Notes from Norway

[astragalus]

That is such a lovely soft blue, especially against the foliage.  Just a nice plant (which doesn't appear to accept heat, humidity and drought in the garden.

[ashley]

Isn't it a lovely plant?  The foliage is a beautiful hazy blue too (hard to capture accurately in a photograph).
Here it is in NW Iceland (Westfjords, Þingeyri harbour), but we also came across small populations further along the north and west coasts.
 

[Robert]

Trond,

Mertensia maritima certainly appears to be a beauty and most likely impossible to grow in hot inland California. I agree with the others, the foliage seems most attractive too.

[Hoy]

Yes it is a lovely species and I assume very hard to grow in any garden! Especially the subspecies from Svalbard (Mertensia maritima ssp tenella). It start flowering at a very early stage, quite small.




Look here also:

http://svalbardflora.no/index.php?id=680

[Hoy]

Continue Kragerøskjærgården (Kragerø Archipelago) - Stråholmen island.

One of the locals - a nymph of (Tettigonia viridissima) great green bush-cricket. This species is common here.




Sea aster (Tripolium pannonicum) blooms late. It is also very common and always grows with its roots in salt water or salty soil.




The cross between the yellow bedstraw Galium verum and the white Galium mollugo gets pale yellow flowers.




Quite small but very nice. Eyebright (possibly Euphrasia stricta).




Common skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata) is common but I like the blue flowers between the rocks.

[Hoy]

Meadow. This island was inhabited by pilots. They waited for ships to appear in the horizon and rowed or sailed down to them. They had cows for milk and a small kitchen garden for vegetables. Some also had fruit trees.




Notice the difference. To the left of the fence: no animals, to the right: sheep.




Sea kale land






Layers of seaweed. Some winter storms accumulate dead seaweeds other remove it. Until WW2 people living here used it like manure in the kitchen garden and on the meadows.

[Hoy]

Trees and shrubs. It is many different species on the islands, here are some.

A small tree of buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and a Sorbus species. Sorbus is especially common around here with some endemic species as well.



Leaves of a Sorbus.




The guelder rose (Viburnum opulus).




Barberry (Berberis vulgaris). One of the many thorny plants here.




Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) By far the commonest conifer on the islands (well, maybe juniper is commoner).

[Tim Ingram]

Trond - Elizabeth Strangman and Graham Gough at Washfield Nursery (as was) used to grow Mertensia maritima well on a sandy raised bed but it is a martyr to slugs!! It is not easy to keep but sets seed very reliably and is easy to raise from seed. Quite a few nurseries are listed as growing it in the Plantfinder. It's worth trying in a sand bed with minimal humus along with sedums and the like and the wonderful sea holly and sea poppy. There are many very interesting American montane species in the genus that Robert may grow or have grown(?) - this is a quote from 'Western American Alpines' by Ira Gabrielson:

'M. longifolia (M. pulchella, M. horneri) stands at the head of the list of dwarfs. It is unbelievably lovely, with one or two big, ovate, blue-green, basal leaves and not more than two or three smaller stem-leaves that diminish rapidly towards the hanging clusters of long pale blue trumpets with crinkled bells... This species has proved to be rather fussy, its thickened almost bulbous root showing a tendency to disappear that is truly astonishing. Again, it will reappear in the most unexpected places in the garden years after it has vanished from a given spot. Its beauty is so great, however, that no trouble should be too great to get it established under moraine conditions...'

[Hoy]

Tim,

I have tried growing some of the other species in the genus at home but they disappear - probably due to slugs. I also intend to try M. maritima here at our summerhouse down by the beach

In Svalbard we observed thousands of seedlings in the gravel at the beach. But no seed whe I was there

[Hoy]

More trees. Mixed hardwood and conifer forest.




Oaks. This patch is grazed by calves.






Black alder (Alnus glutinosa). Dense crown but open when you get into a pure stand, always on seasonally wet soil.

[Lori S.]

Yes it is a lovely species and I assume very hard to grow in any garden! Especially the subspecies from Svalbard (Mertensia maritima ssp tenella). It start flowering at a very early stage, quite small.

Mertensia maritima was actually very easy to grow in the garden here!  Unfortunately, being a lazy gardener, I let it be overwhelmed by other plants and eventually lost it.  Of course, I haven't seen it anywhere since.

I'm enjoying your photo essay hugely, Trond!  What a great tour of the local plants and sights!

[Rick R.]

Scutellaria galericulata also grows in our wet prairies here Minnesota (north central USA).
https://www.nargs.org/comment/20608#comment-20608

[Robert]

Trond and Tim,

We have a number of Mertensia that are native to California as well other parts of the Western U.S.A.

Mertensia ciliata has been the easiest species for me to grow. In California, M. longiflora grows mostly in Northeast California, Modoc Counrty. It is a very choice species, unfortunately a bit more difficult to grow. It is also considered Rare and Endangered, at least here in California. The range of M. oblongifolia, in California, is Modoc County in the northeast and Eastern California on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. It is another good species, well worth growing. It likes drier conditions during the summer.

M. cusickii and M. bella are both on the California Rare and Endangered listing. I do not have any experience with them.

M. franciscana is somewhat of a mystery to me. It is said to grow in El Dorado County (where I live). One of many plants I have been wanting to investigate but have not had the time. 

I will be very happy when I have more time to travel farther from home as there is so much to see here in California. There are many sites I have not been able to visit for many years now.

I did go up into the mountains yesterday. Mostly to regain my health, however I did see some interesting plants and I brought my camera. Not too many pictures though. I will post them as I am feeling much better now and hopefully I can find time. Very busy, too busy.

[Hoy]

Thanks Lori

Did you grow the Mertensia in ordinary soil or in your tufa bed? Make sense it dislike competition.

[Hoy]

Rick,

I remember your thread but not the skullcap Interesting that a species has so wide distribution both geographically and climatically.