I visited a great plantsman's garden called Holehird in the Lake District (UK) last week. It had two alpine houses one of which was devoted to tufa planting. Here is a view of one side.
Tufa beds
Here's another view.
Wow, that is really beautiful!
Galanthophile, I want to follow you around the UK. In Alaska I'm just a wannabe rock gardener, but with this wet climate I take what I can get. Cushion plants are my thrill, so I practice with Armerias. I drool over the raoulias from NZ.
Oh my word...those are the most gorgeous pictures!! I love all the wonderful draping plants on those walls! Thank-you for sharing these pictures....wow!!
I know how lucky I am to be able to visit all of these great gardens. I'll try and share as many photos as I can. Here are some lovely dionysias from the other alpine house at Holehird.
I love Dionysia..I have only D. aretoides as you photographed. Mine is not quite up to par but not bad.
You'd have loved the alpine show - there were many specimens of dionysia. I spoke to the guy at Holehird who took care of the alpine house and they were his favourite plants. I also saw him at the alpine show with some new acquisitions. Where do you buy most of your alpines? Are they relatively easy to obtain where you are?
Canada has some of the best alpine-rock garden plant mail-order nurseries in North America (not as good as the UK but we can't have it all!). Dionysia are hard to find however. I got mine 3 years ago from a nursery in British Columbia (Beaver Creek Gardens). He no longer sells that one but now offers a pink one that I just ordered. Alpine Mont Echo in Quebec has a wonderful assortment of allionii-hirsuta-auricula type primula and fantastic array of Kabschia and encrusted saxifrages (my favourite group!)
Do you exhibit any of your plants?
We don't have any shows in newfoundland...I am the chairperson of our local rock garden society but we have only 20 members...and only three of us grow pot alpines.