There was a casualty though... I broke the top off an Eremurus... grrr!
A few things from the yard, some alpine-ish...
1) Phyteuma nigrum, done flowering now.
2) Stachys discolor
3) A stem of Lilium martagon 'Album', with Lupinus argenteus in the background
4) Allium obliquum
5) Scutellaria baicalensis, from seed last year... very interesting flowers and buds
6) Phyteuma scheuchzeri
7, 8 ) A long-time favourite plant, Linum flavum 'Compactum'
9, 10) An extremely hardy (at least zone 2) and elegant plant from the Caucasus, Echium russicum

The white flowers are a carrot lookalike: Pimpinella saxifraga (and the blue grass is Leymus arenarius).

Nice clump of Phyteuma nigra! I sowed this species many years ago and it lowered this spring for the first time!

I have other Phyteuma but never seen discolor, seems to be a fine plant.
My Lilium martagon have all grown small and nonflowering!
It seems that the Onion Man is not the only one growing Allium! I am at the lookout for new species to try here - they have to be summer-flowering and able to cope with very dry periods.
Scutellaria baicalensis have I tried from seed several times but never had any success.
Another nice Phyteuma! We have one native Phyteuma in Norway, P. spicatum, but I have never seen it in the wild.
Longtime favored Linum you say, how long? My perennial Linums never live more than a couple of years! Have not tried this one, however.
Is Echium russicum perennial? Our local Echium, E. vulgare (a very pretty plant by the way) is biennial.

I grow two grasses in my dry-land garden that add light and movement to my plantings.

The first is my favorite, Indian Rice Grass - Achnatherum hymenoides (syn. Oryzopsis hymenoides, Stipa hymenoides) A moderately sized (6-12 inches) western bunch grass with airy, light refracting inflorescence.

The second is a taller (18-24inch) drought tolerant bunch grass. Mexican Feather Grass - Stipa tenuissima (syn. Nassella tenuissima). For soft flowing movement at the slightest breeze it is hard to beat.

I use these two grasses as companions for an assortment of western prairie natives.

I like your grasses, Weiser!
Can't you open a new thread on grasses?
By the way, do you collect seed of any of your plants?

Scutellaria baicalensis ... I wonder what I have that is supposed to be baicalensis?  It's scads different.  Mine bloomed in a pot rather than in ground, but still...

RickR wrote:

Scutellaria baicalensis ... I wonder what I have that is supposed to be baicalensis?  It's scads different.  Mine bloomed in a pot rather than in ground, but still...

Rick, it does look scads different than Lori's plant... but will  the  real  Scutellaria  baicalensis  please  stand  up?  Googling, one finds scads of herbal sites, many of which seem to use any ol' Scutellaria plant photo... it doesn't matter in their drug/herbal world, so those should be largely ignored.  

The species is named for Lake Baikal, an area in Russian Siberia.  Googling, one learns about this fascinating area, Asia's largest lake, and the world's deepest lake.  This species is also found in China; Flora of China says "traditionally used as a febrifuge, for relieving fever... this is one of the most commonly collected species in China.".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Baikal

I gathered up a few photo links, not sure who's got what, but all these upright "scoots" are a hoot to grow, I like em.

Flora of China drawing and species description:
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=3315&flora_id=2
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200020285

More photo/info links:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/po...

http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/plants/magnoliophyta/magnoliophytin...

http://www.rmrp.com/Images/Plants/S/Scuttelaria%20baicalensis%20100DPI.jpg

RickR wrote:

Scutellaria baicalensis ... I wonder what I have that is supposed to be baicalensis?  It's scads different.  Mine bloomed in a pot rather than in ground, but still...

I don't know which plant is the real thing - yours or Lori's or both!
Yours seems to be a pretty plant anyway, Rick!

Rick, the differences between our supposed Scutellaria baicalensis seems to be the flower arrangement on the stem - multiples, apparently, on yours and on the UBC photo plant; only orderly pairs on mine - and also that mine has a narrower lower lip.  No comment on the flower arrangement on the eFlora of China site though, unfortunately.  (Thanks for all the research, Mark!)  Mine seems to be the oddball.  I was sent seeds for it in a trade last year - interesting plant anyway, but strangely different from yours.  I think mine is something else again...

Trond, Linum flavum 'Compactum' is a long-lived perennial for me.  Echium russicum is completely perennial here too.

John, I wish those grasses were hardy here but no such luck!

So, what's happening in your gardens in mid-July?

1, 2) Campanula thyrsoides... with a deadly surprise for a bumble bee
3) Erigeron peregrinus ssp. callianthemus
4) Papaver lapponicum blooming fitfullly
5) Convolvulus lineatus var. angustifolius, starting to bloom
6) Hemerocallis dumortieri
7) Geranium x 'Magnificum'
8 ) Anthemis marschalliana
9) A group of 5-year old Campanula barbata... pretty good mileage for a "biennial"!

A nice bunch, Lori!

Campanula thyrsoides have I never succeeded with and Papaver lapponicum is a shortlived perennial in my garden. It grows naturally in the northernmost parts of Norway. Other similar papavers, P. radicatum and allies, also grow in the mountains here, many are endemic to Norway but I have never seen them either in the wild.

Campanula barbata is a native perennial in Norway. Although I have some here they are from seed and selfsow in the short grass.

We have moved from the sea to the mountains, or rather undulating plain (800-1200m) where we have a cabin. No formal beds here, just more or less natural flower meadows (we help by sowing fitting plants).

A piece of the meadow ordinary plants like Vicia cracca, Lothus corniculatus, Viscaria vulgaris, Antennaria dioica.
Campanula barbata in a natural setting.

...and Hieracium aurantiacum and Polemonium caeruleum. (Our cabin in the background)

Lovely to see your plant selection, Trond!

Here's a few:
1 - 2) Cheiranthus roseus is a very pretty little thing!  I suspect it is likely also fragrant so I'll have to kneel down on that cheese-grater tufa to find out (ouch).
2) Delphinium brunonianum

Cheiranthus roseus is cute! I have only grown C. cheiri.
How tall does Delphinium brunonianum get?

Skulski wrote:

Lovely to see your plant selection, Trond!

Here's a few:
1 - 2) Cheiranthus roseus is a very pretty little thing!  I suspect it is likely also fragrant so I'll have to kneel down on that cheese-grater tufa to find out (ouch).
2) Delphinium brunonianum

Lori, that Cheiranthus roseus is a lovely little thing.  I'm attaching a photo (taken in my temporary garden of several weeks) of Androsace hausmannii, not too plentiful in the Dolomites.  Found it accidentally when I sat on a huge slab of limestone to take off a boot and it was all over that side of the rock.  Was so excited to see it that I photographed it bootless (ouch!).

What a gorgeous little androsace!  I do hope you'll show us more pix of your trip, Anne.  :)

1) Jovibarba sp.
2) Iris sintenisii
3, 4) Police car moth (Gnophaela vermiculata)on Allium roseum
5) Gentiana gelida
6) Heterotheca jonesii
Now, getting pretty far from alpines... but these may provide cooling images to those of you in the extreme heat!
7) Nymphaea 'Marliaceae Albida'
8 ) Nymphaea 'Crystal', a tropical day-bloomer

I like that spidery Iris, Lori. You too do grow houseleeks?
Why the name "police car moth", does the color resemble that of a police car? Here we have seen lots of butterflies the last days, but only common ones as far as I can tell.

Do you have a pond too? I have built one but it is too narrow for waterlilies. I tried but no success - leaves and flowers in a heap. yours are nice.

Iris sintenisii ssp. brandzae, but in May!  (Spring was 3-4 weeks early for us in Minnesota this year.)

So, you have this one too, Rick! I understand that I have to try'em but the slugs often find Irises irresistible.

Very nice, Rick!  What else do you have in bloom?

Hoy wrote:

How tall does Delphinium brunonianum get?

My plants are only in their second year now.  The one shown is in regular soil and is 50cm tall... I imagine they may be more restrained in a rock garden setting?  Can anyone else comment?

Hoy wrote:

You too do grow houseleeks?

Yes, sempervivums are extremely hardy and very easy to grow here, and therefore very commonly grown.  They do look best growing in rock, though, rather than in regular soil (in which they are quite happy nonetheless).

Hoy wrote:

Why the name "police car moth", does the color resemble that of a police car? Here we have seen lots of butterflies the last days, but only common ones as far as I can tell.

Yes, police cars used to be black with white doors, hence the common name!  (It is no longer the standard colour scheme, though.)  This is a really poor area for butterflies and moths, and for insects in general - we see vastly more in the mountains than we do at home, despite having a yard full of bloom throughout the season.  (We see so few butterflies/moths that we run and tell each other when we do see one!   ::))  A couple of years ago, there was an irruption of Painted Lady butterflies, which was wonderful to see!

Hoy wrote:

Do you have a pond too? I have built one but it is too narrow for waterlilies. I tried but no success - leaves and flowers in a heap. yours are nice.

Thanks!  Growing water lilies is one of my husband's interests.  We have no outdoor ponds, as it's too cool here for even hardy water lilies to do well (I mean for them to be able to act like the flower machines that they should be, in suitable conditions) - just seasonal above-ground ponds in the greenhouse, where the water can be kept constantly warm (with the help of some heaters, when necessary).  Hordes of various tropical fish also enjoy their summers out in the ponds.    

Thanks Lori.

We had black and white police cars before too!

RickR wrote:

Iris sintenisii ssp. brandzae, but in May!  (Spring was 3-4 weeks early for us in Minnesota this year.)

Rick, what sun/soil conditions did you give Iris sintenisii ssp. brandzae?  I have seedlings coming along that I planted in the partial shade of very-late-to-leaf-out Chionanthus virginicus, but it's a dryish spot, and the mid-day to afternoon sun does cook the spot, although been hitting up the seedlings with the watering can almost daily, and they're growing and look fine so far.

McDonough wrote:

So, I was checking into Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina, and couldn't find it initially... what's going on I ask?  Seems that S. nana and S. sapphirina are now two separate species, but initially using the USDA pages

Well, the USDA thinks that Penstemon unilateralis is a valid name for Penstemon virgatus ssp. asa-grayi, which, as far as I know, no authority on the genus accepts, so .....
Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina wanders from its home, it doesn't spread. It leaves its original location for better pastures. S. brittonii and S. angustifolia, on the other hand, spread as fast as a rumor. These last two do have the decency to disappear for the summer, and, if you look at them from a cosmic perspective (like comparing them to the speed at which Veronica oltensis takes over everything in sight), they are fairly slow.

"Forgive the lateness of my reply."

Nold wrote:

Well, the USDA thinks that Penstemon unilateralis is a valid name for Penstemon virgatus ssp. asa-grayi, which, as far as I know, no authority on the genus accepts, so .....
Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina wanders from its home, it doesn't spread. It leaves its original location for better pastures. S. brittonii and S. angustifolia, on the other hand, spread as fast as a rumor. These last two do have the decency to disappear for the summer, and, if you look at them from a cosmic perspective (like comparing them to the speed at which Veronica oltensis takes over everything in sight), they are fairly slow.

"Forgive the lateness of my reply."

Bob, the description of Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina as "wandering from its home" versus "spreading" is a useful-to-know nuance of it's growing habit... wish I still had it (Lori, are you listening, grow this plant on someplace, and keep it going, it's a dwarf cutie).

I'm also arriving at a point of assessing certain aggressive spreading tendencies, and with a small plant like Scutellaria angustifolia, and the fact it goes completely dormant and disappears shortly after flowering, one can make greater allowances for its spread when it is non-threatening to other more substantive plants.

Impatiens glandulosa alba. 
Also in pic
Impatiens balfourii (at base of I. gland.)
Aralia occidentalis (rear left) I've been having to keep it trimmed back so it does take over.  At four years old from seed, it grows larger than Aralia cordata var. sacchalinensis.  It will be replanted in the yard next spring.
Fargesia rufa (partial pic, far right) proving to be a very worth bamboo for my cold climate.
Allium stellatum (bottom left)

Second photo: Basal stem, Impatiens glandulosa alba

At six feet tall, it's a good thing Impatiens glandulosa alba has terminal flowers!

Gosh, I wonder how tall it would get if I didn't have dry soil?

Allium stellatum from seed from a native stand about 50 miles west of me in Minnesota.  For a wild onion, the bulbs are surprisingly tasty!

Campanula americana.  Just ending bloom to the right is Digitalis ferruginea.

RickR wrote:

At six feet tall, it's a good thing Impatiens glandulosa alba has terminal flowers!

Gosh, I wonder how tall it would get if I didn't have dry soil?

They can grow a little taller! I have different color forms of I. glandulosa and they sow themselves all over my place. Have to mow them. I let some grow and the tallest reach about 3m. When I come home in a week I can show you pics.

Nold wrote:

Scutellaria nana var. sapphirina wanders from its home, it doesn't spread. It leaves its original location for better pastures.

Well, that sounds better than, say, "rampantly invasive"... Okay, I'll leave it where it is for now, though it will be interesting to see how far it has to go to find better pastures in my little plant gulag.   ;D

RickR wrote:

At six feet tall, it's a good thing Impatiens glandulosa alba has terminal flowers!

Yeah, works for me but I wonder if short people would agree?  ???  :D  
Nice to see some of your garden, Rick.

A few in bloom from seed this year:
1) Asperula boissieri - seems to be a form with rather curly foliage.  From Pavelka: "2200m, Killini Mts., Greece; very dwarf compact silvery-grey cushions; stemless pale to dark rose flowers; limestone rocky slopes, 2006 seed."
2) Silene macrantha, or so it was said to be - it's supposed to have greenish-yellow flowers, however.  Big flowers on a tiny plant, anyway.  (Pavelka: "2000m, Komovi, Montenegro; small tufted plant, 5-15cm, pale green leaves; greenish-yellow flowers, stoney slopes; 2005 seed.")  
3) Arabis androsacea - wonderful furry rosettes, flowers nothing much to write home about yet.  (Seeds from Holubec: "ex. Turkey: Ala Dag, 2200m, limestone scree; small cushions, white hairy rosettes, white flowers on 4cm long stems; 2009 seed."

And:
4) Eryngium alpinum
5) DH's mislabelled rose, that could not have been further from what it was supposed to have been... but sort of appealing.
6) In DH's greenhouse ponds, Nymphaea 'Madame Ganna Walska'
7) Nymphaea 'Helvola'
8 ) Azorella trifurcata, or so it seems from the yellow umbels (vs. greenish-white, apparently, on Bolax gummifera?)
9) Another Inula rhizocephala
10 ) Just a garden shot

[quote author=RickR link=topic=274.msg3515#msg3515 date=1280511815]
Allium stellatum from seed from a native stand about 50 miles west of me in Minnesota.  For a wild onion, the bulbs are surprisingly tasty!

Campanula americana.  Just ending bloom to the right is Digitalis ferruginea.
[/quote
I didn't notice this post while I commented the Impatiens pictures! Both the Allium and the Campanula are new to me. Are the C. americana perennial? Seems to be plants to try here.

Really enjoyed the pix of your garden, Lori: you have created a stunner there! Love to visit it some time...

PK

Lori, do you ever have the heart to leave your garden except for short walks in the mountains?

Lori. your garden is beautiful, and you grow such interesting plants.

Trond, Campanula americana is a biennial, and in many (if not most) gardens a notorious self seeder.  I try not to allow to much seed production.  Most people don't think of it as garden worthy, I don't think. I have found that the plants can be susceptible to a wilt disease.  I know verticillium is present in my land, so I assume it is that. 

Allium stellatum is quite vigorous, and also a vigorous self seeder too, but it is easily prevented but cutting the stalks.  The bicolor umbels, with white buds opening to lavender remind me of fireworks.

Thank you for the compliments!  The great thing about photos and posting to remote sites like this, is that no one sees the really ratty parts of the garden.  ;D ;D

And, making another appeal... I'm posting all this stuff, not strictly for compliment-fishing (although I must say that that is very nice  ;D ;D), as in the hopes of encouraging other, so-far silent, members to feel free to share a running journal of their alpines, and gardens in general.  I'm sure we'd all love to see what grows in different areas, and conditions, at different times through the season... (Hey, I need some ideas, too, for my future plantings!)

