Troughs

[mark smyth]

This trough is being taken over by a single plant, Oxytropis shokanbetsuensis. 

Thats a lovely plant I havent seen before. Could I beg some seeds?

[astragalus]

Happy to oblige, Mark.  I need an address.  There is usually plenty of seed and obviously I never manage to get it all, witness what's happening to the trough !!!

[astragalus]

Blooming in a  trough right now, Edraianthus pumilio.  I've started putting this in the crevice garden and the plants are doing fine.

[olegKon]

Aquilegia scopulorum is in its best now

[Maggi Young]

Such an elegant flower, Oleg... and doing very well in your trough.

[Jiri Papousek]

I always thought how to get troughs higher , closer to our eyes, to make easier to observe tiny plants and without bending down. Also I was looking for solution how to get shaded north oriented crevices in my hot sunny garden. At first I have created supporting wall, anchored enough to hold heavy troughs. After that I have created 2 other side walls from flat stones. Finally I have created crevices. Maybe good to mention, that all troughs were broken in two pieces or without one front side. It helps me to reduce weight and costs as well.

[mark smyth]

Brilliant Jiri! I hope we can see this new garden in 2013?

[David Nicholson]

What a lovely job.

[angie]

Wow that's brilliant, what a display.

Angie

[Lesley Cox]

For me, getting a trough a bit higher and nearer to the eye, is usually a struggle to lift the darned thing up onto a concrete building block. Then I see a man with heavy machinery and I wonder is my life really worth while after all.

[Philippe]

Absolutely amazing Jiri! 
For me the perfect combination of nature-look and man-touch

[astragalus]

Love the troughs, Jiri.
Lesley, a correction - the silver oxytropis you asked about is not O. lagopus but O. oreophila, sorry.
Blooming in a couple of troughs today, too hot and muggy to garden and the photo session was short for the same reason:
Two troughs
Hymenoxys acaulis

[mark smyth]

wow that Hymenoxys is stunning. How hardy is it

[astragalus]

It has lived here for some years with temperatures to -25F and unreliable snow cover.  I think it's tough as nails.  It grows above tree line in the Rockies.

[Maggi Young]

Mark,  take a look at International Rock Gardener 11 http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2010Nov261290804873IRG11_November2010.pdf  to see where the Hymenoxys lives and some of it's neighbours .