Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Gabriel B on August 02, 2015, 06:55:11 AM
-
From my dry hill garden, tall larkspur (Delphinium exaltatum) surrounded by sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula). This larkspur doesn't mind our hot summers, and I don't mind that its color is a rather washed-out lavender. It would be worth finding a better form. The bumblebees like it.
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=1]
Sideoats grama is a perennial grass native to dry sunny areas in Minnesota. It has lovely red-orange stamens and white feathery stigmas when it's in bloom. It spreads quickly by seed, so it's sprinkled around the dry hill garden. A bit of a nuisance, but at least it belongs because the garden is an informal prairie garden. It serves as a delicate and swaying background to more substantial plants.
[attachimg=3]
Partridge pea is a native reseeding annual. I bought one seedling about five years ago, and have never run out of plants since then. The leaves are lovely and pinnate, like sensitive plant, and the plants serve as nice leafy fillers in dry sunny spots. There are nectar glands on the leaf stalks for wasps and other predators, and the flowers provide pollen to the bees.
[attachimg=4]
-
We have only one native
larkspur monkshood in Norway, Aconitum septentrionale. The colour is variable and not always anything to boast of! Some are better though.
-
We have only one native larkspur in Norway, Aconitum septentrionale. The colour is variable and not always anything to boast of! Some are better though.
Here in Finland there is only one place where it grows wild (it is near east border), but I have it in the garden. It is the first Aconitum to flower in June/July and is already ripening it's seeds. Your plant must grow in higher altitude, and that is why it flowers later. I agree that it's flowers are not as showy as some other Aconitums, but I like it because there are not many so tall plants flowering at that time, and it gives hight to the garden.
-
Leena,
The plant shown grows at 950m. At that altitude they are still in full flower, but higher up or some places where snow has lingered the plants are just coming into growth!
-
Arisaema fargesii
-
A few Delosperma in flower here, moderately so as they had a bit of a set-back due to bare-rooting to rid them of a nasty commercial peat/bark mix.
D. cooperi? - what ever it is it's too floppy.
D. 'Lavender Ice'
D. 'Jewel of Desert Garnet'
D. Firespinner'
johnw
-
Lilium sargentiae from collected wild seed by the kilted wunderkind Jens Nielsen is in flower this week.
john
-
Lilium sargentiae from collected wild seed by the kilted wunderkind Jens Nielsen is in flower this week.
john
Oh my - how lovely - and Jens is pretty cute too! ;D
I've just been discussing with Ian how we NEED more lilies in the garden.
-
From my dry hill garden, tall larkspur (Delphinium exaltatum) surrounded by sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula). This larkspur doesn't mind our hot summers, and I don't mind that its color is a rather washed-out lavender. It would be worth finding a better form. The bumblebees like it.
Gabriel,
Is the Tall Larkspur, Delphinium exaltatum, perennial, biennial, or annual?
Also, I can appreciate your comments about your native grasses. I use our perennial California native bunch grasses in our garden. Some of them seed about, and I am pleased with this situation. It would not hurt my feelings if they crowded out all the invasive annual grasses.
-
Arisaema fargesii
Nice! Is it late this year?
Commelina tuberosa is late this year but on the plus side I now know it to be hardy to -8°c.............
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3691/20066593679_f9fc0260ca_z.jpg)
An unknown Pelargonium............
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/255/19630550874_4dee321f11_z.jpg)
Finally, a photo of my ace squirrel killer in recognition of his help in the garden lately!
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/514/20065281788_1f9ac3c641_z.jpg)
I still get the odd seedling pulled out or pot of seeds tipped out but the problem is much better now that he has his eye in.
-
Trond, Aconitum is usually called monkshood in English, not larkspur, but it's not a terrible mistake to make, because it's very similar to Delphinium, as Digitalis is similar to Penstemon! I'd love to grow monkshood, but I rarely see them in gardens around here, probably because they don't like the summer heat. Thanks for your pictures. I like the stately or dignified look of the plants: tall spires growing from neat clusters of lobed leaves. Perhaps I will look into monkshood, and see if there's a species that would do well here.
Robert, Delphinium exaltatum is perennial. So far, the mother plant has lived for three summers, I think. Might be in too dry and sunny a spot, since I think I read somewhere that it grows in forest glades. But it's very tolerant, and I water it occasionally. If you would like to try it, I can send you some seed this fall.