Arrived home after 5 weeks vaccation. Met by a real wilderness. Have to mow and cut my way through the woodland.
These are not the worst:
The creeping Acaena ovalifolia have grown 3-4ft and cover the path.
Alstroemeria aurea have gotten 3 ft tall and fall over and block the path.

Interesting to see those plants flourishing!  The best I've ever done with Acaena was to have tiny bits survive the winter.  Are the seedpods as painful to step on as they look to be?
I imagine your Alstroemeria are perennial there too... another mind-bending concept for those in this zone!

Skulski wrote:

Interesting to see those plants flourishing!  The best I've ever done with Acaena was to have tiny bits survive the winter.  Are the seedpods as painful to step on as they look to be?
I imagine your Alstroemeria are perennial there too... another mind-bending concept for those in this zone!

The burs are fortunately soft to trample on even with bare feet. And yes, the Alstroemeria aurea is a a hardy perennial here spreading slowly with underground rhizomes.

Okay, persisting with this... won't you join us and post some photos of your gardens too?

1) Even protected under a good-sized Pinus sylvestris 'Watereri', it appears the hail managed to whack a few leaves of this silver-leaved Cyclamen purpurascens
2) A gorgeous and under-appreciated native, Dalea purpurea - it is perfectly well-behaved in the garden, and reaches glorious proportions, even in the poor, dry soil out along our fence... as compared to the very modest little plants (2-3 stems) I see in the wild, oddly enough.
3) Onosma stellulata
4) Telekia speciosa... it's giant leaves are, unfortunately, quite vulnerable to hail damage!
5) Perhaps not the neatest dianthus in form or flower, but the fragrance is intoxicating and most unusual, a sweet perfume rather than the usual clove-spice... Dianthus monspessulanus
6) Verbascum nigrum... this genus is worth all it weeding it causes me.  :)
7) Another Campanula thyrsoides, showing the very hairy flowers and the randomness of bloom along the stem -flowering sometimes starts in the middle, then ends up at the top and base or is all over the stalk at once, odd!
8 ) Not much happening in the troughs, but for Campanula hercegovina, starting to bloom...
9) And this little dianthus.

Lori, a nice assortment!  Looking at your much larger plant of a silver-leaved Cyclamen purpurescens will inspire my as-of-yet single leaf young plant of an all-silver C. purpurescens that showed up recently.  And Dalea purpurea, WOW, that's now a *must have* plant on my list, that one really speaks to me.  I think you might have skipped over Verbascum nigrum, I don't see it... I'm anxious to see it.

Ooops, I did forget my favourite verbascum!!  Here it is:
Verbascum nigrum, presumably named for the sometimes-darkish stems?

Holy moly, Lori!  And I was very happy with my Verbascum nigrum, until I see yours.

Here is my Verbascum nigrum wimp.  It's the second flush of flowers, even though I let all the first flush flowers go to seed.  (I'm not sure they produced seed, though.)  I cut the old stalks down just so I could take this pic.  On the left is Allium stellatum from Kandiyohi County, MN, and center is Ruellia humilis.

My goodness, Lori.... your Campanula hercegovina is a real beauty  8)

I don't know Dalea purpurea and my search via the RHS plantfinder lists only a couple pf mailorder suppliers in the UK, one of whom hasn't actually got it listed!

Do you get a good seed set on yours ( she asked, plaintively and full of hope.......... ;)  )
M

Maggi, Dalea purpurea is a favourite of bees, and produces seeds generously, and I have several of them - enough to supply every seedex that exists!!  :o  Just PM me with your address and I'll send you seeds later on when they are ready. 
Mark, it is certainly a drought-resistant plant, adapted to the dry plains, with a deep taproot - one that would likely take your current drought and watering ban in stride.

Actually, Rick, perhaps I shouldn't say this but the particular V. nigrum I showed is a bit undersized, in comparison to big, mature plants out back where the conditions are a bit kinder!  ;D  They are long-lived perennials here; there too?  In our short season, they have a long bloom, but I've never thought of coaxing two sets of flowers stems out of them... not sure they'd actually manage it here... ?  (Come to think of it, I think I have a test case... some young miscreant broke the flower stems off a young plant out front.  I'll keep an eye on it and see if it is inclined to replace those stems or not.  :) )
Is the Ruellia a native plant there?  I assume it's perennial there, as well?  Very intriguing...
I'm enjoying your photos a lot and hope to see more of your beautiful garden!  So glad you got the digital camera a while back!

1) A sweet little thing, though apparently an annual (dang!) - Omphalodes kuzinskyanae , from the SRGC seedex
2) Campanula dolomitica, purchased this spring.  It will likely get too big (and spreading) for the little tufa garden, but for now, it adds some interest.
3) Not one to stop traffic, exactly - Silene pusilla, from seed this year
4) Looking forward to seeing the flowers on this one  - Onobrychis argyrea - based on my admiration of the beautiful flowers of the foothills forage-crop plant/weed, sainfoin (Onobrychis vicifolia).  The seeds are from Pavelka: "1500m, Urgup, Turkey; tufted perennial, silver hairy leaves, erect-ascending scapes 15-25cm, 3-8 yellow flowers, dry sunny hills."
5) Campanula x carpatica, helping to soften... a little... a trough full of cacti and dasiphora.

Wonderful photos, Lori.  I hope you will post a photo of the Onobrychis when it blooms.

So, it's almost mid-August.  What's happening in your gardens?

1) Senecio polyodon, from seed this spring.  (I suspect it is ssp. polyodon, though the seeds from trade didn't specify that.)  I had this for many years some time ago (until it was swamped by other plants) and was never quite certain if it overwintered, or merely seeded... I always suspected it actually overwintered.  
2) Lilium martagon
3) Dracocephalum grandiflorum with Scutellaria alpina
4) Aconitum lycoctonum
5) Carlina acaulis looks most interesting to me at this stage, before the flowers open.
6) Campanula 'Elizabeth Oliver'
7) Lallemantia canescens - only wimpy little plants this year
8 ) Echinops tschimganicus - is this a valid name?  
9) Another Cyclamen purpurascens
10) And finally one from the rock garden, though hardly a spectacular thing... Didymophysa vesicaria - Correction: probably Braya linearis; seeds from Holubec (description: "China: Beima Shan, Yunnan, 4800m, limestone scree, small caespitose plant, 8cm high, white to pink flowers in terminal inflorescence, rounded inflated siliques, 15mm wide; 2008 seed.")

Which leads me to a question for all you enthusiasts out there...

What alpines would one grow for late summer/fall colour and bloom?

Edit:  Oops, here's that elusive cyclamen now!

The Cyclamen has chosen to hide itself, Lori! But you have an immense number of plants flowering all the time. Here some plants grow to immense dimensions instead. They swamp the smaller ones.

Here are some examples:
1) Impatiens glandulifera grows to 3.5-4m. I remove hundreds every spring but they sprout from "millions" of seeds in the moist climate here. I started with 3 plants. I regret that very much!
2) In the Impatiens forest when I look to the sky.
Next postI. glandulifera is annual, this one (not sure of the name) is perennial. Not more than 2" but spreading steadily outwards and swamping smaller neighbours.
3) Aralia something makes 2m canes every year down in my bog.
4) Lysimachia nummularia looks modest but cover all neighbours in short time. It can also grow into smaller shrubs. I use it as groundcover under rhododendrons and other shrubs but it has also occupied parts of the lawn and many beds.

Hoy wrote:

But you have an immense number of plants flowering all the time.

The reality is that it is simply a very short, compressed season here - if plants are going to bloom, they only have a short time in which to do it!

Wow, your I. glandulifera "forest" is amazing!  :o

Hoy wrote:

3) I. glandulifera is annual, this one (not sure of the name) is perennial. Not more than 2" but spreading steadily outwards and swamping smaller neighbours.

Similar to my invisible cyclamen, I think this photo of yours chose not to show itself!  Would love to see it though.

Oh, by the way, after a little googling, it seems Echinops tschimganicus is a valid name, so it appears... so that leads me to the next question: Is what I have, it?

I must have been asleep while working with those pictures (that means I am often sleeping, not the first time this).
Not the showiest of plants, but here you are: Impatiens unknown species.

PS. The Cyclamen is very nice, mine haven't started to grow yet. But I have mostly hederifolium and coum.

Hmm, interesting perennial impatiens... wonder what the species is? 

1) Verbascum eriophorum, a biennial here.  (I added "here" because some verbascums that act as biennials elsewhere seem to be perennial in colder zones... go figure.)
2) Campanula x tymsonii
3) Flowers now open on Onobrychis argyrea - solid yellow.  (I had rather hoped for some interesting striping or detail on the petals.)

Lori, I also grow Lallemantia canescens.  It looks so terrible now, as many of my alpines.  This year has been a most trying year for them: a drought in early and mid spring, and rain rain rain all summer!  Yesterday six thunderstorms rolled through in just one day! (temps were lowered to 85F day-70F night)  And humidity hadn't dropped below 70% for a week plus.

Iris suaveolens seems relatively fine in the ground, but in pots the foliage is nearly gone, although I do find that the rhizomes are still in tact.  Same with I. reichenbachii. 

I have never had such an infestation of earwigs.  This is my first flower of Dianthus callizonus from seed sown late this spring. And Gentiana tibeticus.  Already the insect has found them.  The Vernonia sp. only grew 8ft this season.

RickR wrote:

I have never had such an infestation of earwigs.  
The Vernonia sp. only grew 8ft this season.

Rick, earwigs love the hot, humid conditions that multiple thunderstorms create ;D  Your Vernonia only 8'?  How tall does it grow regularly?  Mine is just coming into bloom (Vernonia novaboracensis), looking like your plant, and it is at 8' right now, but has not grown taller in the past.

Lots of interesting plants shown in this thread, I'm behind in participating and commenting.

Normally 9-10 feet.  I don't have a clue which species it is. 
Is there a way to differentiate Vernonia spp.? 
It came from the garden of a man in our rockgerden society.  He doesn't know its identity either,
and doesn't remember where he got it.

Terrific Vernonias!  Whew, 10' tall... !?!  As you know, Rick, I have a soft spot for great, hulking plants (as well as for more alpine-ishly proportioned ones... and the ones in between  :D), so I must give those statuesque beauties a try!

Our season has been rainier and cooler than usual as well - seems like odd weather patterns all over this year.

Here's a key to Vernonia spp., that may be helpful:
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=134497

Lori, you posted the same link I was going to post, literally a few seconds before me :D  Might Rick's plant be V. gigantea?
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242417438

By the way, anyone interested in good "Ironweeds", Vernonia lettermanii is a much smaller fine-leaved plant, with beautiful narrow leaves like Amsonia hubrectii.  I don't currently have it, but it is on my watch list.

McDonough wrote:

Lori, you posted the same link I was going to post, literally a few seconds before me :D 

Well, you know... great minds...  ;D

I know I had tried to key the vernonia many, many years ago and gave up.  Maybe eflora was not up or that part finished, I dunno.  But why I hadn't thought about it recently, is a Homer moment (doh!)

So...

What the heck is up with eflora's glossary???  I look words up, there is a page for said word(s), but no definition...
It's not my FF browser, I tried IE and seamonkey(yeah okay it's about the same as FF).  I get this: http://www.efloras.org/glossary.aspx?term_id=12970

Anyway, after learning new and reviewing old definitions, like scaberellous, scaberulose, phyllary, pappi, pannose, urceolate, involucre, obconic, subulate, cypselae, etc., keying was surprisingly easy!

Definitely Vernonia gigantea.  Everything fits.  I looked at the descriptions of all the other species listed, and nothing comes even close in size.  The two largest (fasciculata and flaccidifolia) have other traits besides size that don't match.

I just thought now, what if it isn't North American?
Yow. An investigation for another time.

Rick, just checked the eFlora glossary, man is that useless or what?  Instead I googled and used wikipedia to define "pappus":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappus_%28flower_structure%29

Now that you learned all those botanical terms specific to Asteraceae, you'll be a pro for further taxonomic sleuthing in Asteraceae. I don't know a couple of those terms either, I had better do some research.

Glad you arrived at an ID on your Vernonia... someone sent me seed of V. gigantea a few years back... I wonder what I did with the seed?

That's funny what you say: "what if it isn't American?".  Good point, there are only 17 described for Flora of North America, but according to a wikipedia link: "Vernonia is a genus of about 1000 species of forbs and shrubs in the family Asteraceae", also found in South America, Asia, and Africa, not to mention the abundant hybrids... you have you're work cut out for you!  You can probably assume however, that your plant is N. American.  Also, some members of the genus in other countries might be ascribed to other genera at this point?  A search on Vernonia species at www.ipni.org comes up with 38 screens of species!!!

Very nice Vernonia flowers - I must try some.

Plenty in bloom here, though little that is alpine-ish or of any great note, but here are some anyway:
1, 2) First bloom on Cyananthus chungdianensis, from seed this year (Pavelka: "3600m, Haba Shan, Yunnan, China; dwarf cushions, small green lobed leaves, many blue flowers, ciliate inside; rocky slopes, meadows, very good.")
3) Omphalodes kuzinskyanae deserves an update... it is really a charming little plant.
4) Inula ensifolia
5) Inula helenium
6) A close-up of Dianthus knappii... which must surely be one of the least-interesting dianthus, notable only in that it is yellow!  But yet I grow it...  ::)
7) Cute little mushroom in woolly thyme
8 ) Penstemon pinifolius 'Mersea Yellow'
9, 10) And, on the "to-do" list for tomorrow, cherry picking... 'Evans', a Prunus cerasus sour cherry cultivar is hardy and a good producer here.  The apples also need to be picked... there will soon be a lot of pie on the menu.  (Mmmm, the breakfast of champions!  ;D )

Forgot to say that I'll certainly save you seed, Lori.  I grow Inula ensifolia 'Compacta'.  I grew one of the large species of inula from seed, but they were aphid magnets.  Amazing how they tolerated the bug, though.

Thanks, Rick!

I can't say that late summer is a high point (nothing can match April, May and June in a rock garden!) but my garden continues to have lots of little gems blooming and the overall effect of the alpines is very soothing this time of year and verdant. Amazing how our gardens sustain us! I'm off to Kazakhstan for almost a month, leaving my garden with my wonderful girlfriend, Jan Fahs. It is comforting to hear rain early this morning and hope she gets periodic rains to help maintain this rather extensive collection while I'm gone (can you hear me being a tad nervous?)...

I bought a new camera for my trip, and these are some of the first shots I took yesterday AM: I will be thinking of you all during my travel, although I doubt I will have many chances at internet cafes, and when I do I'll have to spend the time checking in on work and family, so this really fun stuff will have to wait a month! Meanwhile, here's a few glimpses of my Quince Gardens on August 23: the images should be labeled!

1  Adiantum venustum
2  Allium togashii
3  Arum italicum 'Marmoratum'
4  Bulbinella ex Drakensberg
5  Daphne jasminea
6  Escobaria albicolumnaria
7  Hedeoma ciliolata
8  Inula verbascifolia
9  Pyrrhosia ex Mongolia
10 rock garden in AM

Wonderful scenes, Panayoti!  Many exotic things there that I will have to look up.  Thanks for showing how great a well-planned alpine garden can look even, as you say, after most of the bloom has passed - just beautiful!

I'm sure we will all be looking forward to accounts of your trip with eagerness and downright envy!  :D Hope you have a great time!

Very nice, Panayoti! You are lucky to have someone looking after your garden when away. When I come home my garden is completely overgrown. Remarkably how fast and big things grow when they get plenty of moisture.

Your garden is looking great Panayoti!

1) This little Oxytropis megalantha has a bit of rebloom.
2) I'm very pleased with Asyneuma limonifolium - this plant and others have been in bloom since the beginning of July.
3) Osteospermum barberiae var compactum never blooms extravagantly for me - I'm sure it would prefer a hotter, drier spot - but I'm impressed that it has been perennial for 8-9 years now here in zone 3!

Not too much happening in the garden because of extreme drought this summer.  We had some rain last weekend (actually quite a bit of rain) and some things are already trying to green up.  One thing that's been constant is Zinnia grandiflora.  Have to love this plant - it's a late starter and then blooms without stop until hard frost.

That does seem to be a feat with the Osteospermum, congratulations!

