Olsynium douglasii

[WimB]

Can anyone tell me what the best growing conditions are for this species. I have it growing in a very sunny spot but it doesn't seem to like it there very much.

Thanks

Wim

[Giles]

Hi Wim,
The AGS Encyclopaedia has it as Sisyrinchium douglasii.
It states:
'Sagebrush shrub and open pinewoods, usually in moist hollows'

The RHS Encyclopaedia (has it as Olsynium) says:
'For cool, semi-shaded positions, in peat pockets, in the rock garden or peat bed'

If you would like photocopies or scans, let me know.
Giles

[WimB]

So that's the reason it doen't grow very well, too dry and sunny. I'll replant it.
Thanks Giles

[Ed Alverson]

So that's the reason it doen't grow very well, too dry and sunny. I'll replant it.
Thanks Giles

Wim, in the wild Olsynium douglasii usually grows in sunny, rocky habitats that may be moist in spring but become very dry in the summer.  Here is a photo taken last month in the Columbia River Gorge on the field trip that followed the NARGS Western Winter Study Weekend, on an open south-facing slope though on a rainy day.  So the location you have it may not be the problem, perhaps is is an issue of soil type/nutrients or too much moisture when the plants are not actively growing?

I just planted a couple of plants of this species in a trough but they haven't been in long enough to provide any advice.  I suspect that it could be a challenging plant to grow in climates that have damp, rainy winters.

Note also that this is a David Douglas plant!

Ed

[Lesley Cox]

I lost my original when it became summer dry. Now it and its lovely white form do well in a raised bed with very humusy/gritty compost and which never dries out completely. Companions are small rhodos, primulas, asiatic gentians of the sino-ornata type, etc. Iris winogradowii and its hybrids flourish here too.

[Rodger Whitlock]

On , a low (200⁺ meter) eminence near me, Sisyrinchium douglasii grows profusely on west-facing slopes. I've often seen it at about the 100m contour in the SW lobe of the park.

It grows in thick sheets of moss that lie over the rock on fairly steep slopes; no real depth of soil, and in summer bone dry.

When I read of moist hollows, peat pockets, and peat beds, I cannot relate this to the growing sites I've seen.

However, these sites are soaking wet in winter and early spring as rainfall trickles down the slopes, but the moisture is never stagnant.

I don't know what this all means in terms of cultivation.

[WimB]

Hmmm,

so it should like it were it is. It's relatively wet in spring and winter and very dry in summer (unless it is a very rainy summer, what might happen since I live in Belgium  ). Maybe I should try it in two places ;-)

Thanks for the info

Wim