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Author Topic: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....  (Read 309578 times)

hamparstum

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1305 on: July 19, 2018, 02:45:29 PM »
Hello astragalus, I'm delighted with some of your successes: Astragalus lutosus and Lewisia "Little Mango". This is my first trial with Lewisias. I've got about 15 of them in their pots inside my cool greenhouse. They get only bottom watering all winter inside. However I do hope to place them out at one point. I can't tell from your picture if yours are growing flat or on an incline. Is Little Mango a L.cotyledon cultivar more adapted to garden conditions?. A single specimen of Astragalus kentrophyta is slowly growing, again with only bottom watering ,inside. Although I greatly appreciate those that grow specimens and keep their plants inside all their life, I'm interested to find ways how to cultivate these in the open. Thus your successes are so valuable in my quest. My seeds are from Alplains. Thank you. Arturo
Arturo Tarak

astragalus

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1306 on: July 19, 2018, 08:33:14 PM »
Many of my seeds were also from Alplains.  Lewisia 'Little Mango' is in a trough and on a slight incline  Many (most) of the astragali grown here are planted on sloped, very deep screes. The slope is to provide extra fast drainage and the mix itself is very open and drains very fast.  I take our natural clay and roll it into marble-sized balls, which are placed in the scree below the seedlings I plant.  The mix is so lean and drains so fast that these clay marbles are meant to supply mini reservoirs of moisture for the roots. Usually the marbles will be reached the year after planting if all goes well and the plant hasn't already died.
Steep, rocky and cold in the
Hudson River Valley in New York State

astragalus

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1307 on: July 19, 2018, 08:46:16 PM »
Another nice one this Spring was Thlaspi bellidifolium.
A short time later Synthyris missurica (crossed with another synthyris, can't recall which one) came into bloom. I look forward to this one every Spring for its early bloom and deep blue.
Steep, rocky and cold in the
Hudson River Valley in New York State

kris

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1308 on: July 19, 2018, 09:46:22 PM »
Beautiful Synthyris missurica Ann. I love the Astragalus lutosus. I have three groups of this plant .
This particular Astragalus  in picture #1 shown here is reblooming again. The first set of flowers produced two huge pods. Unfortunately  I did not take any pictures at that time.
Saskatoon,Canada
-35C to +30C

astragalus

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1309 on: July 19, 2018, 10:40:09 PM »
Very nice Astragalus lutosus, Kris. I was so surprised when it made seed pods this year.  Were you able to collect ripe seed?  A. lutosus has the longest bloom period of any astragalus I've ever grown.
Steep, rocky and cold in the
Hudson River Valley in New York State

Rick R.

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1310 on: July 20, 2018, 02:17:00 AM »
Your stuff is just wonderous, Ann!  All these posts that you and others display are always much appreciated.

I take our natural clay and roll it into marble-sized balls, which are placed in the scree below the seedlings I plant.

Have you ever dug a year or more later, to see what has happened to the "marbles"?  In your very free draining scree, are they still intact, or have they "dissolved" into the surrounding scree?

I don't recall you posting Astragalus barbatus.  (I could be wrong.)  Do you grow it?
Rick Rodich
just west of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
USDA zone 4, annual precipitation ~24in/61cm

astragalus

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1311 on: July 20, 2018, 01:59:24 PM »
Rick, I don't know Astragalus barbatus and have never grown it. Do you have a picture? Do you grow it?  The only time I would dig in the screes would be to remove or replace a dead plant.  The scree mix is so lean that if you dumped a bucket of water all at once there would be no puddle, even monentarily. The marbles are made from sub soil and it's a very sticky clay. It's quite possible they are still intact, I don't know.  It's also possible that they don't perform the function I had hoped, it was just an idea that seemed reasonable to try. Plants do very well in the screes during our extended summer droughts but maybe they would have anyway.
Steep, rocky and cold in the
Hudson River Valley in New York State

kris

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1312 on: July 20, 2018, 03:41:07 PM »
Very nice Astragalus lutosus, Kris. I was so surprised when it made seed pods this year.  Were you able to collect ripe seed?  A. lutosus has the longest bloom period of any astragalus I've ever grown.
The plant produced two huge pods. One day I noticed one pod missing and immediately harvested the second one. I got 20 seeds from that.
Saskatoon,Canada
-35C to +30C

Rick R.