I've been impressed with the tenacity of Asyneuma limonifolium as well.  I had it for many years in a pot, until it blew off the patio during a storm, and all I could find was the empty pot!

Spiegel wrote:

Not too much happening in the garden because of extreme drought this summer.  We had some rain last weekend (actually quite a bit of rain) and some things are already trying to green up.  One thing that's been constant is Zinnia grandiflora.  Have to love this plant - it's a late starter and then blooms without stop until hard frost.

Spiegel, I have never seen this Zinnia before. Is the creeping habit normal or due to drought? I would like to have a close-up of the flower too, if possible!

It's planted towards the bottom of a slope so gravity seems to have lent a hand.  Also, it is never watered except by nature.  Perhaps it would be more upright with water and better soil?  It's growing here in a very limey, lean scree.  It's found in Colorado and Kansas and southward.  It's been growing here at least seven years and it did take some time to establish.  Spring here is normally cold with lingering frosts so it isn't touched as far as trimming back before mid-May.  I'll try and post a close-up of the flower sometime this weekend.

Thanks  Anne, I must try this one at my summerhouse!

Here are some other plants flowering now in my garden:

1&2) Fuchsia magellanica grows to a huge shrub during the summer and flower throughout the fall.

3&4) Phuopsis stylosa starts flowering in the summer  but produces a dense mat with new shoots flowering from August till the frost comes.

5&6) Tropaeolum ciliatum has not as flamboyant flowers as it sister T. speciosus but a modest habit climbing in the Rhododendrons.

7) Phygelia capensis is a faithful bloomer from July onwards.

Hoy wrote:

Spiegel wrote:

Not too much happening in the garden because of extreme drought this summer.  We had some rain last weekend (actually quite a bit of rain) and some things are already trying to green up.  One thing that's been constant is Zinnia grandiflora.  Have to love this plant - it's a late starter and then blooms without stop until hard frost.

Spiegel, I have never seen this Zinnia before. Is the creeping habit normal or due to drought? I would like to have a close-up of the flower too, if possible!

As promised, if a little late.  Close-up of Zinnia grandiflora flowers.

Spiegel wrote:

As promised, if a little late.  Close-up of Zinnia grandiflora flowers.

Thank you, Anne! Charming flowers not unlike Tagetes.

The drought continues with temps back into the high 80sF but some cooler weather in sight for the end of the week.  No rain forcast for the week, though.  The garden is quiet but the one rain we did have inspired Phlox pungens to start reblooming and frshened up some other plants.  Just a few shots of plants in the crevice gardens.
1.    Coronilla minima
2.    Phlox pungens
3.    Astragalus utahensis
4-5. Eriogonum umbellatum humistratum
6.    Eriogonum ovalifolium

Wow, to live in a place where fuchsias and Phygelia are hardy outdoors!   :o 
I doggedly tried to grow Phuopsis stylosa for years and years, but it would never winter over for me.  However, there is a gentleman in town who always sells it at the plant sale, and it is hardy for him.  I'm baffled.

Love the Zinnia grandiflora, Anne!  I think it would likely be a good candidate for this area.  (I did grow a couple one year, but lost the seedlings in the welter of other foliage; must try again.)
Wonderful foliage in your garden - the Coronilla and Astragalus are terrific.  How nice to have phlox blooming again!  I've never seen that here.  (Is our season too short?  Or does it happen in other people's gardens, but not mine?)

Lori, I have found this to be true for a number of the western phlox such as Phlox kelseyi (I have had as many as 4 flushes of bloom during one prolonged season), Phlox pulvinata (not as often), Phlox pungens (often) and Phlox hendersonii (rarely).  It's almost like the plant takes a rest and a combination of timely rain and a lot of sun pushes it  to rebloom.  It doesn't seem to hurt the plants at all.  Phlox pungens and Phlox kelseyi do this every year, but this year P. pungens is just coming into rebloom for the first time.  Our summer has been tremendously hot and dry and that probably had a lot to do with it.  We have only had one rain of any note in three months and that was fairly recent. 

Today (or actually yesterday) I found this one still blooming in the garden. Erodium manescavii flowers for months but only few flowers at the time. It also self sow moderately.

Nothing alpine-ish in this lot...
1) Salvia glutinosa
2) Gypsophila oldhamiana
3) Eupatorium cannabinifolium 'Flore Pleno'

Serratula coronata

Skulski wrote:

Serratula coronata

Cool Serratula!  Can you tell us about this one, I think most of us are only familiar with Serratula seoanei, the little pink fall-blooming rock garden staple.

The genus Serratula is almost unknown to me. Only one is native (S. tinctoria) but very rare and not a gardenworthy plant would I say.

Here are what I saw this morning taking a stroll in the jungle:

1) The ivy, Hedera helix, makes flower buds in the fall and flower throughout the winter. Blue berries develop in the spring.
2) View of the lunch place. It is almost swamped by plants like the strong-growing Kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa). It is from seed and do not set many fruits.
3) The girl's doll's house and my greenhouse. Although I remove 1000s of balsamines, they are everywhere.

In bloom now and grown for years as Allium senescens v glaucum.  Mark, please correct if this is wrong.

Recent pics:
1) Antirrhinum sempervirens - these old plants have been losing vigour over the last couple of years, and I have never been able to collect seed, so I guess I'd best figure out how to do cuttings.
2) A late Penstemon barbatus hybrid.
3) Eryngium planum
4) Gypsophila oldhamiana
5) Heterotheca jonesii - amazingly long bloom period
6) Orostachys spinosa(foreground; semp in background) - not getting quite enough light and too much water
7) Lupinus lepidus utahensis, from seed this year

And today:
8, 9) Granular snow from overnight, lingering on Telekia speciosa and Verbascum nigrum.  This cool, wet summer has continued into an unusually cool, dull September.

Great pictures Lori!

You have a lot going on in your garden right now.

I love the Lupinus lepidus.  I have seen various sub species in the mountains but have not tried to grow it.  Was it difficult from seed?  It has certainly put on a lot of growth this year.

Thanks, David.  Lupinus lepidus had good germination in 13 days at room temp from SRGC seedex seed.  I think I probably scarified them, but didn't write it down in my notes.

I fell in love with the Orostachys spinosa. Is it from seed too?
Then I certainly will try it!

Trond, I didn't personally grow it from seed, but I know it's not difficult from seed.
http://www.ovrghs.ca/articles/Plants/Orostachys%20spinosa.htm

I think this species is self infertile.  I had one bloom this season with thousands of flowers and plenty of pollinators, yet only a few capsules seemed to develop and I couldn't detect any viable seed.  However, this was, in general, a terrible year for pollinating.  Beginning at the end of June, it's been very wet here. 

True to form, only a skeleton remains of that orostachys.

Rick, you mean they are monocarpic and don't grow baby rosettes?

The flowering rosette dies, as with semps, but the other offsets continue on.

Lori, your garden is looking wonderful.  The Lupinus is specially beautiful.  When does your garden (as a rule) start shutting down for the winter?  When do you usually have your first killing frost?

Thanks, Anne.  Big swaths of the garden need renovation, and we are getting at it this year by taking out several big, not very interesting shrubs...  Needless to say, I need both a lot of new, interesting perennials and a lot more alpine beds!  :)
We usually have killing frost by mid-September.  The cloudy, rainy conditions have held it off in the city, but there were 2 consecutive nights of frost in outlying agricultural areas to the east that killed off the crops. 
Fall colour is progressing here... mostly yellow in these parts except for tracts of wild roses (red) in the grasslands and red or purple red-osier dogwood in wetter, brushy areas.  (I hope we don't get a repeat of last year, when sudden very cold weather (-15 deg C or so) and snow at the beginning of October killed the leaves on the trees and resulted in next-to-no fall colour at all, and a very early winter!)

Trond, I had expected babies to be produced when the Orostachys spinosa flowered, but it didn't (!)  Come to think of it, years ago I had another unknown species of orostachys that flowered and didn't make offsets, too.  Hmmm. 

Anyway, I don't worry about it, because for some reason Orostachys spinosa tends to break up into many plants if I grow them in smaller pots.  I have lots.  In fact, this is the first times it has bloomed for me, and I've grown them since 2004!  The one that bloomed was from seed started in 2007 (not by me).

Thanks both. I thought that Orostachys normally made offsets.
I can't understand way this plant is not for sale here - they sell the same 10 types of Sempervivums every year.

Two plants still going strong are the American Polemonium pauciflorum and the Chinese Stylophorum lasiocarpum. Both are short-lived perennials but selfsow moderately. They flower all summer and continue through the fall.

Very nice - Polemonium pauciflorum is one of my favourites.  Not familiar with Stylophorum lasiocarpum... though I seem to recall a Stylophorum out in the yard that, unfortunately, never does much of anything.  It's wonderful to have some plants that bloom all summer through!

A few things here, as the season rapidly winds down...
1) Very bizarre flowers of water hawthorn, Aponogeton distachyos, a South African water plant that goes dormant in mid-summer (even here in our short season), then develops leaves and flowers again in fall.
2) Native plant Gutierrezia diversifolia still in bloom, with Carlina acaulis in the back.
3) Lonicera x 'Dropmore Scarlet', against blue skies.
4) Rhododendron mucronulatum 'Crater's Edge'
5) Clematis tubulosa var. davidii, looking very washed out this year.  (It's usually distinctly blue.)
6) Aster ericoides ssp. pansus, another native plant.
7) Onosma stellulata - still blooming in this very cool, wet summer!
8 ) Sempervivum and fall leaves

Right now, mid October, the loveliest plant in my garden is this Callicarpa - not sure of species - with it's eye-catching purple berries.  Not sure how to get seeds for the Seedex - have squashed a few berries but the seeds inside are very tiny and hard to capture.  Hope the attached pic gets through OK. Fran

You can buy food strainers of various weave sizes.  I use a very fine weave that works well with my cactus seed that is suspended in a slimy gel.  The seed is smaller than edible poppy seeds.  Gently swirl and rub the seed against the strainer under running water.

I processed seed from Aralia elata once.  I took a good amount of time.  Later, when I saw what the seed is supposed to look like (larger and heftier), I realized the seeds I extracted were not viable and never really developed, even though the berries looked normal.  Hopefully, this is not the case with your Callicarpa.

Below is my maiden bloom of Aconitum incisifidum.  One slender, 4 ft. stalk that is amazingly sturdy, with still unblemished foliage of heavy substance.

Fran, your Callicarpa looks like dichotoma, but I must admit, some Callicarpa species look fairly similar, so don't hold me to that identification.  I get seedlings under my main shrub from the berries dropping, so it might be possible to gather them up and sow them without cleaning... I do that with Arisaema seed all the time and still get good germination.

Rick, I've not heard of that Aconitum, but there are some grand fall blooming ones such as the one you show.  A neighbor gave me a clump that I've been admiring next to their mailbox, growing 5-6 feet, just coming into bloom now, but the plant from a friendly local garden-club lady, latin names are largely optional, so I don't know which one it is.

Howey wrote:

Right now, mid October, the loveliest plant in my garden is this Callicarpa - not sure of species - with it's eye-catching purple berries.  Not sure how to get seeds for the Seedex - have squashed a few berries but the seeds inside are very tiny and hard to capture.  Hope the attached pic gets through OK. Fran

I once learnt from a gardener to let soft berries rot before you try to rinse the seeds. Then the (remains of the) pulp is easy to wash away. (He also said it improves germination by breaking down germination inhibiting chemicals.) If the seeds are very fine you have to use a special sieve, though!

The birches have lost almost all their leaves but other plants in the garden still linger.
1) Remnants from the kitchen garden, a battered artichoke we forgot to eat.
2 and 3) Clematis orientalis (probably 'Bill McKenzie') never gives up till devastated by frost and storm. The plant produces more and more flowers in the fall.
4) The fuchsias are stayers too.
5) The Kiwi plant on the wall grows enormously every year and I have to cut it down so that it don't completely swamp the house. The longest shoots are 4-5 meters.

Hoy wrote:

Howey wrote:

Right now, mid October, the loveliest plant in my garden is this Callicarpa - not sure of species - with it's eye-catching purple berries.  Not sure how to get seeds for the Seedex - have squashed a few berries but the seeds inside are very tiny and hard to capture.  Hope the attached pic gets through OK. Fran

I once learnt from a gardener to let soft berries rot before you try to rinse the seeds. Then the (remains of the) pulp is easy to wash away. (He also said it improves germination by breaking down germination inhibiting chemicals.) If the seeds are very fine you have to use a special sieve, though!

On some genera, such as with Magnolia, I do exactly that... put the fleshy red "berries" in a container of water and soak for up to a week, changing the grungy water every other day.  Then when they're totally soft and mushy (and a bit stinky/slimy) it is easy to squeeze out the fairly large black seed.  The seed is dried and stored in plastic bags with peat moss (only ever-so-slightly moistened), kept in the vegetable crisper in the refrigerator, and in spring when the weather warms up, sow the seed, and you get about 100% germination in a week or two.  But for some seed, I don't bother removing the pulp, and I still get good germination with Arisaema, and self-sown germination with Callicarpa.  

Now I'm wondering how to handle my Ophiopogon umbraticola, the beautiful blue berries are starting to fall off, so time to harvest them... maybe I'll experiment, 1/2 soaked and pulp removed, the other half sown as is.
Addenda:  just harvested two dozen Ophiopogon seeds, and will try my experiment.  Last year I only had 5 seeds produced, and I scratched them all in around the parent plant, but received no germination... that is, until just now when I harvested the seed, there was a single spiralling leaf seedling!  Took a full year to germinate, cool.

Hoy wrote:

2 and 3) Clematis orientalis (probably 'Bill McKenzie') never gives up till devastated by frost and storm. The plant produce more and more flowers in the fall.

Awesome Clematis, just look at all those flowers, so late in the season. 

A last few late-blooming alpines...
1) Marmoritis complanatum (was Phyllophyton complanatum), from Holubec seed this year.  (Description:  "China: Beima Shan, Yunnan, 4500m, limestone scree; beautiful hairy Lamium, 5-12 cm high, imbricate reddish green leaves, long blue axillar flowers, 2008 seeds").
For comparison:
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=88857&flora_id=800
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=88858&flora_id=800
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=88860&flora_id=800

My plants look not too unlike the last photo above... though I'd prefer them to look like the furry little trolls in the first two photos!! I've come to realize the conditions in the new tufa bed are much too rich, and assuming these plants survive the winter, I'll have to starve them into character next year.  (I assure you that next spring's tufa bed addition will be lean and mean!   ;D)

Here's a plant description, and the source of the photo above, and others:
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=210001232

2) Nepeta phyllochlamys has been hardy for a few years now correction: through 1 winter so far... the foliage is pleasantly furry.  Flowers are almost insignificant...  though mildly interesting in extreme close-up!

3) Tanacetum tibeticum from Pavelka seed this year (Description:  "5000m, Tanglang La Pass, Zanskar, India; dwarf suffruticose silvery-grey cushions 5-15cm; erect scapes with 2-5 yellow flowers; 2005 seed").

Lori, all three are really nice... I particularly like Marmoritis complanatum (Phyllophyton complanatum), never heard the name Marmoritis, but I'm vaguely familiar with Phyllophyton.  I'll have to check back on the efloras pages, they're timing out so must be busy.

In your threesome, I see an old friend.  Nepeta phyllochlamys I grew from the Turkish MacPhail & Watson expedition back in the latter 1970s, and it proved hardy outside for a number of years, making a most satisfactory fuzzy tumbling mound, great for a rock wall situation.  While the flowers are small, they were so numerous to create a haze of color, so was actually effective in flower.

