June 2015 in the Northern Hemisphere

[François Lambert]

a few others, not all of them really doing well, the Cautleya is really a bit too minimalistic

[meanie]

in a remote corner I have a small pot of Oxalis Triangularis.  Purchased decades ago, thrives best when being neglected a bit.  Attemps to have them multiply faster had just the opposite effect.

I divided mine last spring and they all romped away. The clump that I planted out survived and are almost in bloom, the two in pots that received all the winter care haven't put in a show at all 

[Gabriel B]

Here are some of the stars of the boggy (or more precisely fenny) area at Gardens of Rice Creek in Fridley, Minnesota: the candelabra primroses Primula bulleyana 'Glowing Embers' and 'Fuchsia', and three huge clumps of the Minnesota state flower, Cypripedium reginae, the showy lady's slipper orchid. They were blooming on schedule, in the second week of June, and many people stopped by to see them.







And a view of part of the garden from up on the hill. You can see the white of the lady's slipper petals, and the bright coral-pink of the candelabra primroses.

[Gabriel B]

Highlights from my garden in Minneapolis, Minnesota this June:

Large-flowered beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus). It blooms for a short time, but the flowers are large and lovely, pastel purple, and the leaves are rounded and gray-green. I'm going to create a few large clumps for a brief early-summer show.



Tiny American lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea subsp. minus) with cute little mouse-ear leaves and new shoots.



A native harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) clump. I always wanted to grow huge clumps like the huge harebell bouquets I saw blooming in the Rockies.



Fumarioideae mugshots: Pseudofumaria ochroleuca, Pseudofumaria lutea, Adlumia fungosa, Dicentra 'King of Hearts', Dicentra eximia. This is a group of plants I'm obsessed with, and I have ten species and varieties, many of which are blooming now. The flowers are so interestingly shaped, and four of the ones shown here bloom for a long time in the summer and autumn.



My several-year-old Cyclamen purpurascens patch, lit by the morning sun. This is the only cyclamen reliably hardy in Minnesota. I'm enchanted by the brightly colored and long-lasting flowers against the green and silver leaves, and the heavenly fragrance. The plants are more beautiful each year. I'll grow many more from last year's heavy crop of seed, which will soon be ripe, and create cyclamen beds under the oak trees at Gardens of Rice Creek.

[Jupiter]

Penstemon grandiflorus is a wonderful plant and new to me. I've put it straight on my 'wants' list. Thanks for sharing those Gabriel

[Jupiter]

Penstemon grandiflorus is a wonderful plant and new to me. I've put it straight on my 'wants' list. Does it flower in the first year from seed?

[meanie]

Penstemon grandiflorus is a wonderful plant and new to me. I've put it straight on my 'wants' list. Does it flower in the first year from seed?

My "personal experience" of it comes from Oxfords Botanic Gardens. There they turned a bed over to a no watering, self seeding regime. The seed was scattered early spring and P.grandiflorus was in bloom in July (as I recall, I would have to find the photos to confirm). It's a very impressive plant in the flesh.

[Tim Ingram]

What a wonderful planting of cypripedium Gabriel! Would love to have the moisture in the garden to allow us to grow this. Penstemon grandiflorus is closer to what suits our dry summer garden (really dry this summer). This is a fascinating and frustrating genus to grow but that picture shows why it is worth the effort. I will look out for seed.

[Gabriel B]

Jamus, I have a relatively short experience with Penstemon grandiflorus, since I bought one plant three years ago, then bought a few more this spring from another gardener and had many come up from my own seed. The plant doesn't bloom in the first year (it sprouts in April and only has a few leaves by June), but it may bloom in the second year. I'll find out next year.

You might have a tough time growing them, however, because they are native to a cold-winter and moist-summer (or at least not completely dry-summer) climate. They might adapt to a Mediterranean climate by growing in the winter, or they might try to grow in the summer and fail from the dryness and heat. Perhaps they would survive in an irrigated part of the garden.


Tim, the credit for the planting goes to Betty Ann Addison. She has been growing and dividing these orchids for many years, and has a lovely spring-watered area above Rice Creek. Like yours, my garden is far too dry for orchids.

P. grandiflorus would certainly be good to try. Unlike many penstemons, this one will not fail if it stays somewhat moist. It grows in drier areas of Minnesota, but many more westerly penstemons will not grow here at all. I've also got P. strictus (deep blue-purple), which comes from the Rocky Mountains, and my theory is that some of the mountain species are more moisture-tolerant than the Plains ones.



I might try P. cyananthus next, a species native to the Wasatch Range east of Salt Lake City, Utah. Its flowers are pure blue.

There are also all the small white or pink eastern species, not quite as showy as P. grandiflorus, but even more moisture-tolerant. I've got Penstemon digitalis, which is taller and has candelabras of white flowers. I grow it at the top of a hill with the other penstemons. The white is quite striking. All penstemons have beautifully structured flower clusters.

[Jupiter]

Thank you Gabriel for your advice and you're right, our climate is not a good one for P.grandiflorus, but I MUST try! I grow a lot of things which shouldn't be here (I'm sure gardeners everywhere can relate) and some of them manage with supplementary water. I'm going to give it a shot from seed. I planted Penstemon digitalis, a cultivar called Husker's red this year. It looks to be a beautiful plant from the pictures I've seen. It'll make a nice addition to my purple and silver themed garden.

[Roma]

Double Silene - covers itself in flowers every year
Yellow lupin is doing well this year
Very surprised Lavandula stoechas 'Silver Anouk' survived outside
Celmisia
Corydalis elata (or is it omeiana)

[Lori S.]

Thank you Gabriel for your advice and you're right, our climate is not a good one for P.grandiflorus, but I MUST try! I grow a lot of things which shouldn't be here (I'm sure gardeners everywhere can relate) and some of them manage with supplementary water.

It's gardeners in wet and humid places that usually have problems keeping penstemons for any length of time, and tend to have more success with the few eastern species, that are adapted to such conditions.  Dry conditions are more favourable to many species of penstemon (again, similar to their native haunts) and promote longevity, so it may be that they'd flourish for you... ?

[Tim Ingram]

Roma, some great plants there! The celmisia with all those frames in the background is especially appealing .

[meanie]

Jamus, I have a relatively short experience with Penstemon grandiflorus, since I bought one plant three years ago, then bought a few more this spring from another gardener and had many come up from my own seed. The plant doesn't bloom in the first year (it sprouts in April and only has a few leaves by June), but it may bloom in the second year. I'll find out next year.

Interesting to hear the experience of someone who actually has grown them - thanks. I have a pods worth of seed somewhere which I must sow soon.

A cracking little Penstemon in dry conditions is P.smallii...............


Short lived in my experience (it goes into decline from about year three) but fully hardy. It self seeds freely.

[Jupiter]

I grew P. smallii from seed two years ago. It flowered for me the first year and was a great specimen in the second, then it died... I germinated more seed this year and noticed a few self seeded near the original plants, so I'll have it again and hopefully it'll last longer this time. Not sure what killed it... drought probably.