2015 - Robert's adventures in the Northern Sierra Nevada - California

[Robert]

Robert,

I am glad I can look at "your" plants while waiting for "mine"

Hot dry cliff faces are very rare here!

While we wait, I thought that you might like this photograph of Kolana Rock. Kolona Rock over looks Hetch Hetchy Valley, the sister valley to Yosemite Valley. It is what I image the fiords in Norway must be like, something grand and beautiful.

In some ways I wish that Yosemite and the southern Sierra Nevada were a bit closer to the farm. It is very awesome country, unfortunately about 3 hours away.

[Robert]

Hi Robert,
Linanthus is one of the American wildings which I've always wanted to grow since first seeing a drawing of it by LL (Timmy) Foster in an old ARGS journal. Sadly I've never managed to germinate seed of it from the Seedex; is this one you've had experience with in your home garden? Any hints?
Keep up the good work and more strength to your hiking legs
cheers
fermi

Fermi,

Yes, I have had some experience growing Linanthus in the garden. My plate is a bit too full right now, however I will get back to you on this soon.

[Hoy]

Robert,

That picture of a piece of landscape could have been taken near here! I drive along a fjord (Åkrafjorden) several times a year. The inner part is similar to Kolana Rock.

Here is another kind of fjord - Bømlafjorden just north of the city of Haugesund where I work. It is north of Ryvardneset. (Ryvarden lighthouse).

[Robert]

Robert,

That piece of landscape could have been taken near here! I drive along a fjord (Åkrafjorden) several times a year. The inner part is similar to Kolana Rock.

Here is another kind of fjord - Bømlafjorden just north of the city of Haugesund where I work. It is north of Ryvardneset. (Ryvarden lighthouse).

Trond,

I look forward to images of the fjords.

The coast looks cold, but very beautiful. Very similar to the southeast coast of Alaska.

[Matt T]

Hi Robert & Trond,
Sorry, I saw you comments a couple of days ago but didn't find time to respond.

Have you lived in this region your whole lifetime? It is amazing how one can become such a part of ones natural surroundings when we have lived and interacted with the natural environment for a very long time.

Gardening looks difficult in your area?  I guess that you might use a greenhouse for some of your plants? As I remember, you enjoy growing Narcissus. It seems that you would need a greenhouse or some sort of covering to keep the wet out and get some sort of summer heat?

I've only live in the Western Isles for about 2 ¹/₂ years, and was a frequent (monthly) visitor before then but I've lived in and visited Scotland for much longer. Getting out into our landscape, the lack of made/designated paths ensures that you become familiar with it quite quickly. It is essential to be aware of your surroundings in order to find a safe or convenient route through it. All the time you are scanning the lie of the land and assessing the ground conditions. You quickly develop the skill to know where you can step without sinking to the knee based upon subtle differences in the vegetation. Navigating your way you become familiar with landmarks, a particular shaped rock or lochan, for example. Clearly I don't have the deep-rooted connection with the land that native Hebridean folk would have, but there are parts with which I may well have an more intimate knowledge.

Yes, gardening here is challenging. Cool summers and mild, wet winters are far from ideal. Conversely, the long summer daylight hours and lack of hard frosts can be helpful. However, the main problem is exposure to the wind. It blows almost constantly, can carry huge amounts of rain OR be very drying or worse still salt-laden. Shelter is the only solution, in whatever way it can be provided. We're renting our house, so putting up a greenhouse is not an option right now, but I do have a series of frames, some covered with glass, some shade/wind netting. These provide the much needed protection from the harsh winds, but I'll not lie to you when I say that a warmer, drier and sunnier climate such as that I had on the south coast of England would be very welcome in terms of my gardening exploits. However, the island are beautiful in their wildness and I'm happy to have my mettle tested, which helps me to better understand the needs and limits of my plants.

...they started planting trees all over (some didn't like it then and some doesn't still). ... now most of the area is covered by forests. The preservable thousands of years old heathland has almost disappeared.

