Newbie makes a small crevice garden

[MatthewStuttard]

Thanks very much David for your coincidental confession. Makes me feel so much better! 
I have resolved to try Sax 'Cloth of Gold' again (it is a lovely plant I would like to succeed with), this time with a large soil pocket and going heavy on the leaf mould.
I just noticed how weird the overview pic looks is in my last post - apologies for that; the funny perspective is because I was on a step ladder trying to get all the plants in and also avoiding casting my shadow onto the bed.
The Penstemon was disinterred this afternoon and the findings on the mortuary slab are very interesting. As you can see, the roots failed to progress from their original pot-formed root ball into the surrounding soil. So it seems clear that this poor plant just expired from a lack of nutrient and fluid. This fully validates an earlier discussion on this blog between Maggi and Chris on the importance of washing out the roots from bought plants so they can properly set up a new home in the local soil mix.

[MatthewStuttard]

I was too hasty in the last post - there is even more going on in the crevice bed now.  It is enjoyable to take a few minutes to sit and look at it in between gardening jobs.
The Rhododendron is finished but aubretia is now out, the crusted saxifrages are both in flower and a Rhodohypoxis baurii teraploid white is indeed a brilliant white at the front right.  Shy Ramonda myconii in its shady nook has produced a first flower with a few more to come - the leaves have been looking a bit unhealthy since January and I thought I had lost it but it seems to be picking up slowly. The Edelweiss has perked up (another one in a slightly shadier damper location did not make it through winter - microclimate is so important), I like the way it almost mirrors the Pulsatilla vulgaris flower in this pic.  Antennaria Dioica 'Alex Duguid' has spread a lot to form a dense mat - I was not overly impressed with it last year but now it is bigger the silver vegetation looks great at all times and the en-masse effect of the flowers is very pleasing though they are rather insignificant individually.

[astragalus]

David, Penstemon davidsonii can respond beautifully to being cut back, dug up, any dead roots pruned, and replanted in fresh mix in full sun.  The little shrubby penstemons can also usually be layered for new plants.  They really want to keep going.

Matthew, your crevice garden is lovely.  Isn't it amazing how many plants a crevice garden will support?

[David Nicholson]

David, Penstemon davidsonii can respond beautifully to being cut back, dug up, any dead roots pruned, and replanted in fresh mix in full sun.  The little shrubby penstemons can also usually be layered for new plants.  They really want to keep going.

Anne, wish I'd known that before it hit the compost heap

[MatthewStuttard]

I'm getting the itch to expand the amount of the garden devoted to alpines but according to the head gardener there isn't another suitable site 
Actually I tend to agree with her, so have made the small addition shown in the attached pic instead 

[MatthewStuttard]

Have not posted for a month! Been away a lot. Activity has quietened in the crevice bed and many plants have gone over, the most vigorous have been given a brutal trim to stop them crowding out the daintier specimens. Antennaria dioica 'Alex Duguid' has a mass of seed heads now (pic). The current highlight is the spectacular and rather curious flower spike of Sempervivum 'Red Spider', which though odd is also very beautiful in close up (see the 'above' pic). S. 'Irazu' is also preparing its display (see Sempervivums pic).

[MatthewStuttard]

Hello! I thought it might be interesting to do a short post showing the garden in its third year.
Overview pictures taken today - which is when both the spring and summer flowerers are in bloom.
Many of the original plants are still going strong. There have been some replacements due to losses from my incompetence, frost and slug.
It is great to see the Physoplexis comosa coming back again this year after it was completely mown down by slug at flowering time last year.

[Maggi Young]

You must be well pleased with it, Matthew - it is so full of flower    Impressive performance even with the frost and slugs.