Yeah, it does look a bit silly! Just planted this spring, from Wrightman's. If from seed, old enough to bloom, at any rate... if from division...?
Gypsophila cerastioides:
Alpines in June
I love these plants... gorgeous furry foliage with interesting leaf arrangement on the stem, and lovely in bloom; Oxytropis splendens:
Silene kantzeensis:
It seems to be silene time here... Silene falcata:
Anemone x lesseri... so pretty...
Oxytropis splendens..another native beauty I've dreamed of growing
Penstemon cyananthus:
Phyteuma nigrum:
You have some great alpines there Lori...some I've never heard of! My peak now are the Lewisias. Here is L. rediviva 'Alba'...mind you it was bought as the standard pink!
and a first time bloomer...'Little Peach'. Got this one last year but it was reticent to bloom then. Its a peachy shade of the popular 'Little Plum'
Funny you should bring that up about getting a rediviva alba form from standard pink seed. Probably not as unusual, but that happened to me this year too: alba from standard purple Iris tectorum seed.
What's the deal with all those roots: is that normal, and what is the tuberous looking thing at the right? Are the roots originating from the base of the enlarged stem or the top? (Obviously, I've never grown or seen this species.)
Alta, is that the same as Phyteuma spicatum ssp. nigrum? I just transplanted seedlings of that last week.
Delosperma basuticum, with Escobaria vivipara and a Semp.
Thanks for the id on the phyteuma - I saw this plant recently and wondered what it was as it's very nice!
Those root-like growths are the fleshy leaves. The 'tuber' is actually a rock used to prop the flower up for a photo!
A few more Lewisia shots. I grow all mine in pots and overwinter them in a coldframe...60" of rain is too much for outside yearround! Lewisia Little Peach
Lewisia Little Plum
Lewisia Pinkie
Lewisia cotyledon...a good orange strain
Lewisia cotyledon...the normal form. This plant has been in the same pot for 6 years!
and changing the topic...Veronica whitleyi
and my intergeneric hybrid between Kalmiopsis and Phyllodoce called Phylliopsis Sugar plum
Oh my, I've got a lot to learn about lewisias too . . . .
Wow, intergeneric hybrids yet!
And now, at the other end of the lewisia scale (say, for contrast), here's my pathetic little 'George Henley', LOL! Two flowers might be all I get this year!
Talinum sediforme starting to bloom today, in tufa:
Certainly not the sort of tiny plant that might appear in rock gardens, but the colour is splendid... Adelocaryum anchusoides... wish they bloomed longer. Hard to find out much about them... common name, himalayan borage, occurs in India, at least, I guess.
Carduncellus pinnatus looking very bizarre yet promising! It retains a rather nice, compact form in our wretched soil.
I've seen a couple of examples (Todd's PF pix, RundleWood here in Calgary) of how this genus grows much better in lean soil/sharp drainage conditions (so I can't claim I grow these terribly well at present!) When I have another alpine bed ready (in progress), I'll have to move my incarvilleas to it... I find this species, and the next one, reliably hardy and long-lived here.
Incarvillea mairei var. grandiflora:
EDIT: Correction, it's Incarvillea mairei var. mairei.
This message was edited Jun 29, 2008 9:54 PM
Incarvillea zhongdianensis - it's barely possible to make out a couple of the distinctive leaves amidst the geranium foliage:
Unfortunately, the only way I can get the camera to "read" the flower colour of this at all is in close-ups (despite my new camera!).... so here's a tiny part of Omphalodes lojkae, LOL!
I wish I could grow Talinums outside...we don't do well with succulent-leaved plants, with the exception of semps and sedum. My Incarvillea mariae opened yesterday...I'm waiting for more flowers to open before I take a pic.
Obviously they grow in other places too, but the wild Talinum parviflorum here that I have seen grow in thin layers of mud in surface depressions on granite rock. Rain comes, and they are swimming in water, but the summer sun dries the puddles quickly. I have only visited them at the time the Escobaria vivipara bloom - around June 20, so I can't say much more about them. They are supposed to be perennial. Seem kind of wonderous that they survive the spring wet.
Carduncellus is way cool!
This message was edited Jun 24, 2008 5:28 PM
Rick, re. your phyteuma question... The best expansive reference I have is Graham Nicholls' Dwarf Campanulas and Associated Genera, and he describes P. nigrum and P. spicatum as separate species. He also mentions that P. spicatum may be found in blue to violet forms (as compared to the usual yellowish to greenish white) so perhaps some of those make up P. spicatum ssp. nigrum?
Talinum parviflorum looks like a very pretty little plant - what an unusual niche!
It's seems pretty clear that he is basing his differentiation on something other than flower color. Would he, perhaps, maybe, just might, have a key?
There is no actual key, but here are the details from Nicholls' Dwarf Campanulas and Associated Genera:
P. nigrum: "northeastern Alps, where it grows in acid woodland and subalpine meadows to 1200m. Populations have also been recorded in the Czech Republic, Holland, and Belgium"; "clumps of ovate-cordate, crenate basal leaves that are to 5cm long (sic) and on petioles almost as long. Stiff, erect stems 30-60cm tall have lanceolate, crenate, sessile leaves and oval or cylindrical heads of blackish violet, occasionally blue or white, flowers."
P. spicatum: "widespread from Britain to Scandinavia and the Pyrenees, through the European Alps, growing in meadows and woods, usually on limestone, to 2100m"; "tufts of ovate-cordate, crenate-serrate leaves on long petioles to 15cm or more. Strong, erect stems 40-80cm tall have linear, sessile leaves and cylindrical spikes, to 15cm or more, of yellowish to greenish white flowers. Blue and violet forms have also been found."
Thanks, Lori. I do have P. spicatum var. nigrum. Seed came from a gardener in The Netherlands, and she had emailed a pic of mom.
Here's an interesting one... Dracocephalum fragile, an alpine, apparently, from south Siberian and northern Mongolian mountains... and that's about all I could find out about it.
EDITed to add: It is definitely one of the furrier plants in my yard!
This message was edited Jun 29, 2008 9:22 PM
Aethionema grandiflorum, backed up by Penstemon lyallii:
A verbascum that's small enough for the rock garden, Verbascum dumulosum. Actually, I had another little one for a couple of years - V. 'Letitia' - but I don't see it out there this year.
An asperula... Strangely enough, I can't find a species name for it on my maps or in my notes, but Asperula sintenissii feels kind of familiar...
EDIT: Correction... I DO have a record of having acquired Asperula gussonnii, so it's likely that.
This message was edited Jul 4, 2008 9:57 PM
A little Heterotheca jonesii, planted this spring... (Okay, I'll spare you my tiny daphne with one flower on it, LOL!)
Wow Lori, you have some really neat alpines...several I never heard of...where do you get your seeds? NARGS?