Not the most exciting time of year for walking in my garden.  However, the first frost came two nights ago leaving in its wake the usual deep green drooping leaves of the Dahlias and the tiny yellow and weedy Coyote tomatoes. The ground is now covered with leaves ready for raking.  Random bits of color - one mauve cluster on the lilac bush, only one pink flower on Erodium richardii, a single wee stalk of that beautiful blue Eritrichium canum, and those hard to kill California poppies running through it all.  The last red rosebud of summer is on the New Dawn Rose and Crysanthemums still in flower.  Those maculate leaves of Arum maculatum are up now and restarting their cycle.  Christmas Cactus and a Bottlebrush have only benefited from a shot of frost and are now indoors for the winter.  Just cut the top off a Juniper which was small but grew without my noticing.  The Smilax vine looks like it will be evergreen.  So now it is just a matter of having faith that the nice things will survive the oncoming cold and snow, the chicken wire around small trees and shrubs will hold out the rabbits and concentrating on feeding the birds.  Time to assess 2010's high and low lights and start to sow more seeds for 2011.
Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b 

Frances, it is certainly time to "put the garden to bed"; been doing the same here.  I was curious about your comment on "weedy Coyote tomatoes", as I have not heard of them before, so I googled to learn more about them.  Are the "tomatoes" in the following link look like yours?  Do you cultivate these and enjoy their fruit, or are they a garden escape (ref: weedy)?  Interesting about the lycopene levels.
http://www.aravaipa.com/Coyote-Tomato-Co.htm
"Not a cherry tomato as some claim, but another nightshade species called Solanum pimpinellifolium, the Currant Tomato. Currant tomatoes contain about 40 times more lycopene than common tomatoes!"

We've had a couple nights down to the lower-mid 20s F (hard freeze), but a few things are still flowerings, among them the Asters or Symphyotrichum species.  One of my favorites is Aster laevis or Symphyotrichum laeve var. laeve, which is utterly unfazed by the frost and continues flowering; they have been in flower for 2 months... one of the very best native asters.

Mark, very interesting what you wrote about the Currant Tomato, as that is what it appears to be.  I do not deliberately cultivate it - it just pops up everywhere and is still producing edible fruit in the Friends of the Gardens Courtyard at the University.  Was also interesting to note about the lycopene component which sounds pretty positive to me.  I'd be happy to send you seed if you like? Surprising what turns up at the Local Horticulture Group meetings...that's where we got it.  It is one of the few tomato volunteers that produces fruit before the killing frost comes here.  Nice pictures of the fall asters.  Among the mauve ones in my garden is one that is pink - plan to try to propagate it from seed over winter. A friend sent me pics of a deep pink one in her garden at Iron Bridge (North Shore of Lake Huron) which could be some type of cultivar - nice.  Fran
 

Skulski wrote:

A last few late-blooming alpines...
My plants look not too unlike the last photo above... though I'd prefer them to look like the furry little trolls in the first two photos!! I've come to realize the conditions in the new tufa bed are much too rich, and assuming these plants survive the winter, I'll have to starve them into character next year.  (I assure you that next spring's tufa bed addition will be lean and mean!   ;D)

Lori, Your plants look much more like "furry little trolls" than mine ever shall ( I don't have these plants either). The moist climate and low angle of the sun here make many of the rock plants lax.

Frances, I never "put the garden to bed" if you mean covering plants or cutting down stems and leaves. I think the plants overwinter better if left to themselves. I also let the leaves lie except in the paths.

Very interesting indeed about the "coyote tomato" - one can't help but be intrigued by the description of "earthy, fruity, outrageous flavor"!   :D

We don't usually do much of any "putting the garden to bed" here either - nothing gets covered, or cut off, normally.  The exception this year was to appease my husband by cutting off the taller perennials right along the sidewalks, while things were still dry and the weather was good, in order to make snow shoveling easier later on.  Even that I find strangely depressing to do - I really prefer to leave things standing 'til spring!  :( We don't do any fussing around with leaves either... they just stay where they collect.  (Not having any lawn makes it easier to follow a laissez faire policy on leaves, too, of course!)

In this amazingly warm fall, there are still a few things in active bloom, and some nice colour here and there:
1) Senecio polyodon, one of those amazingly hardy South Africans
2) Geranium x magnificum
3) A sparse few blooms on Androsace septentrionalis, self-seeded from NARGS seed... a much different and looser form than what I see in the mountains here
4) Jovibarba fall colour
5) Hylotelephium 'Autumn Joy' (or similar)
6) Veronica spicata ssp. incana 'Silbersee'
7) Arabis procurrens 'Variegata'
8 ) The ever-reliable and long-blooming Campanula rotundifolia
9) Geranium sanguineum

Lori, you're getting some great fall color there, and some nice late blooms... very colorful.

Hmmm, it seems that people don't like cutting back plants and perennials in the fall.  Every year it's the same story for me, in spring stuff starts growing so fast that I work feverishly to do spring cleanup, cut back old foliage, twigs and stems, before new plant growth gets in the way and makes the task much harder to do.  So, I now try and get as much pruning, cleanup, shearing, and debris removal done in late fall, so in spring I can concentrate on less mundane activities and enjoy the spring show.

So, today I went ahead and started shearing back Epimedium foliage.  With a pair of sharp shears, it took me about 15 minutes to trim back about 25 epimedium plants near my deck... if I wait until spring and have to do micro-surgery to clear out the unsightly twigs and battered winter persistent foliage, being careful not to cut off spring shoots and flower buds, it might take me a couple hours.  Yes, I'll miss some of the colorful foliar interest, but next spring I can just watch my "eppies" come to life without worry about cleanup.  I did leave the leaves on a couple evergreen species, and depending on their condition next spring will either leave them on or cut them back if beaten up.  Here are before, during, and after shots of this particular epimedium planting.

I need to do the same thing with Allium beds, tons more epimediums, and with other perennials; I hope the season holds out before the first big snow.

Mark, I wait until I see bare ground sometime during the winter and cut all the epimediums at that time.  We always seem to have a snow-free period now.  It's too early then to have to worry about spring shoots or buds.  I used to wait until the snow melted but always lost a few small shoots no matter how careful I tried to be.  We just don't seem to get the kind of continuous snow cover we once did.  All of "my" snow seems to be dumped well south.

It would "tear" my heart to shear the Epimidiums now! Anyway, I don't do it in spring either.

Some pictures taken about 10 days ago in this long, extended fall.  Most of the garden has sensibly retired for the winter.  Here are the last holdouts.
1. One flower on Petrocallis pyrenaica
2. Heterotheca jonesii scattered blooms
3. The last Salvia
4. Snake in trough - still hasn't moved
There was a picture of epimediums in their fall color, but lost it when I was resizing pictures, oops.

And here's the salvia I forgot

Love the snake!! What is it an Eastern Rustyback Rock Viper? ::)

How clever of you to identify it.  You're exactly right.  Actually, I bought this at a roadside cafe in Utah years ago as a replacement for a wonderful snake that we lost to a pair of red-tailed hawks.  It was made from a willow branch and painted by the artist Jack Lambert.  He did too good a job.  We saw the hawks, who live here, dive down to the back patio.  When we investigated we found the snake in pieces where one had grabbed it with its talons and released it in disgust.  They've left the replacement strictly alone.

A couple of shots of Arisaema fargesii taken today --Currently grown in a large pot.

Cheers Dave

Dave, that is a plant to grow! I have started collecting Arisaema but I plant all in my garden hoping the best!
I have none with such fine markings though.

Hoy wrote:

Dave, that is a plant to grow! I have started collecting Arisaema but I plant all in my garden hoping the best!
I have none with such fine markings though.

Thanks Trond

I've just about finished the remodelling of another woodland plot so eventually all the potted Arisaemas will be planted out.....

Finally started seriously using my new SLR camera which i purchased 3 months ago.
Close up pic of a Geranium sps .

Cheers Dave

oooh Dave, that photo is worth clicking on (quick everyone, click that photo to see the enlarged view), just look at the tracery of blue veins against the pink petals... wonderful detail.  Any idea about what Geranium species or hybrid it might be?  There have been some posts on SRGC lately with some really good links to Erodium and Geraniacaea that capture the imagination during these winter days (well, at least winter days for us northern hemisphere folks ;))

Yes i do know the name Mark --it's just that i can't remember for the moment .... :-[ sigh!
As soon as it comes to me i'll post it's name .

I'll go out and obtain a picture of the clump once this welcome rain stops. .  i've had this plant for at least 20 years--a real 'go doer' in the garden here --easy to divide.
Not sure if it sets seed as i tend to cut the stems and sometimes the foliage later in the season when the growth gets a bit floppy.

Cheers Dave.

I'm glad that Dave has started off the new year on this thread - I can now post a few pics of our garden in "high summer" - the rains so far haven't let us feel it's really summer yet! At least it's a change from the usual heat and drought!
The first is a calochortus which has just opened the last flower for the season  Calochortus fimbriatus.

The next is a hybrid Lilium "Pappo's Beauty"

and then "Lady Alice"

cheers
fermi

Fermi, from what I've seen on postings on SRGC by folks from Australia, it seems that the genus Calochortus do well in Australia.  I bet there are few here in the US that can boast growing C. fimbriatus, a fantastic species and VERY NEW to the taxonomic scene described just 10 years ago in 2001.  What is your source for this species?  How many Calochortus do you grow and what is your basic cultivation regimen?

PS.  You get a Gold Star, you wasted no time in reading my FAQ on how to use the syntax for "inline" image attachments on the forum, this was just added today!  Of course, you've been using that technique on SRGC already, so maybe I should just award a Silver Star ;D. The FAQ and others are found here: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?board=1.0

Geranium 'Wargrave Pink'?

Many thanks to Mark for explaining how to inset images into a posting ... this is simply a test to see how easy or difficult this might be.

All the images were captured during a brief visit to Ness Gardens on the Wirral in north-west England.

None of the images will be titled.

This is purely a test.

Images for enjoyment only.

May post more later.

Few more to post.

Not as easy to negotiate as posting all at the end.

Only a few more ...

Simply a test ...

Finally reached the end!

Well, the test certainly worked and could prove indispensable in the future.

All the images were captured in late August 2010.

Booker wrote:

Well, the test certainly worked and could prove indispensable in the future.

All the images were captured in late August 2010.

Hi Cliff, glad the inline image attachments syntax is working out for you.  What's the blue-fruited beauty above?

McDonough wrote:

Booker wrote:

Well, the test certainly worked and could prove indispensable in the future.

All the images were captured in late August 2010.

Hi Cliff, glad the inline image attachments syntax is working out for you.  What's the blue-fruited beauty above?

Hi Mark,
I didn't collect names along with the images, but I believe (from memory) that this was Dianella tasmanica.

The Northern Hemisphere is starting to wake up.

This is Lewisia brachycalyx emerging in the rock garden today.

I always find it exciting to see new growth on plants that estivate, given the uncertainty of whether they made it through the summer and fall.  Lewisia rediviva emerges in October in our garden but Lewisia brachycalyx and Lewisia nevadensis don't show up until January or February, eventually flowering in spring before disappearing again.

W.H.N. Preece writing in 1937 said this about Lewisia brachycalyx:

It is no easy matter to find suitable words, nor to coin adeqaute phrases to portray such ethereal beauty, ineffable purity and gleaming loveliness in blossoms at once transluscent, ice-white and crystalline".

Fine words indeed for a very lovely plant. I hope it grows faster than whatever is nibbling on the leaves.

McDonough wrote:

Fermi, from what I've seen on postings on SRGC by folks from Australia, it seems that the genus Calochortus do well in Australia.  I bet there are few here in the US that can boast growing C. fimbriatus, a fantastic species and VERY NEW to the taxonomic scene described just 10 years ago in 2001.  What is your source for this species?  How many Calochortus do you grow and what is your basic cultivation regimen?

PS.  You get a Gold Star, you wasted no time in reading my FAQ on how to use the syntax for "inline" image attachments on the forum, this was just added today!  Of course, you've been using that technique on SRGC already, so maybe I should just award a Silver Star ;D. The FAQ and others are found here: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?board=1.0

Hi Mark,
We got this Calochortus under its synonym C. weeddii ssp vestus from a local bulb supplier, Marcus Harvey in Tasmania.
Other Calochortus which we grow include C. superbus (the first one I grew to flowering size from seed from the NARGS Seedex I think), C. splendens, C. albus, C. macrocarpus (only in a pot at present), C.argillosus, C. amabile, C. luteus, C. uniflorus, C. catalina and C. clavatus. Most were grown from seed but we have bought bulbs of the last 4 as well. C. superbus and C. splendens have produced the most impressive displays so far in terms of numbers.
Apart from those that never make it out of the seed-pot, I plant the bulbs out in late summer/early atutumn into raised beds which are basically our local "adobe" clay ameliorated with plenty of grit/sand and sometimes a bit of compost and gypsum.
We try not to water the bulb areas during the summer but this year that has been futile; it remains to be seen how many have survived the wet weather!
cheers
fermi
PS yes, I've had some practice on the SRGC Forum at posting pics ;D but I needed your FAQ to let me know we could do the same here now (it didn't work a while back when I tried!)

Fermi wrote:

PS yes, I've had some practice on the SRGC Forum at posting pics ;D but I needed your FAQ to let me know we could do the same here now (it didn't work a while back when I tried!)

Fermi, that's quite a good representation of Calochortus species!  I hope the recent rains In Australia that were so prominent in the news recently have no ill effect on your Calochortus bulbs, or other plants for that matter.

Yes, the "inplace" loading of photos here previously showed a bug whereby images were repeated (doubled), but we got that fixed and the FAQ tells how to do it now.

Aaah Fermi, you know how to rub salt in wounds! We just had -20F in parts of this area a few days ago, and there is snow everywhere. America is in the thralls of winter, and you show us lilies and calochorti! You are a sadist, my man!

Kelaidis wrote:

Aaah Fermi, you know how to rub salt in wounds! We just had -20F in parts of this area a few days ago, and there is snow everywhere. America is in the thralls of winter, and you show us lilies and calochorti! You are a sadist, my man!

Panayoti! You should know that Indians don't waste salt onwounds - we use chilli powder! ;D Besides the pics of plants flowering here is only to remind you that spring and summer are not far away.
Of course this side of the world is suffering floods and fires while you are under snow - it's a crazy world! The alternation between heatwave and downpour is playing havoc with some plants in the Rock Garden; Genista pilosa which was a lovely cascading mat is now seriously burned off and 2 Daphne alpina shrubs look like they have succumbed. But I'm sure my losses will be nothing compare to what the extreme cold is doing to some of your gardens over there.
cheers
fermi

Some new flowers this week,
Rhodophiala bifida

Lycoris sprengeri

And some belladonna Lilies, Amaryllis belladonna hybrids

cheers
fermi

Very nice, Fermi.

I didn't know there were any Lycoris with such wide petals.  And such a symmetrical flower, too!

Beautiful "lilies"!
I am looking forward to see mine when they hopefully reach flowering size. I have sowed different monocots from Chilean seed, among them some Rhodophiala spp and have potfulls of seedlings. ;D

Today I didn't walk in the garden but chopped a yew to firewood. A foggy but not cold day +7C now.
Rick, did you say you were fan of brown?
Here are some browny colors ;D

Hoy wrote:

Today I didn't walk in the garden but chopped a yew to firewood. A foggy but not cold day +7C now.
Rick, did you say you were fan of brown?
Here are some browny colors ;D

Nice views! I don't like overcast days, usually, but I do like fog! What is the large broadleaf evergreen?

cohan wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Today I didn't walk in the garden but chopped a yew to firewood. A foggy but not cold day +7C now.
Rick, did you say you were fan of brown?
Here are some browny colors ;D

Nice views! I don't like overcast days, usually, but I do like fog! What is the large broadleaf evergreen?

Thanks! Fog has it's charm but not if it is foggy too often >:(
The broadleaf evergreen is a Hedera, probably H hibernica, climbing in a common birch.

Hoy wrote:

Rick, did you say you were fan of brown?

You got it!

Is that a Pinus parviflora in the first pic?
I sure wish I could grow true cedars, ANY true cedars.
And what is the broadleaf evergreen tree?

RickR wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Rick, did you say you were fan of brown?

You got it!

Is that a Pinus parviflora in the first pic?
I sure wish I could grow true cedars, ANY true cedars.
And what is the broadleaf evergreen tree?

Right on spot! Pinus parviflora. The other pine there to the right is an American species, P contorta. Between them is a Thuja, maybe T plicata.
When you say true cedars, do you mean Cedrus? -I grow three species: C deodara, libanotica and atlantica. They are  nice trees. You can get a glimpse of C atlantica 'Glauca' in the top left corner of the 3rd picture, the other green stuff in the left is Sciadopitus verticillata.