I'm certainly glad to have native plants as "weeds" too. It's good to have plants growing wild that will provide food to insects and other animals, and it's sad that people don't often know the difference. Fortunately more people have been learning about native plants over the past few decades.
-
Gabriel,
You might want to give one of our local selections of Aconitum columbianum a try. Here in our part of California they are a high elevation species, so most likely cold hardy even in your part of the country. In addition, they seem to tolerate the heat well at our low elevation garden. They are complete water hogs and like rich soil, most likely these are not an issue for you. I do like to trade. 8)
-
Trond, Aconitum is usually called monkshood in English, not larkspur, but it's not a terrible mistake to make, because it's very similar to Delphinium, as Digitalis is similar to Penstemon! I'd love to grow monkshood, but I rarely see them in gardens around here, probably because they don't like the summer heat. Thanks for your pictures. I like the stately or dignified look of the plants: tall spires growing from neat clusters of lobed leaves. Perhaps I will look into monkshood, and see if there's a species that would do well here.
....
Thanks Gabriel. In fact I do know it but for some reason I thought of the plant as a Delphinium while writing ;) I changed the Latin name but forgot the English!
-
Nice! Is it late this year?
This is the first time it has flowered but generally, most plants that don't have some protection are 3-4 weeks later this year. Old-timers here say it's the second coldest and wettest spring and summer they can remember. Following on from an appallingly wet and windy winter, the weather can only improve. ::)
-
Here's my Campanula garganica. I really like this bellflower, as it flowers after many other things are over, is pretty slug-proof, and is easy to grow but not invasive. I've had this plant for 5 or 6 years now; this year I gave it a bit of a feed in the spring and it has really responded. Also took a few cuttings for the new rockery which seem to have mostly taken.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
-
Robert, I'd love to try your monkshood, and I'll make sure to collect my larkspur's seed. (I have a list of plant requests, because there are too many to remember.)
Trond, I figured you might actually know the name. However, your comment gets me wondering how similar monkshoods and larkspurs are, and now I have an interesting question to look into one of these days, probably once I get a monkshood growing through our hot summers.
-
Robert, I'd love to try your monkshood, and I'll make sure to collect my larkspur's seed. (I have a list of plant requests, because there are too many to remember.)
Gabriel,
This is great! Later this season I will have a seed list, for trading seed. If this is something you are interested in I'll PM a copy when I have it together.
-
At long last I have a decent bloom on one of my Ismene x festalis (so far the buds have been damaged by slugs or water damage in cool spells before the buds open)..............
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/504/20160642568_9bd4f44293_z.jpg)
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/546/20160632190_5a972286d0_z.jpg)
-
Very nice, haven't got mine to flower yet.
-
The lovely yellow, long tubed Calylophus lavendlifolius, flowering for the first time for me.
Gentiana paradoxa.
-
Very nice, haven't got mine to flower yet.
In my experience they flower best if a bit pot bound.
Stapelia gigantea..................
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/452/20367501895_04095d20a1_z.jpg)
-
In my experience they flower best if a bit pot bound.
Stapelia gigantea..................
Wow, cracking photograph. A much richer colour than most images I've seen.
-
Wow, cracking photograph. A much richer colour than most images I've seen.
Thanks! It is a particularly good colour. I'm after one that is almost a gold colour that I've seen a photo of but no joy so far.
-
Desfontiania spinosa.............
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/311/20389044182_ef9d053239_z.jpg)
Salvia microphylla...............
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/466/20371365676_b1a7b13ec9_z.jpg)
And Salvia guaranitica "Black and Blue".................
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/534/20403799371_2c8325962a_z.jpg)
-
I really am a sucker for the very deep blue Salvias such as your 'Black and Blue' and I see that 'Amistad' is from the same family. It's a given that I don't have room in the garden but I thought a big pot might be possible? What do you think?
-
I really am a sucker for the very deep blue Salvias such as your 'Black and Blue' and I see that 'Amistad' is from the same family. It's a given that I don't have room in the garden but I thought a big pot might be possible? What do you think?
Black and Blue is to the best of my knowledge a natural selection of S.guaranitica whereas Amistad is thought to be a hybrid of S.guaranitica and S.gesneriiflora. I've grown both side by side and Amistad croaked it whilst B&B survived and spread (it has a stoloniferous habit once established). Both grow well in pots and as far as Amistad goes it is best grown in a pot unless you want to lift it every autumn.Purple Majesty is also thought to have the same parents as Amistad but I found it to bloom later in the season but way further into autumn and winter (so maybe S.gesneriiflora is the dominant gene?). Another good one for pot growing.