There were some experimental forestry plantations established here a few decades ago (in the '70s I believe), mainly sitka spruce and lodgepole pine I think, both non-native species. Thankfully they have not been very successful in a commercial sense. In the more exposed areas these 40 year old trees are still only knee high, dwarfed by the wind and poor soils. Elsewhere, the trees are slow growing, but do give a sense of proper forestry in places, but they are subject to wind throw and period wind burn etc and would not make a good timber crop. Some are being used on a small scale for biomass energy, but many are now amenity areas and prove a big draw to locals and visitors, including many migratory birds, as the only woodland on the islands. Despite a long history of small-scale, hand cutting of peats for fuel, there is still plenty of moorland here.

[Robert]

Matt,

The Western Isles seem completely fascinating. I appreciate you taking the time to write a bit about your home. Maybe we will here more about it?

Gardening seems extremely challenging and yet there are its benefits.

Thanks again!

[Robert]

Fermi,

A follow up on our local Linanthus species. (L.montanus pictured).

First, I am using the older names to describe the species. The Genus Linanthus and some related species have undergone some considerable changes lately. It appears that most of the annual Linanthus species are now Leptosiphon. Locally our Prickly Phlox, Leptodactylon pungens is now Linanthus pungens. I am sure there are many more changes. I have to admit that I am in no hurry to keep up with all the changes, as positions often change back and forth quickly, as with the genus Stipa.

I have had some success growing some of the annual Linanthus species in the garden here. L. bicolor grows a short distance down the road from the farm on the local serpentine formation. Other local species also grow on serpentine too. In the garden here I grow them in sand spread over the existing clay. This seems to work out well as they do reseed a bit, however I was hoping they would seed around a bit more.

Some species such as Linanthus montanus grow on well drained clay slopes. I have not tried any of them yet.

I have not tried Prickly Phlox yet either. It is a high elevation species, however I think that it might grow well here given sharp drainage.

Clearly there is fresh seed from the local populations. Let me know what your needs might be. I will not make any promises however I will do the best I can.

[GordonT]

I have considerable interest in our native Iris species. I was very happy to see that Iris macrosiphon was still in bloom.
In this area most of the Iris had some variation of pale lavender flowers. I did find a few with deeper lavender flowers - the photographs did not turn out. To me, all of them seem very lovely.

Robert, I just noticed your post from early April about Pacific Coast Native Iris... these plants have sparked an interest in me since first encountering them in gardens of Seattle and Vancouver BC. I have been getting seed of open pollinated hybrids and some of the species for trial here in southwestern Nova Scotia. They have surprised me with their resilience. This past winter temperatures dropped to -24C overnight, with daily highs barely creeping above -18 C, and the plants have emerged from the snow looking far better than expected. Do you ever collect seed from the wild? If so, and if you have seed to spare, I would definitely be interested in seed from higher elevation plants. Would love to see some more photos of California iris in the wild!

Cheers,

[johnw]

Gordon  - Those are amazingly low temperatures for that part of the province.  Would Digby have gotten anywhere near those temps?

We had one night to -17.8c very briefly, the winter before we had -17c for the best part of a day and that is extremely rare.

john

[Robert]

Robert, I just noticed your post from early April about Pacific Coast Native Iris... these plants have sparked an interest in me since first encountering them in gardens of Seattle and Vancouver BC. I have been getting seed of open pollinated hybrids and some of the species for trial here in southwestern Nova Scotia. They have surprised me with their resilience. This past winter temperatures dropped to -24C overnight, with daily highs barely creeping above -18 C, and the plants have emerged from the snow looking far better than expected. Do you ever collect seed from the wild? If so, and if you have seed to spare, I would definitely be interested in seed from higher elevation plants. Would love to see some more photos of California iris in the wild!

Cheers,

Gordon,

We have two high altitude Iris species in our area, I. hartwegii with its 2 subspecies and I. missouriensis. Western Blue Flag Iris is wide spread in the west so perhaps this one would not interest you. Iris tenuissima is said to grow in our area however I have never seen in our area.

Given my current situation, I can not make any promises concerning seed. I have no problem gathering seed for you and I will certainly contact you if I do end up with wild seed from this coming season. Everyone could benefit from you experience growing them, successful or not.

