Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Tony Willis on May 27, 2009, 08:08:57 PM
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We had two weeks on the borders of California and Oregon visiting the redwoods and areas around them. It rained every day for the first ten days,three inches one day, and was cold. It was then hot and dry for the last few days. We were at the right time for the coast but far too early for the inland areas which were still deep in snow.
I will start with some plants of the redwood forests all in the rain. The trees at up to 300 feet tall are amazing and are completely covered below with huge ferns.
click the pix to enlarge them....
redwoods in rain
redwoods nurse log
calypso bulbosa
dicentra formosa
disporum smithii
oxalis oregana
trillium ovatum clump
trillium ovatum pink
trillium ovatum white
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Tony,
An excellent start - I am looking forward to the continuation!
Gerd
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Thanks Gerd. Here are a variety of plants from outside the woods some photographed in an occasional bit of sunshine.
brodiaea elegans
calochortus tolmei
calochortus tolmei
calochortus amabilis
Eschscholzia californica
erythronium sp.
cornus nuttalii
darlingtonia bog
darlingtonia californica flowers
Cercis occidentalis
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Wonderful pix Tony ! :o
Too bad you had the weather against you.. :(
Love the Calochortus - growing where you saw them - would you expect them to get the dry summer they are said to need to florish ??
As far as I know, that area does get it's fair share of Summer moisture ??
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Tony, the weather may have been bad, but you did see some beautiful plants in the wild.
Thanks for sharing them.
The Disporum smithii I grow here, has much more yellow flowers and different leaves??
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It was very wet whilst we were there but dried up as we left. Friends who arrived after us say it was hot and dry for their visit so perhaps we were at the end of the rain. The calochortus amabalis were growing on steep slopes and the tolmei on flat ground. As to the disporum they ranged from white to cream but this may just be the age of the flowers. I cannot comment on the leaf shape. We have used several books to identify the plants but they are not particularly good.
Here are some shrubs and a couple of views. Crater lake still had 15 foot of snow so no plants. Mt Shasta is the spiritual cente of the world where all the force lines meet.The annual Wesak festival was on (try google) and our B&B had some unusual people as guests. We did not feel the force.
Aesculus californica
Arctostaphyllus patula
Phlox diffusa
Rhodoendron occidentale
Rhododendron macrophyllum
Crater Lake
Mt Shasta
Dodecatheon hendersonii and a couple of animals
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and finally a few bulbs
Allium falcifolium
Camassia quamash
Erythronium hendersonii
Erythronium howellii
Trillium albidum
Fritillaria affinis
Fritillaria recurva
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Wonderful set of pics - it's a pleasure to see well known garden plants in their native region.
Thank you Tony!
Encore?
Gerd
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A great set of pics from our own 'Wandering Star'.
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Great stuff Tony !!
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Absolutely great pictures Tony. Thanks for sharing
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Tony,
thanks for the marvelous pictures. Like the Camassia field, always flowers in masses make a great show 8)
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thank you for the comments it was a very good trip.
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So interesting that Calochortus amabilis can do well here in South Australia drought as well in northern Cal/Oregon with all their rain.
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Wonderful pictures of wonderful plants. Much of California is similar in climate to us here in parts of Aus. Very distinct seasons seem to suit so many things from there perfectly here as well. Calochortus are a good example of this. My problem is trying not to water them too much when dormant... which is a problem I always have as I keep feeling sorry for things. :o I feel even sorrier when I find that I have killed them with kindness. :o
Thanks so much Tony for showing us these beauties. 8)
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Paul my Calochortus have the same treatment as the arils - no extra water, slightly raised beds and the beating sun all summer.
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Pat,
Mine are in pots and I need to put them somewhere to completely dry off (well in most cases, some of them like a little summer moisture). You have no idea how much I struggled with not watering the aril irises and the junos. :o I succeeded, and hopefully all will surface (all the arils are growing, but no junos up YET) ;D
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Beware the thugs!
Both Dicentra formosa and Oxalis oregana are rampant growers that most people will later regret planting. You have been warned!
As for the pink Trillium ovatum, that's the ordinary color change that takes place once a flower if pollinated.
Did you, by any chance, see Achlys triphylla, the "vanilla leaf"? It's an epimedium-vancouveria sort of plant and very handsome. The leaves develop a vanilla scent on drying due to the formation of coumarin (iirc). Not usable in cooking.
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Rodger
we have both the dicentra and the oxalis in the garden. The oxalis is a bit of a spreader but the dicentra is not a problem.It was good to see a couple of basic garden plants which are grown without 'improvement' in the wild.
It is a nice feature of the trilliums that they turn pink after pollination,it adds to the variety.On the coast we were towards the end of their flowering period and most were pink but up on the way to Crater Lake they were much later and all newly opened and still white
We did not see the Achyls but did see Vancouveria which was not in flower.