S.urica grows well in a pot, dead easy from seed but realistically it is an annual. Flowers strongly from late August until the frosts at up to two metres in a fantastic royal blue...........
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5573/15174326751_f105005ff1_z.jpg)
-
Thanks for that, if I can get hold of Black and Blue I'll give it a run in a pot and maybe Amistad too.
I bought a small plant of Salvia muelleri this afternoon from Plantworld (Ray Brown). He had one planted out and it's about my size for my garden, about 18" high and roughly the same spread, maybe a bit more. From a quick Google it doesn't seem to be freely available in the UK. I was attracted to it because of it's dark purple flowers but found this picture on Wikimedia Commons attributed to a Stan Shebs which seemed to be freely available to users.
-
Thanks for that, if I can get hold of Black and Blue I'll give it a run in a pot and maybe Amistad too.
I bought a small plant of Salvia muelleri this afternoon from Plantworld (Ray Brown). He had one planted out and it's about my size for my garden, about 18" high and roughly the same spread, maybe a bit more.
I have a couple of young plants from seed that I harvested off of my Black and Blue last year. If they come true you can have one (although I'm hoping that they may revert back to the true species). If you still haven't got one next spring let me know and I'll have a dig around the root stock for shooting stolons. It's a good and easy way to propagate several plants.
Salvia muelleri looks good. From a quick google it would appear to be a natural hybrid of S.greggii and S.microphylla - good hardy species.
-
Another set of native flowers are coming into bloom: blazing-stars (Liatris). These are in the sunflower family and have light pinky-purple flowers arranged in spikes or buttons. They are all native to Minnesota, each with their own place according to their preferred soil types. I haven't seen them in the wild myself, sadly, because they don't grow very often inside the city.
Liatris pycnostachya is a very tall spike-flowered species (almost as tall as me). Liatris ligulistylis is a tall button-flowered species, though my plants are young and short at the moment. Those two like moisture.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
Liatris aspera is a dry-loving species with buttons like L. ligulistylis, but shorter (under 3 ft, 5 dm). It's just budding at the moment, but the bracts on the flower heads are very interesting, white-edged and puffy. Liatris punctata is a very drought-tolerant species with spike flowers. I just have a picture of its leaves with the cute curly hairs on them. I'll take a picture of its flowers when it starts blooming.
[attachimg=4]
[attachimg=5]
There are common names for each of these, but they are rather arbitrary so I won't mention them. Most people can only distinguish the species by the shape of the bracts around the flowers, but I tell them apart by their heights, moisture preferences, and flower cluster shapes.
I love these native flowers, and they are very attractive to butterflies. I'm curious, has anyone heard of them outside of the United States and Canada?
-
Liatris pycnostachya is a very tall spike-flowered species (almost as tall as me).
......There are common names for each of these, but they are rather arbitrary so I won't mention them......
I'm curious, has anyone heard of them outside of the United States and Canada?
Hi Gabriel,
Liatris pycnostachya has been grown in Australia as "Kansas Gayfeather" since I was a kid. It was a standard addition to cottage gardens and perennial borders. I didn't realise it was such a water lover, though - probably why it didn't survive in my garden!
cheers
fermi
-
Thunbergia gregorii has survived another winter outdoors in the courtyard garden.............
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/390/20295230619_20f07d06c5_z.jpg)
Sollya heterophylla also survived a couple of metres away..............
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/567/20455676326_958515409a_z.jpg)
Finally, Salvia glutinosa............
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/523/20293874528_57632f1fa9_z.jpg)
It's a big thug of a plant!
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3739/20293873928_edd68091d9_z.jpg)
-
Self sown dieramas,now becoming a weed. Many are over 2 metres tall.
-
fermi, I would certainly expect Liatris pycnostachya to fail without regular moisture. If you're interested in getting a gayfeather to grow, you might have better luck with L. punctata. It has a deep and thick taproot and grows in very dry parts of the western United States. It looks rather like L. pycnostachya, except shorter and clump-forming. Mine are recently planted and still young, but happy with the wood ash solution I poured on them to give them potassium, calcium, and other nutrients.