Iris hartwegii is blooming within its native range now. I enjoy them greatly, so there will be more photograph when I come across them. The drought might cut their season short this year. We shall see.

[GordonT]

Robert, thank you for the information... I received some seed of Iris hartwegii var australis (mind you- open pollinated from a garden containing other pacific iris species and hybrids) through the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris. Hopefully I'll have good germination, though the seedlings may be hybrids of hartwegii.

Iris macrosiphon looks quite impressive.... what sort of conditions does it take? I have been amazed at the hardiness of some species coming from more coastal areas. One plant that has done well so far is a seedling of Iris 'Harland Hand'- a selection of I douglasiana. Foliage this winter suffered some damage, but the plant is growing. This was its first blooming last spring:

I do have Iris innominata planted out in the landscape, along with a primary hybrid (innominata x tenax- photo below is from last year)
.
I am looking forward to the first bloom of the pure species. All are doing well, so I am game to test more species and hybrids.

John: Our deep dip temperatures came when there was plenty of snow on the ground. A few plants are showing damage where they were above snow cover (Rhododendron 'Lee's Dark Purple' has taken on a rather unflattering two tone horizontal stripe effect- rust brown above, and green below ) Hopefully it will bounce back. Digby was milder, but not by much. Bear River has two things going against it in winter months: higher elevation and being further inland, so our winter lows are deeper, and summer highs are higher. Our daytime temperatures are already routinely higher than on the coast.

[Robert]

Gordon,

Very impressive - your Pacific Coast Iris look excellent.

Iris macrosiphon is very similar to I. hartwegii. It grows at much lower elevations, generally around the 1,000 foot (305 meters) range. Both Iris macrosiphon and I. hartwegii grow in high open shade, and both are 100% xeric.

It certainly seems that you are on the right track giving the various species and varieties a try.

[Robert]

Thursday, 16 April 2015

Weather: Clear

Temperature, High: 77 F (25C)  Low: 38 F (3 C)

This week I did not have much time to get out. To make the best of the situation, I made a quick drive up the mountain to a site near Old Iron Mountain.



We had a fair amount of snow last week. I wanted to check on how quickly it was melting or if there was any snow remaining. Here at 5,451 feet (1,661 meters) I found a few patches of snow.



This site was as good as any to check on the flora. A short distance through the forest there was an open rocky ridgeline  that might be worth checking on.



Viola purpurea was blooming everywhere once I entered the pine forest.



A short distance along I arrive at a seep and forest clearing.

Five Spots (Nemophila maculata) were blooming everywhere.



In addition, there was a beautiful yellow Apiaceaea blooming. It grew abundantly and I am sure it is quite common, however its identity is still unknown to me. My first though was Sanicula tuberosa or something along those lines, however the plants did not key out. Very vexing.

[Robert]

Back in the forest on my way to the ridge I came across Goodyera oblongifolia. This species is seen somewhat frequently in the mid-elevation pine forest.



The rocky ridgeline (5,613 feet, 1711 meters) was not far and it turned out to be a good site to check out.



Eriogonum wrightii var. subscaposum was a dominant species. On the southern exposures many of the plants were dead. Most likely they had given up from the dry, drought conditions. The plant on the northern exposures were looking okay, such as this one.



Viola purpurea were blooming everywhere, both in sunny as well as somewhat shady locations. The soil here was a well drained gravelly, silt of volcanic origins. They were certainly doing well and there were many to check on.



Lewisia kelloggii. I was very pleased to find a few even if they were not in bloom. No flower buds seen either. I do not want to miss them, so I will be back in this area soon.

[Robert]

Allium obtusum was another dominate species. They were blooming everywhere there was adequate sun. All the plants seemed about average - various shades of pale lavender.



On the north facing slopes there were a few Viola sheltonii. I wonder how they are holding up with the drought conditions. I did not see many and there were no flowers or flower buds. I have been observing the same situation with Viola lobata this season.



Higher terrain, like this site, is home to Lupinus breweri. It is a very attractive mat forming species, with very silvery foliage.



I did not have much time and had to return soon. I could have spent more time just examining the Viola purpurea.



So it was back down through the forest to the truck.