The broadleaf evergreen tree is not a tree but Hedera hibernica climbing in a common birch.

Hoy wrote:

Right on spot! Pinus parviflora. The other pine there to the right is an American species, P contorta. Between them is a Thuja, maybe T plicata.
When you say true cedars, do you mean Cedrus? -I grow three species: C deodara, libanotica and atlantica. They are  nice trees. You can get a glimpse of C atlantica 'Glauca' in the top left corner of the 3rd picture, the other green stuff in the left is Sciadopitus verticillata.

The broadleaf evergreen tree is not a tree but Hedera hibernica climbing in a common birch.

Yes, I was alluding to the Cedrus atlantica (which has had a name change, I believe).  I did guess the Pinus contorta, but I never would have thought that tree (below) was a Sciadopitys.  I would have thought it would have much longer pseudo-needles in your climate.  Unless, is it growing in clay based soil?

The Hedera hiberica is impressive, at least to me.  We are very lucky to even get Hedera helix (or closely related) to even survive on the ground, let alone climb.

The Sciadopitys really has very large needles, the picture lies :-X When I come home next week I'll show you! No clay here - all soil is peat-based (naturally) except some sandy soil at the lowest-lying part.

The "sedums" are doing really well this year after all that summer rain we got! This is one of the Hylotelephiums, possibly "Autumn Joy"

Clematis "Golden Tiara" is also still looking good with new flowers adorning the silky seed heads,

A native "Bluebell", Wahlenbergia stricta is liking conditions in a sand-bed

A rather pale cutie is this Linum tenuifolium grown from Seedex 2010(?)

which I'm hoping will re-seed.

cheers
fermi

Beautiful, Fermi - how nice to be reminded of summer turning to fall!  I've been intrigued for some time by Wahlenbergia (being kind of a campanula nut) but I suspect they'd only act as annuals here. 

I like the Linum tenuifolium too.  I have found growing Linum from seed surprisingly difficult (well, surprising especially given that one sees entire blue fields of flax in these parts!) 

Trond, I live in the land of fog and it can get darn depressing day after day.  having said that, I could use some now as fog is great at melting snow...and we still have scads of that!  It has been sunny and 8 C this past 2 days so the snow is settling but there is just so much on the ground...still about 3-4 feet over most of my back yard.  I actually dug out my crevice garden as I am desperate to see some soil!

Todd wrote:

Trond, I live in the land of fog and it can get darn depressing day after day.  having said that, I could use some now as fog is great at melting snow...and we still have scads of that!  It has been sunny and 8 C this past 2 days so the snow is settling but there is just so much on the ground...still about 3-4 feet over most of my back yard.  I actually dug out my crevice garden as I am desperate to see some soil!

Daytime fog is not at all common here, its usually a nighttime (or at least morning.evening) phenomenon, though at this elevation we are sometimes in the bottom of the clouds ;)

3-4 feet is a lot of snow--we have that much around paths and drives where its been piled up from shovelling, otherwise probably more like 13-18inches in most places, tending to less around spruce and in mixed woods (except north side of woods in the low areas where willows grow, which always has the most snow).. no doubt it will stay here much longer than in Newfoundland, though anything can happen this time of year--Wed +2C, Fri -8C with possible snow (they downgraded periods of snow to 60%chance of flurries, yay!)

A random image from warmer days, an Achillea millefolium growing just up the road--the first time I have seen pink in the wild populations! The close-up may or may not make it look pinker than in real life--it was pale but noticeable as I rode past on my bike....
And one of its basically white cousins with a pollinator...

Todd wrote:

Trond, I live in the land of fog and it can get darn depressing day after day.  having said that, I could use some now as fog is great at melting snow...and we still have scads of that!  It has been sunny and 8 C this past 2 days so the snow is settling but there is just so much on the ground...still about 3-4 feet over most of my back yard.  I actually dug out my crevice garden as I am desperate to see some soil!

Todd, fog is not uncommon in spring when the air warms and the sea still is cold but fortunately we are spared the worst as it tends to be more foggy at the other side of the fjord and nearer the coast (the fjord runs south - north here and I live at the east side).

Cohan, is yarrow a native plant at your place? Here pink (light pink, not dark) yarrows are not uncommon, especially at our cabin in the mountain where I am now. Not much snow here - 3/4m I think. Haven't had time skiing though, the sewage is frozen further down the valley and all the neighbors "spent food" has found it's way up through our toilet -  the floors of the bathroom, toilet and entrance flooded with..... Have done the worst cleaning job ever!

And I can't comment on Fermi's pictures, I can't see them!
(Trond, Fermi's photos have been fixed - Mark McD.)

I know the snowdrops I show here are very common, but they are the harbinger of spring in my garden, followed closely by Crocus vitellinus, and this year Colchicum kesselringii that a friend sent last fall, is blooming now too.  The yard and gardens are still covered with an 18" glacial layer of hard-pack ice, but in a couple spots, such as the warm sunny south side of the house, snow receded and a few bare bits of ground can be seen, and much to my surprise, there were snowdrops!  Nice :D

Hoy wrote:

Todd wrote:

Trond, I live in the land of fog and it can get darn depressing day after day.  having said that, I could use some now as fog is great at melting snow...and we still have scads of that!  It has been sunny and 8 C this past 2 days so the snow is settling but there is just so much on the ground...still about 3-4 feet over most of my back yard.  I actually dug out my crevice garden as I am desperate to see some soil!

Todd, fog is not uncommon in spring when the air warms and the sea still is cold but fortunately we are spared the worst as it tends to be more foggy at the other side of the fjord and nearer the coast (the fjord runs south - north here and I live at the east side).

Cohan, is yarrow a native plant at your place? Here pink (light pink, not dark) yarrows are not uncommon, especially at our cabin in the mountain where I am now. Not much snow here - 3/4m I think. Haven't had time skiing though, the sewage is frozen further down the valley and all the neighbors "spent food" has found it's way up through our toilet -  the floors of the bathroom, toilet and entrance flooded with..... Have done the worst cleaning job ever!

And I can't comment on Fermi's pictures, I can't see them!
(Trond, Fermi's photos have been fixed - Mark McD.)

I have to apologise for my brain apparently not functioning this morning, I somehow thought I was posting to image of the day, earlier...lol Oh well, I suppose it was only somewhat off topic  :rolleyes:
Trond: yes yarrow- Achillea millefolium - is a very very common native here, but nearly all white--till now! I was also pleased to find A sibirica the last two summers--just an occasional plant--maybe only in one spot, and last year I got some seed, I really like the form/foliage of sibirica: taller, straighter and neater..
I'd be interested in seeing your pink yarrows; I may yet break down and get some seed of hybrids, I really do like some of the colours, and want some other species--rock garden and larger--I want one of the 'white' leafed yellow flowered tall ones..; I have seedlings from last year (hopefully alive under the snow) from Gardens North of ACHILLEA sibirica var. camtschatica--which has pink flowers, very different foliage from the regular form too, it seems, but haven't seen mature foliage yet..

Cohan, I'll show you pictures of the yarrows - but you have to wait some months ;D I haven't pictured yarrows, they are ubiquitous!

Nice to see snowdrop, Mark. I'll take a look at mine when I've time and it is sun!

Hoy wrote:

Cohan, I'll show you pictures of the yarrows - but you have to wait some months ;D I haven't pictured yarrows, they are ubiquitous!

Nice to see snowdrop, Mark. I'll take a look at mine when I've time and it is sun!

I know what you mean, Trond; I try to photograph every flowering species, especially when they first start.. after they are going for a long time, I tend to taper off..lol--stilll, the summer is so short, there are very few flowers I get tired of (apart from the cursed foreign buttercup, and slightly less, clover and dandelions!)

A little walk in the garden between the showers - rain - hail - sleet! Got an inch of white stuff last night and early morning but it thawed during the day.

The snowdrops dropped a little by the weight of the white stuff and a Helleborus thibetanus takes it time to flower.

The Hellebores in the wood fared better and the snow receded quickly. Some Crocuses struggle, not with snow but with old leaves.

Congratulations, Trond--spring finally arrived for you! It'll be a while yet here, so its good to see some photos from elsewhere ..

cohan wrote:

Congratulations, Trond--spring finally arrived for you! It'll be a while yet here, so its good to see some photos from elsewhere ..

Thanks Cohan! But spring comes and goes here and is slow in progress. The spring does last to May :o We can still get snow and sleet :(

Hoy wrote:

cohan wrote:

Congratulations, Trond--spring finally arrived for you! It'll be a while yet here, so its good to see some photos from elsewhere ..

Thanks Cohan! But spring comes and goes here and is slow in progress. The spring does last to May :o We can still get snow and sleet :(

Spring comes and goes here too, but we wont have any wildflowers until end of April or early  May, I don't yet have much planted for spring to make it earlier, my one spring bulb bed turned out to be  a cold spot, so its not early..lol
This week we will have days well above freezing, but there will be snow again, we aren't safe until late May/June....

And here it is starting to feel like autumn with the "late bulbs" like Lycoris coming into bloom,
Lycoris elsae

and the red one we grow as L. radiata but which I'm told isn't!

The colchicums are also doing their stuff: Colchicum cilicium (pale form) is slowly clumping up

cheers
fermi

We've just been through a toasty week and lots is coming into bloom: there are a bank of daffodils out on the parking lot of the gardens in full bloom, and the first Magnolia stellata opened by the Botanic Gardens house and the first corydalis are out (of course I forgot to photograph all these!)...but there are enough things to give a taste of the blustery steppe spring on the Colorado piedmont...I start with Bulbocodium vernum, which seems to do well in a variety of sites around Denver Botanic Gardens: I neglected to photograph the little dark pink forms of Colchicum szovitsii that have just opened at my house (much daintier). Two shots of my best Cyclamen coum--one with back lighting and the other not. These have finally found a shady site they like. Then there is the ever charming Eranthis hyemalis: can one ever have enough of this? The Fritillaria raddeana alarms me by its early bloom: I don't think we have as attractive a form as I've seen in pictures: it is rather greenish. Our F. imperialis are just breaking ground and this is in full bloom: makes me nervous since we are sure to have some more very cold weather. And Christmas roses have been blooming for months and they are now turning deep reds as they set seed....I've barely scratched the surface! I will have to do another post!

I have just posted ten pix, and they were not enough! Way too much is already blooming. I have over 30 different kinds of things in bloom at home, and the Gardens are exploding! The Galanthus are starting to go over in more exposed spots (although there are still a few patches of snow in the darker corners where they'll be coming up for some weeks to come!) The first picture is of a giant form of Galanthus elwesii I got from Don Hackenberry 30 years ago! The next is a more typical form that has naturalized at the gardens...and the nivalis 'Viridapice' which I find to be quite vigorous. I have a special spot in my heart for reticulate irises, and this seems to be a banner year for them. I have two shots of Iris danfordiae, which seems to perenniate if you can keep it dry in summer (we grow it in groundcovers or grass to achieve that). I have 'Katharine Hodgekin' all over my garden (I blogged about it recently as well: there's quite a story about it:http://prairiebreak.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-in-name.html). And I include closeups of 'Harmony' and 'Pixie' two of my favorite dark blues. We have drifts of 'Harmony' on a steep slope with blue gramma grass where they are quite happy. I guess you will miss my pix of early Muscari, townsendias, hellebores galore, a bevy of early drabas, and so on and so forth: the new year is rushing headlong and dragging me with it. There's nothing like early spring! (Or is it late winter?)

Fermi wrote:

And here it is starting to feel like autumn with the "late bulbs" like Lycoris coming into bloom,
Lycoris elsae
cheers
fermi

Fermi, great fall color, as we're just starting to emerge from under a mantle of snow and ice in the northern hemisphere.  I love the white Lycoris, a genus I have not succeeded with yet, in spite of getting some bulbs from Mr. Lycoris himself, James Waddick.  The name Lycoris elsae is probably referring to Lycoris elsiae Traub, Pl. Life xiv. 43 (1958).

It is a perplexing entity, this elsiae, and here are some links I found that help provide clues to the mystery:

[pbs] Lycoris straminea, houdyshellii, and L. elsiae:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/pbs/2010-September/038606.html

"Some authors describe that Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi is a natural hybrid of Lycoris radiata (L’Héritier) Herbert and Lycoris traubii Hayward"

Found a link for Lycoris albiflora, a species from Korea and China, with the synonym of Lycoris elsiae Traub
http://flowers.la.coocan.jp/Amaryllidaceae/Lycoris%20albiflora.htm
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200028053

All I could do here is raise questions, sorry, I don't have any answers, just not very experienced with the beautiful genus Lycoris.

Panayoti, your spring season seems so much more advanced than New England, I'm so jealous.  Today it suddenly warmed up and reached 60 F (15.5 C), but it seemed semi-stupid as most of the yard and garden are still covered with a 12" thick (or thicker in places) mantle of snow, the ground still frozen beneath.

Of your floral spectacle, I really liked Galanthus nivalis 'Viridapice', such drooping elegance (and it actually looks different than many snowdrops). ;)

Now I've seen plenty of photos of Iris danfordiae, that elfin golden yellow reticulate Iris, but interplanted with glowing orange Sedum rupestre 'Angelina', sheer brilliance!

And the shot of blue pools of Iris reticulata 'Harmony' amidst the pale amber of dried grasses, who would have thought of such a combination, double brilliance!

Today it was suddenly very warm, almost summer like, after such a long spell of cold and freezing weather.  The snow has receded from a few areas where spring bulbs are plants.  Yesterday, a patch of ground where Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus was planted, the receding snow-pack revealed flattened buds of this crocus squashed and lying miserably under the weight of the snow, but today with the warmth, they all popped open.

Stepping away a little bit is a reminder that winter snow is still predominant; we'll need a number of such warm days to melt the snow-pack layer.

Panayoti--what a wealth of spring glory! I can only second some of Marks specifics, esp for the irises, Love the wild form of reticulata..

Mark, congrats on blooms! Everything here still looks like your last pic.... nothing here can bloom out of the snow, unless its a late spring snow after the pack has melted and ground thawed! The ground will still be solidly frozen in most places until some time after snowmelt...

Yesterday, St. Patrick's Day, was the first day it was possible to see signs of life in the garden - Daphne mezereum, which was prostrate under the snow, has straightened up and the flower buds are swelling - lots of yellow Winter Aconite, Iris reticulata shoots and snowdrops.  Tulip and Hyacinths under the house eaves are up 3 inches now and Belladonna lilies which I transplanted into the University Courtyard (home of FOGS) last year, have survived and are coming up in good health.  Over in the tiny bog that one of our members created last year, the Lobelia cardinalis "placemats" look full of health.  In my own garden Lobelia cardinalis alba, Arum maculatum and that wonderful Polygala appear not to have been hurt at all by our really terrible winter.  Calycanthus floridus is just a mass of disjointed twigs - it did suffer.  However, some of those twigs, which I brought indoors and put into a vase with Cornus mas branches, have begun to leaf out, as has a small pot of Begonia sutherlandii.  No pictures yet but perhaps soon?  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Here it is back to square one - 10cm of wet snow this morning! But as the ground no longer is frozen I hope it will thaw during the day. This is quite normal for March weather though.

Fermi, wether it is Lycoris radiata or not don't matter to me! It is a nice plant anyway.

Kelaidis, you do not lack plants! I believe you have a lot of sun in daytime but that you experience freezing temps during nighttime?

Hoy,
    We get over 300 days of sun a year (more than Cairo and Athens! They have more clouds in winter than we do)...but we get frost until May. We often have Magnolias crisped...although the coming week is supposed to stay mild. I would be surprised if we don't get some very cold days still this winter.

Beautiful shows, Panayoti, Mark and Trond!  Wonderful fall flowers from the other side of the world too, Fermi!

The big melt is on here, and as this year's heavy snow rapidly disappears, it's encouraging to see signs of life...
Some native and exotic plants in juxtaposition -  bristlecone pine, Astragalus angustifolius and kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

The following few are new from last year:
A teensy rosette of Dionysia involucrata, looking reasonably lifelike...

