Alberta Wanderings 09

[Lori S.]

Helen, I sent seeds of G. viscosissimum to the exchange, so you may be able to get some then if you want.  (Unfortunately, I didn't keep any aside or I would send them.)  It's a very nice garden plant. 
My G. richardsonii have not yet been very impressive (would prefer more woodland-ish conditions, maybe), but there is certainly the potential... Yeo's book has a photo of it, so that speaks well of it.
We also have G. erianthum and G. carolinianum, both native.

If "bluets" are Houstonia(??), then they aren't native to the prairies or mountains here. 

Sisyrinchium montanum is one of those plants that really takes to "captivity"... the ones in my yard are vastly better (very bushy, full plants; hundreds of flowers) than any I've seen in nature.  I agree with Cohan - a delightful plant!  Our native white one, S. septentrionale, is a pretty spindly little thing in the garden, as well as in the wild. 

[cohan]

Helen, I sent seeds of G. viscosissimum to the exchange, so you may be able to get some then if you want.  (Unfortunately, I didn't keep any aside or I would send them.)  It's a very nice garden plant. 
My G. richardsonii have not yet been very impressive (would prefer more woodland-ish conditions, maybe), but there is certainly the potential... Yeo's book has a photo of it, so that speaks well of it.
We also have G. erianthum and G. carolinianum, both native.

If "bluets" are Houstonia(??), then they aren't native to the prairies or mountains here. 

Sisyrinchium montanum is one of those plants that really takes to "captivity"... the ones in my yard are vastly better (very bushy, full plants; hundreds of flowers) than any I've seen in nature.  I agree with Cohan - a delightful plant!  Our native white one, S. septentrionale, is a pretty spindly little thing in the garden, as well as in the wild. 

i will have to get some viscosissimum too, its a colour that is rare locally; i'm pretty sure some of the seed/plant vendors in alberta must have it;
 i havent tried coddling the richardsonii, yet, it may be that it is always a bit sprawly, i've never seen it in a place without other vegetation that it scrambles through, or at least in grass; and while i have seen it in semi-open places, like roadsides, its still not too far from wooded edges, and growing with other things; in my yard, it grows i varied places such as the north side of a small shed, between my mom's house and a large spruce, at the base of old stumps, and even on my old overgrown rock garden..these are all shady to sun with part day shade;

i have never heard of those other species, lori, i will have to look them up...are they in the mountains farther south, or..?

as lori says, no houstonia, but we have Mertensia, which are called bluebells locally, as seen in this thread:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3919.0
they bloom for a good part of the summer here..

[Lori S.]

Yes, Cohan, it is probably possible to get G. visc... from ALCLA (where I got it long ago), or from a vendor of native plant seeds.   On the other hand, if you are not participating in the seed exchange or have already made other choices, and are not in a rush, I could just send you some seeds late next summer.

[cohan]

sure lori, we can see what happens by then--i have a long list of things i'd like to get seed of, but none of them at all urgent, considering how many seeds i already have to sow..lol

actually, the one thing maybe i feel a bit of urgency about is some of the hardy cacti i want to try, non-opuntioids in particular, which i think will be pretty slow from seed, so if i actually make any seed orders this year, it will likely include some of those (i did get a few from a friend in b.c., but no pediocactus which are some of my faves)..

i googled those other geraniums a bit, the erianthum looks like it might be quite nice, although the colour looks a bit  close to himalayense which we have several good sized beds of! not my choice (not my colour), but it does give a good show....
have you seen it in person?

this reminds me, beavercreek's website has been down for some days at least...have you heard anything about them?

[maggiepie]

Lori, thanks for the info, for some reason I had it in my head that G.viscosissimum was a huge sprawley plant.
If it is a good garden plant I will track some down for sure.
I  have seen the pic of G. richardsonii in Yeo's book ( yep I finally bought it), I particularly like white geraniums so am interested in getting some richardsonii seed.
I haven't seen any listed on the seed exchanges this year, I did order some erianthum seed though.

Yes, the bluets I mentioned are Houstonia. They always make me smile when I see them flowering away.

Cohan, thanks for the Mertensia link.  I love blue flowers.

[cohan]

we've been having some picturesque winter weather-it isn't always, sometimes just enough snow to be messy, and everything looking dead and drab..
from around christmastime, we have had several days of hoar frost, and regular snow since early december, without warm enough weather or long enough for it to melt/settle or even fully fall off of trees, so it's been a real winter wonderland!
i posted some pics already in 'images of the arty kind', but here are some more;
most of these are right around my house, or slightly farther back on our 6acres, some looking through the edge of the trees toward the neighbours, or on the roadway/down the road..
as usual larger pics, and in this case, many many more! at picasa

http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus

[cohan]

more shots from the same day..

[Ragged Robin]

Cohan, you certainly have captured picturesque moments around your home - the hoar frost shots are quite exceptional, I love them, like frosty candy floss 

[cohan]

Cohan, you certainly have captured picturesque moments around your home - the hoar frost shots are quite exceptional, I love them, like frosty candy floss 

thanks robin--the frost is quite common here, but this was heavier than usual, and went for several days without ever really clearing up; in fact, in sheltered spots, i think some of it is still there!
i think i need to delete a few of these shots to fit some in from other days...lol

[cohan]

still from that series of frosty days, these from dec 28 on my drive to work..
mountain views are zoom shots--the mountains are visible from here looking west, rather low on the horizon..
the full album is here:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/December28B2009#

[Martinr]

Magic, much nicer than our inch of snow and grey cloud

[maggiepie]

Cohan, I think you need to change into something warmer 

[cohan]

thanks, martin-the frost is the most beautiful thing in winter, with many moments hard to capture:
flakes of ice crystal fluttering to ground in the sunshine sparkling like diamonds
a layer of crystals on top of the snow glittering and winking..
of course we do have blechy days too, and i leave the camera packed away then..lol

maggie--luckily its much warmer now...lol--should be around +6 today, and sunny

more shots from the next day, around my yard.....
full album at:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/December292009#

[cohan]

the last of 09-dec 31,a gloomy day, rendering the images almost purely black and white, around my acreage,  (first pic looking in the driveway, toward our old house awaiting demolition) and just looking into the main farm just beyond in a couple of shots (8,9)
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/December312009#

[Ragged Robin]

Narnia!  Is there a wicked witch living in the forest on a sled too?