Tony, I've never heard of dieramas before. They're very lovely, reminiscent of bellflowers or bluebells except pink. I wonder if any would be hardy in Minnesota (zone 4). It seems they're southern African, which makes it doubtful.
Maggi, would you rotate the last three pictures in my earlier post? :-\
Edit : it is done, Gabriel. m
-
Manfreda elongata...........
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/516/20321258160_d070f3c3c2_z.jpg)
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/483/20321298878_88e4951058_z.jpg)
-
Tony, I've never heard of dieramas before. They're very lovely, reminiscent of bellflowers or bluebells except pink. I wonder if any would be hardy in Minnesota (zone 4). It seems they're southern African, which makes it doubtful.
Gabriel, I have been growing Dierama for many years, fully hardy as far as I am aware and very easy from seed.
Found this seedling Codonopsis rotundifolia angustifolia last evening, self-sown, 70 feet from original plant, they do no how to get about.
-
Gotta have a soft spot for Codonopsis ( I think that's what Bob says!!) Great plants - love the marking on that one, Mike.
-
The codonopsis are rather lovely plants Maggie, Bob tells me the markings on the one posted earlier are very good.
Gentiana septemfida flowering very well again this year.
-
Albuca shawii gone mad from seed.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
-
Maggie, what have I done, Albuca shawii decided to lay on its side, help please.
Thanks
Mike
edit by m : fixed now, Mike. Nothing you did - it seems to be something in the way some pix are saved during editing before loading, they just end up sideways!
-
More Albuca shawii (which are very late this year)..........
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/566/20515013485_cafbaebd2a_z.jpg)
-
Hello thanks for some great pictures interesting to see what others are growing, we have a few Liliums at the moment, cheers Ian the Christie Kind
-
I am drooling over these annual poppies just now. I think they are a form of Papaver rhoeas but do not remember the cultivar. The originals were planted two years ago and have self sown. Last year they were competing with Hedysarum coronaria but this year are only sharing the bed with Violas and have grown huge. I do not remember any doubles before but there are a few this year.
-
A few more
-
Good enough to eat, Roma! Something about a poppy.....
-
Galtonia Candicans is in full display now - at least my old bulbs are. I have some seedlings now just in their second year that are also growing an inflorescence, which I find extremely fast, even more considering they are still in the small pot that I used for sowing. I expect them to bloom towards the end of the month.
Sauromatum Venosum flowers just one day , but treat me for months with their big tropical foliage.
-
Summer border at Abbottsford, home of Sir Walter Scott in the Scottish Borders
-
That's a lovely scene, Maureen.
-
Calendar picture, Maureen?
Lovely warm, sunny day yesterday but raining and miserable today so I'll catch up with posting a few pictures.
Crepis incana covering a bit too much ground now. Looked good yesterday but quite bedraggled now
Cyananthus integer x sherriffi getting a bit squashed by Erica arborea 'Estrella Gold'
Two nice colour combinations
Iris setosa with Antirrhinum braun-blanquetii
Geum 'Mai Tai' with Stachys officinalis
-
Runner Beans - I grow them for the flowers, beans are a bonus
Two from the greenhouse
Silene californica - I was so pleased to grow it to flowering size last year. Both plants are still alive and now sharing a larger pot ;D
Clematis repens
-
Stunning Clematis ! ;)
-
Placed near a wall facing South-East, Hedychium Coccineum flowers about a month earlier than in previous years - although the fact that the plant has gained strenght may also help as well as the rather warm & sunny previous months.
-
Placed near a wall facing South-East, Hedychium Coccineum flowers about a month earlier than in previous years - although the fact that the plant has gained strenght may also help as well as the rather warm & sunny previous months.
Are the plants taken under cover for the winter, François ?
-
Calendar picture, Maureen?
Yes, I was pleased with the pic, but the sky was a bit gloomy to make the grade for a calendar picture.
Seeing your veg. pics, Roma, here are some heritage variety peas that we grow in the historic garden of Annet House, where I go gardening.
1. Scotch pea. The flowers grow in a cluster on fasciated stems which holds them rigid. I am told that this fasciation only occurs in Scotland, so presumably a climatic influence.
2. Nain Mangetout de Beurre
3. Carouby de Mousson
4. Sweet pea Matucana cupani
-
More info on the Lathyrus matucana/cupani shown in the above post can be found on http://www.lathyrus.info/sweetpeas/cupani.html (http://www.lathyrus.info/sweetpeas/cupani.html)
-
Are the plants taken under cover for the winter, François ?