Papaver kluanense

Physaria alpina

Anacyclus marrocanus

Eriogonum saxatile

Elsewhere in the garden:
New growth on Caltha leptosepala

Evergreen foliage on Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum' and a hellebore:

Lori, you are way ahead of me! I we get more weather like last week (+5C and higher) the snow will go fast, but we are back to barely above 0 days, or below; plus, much of my place is shaded, esp until the sun is higher, so we keep snow longer, except for a few spots..

hoping we will dodge the forecast 15-30cm of snow forecast for parts of the province the next couple of days; now looks like it may be farther south/west...

Lori is way ahead of me too, here near Minneapolis, Minnesota.  No gardens' soil is showing yet, although there are spots of grass showing in the yard.  But the big melt is on here too, and the three bridges over the Minnesota River closest to me are expected to closed by mid to end of this coming week due to flooding!  Makes me feel very fortunate that I live on the same side of the river as where I work.  Many fellow employees will be driving an extra 20-25 miles each way to get to work.

Rivers' flooding is expected to be very bad here this spring.  The city of Grand Forks, MN on the Red River (flowing north) has stock piled 1.5 million filled sand bags.

Oh, Rick, you are in one of those areas! I talk to lots of Manitoba folks in another forum, they are watching the rivers too....
Luckily, there is really nothing much around here that could flood--we get water standing in fields and roadsides, that's about it..even if the rivers in Rocky Mtn House or Red Deer did flood, it would be very local...

Ryvarden lighthouse. It has been a beacon here for more than 1000 years. You are not allowed to drive but have to walk a few miles along the road. It is popular by all kind of people particularly in the summer.

View north and east across the open sea "Sletta" and the "Bømlafjorden" fjord. Here the weather and the sea can be very bad. You can see the snow covered mountains in the east.

it is mostly heather and grass growing here. No early springflowers! The kinnikinnick is very common here Lori ;)

cohan wrote:

Oh, Rick, you are in one of those areas! I talk to lots of Manitoba folks in another forum, they are watching the rivers too....
Luckily, there is really nothing much around here that could flood--we get water standing in fields and roadsides, that's about it..even if the rivers in Rocky Mtn House or Red Deer did flood, it would be very local...

The Red River flowing from Minnesota and into Manitoba is especially prone to flooding because the drop in elevation per mile is so little.  It takes a long time for such flat areas to drain.  The Minnesota river is not as bad, but historically is a river with large natural fluctuations in volume.  It's really quite a spectacle to view the river at spring flooding from atop a river bluff, when you know what a "trickle" of water it becomes in late summer.

My little piece of land is at the top of the highest hill for  for miles around. (But you would never realize it just be looking at it.)

I'll bet you're glad for that hill, Rick!

Beautiful sights, Trond.  It's nice to see blue water and blue sky.  Yes, kinnikinick is very common here too, though maybe not so common in people's yards.

Hope you did not get all the forecasted snow, Cohan.  We've only gotten a couple of centimeters so far here.

Skulski wrote:

I'll bet you're glad for that hill, Rick!

My higher elevation really doesn't matter as I am 15 miles from the river: the last half of the Minnesota River (maybe 100 miles?), the river bottom is pretty much flanked by low bluffs, and that general elevation is then maintained throughout my area.  Many towns are situated in the river bottoms, however.

Good to know you are not right in the flood path, Rick, that would be awful....

Lori, we got something like 3-4 inches last night through early this afternoon (sat night/sunday) not bad considering they were talking about 15-30 cm for some areas, and we weren't clear if we'd be in that zone or not! Still merited an hour and half or more of 2 man intensive shovelling..

Happily, they have removed snow from Monday's forecast, though its still there for Tues and Wed--looks like another big system, this one should be farther south, mostly, looks like Calgary might be right in the middle of that one?
Looked at the mounds of snow beside the driveway today, chest high in places and a few metres wide....

Spring is springing a bit too quickly: our star magnolia is nearly in full bloom at the gardens (pix in my camera still)...but I have a enough pix from the last week to share: sunny and bright every day. The skies have forgotten how to rain! Oh well...at least we have lots of snowpack so we can water to our heart's content for a while...

Snowdrops and Helleborus niger going over, as are the earlier crocuses. Lots of daffodils are out as are the first tulips. I love this time of year! Fritillaria raddeana is a new one for me: what a beauty! Looks a lot like F. imperialis, only a month earlier, and a cool chartreuse. I am curious to see how it will fare with our inevitable cold snaps we shall get for the next few months eventually! I am not positive about Crocus versicolor: it may be C. veluchensis: can anyone weigh in? I've missed several of the spring colchicums already: they are a variable lot.  I finally found a spot Trillium nivale seems to like: now I need to get some more! Aaah Spring...from here on out it's a roller coaster.

Panayoti...Aahhh Spring indeed!  An awesome start to the season.  I'm fixated on your Fritillaria raddeana in its ethereal chartreusiness and brooding black tree-trunk-like stems :o :o :o :o  Nice going with Iris nicolai outside too!  As I'm writing this, had to dash outside to see if there's any sign of Trillium nivale in my garden, but the snow only just receded from the east-facing slope it is planted on, and no signs of life yet, the ground still frozen.

Aside from crocus and other early spring bulbs on the sunny and warm south side of my house, there isn't much else brewing significantly just yet... the ground needs to warm up a bit, a couple cold days with some snow causing some delay.  As the snow recedes, I inspect the extent of tunneling and mice/mole/vole/shrew damage to the yard and garden areas.  Activity is greatest in the fall, and I generously "fed" the tunnels last fall, but still see remnants of activity.  All has been tromped down and raked over; any new signs of activity will be dealt with.

Where snow has melted away from troughs, there are signs of growth, a couple Draba ready to pop blooms.  I am struck by the winter foliage color on Globularia repens 'nana', a plant I bought from Harvey Wrightman, with micro-tiny leaves that are about as black as any black-leaved plant that I know of.  It gives me an idea, a planting of this Globularia, with the blazing orange wide-spread goblets of Crocus gargaricus piercing the flat mats of Globularia goodness.  Is this the same as G. nana (a valid name), or is it truly a microform of G. repens?
http://www.wrightmanalpines.com/details.asp?PRODUCT_ID=G072
PS: the labels in my troughs are scheduled to disappear, after I document maps of each trough. :)

I spied a seedling of Sedum rupestre 'Angelina' that seeded into the pure gravel of my deck stair landing, looking mighty coral red. :o

Wow! That sedum is mighty red: wonder if you have an even redder form (if it came from seed): it might be worth growing alongside typical Angelina to see if it is a redder form...

Iam posting a link: I'm starting to do a short TV segment on a local TV program. You can at least see what I look like in it@

http://www.kwgn.com/lifestyle/green/

I must have taken over 100 pictures today at the Gardens and at my home. Tomorrow I visit Sandy Snyder and her fabulous grass garden.

McDonough wrote:

Panayoti... I'm fixated on your Fritillaria raddeana in its ethereal chartreusiness and brooding black tree-trunk-like stems

Reginald Farrer is alive and well and living in Massachusetts!!!  ;D    Beautifully descriptive phrase, Mark ... I didn't even need to look at the image!   :D

Panayoti ... your multifarious talents are wasted on such basic material  ... please convince the television company to reach out to a more educated and appreciative audience (i.e. the alpine fraternity).  :D

Don't worry, Cliff: I will be slipping lots of alpines into the mix!

Kelaidis wrote:

Don't worry, Cliff: I will be slipping lots of alpines into the mix!

alpine peas... astragalus and such ;D

Things are slowly but surely plumping up and showing hints of lively color.  In a trough, Penstemon breviculus leaves remain evergreen all winter, typically with a winter burnish of red, but the color seems more pronounced now.  Buds on a misnamed Draba (of the D. hispanica type) await a warmer day to pop their first blooms.  The Penstemon in flower can be seen here: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=300.0

Townsendia rothrockii buds are swelling with promise:

I've shown Crocus gargaricus with blooms wide open, but I do find the unopened golden dumplings visually amusing, popping straight out of the ground without leaves, anchored to the ground by whitish cataphyllls (basal bracts); not sure why but they conjure up an image of woman's lipstick and make me smile.

Mark, I think your spring is doing fine! Here it is almost standstill but that is quite normal.

Nothing but snow all week here, but here's a snippet from before the snow... hope to see some of the rock garden again sometime soon.  :rolleyes:

Dracocephalum palmatum, Androsace carnea and Aethionema glaucescens, as the glacier recedes...

I can't say that I miss the snow anymore!
The snowdrops have flowered for a while but when I came home today after finishing work the sun still shone and I could picture the flowers open!

In the woodland Rhododendron moupinense has opened it's flowers too.

I had six inches of wet snow a few days ago, and the Iris suaveolens is again covered.  But the sun is more intense now, and things are melting even though it hasn't gone above freezing.

Fargesia rufa popped out of the snow two weeks ago, and I am surprised how good it still looks.   Usually, as soon as it is exposed to the elements in late winter/early spring the foliage begins to dry.  I believe it is because the ground is already at or near the thaw point.  Most winters, our soils freeze at least 2-3ft deeper.

Thuja koraiensis (Korean Arborvitae) with last season's cones, and showing the white lower surface of its green foliage.

Thujopsis dolabrata var. hondai, the most cold hardy form, seems to be doing well here in zone 4a.  It is interesting to note that this one's foliage turns darker in winter, while Thuja koraiensis foliage turns slightly lighter.

A little rabbit damage on Lespedeza bicolor.  This is an area where the wind whips through, and blows a good portion of the snow away.  In the photo is a yardstick for comparison.  This is the first time anything has eaten the Lespedeza.  Usually the rabbits go after the shrubby willows (untouched this year!) and the Leitneria.  It took several years before that Lespedeza bicolor decided it wasn't going to be a herbaceous plant any more.  Mama is a 9ft.  shrubby tree in Chicago.

I have to say, Lori, that your Dracocephalum looks way better than mine ever does after the snow melts.  Bravo!  (and very cute)

Trond, Rhododendron moupinense is one of the few rhododendron species that can do well here.  My place is too dry for any rhododendrons, and I am a terrible waterer during the summer to boot.

This is what I see this week in Aberdeen, North East Scotland..... too lazy to take my own so I stole the pix from Ian's Bulb Log!

M

It's lovely to see such greenery and bloom, Maggi!  Among all the glorious sights in your photos, the size of the Eranthis is especially incredible!  (The poor little wretches only manage to get to about an inch and a half for me here.)

Rick, I'd love to see that Lespedeza again later on when it's in bloom.  It's curious that it can even take on tree form!  The Fargesia looks terrific.  So it's not usually so pristine-looking, come spring?  Sounds like it is usually mostly evergreen, if not completely, for you?

Lori, I guess the Eranthis are about six or so inches high now... they always get much taller as the flowers fade.....making a really nice green patch for a while... before the next batch of plants get going.

Maggi, your garden looks terrific!
Here the Eranthis are eaten before it reaches even a centimeter!

Rick, I had a Lespedeza but the summers are too cold so it never hardened off and froze each winter.

Thank you, Trond. We are fortunate not to have rabbits, voles or deer in the garden. Only some mice and a million slugs, snails and caterpillars . :-\

Maggi, you're hurting my eyes!  I'm not ready to see so much color yet!  (I can imagine the wonderful smells, though. Even just the smell of spring in the air would be welcome here.)

So you made me think harder, Lori, and that is not Lespedeza thunbergii in my previous post (oops!), it is L. bicolor.  I guess 16 years can catch up with me, as that was how long ago I collected the seed. ;D  And the parent shrubby tree was 9ft. I had it mixed up with another leguminous tree in the same area.  

So Lespedeza bicolor did died back to the ground for 4-5 years before it decided to survive the winter above the surface for me in zone 4.  Prior to that, I had grown them from seed for 3 years (the poor things), in pots woefully confining.  Most of them were donated to our Chapter plant sale. (I wonder whatever happened to them...)  But I kept a couple, and now just one since they take up a lot of room.  This is the only pic I could find of it in bloom.  The flowers aren't that photographic unless you get up close, but the plant has a very nice flowing-weepy look that I like.  The wood is not very strong, and I usually get a major branch or stem or two that breaks over the winter.  But the plant rebounds very quickly.  I collect seed from it every year if anyone wants some.

I did grow Lespedeza thunbergii 'Pink Fountains' for several years, until it got so big that it was taking up far more space than I had allotted for it.  This photo was take with a film camera, and the camera had an intermittent light leak, so it is what it is.  This pic was taken three years before the one above, and you can see the L. bicolor to the left and behind, and there is a Siberian white pine ([Pinus sibirica) to the right, that the Pink Fountains is smothering, that is somewhat evident in the prior photo also.  In its early years, Pink Fountain barely put on a show before the frost took it down for the winter.  But with each successive year, it bloomed a bit earlier in the season, and the bloom time was very satisfactory.

The Fargesia rufa is pristine as soon as the snow that covers it melts, but like many broadleaf evergreens that are fine to the east or south of me, the more intense spring sun, drier air, and colder frozen soil in my climate degrades their beauty.  While it wants to be evergreen, by the time new growth starts, it doesn't look good without some major, judicious pruning.

Both Lespedeza species look good, Rick. I remember the growth habit from my shrub before it succumbed.

And Rick, I would like some seed of Lespedeza bicolor please when possible :)
Should be proven hardy seemingly and I can try a plant at my summerhouse with warmer summers.

Today I am manning the NARGS table at a Plant Society Day at one of our better known commercial nurseries.  It's a great way to catch up with or meet other people with like minds in other plant societies, as well as spread the good word about rock gardening.  

Normally, even this early, I can dig out some overwintering  plants for display from my potted collection outside.  With the late winter conditions as they are, that's not going to happen this year.  All I have that’s accessible and alive is a few things I overwinter inside the house that include Delosperma bosserianum and Corydalis wilsonii.  So, along with a sample of an empty styrofoam trough and various books and literature, I have decided to attract some more attention to my table: with a pussywillow bouquet.  After all, many small willows are alpine, and the bouquet will be a great segue into the introduction of same for onlookers.

As as another excuse to show, Mark had asked about Salix chaenomeloides…

The arrangement has five different exotic species of willow.  All freshly cut today, so their development progression is documented, although in this first photo Salix chaenomeloides is a particularly young blooming sprig.  These are my estimates for this cold “spring” season's peak bloom times:

--- Salix chaenomeloides – now, although I have been cutting for enjoyment since early January.
--- Salix koriyangi ‘Rubikins’ – another week.
--- Salix gracilistylis var. melanostachys – in two weeks.
--- Salix cinerea ‘Variegata’ – in 3-4 weeks. (grown more for foliage.  The catkins aren't even as nice as our native pussywillow.)
--- Salix shraderiana – another 5-6 weeks.
             

And the bouquet.  The black pussywillow has a hard time here, as this is its northern limit for survival, and I only have a dry yard, and the shrub is progressively getting more shade as trees mature.  I never seem to get nice long filled sprigs of catkins that are so easy with other species.
               

Haven't looked under the snow yet for my very tiny pussywillow  but am sure it is time to cut a few sprigs to bring indoors.  What do I see on my garden walk?  Well, for about the fifth time this March, the snow is starting to recede and reveal a few things - mainly a lot of devastation by rabbits and the elements.  Daphnes, which were forced into a prostrate attitude by the heavy snow, are snapping back upright.  Calycanthus floridus is now mostly broken twigs and suckers and, over near the west side of my back yard, a fledgling Daphne has been severely nibbled.  However, I picked up a few sprigs of the Calycanthus and the small Daphne and am "forcing" them inside and, lo and behold, they seem to have developed flower buds.  Have also seen healthy Cyclamen hederafolia leaves, lots of Winter Aconite, and a few Snowdrops.  Exciting sitings after such a long and cold winter.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Howey wrote:

I picked up a few sprigs of the Calycanthus and the small Daphne and am "forcing" them inside and, lo and behold, they seem to have developed flower buds.   Fran

Wow, I never dreamed Calycanthus could be forced with those big, late spring flowers.  I think I'll go and cut some too, and we can compare notes down the road.  I am sure we are all interested in the results with your Daphne, too!

Spring must be really here.  One Hellebore is in bloom.  The flowers look sadly damaged in the morning by cold but by the afternoon they are beautiful.  Two days in a row of sun and blue sky.

Anne, beautiful Xmas roses! Mine are somewhat damaged this cold dry winter.

