Hudsonia montana

Has anybody grown this, or, for that matter, any of the Hudsonias?

Scott

Is that related to the Packardia indianense? Or the Nashia dusenbergifolia?

I've always liked the shape of a Hudson, especially the 1946-47 Super & Commodore.

As for Hudsonia, looks like it needs pure sand to do well. Kinda looks like a Hypericum.

No, but have grown relatives in the genera Cistus and Helianthemum - if Hudsonia is anything like them, the pure sand is good, but not essential; however, full sun is absolutely essential.

Resin

Hudson was an old model of car, and so was Packard and Dusenberg. So, they're just plays on this theme.

Did you check the fossil record?

Yes, autos; so is Nash, and Scott's a car buff. Doesn't translate well across the pond, unless you prefer Triumphia aston-martinii.

Can't wait till he discovers a new species; Corvettia maybe?

Are you going to plant this on the beach next to your pool, Scott? Expecting a little salt spray?

Well, you know, the global warming thing. Ohio might be on the coast!

No, supposedly, this Hudsonia montana is an Eastern native of the mountains, and very, very cool. Apparantly quite rare too.

Scott

My first car was a used '48 Nash Rambler. Yeah, I know I' m old. Somebody flipped a cigarette butt through an open window into the back seat and it burnt to the rims in my parents driveway with all my college text books in it. It was Ok in full sun though!

Resin,

I'm sorry, but you have got to be punished for that! Now, what do you think you deserve?

Scott

Hmmm . . . sentenced to a trip to North Carolina to collect some Hudsonia seed?

Of course the sentencing authority has to pay for the cost of the sentence ;-)

I'm tempted!

Scott

For what (little) it is worth Scott, I have seen Hudsonia tomentosa, a very nice dwarf native, growing on the sand dunes at Whitefish Point on the shore of Lake Superior. Not sure how it compares with the Appalachian species but that one is sure hardy, and it was also growing in almost pure sand and gravel.

Ah yes, brings back pleasant memories of my college days, 35 years ago, taking a course in Boreal Flora and keying out Hudsonia tomentosa with Gleason's Manual of Plants of E. North America, sitting on the beach at Whitefish Point being eaten alive by black and horse flies. "Those were the days....."

"The mariners all say they would have made Whitefish Bay...

If you have never been up there, Scott, it is actually an incredibly beautiful place. Virtually unspoiled cobble beach which extends for miles on the shore of Superior, surrounded by old sand dunes with jack pine-spruce and fir forest, and carpets of trailing Arbutus on the dunes in full fragrant bloom in early May. Not much of interest in the woody plant department other than the limited boreal species, but the woods are filled with all kinds of rare orchids and a rich fascinating boreal flora.

And unlike most of the eastern deciduous forest, the forests of that area are little disturbed by invasives.....at least the last time I looked......Piping plovers still nest on the shoreline there too.

~ Mmm. Nothing smells like luvin from the oven than piping hot plovers~!

David,

I've had the pleasure of a beautiful drive along the north shore of Superior, from Duluth to almost Thunder Bay, but that was before my full immersion into horticulture. Much great stuff, I'm sure, was lost on me. My wife and I did enjoy a bottle of wine lying on our backs by our campsite watching the most spectacular meteor shower I've ever seen though. Totally memorable.

There is a Mark Twain quote, something like: "The coldest winter I've ever known was a summer I spent in Duluth." I believe it. Freezing. And a detox center on almost every block, too. I wonder if that's just coincidence.

My friend Pete is an orchid fiend, and went all up through there last summer. Sounded amazing.

Scott

Resin, thanks for the laugh. I like this one best "For every problem there is always a solution that is simple, obvious, and wrong." Ain't that the truth.

This is a funny thread..you all are too much

Wow, I'm so bummed. That quote was posted on a sign in the quick mart in Duluth where we bought the wine. I guess I'll never trust that place again. I thought at the time that that's the greatest line I've ever heard! And so true. I must admit that way, way back in the deepest recesses of my mind, back where I keep, cluttered and disorganized, all the broken pieces of brainpower one needs to be a successful and upstanding citizen in this world, it always kind of bothered me that Duluth would have been an odd place for Mark Twain to go. It wasn't on the Mississippi River system. Not California. Not Conneticut. Oh well, live and learn.

Scott

Like they say . . . "It's a great quote. It's a wonderfully crafted quote. And it's a darned shame Twain never said it" :-)

I wouldn't be surprised if Twain had been to Duluth before, he went to a lot of odd places way off the beaten path. I mean, how many people have been to Mauritius? Or better yet, how many people know where Mauritius is without looking it up? (OK, some of you smarty pants know! he he)

I do, but only because I became friends with someone from there, who also filled me in on Twain's famous visit.