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1313 on: July 20, 2018, 10:34:59 PM »
Rick, I don't know Astragalus barbatus and have never grown it. Do you have a picture?

Bjønar Olsen has a nice pic on his old site (trillium.no), but I don't see it now on his chinesealpines.com.  It's a small one, like yours and Kris's wonderful A. lutosus, with purple flowers.  I bought seed from him, but didn't get it planted this year, so it will have to be next season.
Rick Rodich
just west of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
USDA zone 4, annual precipitation ~24in/61cm

kris

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1314 on: July 22, 2018, 08:04:21 PM »
I love blue colours and Penstemon aridus  is a nice blue one.
Saskatoon,Canada
-35C to +30C

astragalus

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1315 on: August 03, 2018, 11:59:23 AM »
Kris, if you love the blue penstemons, try Penstemon uintahensis. It's quite wonderful. Have great pictures but unable to post them, sorry.
Steep, rocky and cold in the
Hudson River Valley in New York State

Maggi Young

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1316 on: September 28, 2018, 09:11:31 PM »
John Richards has visited  Jiří Papoušek​'s wonderful garden  near Prague and reported in his  diary... ..

http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Northumberland/+September+/920/


John's picture  of the new  crevice  garden in the front garden of Jiri's house -a work in progress 
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

Editor: International Rock Gardener e-magazine

kris

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1317 on: September 28, 2018, 09:50:36 PM »
Kris, if you love the blue penstemons, try Penstemon uintahensis. It's quite wonderful. Have great pictures but unable to post them, sorry.
Sorry Anne I saw your post only today. I have Penstemon unithahensis and I love it . Penstemon nitidus is also heavenly blue.
Saskatoon,Canada
-35C to +30C

Maggi Young

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1318 on: March 24, 2019, 02:42:27 PM »
Kenton Seth is in Port Townsend, Washington..... he posted this ...

"Been a blast making one of the first big crevice gardens in WA for the amazing Far Reaches Farm
() www.farreachesfarm.com @far_reaches_botanical_conserve in Port Townsend this week. 

The whole story is blogged at
https://kentonjseth.blogspot.com/?fbclid=IwAR3bsgOcgZmJ1ygxPHtgp8AsFmA7u9jfdfjfHB4VevDqYzfr0anpAQOuCsE
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

Editor: International Rock Gardener e-magazine

Maggi Young

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Re: Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....
« Reply #1319 on: June 17, 2020, 01:19:30 PM »
Unfortunately, as a  result  of  coronavirus pandemic, visits  to Scotland this year  for  SRGC events by  Paul Spriggs, Kenton Seth' Jacob Mares and Nick Courtens  have had to be  cancelled - however, we  can still get  a flavour  of  what they're  up to !
 Here  is  what Panayoti Kelaidis says about  Kenton Seth's recent blog about  his  work at the  Betty  Ford  Alpine  Garden in Vail, Colorado....
"The redoubtable, indomitable and just plain wonderful Kenton Seth is at it again: don't just click on this link to his blog post, be sure to watch the video at the end. This new crevice garden he built with Nick Courtens and Domenique Turnbull has got to be a masterpiece of the genre."

Link to the  blog : 

https://kentonjseth.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-new-crevice-garden-in-vail.html?fbclid=IwAR20p_T-AfiKQB5uUW_zFEXWBjNqXTzGZG4efMIL7an2bbi6M39cZJdWJSw
« Last Edit: April 11, 2022, 06:04:43 PM by Maggi Young »
Margaret Young in Aberdeen, North East Scotland Zone 7 -ish!

Editor: International Rock Gardener e-magazine

 


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