Rick, I like those twigs! I remember when I was a kid and learnt to make flutes of the Salix stems when they got mouse-ears!

RickR wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Right on spot! Pinus parviflora. The other pine there to the right is an American species, P contorta. Between them is a Thuja, maybe T plicata.
When you say true cedars, do you mean Cedrus? -I grow three species: C deodara, libanotica and atlantica. They are  nice trees. You can get a glimpse of C atlantica 'Glauca' in the top left corner of the 3rd picture, the other green stuff in the left is Sciadopitus verticillata.

The broadleaf evergreen tree is not a tree but Hedera hibernica climbing in a common birch.

Yes, I was alluding to the Cedrus atlantica (which has had a name change, I believe).  I did guess the Pinus contorta, but I never would have thought that tree (below) was a Sciadopitys.  I would have thought it would have much longer pseudo-needles in your climate.   Unless, is it growing in clay based soil?

The Hedera hiberica is impressive, at least to me.  We are very lucky to even get Hedera helix (or closely related) to even survive on the ground, let alone climb.

Rick, I almost forgot to show you the Sciadopitys needles as I promised ;)

Btw here's another interesting conifer, Cunninghamia lanceolata:

Thanks, Trond.  Very healthy Sciadopitys!

And I would have thought your winters would be too cold and wet for Cunninghamia.  Bravo!

RickR wrote:

Thanks, Trond.  Very healthy Sciadopitys!

And I would have thought your winters would be too cold and wet for Cunninghamia.  Bravo!

:D In fact do Cunninghamia tolerate stable cold winters better than shifting wet ones!

Here are some of the plants blooming in my yard right now.

Good stuff James! Plant names for the images added so that they are searchable - MMcD.
Chionodoxa forbesii
Corydallis solida
Erythronium japonicum
Fritillaria uva-vulpis
Jeffersonia dubia
Podophyllum delavayi
Anemone nemerosa
Omphalodes cappadocica ‘Starry Eyes’
Trillium "Volcano"

It's wonderful to see all those gorgeous spring flowers!  It gives me hope that this winter might end.  :rolleyes:
Well, part of the tufa garden melted out today, and what do I see among the weatherbeaten leaves on a Thlaspi kurdicum grown from seed last year... flower buds!!
 
Whoo-hoo!

Looking very good, Lori!
The snow is almost melted off my winter box of potted materials, and since the ground is relatively warm this spring, I will be uncovering it as soon as possible.  Can't wait to see if anything is happening under there.  Troughs are still under snow.

LOL, I was going to post the other day regarding silly plants that want to bloom when they are way too young.  I have an Anemone rivularis seedling inside with only two true leaves, and it was sending up what I thought were flower buds.  Come to find out that when the leaf is so tiny, each segment of the leaf is individually rolled up (and each looking like an individual bud)!  :-[

P.S. Our "Embarrassed" emoticon should be red in the face.

Lori, let us see that Thlaspi when it is in full glorious flower.  

Two days ago it was sunny and mild, reaching 54 F (12 C), and the Crocus smiled.  A couple photos from left to right:
Crocus species, C. sieberi (two forms), C. malyi (first flowers popped open), C. angustifolius - lost of seedlings blooming

A couple rock plants, Alyssum oxycarpum (left) - neat leaf arrangement, Aethionema saxatile (right) - still in winter color.

Today, 6" of wet snow, compressed to about 3". :(

Now that I have evened up the contest by planting both out on the southwest-facing slope, it seems a couple of Galanthus elwesii have beaten out the favourite, Bulbocodium vernum, for first bloom of the year.  

No sign yet of Bulbocodium.
Needless to say, neither is likely to stop traffic... though at least the Bulbocodium contrasts with the snow!

More flower buds... Saxifraga sancta var. macedonica:

Beautiful plants, James.  Glad to know it's spring somewhere.  Went out and photographed this draba starting to bloom, planted in the face of the cliff.  It will look miuch better but the forecast was for snow so I took the picture just in case.

Great Draba!!

James, you have a nice collection of plants in my taste! You are a couple weeks ahead of me though.

Lori, a good starter! You will soon catch up ;)

Anne, that Draba looks as it belongs there ;D As do this one from the wild in Turkey:

Mark, you as always have something flowering.

Spiegel wrote:

Beautiful plants, James.  Glad to know it's spring somewhere.  Went out and photographed this draba starting to bloom, planted in the face of the cliff.  It will look miuch better but the forecast was for snow so I took the picture just in case.

There you are Anne ... all that prodding and delving, grubbing and probing, scraping and writhing, yanking and tearing has proved totally worthwhile when you can post beauties like that growing in your very own cliff!!!    :D

Yesterday, after spending a few hours cutting off perennials, it was fun to have a closer look at the rock gardens to see the early signs of life...
Purple stem buds on Marmoritis (Phyllophyton) complanatum; Spiky, triangular leaves on Arenaria pestalozzae
 
I noticed a few tiny flower buds on Bolanthus/Gypsophila cherlerioides.  

Campanula topaliana, seraglio
 
Genista delphinensis, Vitaliana primuliflora

Buds emerging on Paeonia anomala:

And then today...  :P
 

:o How disheartening!! ??? Will it never stop. :-\
Sorry Lori. We are scheduled to get more snow tomorrow but not nearly so much.

Not unfamiliar but more so when I lived in Oslo ;)

Lori, that's what we were expecting when I went out and photographed the draba.  We got a couple of inches and then it turned to rain and washed it away.  So spring is still on the way.  Noticed some townsendia buds deep in the plant, very cheering.  Also Oxytropis multiceps has started to "silver up", a very welcome sight.  Nothing  stops this plant from blooming in April.  Also see the tips of the leaves of Iris 'Katherine Hodgkins' breaking through.  Joe has promised to photograph the garden every day while I'm in Nottingham.  Still am amazed to be leaving the garden at this time, a first.

Nice to see the flowers--still barely imaginable here--even Lori's beginnings are far beyond anything on my property--a few metres here and there of bare ground around spruce trees, but only native plants (not planted)  there, none of which are foolish enough to show any activity yet, no garden beds or pots at all exposed yet.. I think the first area to show may be a spot where I sunk a bunch of pots for winter in my infant veg patch in an old tiny corral--I got just a  bit of a glimpse of Taraxacum 'faroense' which was only planted (root piece) in late fall but seemed like it might be ok...
that's of course covered again now, and most planted areas still have a couple feet of snow on them before the new stuff fell--we got probably 10-15 cm (prob 10cm overnight, melting from late morning, but continued falling most of the day, maybe done now).. less than Lori, I heard Calgary had 20cm, and expecting another 25 overnight? hopefully not....

Anne, it  must be hard to drag yourself away from your garden when everything is starting up... though on the other hand, it will be a wonderful event to attend too.  Your draba does look like a snapshot from nature - just what all rock gardeners must aspire to!
Our snow here is a little hard to take but realistically, we'll have a lot more snows before it's over.   :P  You know what I'm saying, Cohan!
I love seeing those Townsendia buds - so early yet ready to go! 

Yes, Lori, this isn't at all late or unusually heavy for a spring snow here! What is a bit atypical is that usually we would have had some bare times in early december, and often starting in late feb, at least in march, but we still have solid snow cover almost everywhere, that has been in place since mid november! I'm looking forward to at least the sort of spring snow that you don't have to shovel as it will melt.. we shovelled today, and this stuff is heavy!  :P
I'm going to put a couple of pics in the weather thread...

Enough of this winter gloom.
Here are a few shots of spring to Cheer everone up. ;)

                        Ranunculus andersonii
                       

                        Ranunculus glaberrimus var. glaberrimus
                       

                        Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus
                       

                        Iris reticulata
                       

                        Hesperochiron californicus
                       

                        Fritillaria pudica
                       

                        Astragalus gilviflorus
                       

                        Astragalus purshii  var. lectulus
                       

                        Eriogonum douglasii var. meridionale (budding up)
                       

                        Physaria saximontana
                       

Well, you have certainly cheered one old guy up on this side of the pond John with your images of much sought after buttercups in full flower!

Didn't realize I had this many in bloom here are the rest. :)

                         Allium parvum
                         

                         Arabis flaviflora (seedling first season bloom)
                         

                         Draba ? (lost the name to this one)
                         

                         Dutch hybrid crocus (No matter how common these are, they still thrill me)
               
                         

                         Viola beckwithii
                         

John, you certainly are cheering me up - but when I see your neat planting in gravel I am getting jealous too ;) Here such gravel beds are covered in moss and grass in no time due to the humid climate. Grass even germinate and grow on moss covered stones and it looks more like a lawn.

Cliff, how many different Ranunculi(?) do you have?

Hoy wrote:

John, you certainly are cheering me up - but when I see your neat planting in gravel I am getting jealous too ;) Here such gravel beds are covered in moss and grass in no time due to the humid climate. Grass even germinate and grow on moss covered stones and it looks more like a lawn.

Cliff, how many different Ranunculi(?) do you have?

Hi Trond,
I don't have an extensive collection, I concentrate on high mountain buttercups and try to grow large flowering plants of the ones that seem more difficult in cultivation.  I am particularly interested in the New Zealand, North & South American and high European species having limited success with some and great frustration with others. 
My growing conditions sound very similar to yours with moss and liverworts encroaching into every pot, trough and raised bed.

Thanks for the pictures, John.  It definitely must have lifted the gloom for those of us either waiting for spring or trying to fool the antlered rats into thinking garden plants are not edible (barbed wire, chicken wire, netting, etc.).  Loved the astragalus pictures, especially that beauty, Astragalus gilviflorus, very difficult for me to keep here in the northeast - seems to be extremely sensitive to winter wet.  The flowers are so large in proportion to the plant.

Booker wrote:

Hoy wrote:

John, you certainly are cheering me up - but when I see your neat planting in gravel I am getting jealous too ;) Here such gravel beds are covered in moss and grass in no time due to the humid climate. Grass even germinate and grow on moss covered stones and it looks more like a lawn.

Cliff, how many different Ranunculi(?) do you have?

Hi Trond,
I don't have an extensive collection, I concentrate on high mountain buttercups and try to grow large flowering plants of the ones that seem more difficult in cultivation.  I am particularly interested in the New Zealand, North & South American and high European species having limited success with some and great frustration with others. 
My growing conditions sound very similar to yours with moss and liverworts encroaching into every pot, trough and raised bed.

Cliff, your plant taste seems to be a real challenge!

Today I planted out a dozen of Fuchsia magellanica seedlings and some other woodlanders :)

I also found a lot of Corydalis starting blooming

- and Rhododendron sutchuense is soon ready:

Weiser wrote:

Enough of this winter gloom.
Here are a few shots of spring to Cheer everone up.

Great stuff John!  Fun to see photos of the two forms of Ranunculus glaberrimus virtually side-by-side, I had not seed var. ellipticus before.  The bright bud color on the Eriogonum buds, and promising yellow buds on Physaria saximontana are cheerful indeed.

But it is Allium parvum that I am so happy to see here, one that I've had seed of a number of times but not yet raised to flowering size.  These near stemless Western American Allium can be as concise and desirable as many of the Central Asian species.  

Superb Viola trinervata!  I see buds on my Fritillaria pudica, and lots of 1-3 year seedlings from sowing in-place seed.

Thank you everyone I aim to please.

Quote:

Superb Viola trinervata! 

Mark you got the flower color right but on the wrong species.  ;) :D

Weiser wrote:

Thank you everyone I aim to please.

Quote:

Superb Viola trinervata! 

Mark you got the flower color right but on the wrong species.  ;) :D

Dang, double dang, I'm being careless, it is V. beckwithii.  When I think of "sagebrush violets" both come to mind :P

Hoy wrote:

Booker wrote:

Hoy wrote:

John, you certainly are cheering me up - but when I see your neat planting in gravel I am getting jealous too ;) Here such gravel beds are covered in moss and grass in no time due to the humid climate. Grass even germinate and grow on moss covered stones and it looks more like a lawn.

Cliff, how many different Ranunculi(?) do you have?

Hi Trond,
I don't have an extensive collection, I concentrate on high mountain buttercups and try to grow large flowering plants of the ones that seem more difficult in cultivation.  I am particularly interested in the New Zealand, North & South American and high European species having limited success with some and great frustration with others.  
My growing conditions sound very similar to yours with moss and liverworts encroaching into every pot, trough and raised bed.

Cliff, your plant taste seems to be a real challenge!

But worth it when the occasional success occurs!  LOL

Ranunculus seguieri - winner of my two Farrer Medals in 2001 and 2003.
Please note : This image was taken two or three days after one of the shows and the stems had elongated due to exposure to the heat and poor light in the show venue.  The plant looked a lot better on the day!  :D

Cliff, I had been very satisfied if I had managed to grow anything like that - long stems or not :o

Even when you say it is not in ideal shape , there is no need to apologize for such a lovely plant.
It is a beauty! :D

Stunning plant, Cliff.  Hope you see it blooming in the Dolomites this year

Wish WE could grow those high alpine, tiny white ranunculus....too hot in Denver! But we do grow some other goodies. Just as everywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere, things are coming hard and fast. I am appending a few things that are blooming right now I just photographed, mostly from the front of the alphabet...don'tcha love the Spring! You can probably deduce I'm in my Fritillaria phase...

Kelaidis, I am not sure that I pity your lack of possibility to grow high alpine Ranunculus species! You grow numerous other enviable goodies ;D

Terrific plants, Trond and Cliff and Panayoti!
The (pathetic) state of things here, by comparison... it's not spectacular (or even in focus  ;D) but it's in bloom!
Alyssum wulfenianum:

And yet, Lori-- far ahead of me :) See-- there is a good reason for me to be on this forum-no matter how cold or inactive anyone's garden may be, it will always be colder and more desolate here (until we get some members from someplace with an even shorter season-ha!.....)

I don't feel sorry for those of you with shorter growing seasons: this summer when we are baking and our rock gardens are parboiled and dreary, your's will be brimming with color! We have to revel in our incredible springs and falls (which are often punctuated by disastrous hailstorms, severe frosts or snowstorms--this year is uncannily wonderful). In fact this is the FOURTH miraculously wonderful spring in a row. I am thinking I might want to move elsewhere: Colorado Front Range does not usually have these interminable, sunny, cool springs where things bloom forever and ever. There are still hellebores and even crocuses and snowdrops blooming in the cooler corners where the snow lingered, but the full panoply of spring glory is rampaging in sunnier spots and lasting forever: I am posting a smattering of other recent highlights below, but those of you who are suckers for punishment can slog through a gallery of almost 100 pictures I posted on Fotki:

                                                                      http://public.fotki.com/Panayoti/denver-march-2010/

cohan wrote:

no matter how cold or inactive anyone's garden may be, it will always be colder and more desolate here (until we get some members from someplace with an even shorter season-ha!.....)

Yeah, you said it!!  Between our gardens and the late bloom in the mountains, it must look like perpetual spring here!  ;D

Before I immerse myself in Panayoti's album (drool!), here are few things that were popping up yesterday:
Corydalis nobilis, Paeonia mlokosewitschii.... a couple of crocus and a few puschkinia showing buds...

Kelaidis wrote:

, but those of you who are suckers for punishment can slog through a gallery of almost 100 pictures I posted on Fotki:

PK
I didn't slog through that gallery of fine plants at all. I skipped through, lingering here, and there to admire. All the while longing for the day I can boast of growing such jewels.
Your garden, as always is impressive.

Very true, Panayotis--no midsummer lull here--mid-summer is the whole season  ;D My sempervivum, for example, have good colour all year--or rather the half of it they are not covered with snow ;) Our snowcover is about to reach the 5 month point--longer than usual without interruption, since it stayed from mid-Nov, usually it comes and goes into December...
Now I have to go out and gather some firewood--after some nice 'warm' days up to and above 10C/50F, we are back to just barely above freezing, with snow in 4 of the next 7 days forecast.. so far we are predicted less than either south or north, we'll see if that holds-- I think Lori's area already has snowfall warnings?

Some small parts of my future rock garden (pots sunk for winter in mounds of soil from digging) are out of the snow now... for now...

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Saxifraga juniperifolia (I believe??)  I suddenly discovered thisone that I had completely forgotten growing on a concrete slab.