Hi Maggy,
Like so many of my plants I grow them in large pots. Last winter I stored the pots in the barn where they only experienced mild frost. If the weather had gone too cold I always have the possibility to cover the pots with a thick lawer of straw of 2 bales of straw , which must be something like a3 to 4 feet thick blanket of straw, enough to preserve them from frost.
Right now the only "exotics" I grow in the open are some Eucomis and some crinum and 2 banana trees. :o
-
Right now the only "exotics" I grow in the open are some Eucomis and some crinum and 2 banana trees. :o
Ohh! :o :D
-
They are now starting to bloom only. However first time flowering this year: Rhodothamnus chamaecistus.
Bought many years ago as a seedling (Arctic Alpine Garden Chemnitz).
Grows very slowly, but probably from year to year better :-)
Bernd
-
Truly an aristocratic plant, Bernd. Slow, but worth the wait!
-
Flowering now:
Eucomis bicolor
Albuca shawii
Hibiscus moscheutos
Lilium rosthornii
Lilium speciosum rubrum
-
More pictures:
Origanum dictamnus
Origanum Hybrid
Veratrum formosanum
Zephyranthus robusta
-
Hi Maggy,
Like so many of my plants I grow them in large pots. Last winter I stored the pots in the barn where they only experienced mild frost. If the weather had gone too cold I always have the possibility to cover the pots with a thick lawer of straw of 2 bales of straw , which must be something like a3 to 4 feet thick blanket of straw, enough to preserve them from frost.
Right now the only "exotics" I grow in the open are some Eucomis and some crinum and 2 banana trees. :o
Nice Hedychium!
I've found H.gardnerianum hardy here but not a hope in hell with Eucomis. I've lost every one that I've tried. It has to be a matter of finding the correct spot as I now find Tradescantia pallida hardy in several spots here.
-
Nice Hedychium!
I've found H.gardnerianum hardy here but not a hope in hell with Eucomis. I've lost every one that I've tried. It has to be a matter of finding the correct spot as I now find Tradescantia pallida hardy in several spots here.
Interesting, as ~50 east of you in south Bucks, I have never risked the Hedychium outside but never thought that my Eucomis might not survive. I have numerous bulbs of the run of the mill smelly types (comosa, bicolor?) grown from seed that I dug up from thick clumps from another garden, there is a small white one in a neighbours garden for the last 3 years or so, and my "Sparkling Burgundy" seems very happy here, with another less imposing variety nearby.
-
This is a nice Hemerocallis; the label says Hemerocallis yezoensis, which it clearly is not - unknown cultivar then!
-
Pyrola rotundifolia, not the best picture but first time flowering for me.
-
Interesting, as ~50 east of you in south Bucks, I have never risked the Hedychium outside but never thought that my Eucomis might not survive. I have numerous bulbs of the run of the mill smelly types (comosa, bicolor?) grown from seed that I dug up from thick clumps from another garden, there is a small white one in a neighbours garden for the last 3 years or so, and my "Sparkling Burgundy" seems very happy here, with another less imposing variety nearby.
Re the H.gardnerianum - the person (on another forum) who sent it me assured me that it would be hardy and that if I lost it he would send me more. I still have the original (truly huge) tubers he sent me so he was correct.
Eucomis - as I say it has to be a matter of finding the correct spot I think. As I say T.pallida is proving hardy in three spots around the garden.
Could the "small white one" be E.autumnalis?
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3849/14651746749_b24486124b_z.jpg)
That one has been hardy but the slugs and snails find it before I do!
-
Nice Hedychium!
I've found H.gardnerianum hardy here but not a hope in hell with Eucomis. I've lost every one that I've tried. It has to be a matter of finding the correct spot as I now find Tradescantia pallida hardy in several spots here.
I haven't yet taken the risk to loose my Hedychium Gardnerianum to a severe frost. Although I have discovered that mine has kept all his leaves over this winter (temps down to a few °C below zero) while stored in the barn (but I placed the pot outside when the weather allowed it). The result is quite nice, having leaves already in spring it's growing to unseen heights right now with many more stems than ever before. I might devide the rhizome next year and plant a few in the open to see what will happen.
-
Could the "small white one" be E.autumnalis?