Hoy
Love the Scilla. What a lovely colony! :)

Hoy wrote:

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Saxifraga juniperifolia (I believe??)  I suddenly discovered this one that I had completely forgotten growing on a concrete slab.

Nice patch of Scilla! the Sax planted itself on concret? or you put it there?

Hoy wrote:

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?

Trond, those are flower rosettes forming on the ends of the stems of an adult plant - they are evergreen; it's a relatively short-lived, self-seeding perennial, and not particularly small (at least not in regular soil) - the plants get to about a foot across and about 6" high.  It is notable here for how early and late it blooms and for repeat bloom through the season.  
Here are some better photos of Alyssum wulfenianum:
   

Nice Scilla!

Hoy wrote:

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Very pretty, love the ice blue color, but I'm wondering if this really isn't Scilla rosenii; maybe a different Scilla species or Puschkinia scilloides (...or var. libanotica).

Scilla rosenii
http://www.augisbulbs.com/catalog.php?c=64  (scroll down)
http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/260406/log.html  (scroll down)
http://homepage3.nifty.com/alm/gallery_lili6.htm
http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/download_lo_res.html?id=670084620

Assuming this really is what the seed was claimed to be, Limonium perplexum is remarkable hardy for a coastal Mediterranean species.  (It is also apparently critically endangered in its very limited native range in Spain.)
Here it is after coming through the winter and a spring snowstorm... (it's nothing to write home about, particularly... just surprisingly hardy.  ;))   

It was ready to bloom in fall last year, in its first year from seed, but frost killed the flowers before they could open - a typical-looking Limonium flower spike.

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://bdb.cma.gva.es...
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2072327730047134247GLrfmj

McDonough wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Very pretty, love the ice blue color, but I'm wondering if this really isn't Scilla rosenii; maybe a different Scilla species or Puschkinia scilloides (...or var. libanotica).

Very pretty, whatever they are!!  A close-up photo directly into a flower may help to firm up the ID... from what I can make out on the flower detail photo, I don't think I see the fused ring of stamens that (I think) distinguishes Puschkinia and Chionodoxa from Scilla... is that (still) a valid distinction?  I know the taxonomists have been messing around with these genera.

Puschkinia libanotica, below - note fused stamen ring:

That's a photo from a week ago last year... which was also a late spring, but this year is really late!

These were under snow just two days ago! The past couple of days the snow melted away very fast and now some roads are flooded.

I love retic Irises in general , and that's a lovely colour,Amy; I'll need to watch for some :)
I'm jealous of the coum, since I don't think its possible here...

Weiser wrote:

Hoy
Love the Scilla. What a lovely colony! :)

Thanks John. It has increased well the last two years but not by seeding.

cohan wrote:

Nice patch of Scilla! the Sax planted itself on concrete? or you put it there?

Cohan,
I planted the Sax nearby in a hollow concrete slab - it is a bigger plant a foot away but without flowers! It has somehow spread to the rim of the slab.

Skulski wrote:

McDonough wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Here are two plants I pictured today when I did some tidying up!

Scilla rosenii. This year they are contemporary with S bifolia and siberica.

Very pretty, love the ice blue color, but I'm wondering if this really isn't Scilla rosenii; maybe a different Scilla species or Puschkinia scilloides (...or var. libanotica).

Very pretty, whatever they are!!  A close-up photo directly into a flower may help to firm up the ID... from what I can make out on the flower detail photo, I don't think I see the fused ring of stamens that (I think) distinguishes Puschkinia and Chionodoxa from Scilla... is that (still) a valid distinction?  I know the taxonomists have been messing around with these genera.

I do believe I planted these as S rosenii but I won't swear. I have Puschkinia and Chionodoxa too and those are different as Lori's pictures show.
Here is a close-up:

Skulski wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Lori, I like your little Alyssum wulfenianum but I assume it will grow bigger?

Trond, those are flower rosettes forming on the ends of the stems of an adult plant - they are evergreen; it's a relatively short-lived, self-seeding perennial, and not particularly small (at least not in regular soil) - the plants get to about a foot across and about 6" high.  It is notable here for how early and late it blooms and for repeat bloom through the season.  

Thanks, Lori. I didn't know this Alyssum species. Your first picture showed something I thought would be 5cm!

Alyssum wulfenianum, is known as the easiest true alyssum to grow here. 

But that sure doesn't take away from its beauty!

AmyO wrote:

These were under snow just two days ago!

Very pretty, Amy!  Ahhh, that's what we wait all winter for!!

A few shots from 3 days ago, before the fresh snow turned everything white again, showing the extent of our melt, so far..
The bare areas are either along paths which we shovelled all winter, or along spruce trees which keep the snow more shallow.. next to some of these bare spots, the snow was still knee deep, with another 15-20cm now on top....
The 'rock garden' views show the area where I have excavated my old overgrown rock garden from my teenage years which was untended most of the 25+ years I was away, soil was mounded and pots sunk for the winter, rocks piled around awaiting more work this year...

Any plants surviving the 25 years you didn't tend them, Cohan?

Some plants which caught my eyes in the garden during the last week:

Haberlea rhodopensis 'Virginalis'
Taraxacum pseudoroseum
Viola cucullaria 'Red Giant'

Hoy wrote:

Any plants surviving the 25 years you didn't tend them, Cohan?

not much--the whole thing became part of the natural environment here with native plants and shrubs...lol, plus some Irises and daylilies from a neighbouring bed spread over a large area...
One willow- a mid sized, about metre, metre and a half tall.. just a couple of stems; a Zigadenus elegans, which was not flowering over the years (that my mother noticed, anyway), but has since I have weeded around it; a couple of tiny plants of what I think are a Heuchera sp from B.C., and a couple of things from presumably dormant seed popped up in a cleared area-- a pale flowered Potentilla (also from B.C.--arguta?) and Androsace septentrionale... no traces of semps, opuntias etc...lol

Wim, I didn't realize Taraxacum pseudoroseum was so "bicolored". A very nice feature.  I have Taraxacum pamiricum seed that I will be sowing shortly, but now I'd rather have pseudoroseum.

WimB wrote:

Some plants which caught my eyes in the garden during the last week:
Haberlea rhodopensis 'Virginalis'
Taraxacum pseudoroseum
Viola cucullaria 'Red Giant'

Beauties, Wim!  

RickR wrote:

Wim, I didn't realize Taraxacum pseudoroseum was so "bicolored". A very nice feature.  I have Taraxacum pamiricum seed that I will be sowing shortly, but now I'd rather have pseudoroseum.

Rick, I grew T. pseudoroseum from seed last year and the plants bloomed by the end of June, but I never got to see the darn things fully open!   :(  From my photos of half-closed flowers, it looks like they are bicolored... I hope they will be as showy as Wim's this year!  
T. pamiricum looks nice, and with that foliage, you won't have to defend it from any visiting gardeners who might forget themselves and start weeding:
http://www.google.ca/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=Taraxacum%20pamiricum...
(Hmmm, this sudden - at least on my part -reverence for dandelions is a bit odd and ironic!  ;))

I also wanted to comment on your pretty weeds, Wim  ;D

Lori, I doubt anyone's appreciation of dandelions could be odder than mine-- every photo of yard and garden I edit has at least one dandelion leaf showing, and much of the time photos taken in the bush show them as well.... I wouldn't even consider eliminating T officinale as being possible!

I also sowed T pseudoroseum last year, from Wim's seed!, but later in the summer. Nice little plants by summer's end, hope they made it through the winter.. also sowed sowed albidum with no results :( think I have a few seeds left...
Rick, pamiricum is one I remember coming across pics of--white flowers and entire leaves, I believe? haven't looked at Lori's link yet--the entire leaves and non-yellow flowers are the best features for making them non-weedy looking!

As self-declared Taraxaphile and member of the secret Defenders of the Dandelion sect, I'd just like to point you to a thread I started over at SRGC last year with various pictures of my Taraxaca (saves me reposting :)):
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5916.0

My pamiricum doesn't do much and has produced one flower for the last 3 years...

While were busy talking weeds; here's a picture of Taraxacum albidum.

Love this one!
Speaking of T pamiricum, I think I remember it being from a warmer place? Will be interesting to see how it does for Rick...

WimB wrote:

While were busy talking weeds; here's a picture of Taraxacum albidum.

Nice, Wim! Hoping mine will flower for the first time this year!

I tell visitors to my garden to watch out for the roadside verges gradually changing colour from yellow to a mix of yellows, whites and pinks in 10 years from now  :) Nice with a bit of diversity...

Stephenb wrote:

WimB wrote:

While were busy talking weeds; here's a picture of Taraxacum albidum.

Nice, Wim! Hoping mine will flower for the first time this year!

I tell visitors to my garden to watch out for the roadside verges gradually changing colour from yellow to a mix of yellows, whites and pinks in 10 years from now  :) Nice with a bit of diversity...

That's what I think would be nice, too! I wonder though, if the new weeds would just squeeze out more natives and not the existing weeds...lol

I had Taraxacum pseudoroseum for two years but it flowered itself to death last year - would never stop producing flowers and died :(

Btw, here is what I saw today on my "garden walk". We had a heavy job finding snow patches with rotten snow  to get a 12km skiing! Even the highest point in this area (1250m/4100ft) is almost bereft of snow.

Spring is galloping away in Colorado: lots in bloom!

Anemone blanda
Daphne x hendersonii 'Aymon Correvon' etc.
Ebracteola wilmanniae
Iris attica
Iris humilis
Iris scariosa
Lesquerella ex Penrose
Narcissus scaberulus
Pediocactus simpsonii ex Irish Canyon

And MORE!

Phlox albomarginata
Quince
Ribes x gordonianum
Scilla hohenakeri
Thlaspi lilacina
Tulipa linifolia
Tulipa sp. chrysantha dwf.
Veronica bombycina v. bolgardaghensis
Veronica pseudocinerea

Hoy wrote:

Btw, here is what I saw today on my "garden walk". We had a heavy job finding snow patches with rotten snow  to get a 12km skiing! Even the highest point in this area (1250m/4100ft) is almost bereft of snow.

I am so sad that you are lacking snow.....lol--if I could send some I would!

Great stuff Panayotis! ( a name shared by a nephew!)
Love the A blanda and P simpsonii especially..

You both certainly have interesting plants, Wim and Panayotis!

I see color is everywhere there, Panayoti!  I especially like ... them all!

I wonder if what I have been growing as Iris humilis is indeed that.  I grew it from seed from the NARGS seed ex.  Listed as Iris humilis ex Siberia, the donor was a Stephen Bertrand, Ionia, IA.

Here it is:

PK
Very nice!! Keep them coming. :)

Can't help you with the iris, Rick! But it is worth growing!

Not much flowering here in the mountains yet except mogop (Pulsatilla vernalis) but here are some: (takes time to upload the pics)

Thlaspi alpestre

Salix lanata

Primula scandinavica - not yet in flower

And one for Lori - do you recognise it? -can I expect flower this summer?

the Thlaspi looks cute-- I googled it, too-- I like this one!
I guess 'Lori's' is  Oxytropis splendens? looking nice :)

Yes, Lori's seed!

Here's the flowers of Thlaspi alpestre. Not very showy but welcome in early spring.

John asked for them: here are the latest slug of pix, mostly from Denver Botanic Gardens, which is looking pretty spiffy right now if I don't say so! I think most are self explanatory (pix are labeled). Gentle rain last night, cool sunny days: I can barely stand it! The fruit trees have been blooming for weeks and weeks (even the cherries): the fourth perfect spring in a row. I shall have to move away for sure soon. The Phlox in the trough below is Phlox condensata, our high alpine with heavenly scented bloom that usually does not bloom until late June on the hills (two months later!): great to get a preview of the alpine spring...

I did a short essay on Iris bucharica you might enjoy on my blog: http://prairiebreak.blogspot.com/2011/04/iris-bucharica-treasure-from-bokhara.html

The plicata iris is Iris lactea form Mongolia with Phlox bifida 'Betty Blake'

Hoy wrote:

Yes, Lori's seed!

Here's the flowers of Thlaspi alpestre. Not very showy but welcome in early spring.

I think its cute, especially with purple leaves, which I guess is just in spring while its cool? Growing Thlaspis has for me a similar feeling of naughtiness to growing Taraxacums--a common garden and field weed here is Thlaspi arvensis from Europe...

cohan wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Yes, Lori's seed!

Here's the flowers of Thlaspi alpestre. Not very showy but welcome in early spring.

I think its cute, especially with purple leaves, which I guess is just in spring while its cool? Growing Thlaspis has for me a similar feeling of naughtiness to growing Taraxacums--a common garden and field weed here is Thlaspi arvensis from Europe...

The purple leaves are due to the bright sunshine and leaves not accustomed to it after months covered in snow - and cold nights.

I know Thlaspi arvense! When my uncle and I had our vegetable plot (many years ago) this was one of the weeds ;)

Many plants here, esp in spring, have some red or purple in the new leaves; somewhere long ago I read something about these pigments helping to draw heat, but I don't remember any details... Of course many plants in other circumstances produce red pigments in response to all sorts of stress..

Kelaidis wrote:

John asked for them: here are the latest slug of pix, mostly from Denver Botanic Gardens, which is looking pretty spiffy right now if I don't say so!

Pk
I'll be sure and ask more often if the results of my quires are always so pleasant!
Thank you for such a prompt responce! ;)
[size=14pt]Very Nice

Thlaspi arvensis is an annual weed here in America, too. 

the seed heads are nice for dried floral arrangements, though.

The first day with temperatures above 15C and spring is here:
1) Hepatica nobilis grows wild in my garden and is actually a weed in one of my beds!! However, it has declined in other parts of the garden (possibly due to a dramatic decrease in a species of ant)
2) Petasites palmatus (thanks to Cohan)
3) Tussilago - often taken for granted, but it has its beauty...
4) Crocus sieberi "Firefly"
5) Thlaspi alpestre - a weed that's not discouraged in one of my beds!

Stephen: I wish Hepatica were weeds for us! We grow quite a few (mostly pale lavender and pink or white): nothing gorgeous like yours! And I had no idea Petasites were so showy! We have P. japonicus at the Gardens which is not very showy, and P. frigidus in our mountains, which I believe is more green flowered. Love it!

Here are the latest--mostly from Denver Botanic Gardens which is having a banner year (very cool days and very light frost if any at night for many weeks, so plants are blooming forever! Just like Europe...) Usually we alternate arctic blasts with tropical heat and everything is seared and goes over right away. One could get spoiled.

I've been posting all these for John Weiser, who started this thread: I demand pix from him!

Clematis fremontii
Anemone ranunculoides
Caltha palustris
Erigeron pinnatisectus
Erodium absinthoides
Fritillaria pallidiflora
Phlox grayi
Primula auricula
Sanguinaria canadensis 'Multiplex'
Vitaliana primuliflora

At long last color in the gardens here! It does my heart good.

Stephenb wrote:

The first day with temperatures above 15C and spring is here:
1) Hepatica nobilis grows wild in my garden and is actually a weed in one of my beds!! However, it has declined in other parts of the garden (possibly due to a dramatic decrease in a species of ant)
2) Petasites palmatus (thanks to Cohan)
3) Tussilago - often taken for granted, but it has its beauty...
4) Crocus sieberi "Firefly"
5) Thlaspi alpestre - a weed that's not discouraged in one of my beds!

Great stuff, Stephen! That Hepatica colour is wonderful! Glad the Petasites is flowering for you, they should be coming along in a few weeks here!
I like the Thlaspi too, as when Trond showed it..

AmyO wrote:

At long last color in the gardens here! It does my heart good.

Congrats on all the colour, Amy! Is that Hepatica form native in your area? love them :)

Many desirable plants here!

PK, even if you wish for "weedy" Hepaticas, you seem to have more plants to care for than any ;)

Amy, I like the yellow Hellebore! Have tried to sow yellows and the first one flower now but the color doesn't match yours!

Back home!
The birches, rowans and other trees, and a lot of shrubs have leafed out while we were on Easter Vaccation. Actually it was all green along the road when we came down from the mountains.

Here is one that immediately caught my eyes when we came  home yesterday evening, Glaucidium palmatum.

Nice one to come home to :)

After a long wait, there are finally some crocus in bloom here!