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3849/14651746749_b24486124b_z.jpg)
That one has been hardy but the slugs and snails find it before I do!
Could very well be. Looks and smells as I recall mine used to before I lost it one winter when the pot was left out unprotected one winter. This clump started with a ring of 6-8" flower stems a few years back, but is now 20-30 small plants with no more flowers. Eucomis in general seem to benefit from deep planting to minimise splitting, but you still have to lift and divide every so often.
I noticed another 7 or 8 pots lost in an overgrown corner of my garden that are presumably E. comosa type. Some even in flower, and they have not been touched or protected for 2 years or more.
-
Flowering now, part 1:
Acis autumnalis, Acis rosea, Byblis filifolia, Campanula alsinoides and Campanula myrtifolia in a hole of a tuff.
-
Flowering now, part 2:
Campanula cochleariifolia, Cyananthus microphyllus, Leuchtenbergia princips, Symphyandra cretica and Veronica telephiifolia.
Symphyandra cretica has a very long duration of flowering, for me a really good alpine plant.
-
Acis autumnalis pulchella first to flower
-
KD do you grow your Campanula myrtifolia under glass? same for Symphyandra cretica.
Outside they always rotted, even in tuffa, under my climate.
-
Papaver rupifragum - a beauty just for a few hours!
Gerd
-
Yann, the Campanula myrtifolia is under glas. The Symphyandra cretica is in a trough without any protection. Since three years it survived without any damage.
-
Papaver rupifragum - a beauty just for a few hours!
Gerd
But a plant gives a lot of flowers and selfseeds freely, so providing a constant display. I have had it for many years and now know the name. Thank you, Gerd
-
Read about this plant but never seen it until visiting Peter and Gill Regan's garden a few days ago - Lysimachia paridiformis. The resemblance to Paris is really uncanny, a good example of convergant evolution. Fascinating plant - high on the wish list!
-
Lysimachia paridiformis ssp stenophylla is a plant we are very fond of. The seed of this plant was collected about 20 or more years ago in China by Mikinori Ogisu, he sent them to Roy Lancaster who sent them on to us to sow. We raised a reasonable number most of which we sent back down to Roy and we kept three plants for our selves. It is a good grower with nice foliage and a lovely cluster of bright yellow flowers in late summer. It has never set seed for us in the North but I do believe they have had seed from it in England - it can be increased by cuttings taken in autumn which will root fairly readily over the winter.
Wim Boens grows it very well- he claims that applications of mud from the bottom of the rain butts help it to flower really well!
Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla
cited in The Plantsman 3 p. 83, 84P
Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla
cited in The Garden 124 p. 506-7
-
Thanks Maggi - it's nice to have the story behind a plant. I will have to talk kindly to Gill and Peter!
-
We haven't taken any cuttings this year, Tim - but we can try a late "go" for you.
-
I have just made August and in spite of the so called dearth of colour from shrubs during July and August I thought that these few pictures taken during July and August belies that view.They are just snapshots of a North facing,shaded border that I started in 2009 which previously contained a motley collection of ordinary shrubs and trees that weren't doing very well and I have gradually converted it to a hydrangea walk.The pictures only show a part of the walk and don't really convey the fact that it is 100 metres long
-
the rest.
-
Not exactly flowering now, but this has arrived from Peter Kohn :
" This picture was taken at Kerrachar in 2010 a year after we left with the
garden untended for more than a year. Delighted to find the plants
still thriving this May (still with no attention). Don't remember how
many years to flowering but we brought seeds with us sown in 2011 and
got our first flower (and seeds !) this year. "
[attachimg=1]
-
Here it is 29 August and many of the Eriogonums are still blooming even with very minimal irrigation.
1> A chance seedling of Eriogonum nudum looking very good in the garden. It looks even better in the early evening with the full moon!
2> Eriogonum wrightii var. subscaposum in our garden. This is one of our late blooming species.
3> Eriogonum incanum hybrid getting ready to bloom. In the wild, both E. marifolium and E. incanum can produce another set of flowers late in the season.
4> An Epilobum canum selected from wild seed in its late summer glory.
5> Pellaea mucronata in the garden. One of the many California native ferns that need no or very little irrigation to survive the summer and still look great. This species will even survive full sun and no irrigation once it is established.
-
1> Mimulus moschata. With some attention this species blooms all summer and fall for us, especially when the weather cools a bit.
2> The first of the Colchicum for us. The tag with the name is long gone. :(
3> Codonopsis. If anybody has a clue to its identity a name would be very much appreciated. We have a number of different species that do okay despite the 38 c plus summer heat. Spider mites are a problem. With the dry heat I just live and let live and enjoy them as they twine around and bloom.
-
Beginning its bloom now, Zauschneria garrettii 'Orange Carpet', planted on top of a wall and drifting over Daphne rollsdorfii 'Wilhelm Schacht'.
-
Astragalus,
'Orange Carpet' looks great. I have never grown this clone. How tall does it grow each year? It looks fairly low, maybe under 12" (30 cm).
-
Robert, 12" is its max but since the plant is soft and billowy only parts of it reach that height. It really wants to be planted above a wall or rock so that it can drape and fold itself. After flowering I plan to cut this one back at the bottom or the daphne at the base of the wall will be covered
-
Robert, 12" is its max but since the plant is soft and billowy only parts of it reach that height. It really wants to be planted above a wall or rock so that it can drape and fold itself. After flowering I plan to cut this one back at the bottom or the daphne at the base of the wall will be covered
Astragalus,
Thank you for the information. I think that I understand what you mean, Zauschneria-Epilobium can move around and get too "big" in some garden settings.
We only have ssp. latifolia in our area. I have never been down to the Mojave Desert region to see ssp. garrettii. I also wonder about the origins of some varieties such as 'Wayne's Silver'. This variety is completely sterile for me and the foliage is quite different from any of the other clones that I have seen or grown. Wayne had so much in his Orinda garden, but then maybe he found the original plant out in the wild somewhere or it came from somewhere else like Tilden Park.
-
Robert, I'm also growing Z.'Wayne's silver' and love the foliage. It hasn't flowered heavily yet.
I have a very dwarf form of Z. latifolia, but my favorite is Z.californica v Etteri. The color is deep red-orange and it's a heavy bloomer. Spreads horizontally. Planted in a very deep crevice and so far quite hardy.
-
Robert, I'm also growing Z.'Wayne's silver' and love the foliage. It hasn't flowered heavily yet.
I have a very dwarf form of Z. latifolia, but my favorite is Z.californica v Etteri. The color is deep red-orange and it's a heavy bloomer. Spreads horizontally. Planted in a very deep crevice and so far quite hardy.
Astragalus,
'Wayne's Silver' is always a late bloomer around here too. I have not watered it much this summer and it is still looking okay. Yes, I agree 'Wayne's Silver' has beautiful foliage. The only improvement for us would be if it had more flowers. Most of the others get loaded with flowers. Maybe yours is more floriferous?
So many of the Zauschneria - Epilobiums are native to the high Sierras or the east side of the Sierras. I remember seeing them blooming along the trail out of the Owens Valley towards Shepherd's Pass - bitter cold in the winter and very hot and dry during the summer. Then there are those growing in Northwestern California where the climate is much more temperate. Years ago, I found some good color forms along the Salmon River in NW California. They did well here, however they may not be as cold hardy as the Sierra varieties. I do not have any of them now, however I do know where to go to find more. :)
Thinking about Astragalus - there are some great species on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. We have a few around here, however it gets very interesting in the south around Mono Lake and in and around the Owens Valley and the White Mountains.
-
Robert, the Mono Lake area has always been on my bucket list of places to explore. It seems to be a unique area and I've heard that the Fabaceae is well represented there. Have you been there? And photographed?
-
Robert, the Mono Lake area has always been on my bucket list of places to explore. It seems to be a unique area and I've heard that the Fabaceae is well represented there. Have you been there? And photographed?
Astragalus,
Yes, I have been to the Mono Lake area many, many times, mostly when I was a bit younger. I have only been there once in the last 10 years and I did not bring my camera at that time.
The good news is Mono Lake is only a 3 hour drive from the farm. I definitely have ideas to visit this area. Also, I am familiar enough with the area to know where to go to avoid the popular locations. When visiting the popular locations one sees the same stuff. If one wants to see new and exciting species it is necessary to travel on the obscure dirt roads and hike in roughed terrain where there are no trails. Trusting ones instincts is important too. Now, I always trust my intuition when doing horticultural-botany and it always pays off.
Good luck on your visit to the area whenever that may be. There is so much to see, I am sure you will not regret your visit. :)