Flowering Now - May 2009

[cohan]

Cohan, yes I think you should get seeds from just one plant of Erigeron if there are insects around. I have a E.compositus- but I have had it so long and for so many generationsI am not sure how pure it is- the leaves and flowers look the same, but the plant is now much bigger- maybe 15cm.

tks simon and lori for the erigeron reply..we also have local wild species, but none in the immediate vicinity, and not blooming as soon as this first flush presumably will...this plant has not very exciting white daisies, but the plant itself is very charming..
if i do see seed (oh--there are PLENTY  of insects around!) you are welcome to some, simon..

[cohan]

Cohan, NARGS offers both wild-collected and garden-raised seed in the seed exchange... the list is vast.  

tks, lori--i suppose i should break down and join nargs..that just means less money for plants plus i have long meant to join cactus and succulent society of america, haworthia society, etc etc...

magnar--some real beauties-- a good reminder i need to look at anemone, too!
luc--splendid garden--i like the idea of a structured perimeter with more naturalistic interior..

[Sinchets]

Thanks Cohan- I have more Erigeron yet to flower here, mainly North American, you don't seem to have many 'duds' over there 

[Lori S.]

Thanks, Magnar and Simon!  The V. bombycina ssp. bolkardaghensis is from Wrightman's Alpines... got it in my spring order last year.  It originates from Turkey, apparently.

[hadacekf]

Luit,
Your raised beds are really beautiful and you have still so much empty place!

[Magnar]

Thanks Magnar, I have seedlings this year from Ron Ratko. Any idea how they cope with summer heat?
Lori, is the Veronica from EuroSeeds?

I'm not sure they will be happy in summer heat. Where I saw them in the mountains they were growing in north slopes where water from the melting snow further up was running among them.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Here's some flowering for me :

1) Iris hookeri
2) Penstemon 'Six Hills'
3) Oxalis 'Ione Hecker'
4) Primula flaccida (Thanks Lesley !!  )
5) Aquilegia 'Blueberry'
6-7-8-9 : All wonderful hybrids of Lewisia x rediviva - magic from Michael J. Campbell !! - and they're barely starting to flower Michael !! 

[Rodger Whitlock]

Thanks Cohan- I have more Erigeron yet to flower here, mainly North American, you don't seem to have many 'duds' over there 

Ah, what you need is a thicket of Gaultheria shallon, aka "salal". It's redeeming virtues are two: its foliage is cut and sold to the florist trade as "lemon leaves", and its berries make a very highly flavored jelly, like black currant, but moreso.

Otherwise, a rather nondescript suckering ericaceous shrub that under ideal conditions can form impenetrable thickets 10' high. "Ideal conditions" means up the coast from Vancouver at Aristazabel Island, where the annual rainfall is measured in the hundreds of inches.

Parhaps the reason you have a "no duds" attitude is that historically, North American plants were considered quite temperamental in cultivation. I speculate that given the perceived difficulty of growing them, no one bothered with any that weren't in the first rank.

[Lori S.]

Try growing it here, Rodger, LOL!  (I did, in my earlier, more naive, days!)  Just goes to show, we always want what we can't (easily) have! 

[Ragged Robin]

Some pics form the later days:

 Trollius laxus albiflorus 09
 Pulsatilla alpina 09
 Anemone nemorosa Green Fingers 09
 Pulsatilla vernalis 09

Absolutely wonderful plants and photos, Magnar - which to choose specially?  All of them! 

[Lori S.]

Townsendia leptotes... please don't tell me this is one of the monocarpic ones!   
Polemonium confertum, developing buds...
Draba ventosa.

[maggiepie]

First flower on my Aquilegia Viridiflora, am utterly charmed by the flower but can't detect any scent but the flower isn't fully open yet.
Maybe tomorrow.
I sowed the seed last spring and planted them out in the garden where they survived our horrible winter.
Plants are only tiny and the sawflies are around already grrrrrrrrr!!

[Sinchets]

Thanks Magnar- that's one for the shade bed then.
Lori- i liked the look of the Veronica in your pics- so maybe seeds will be on my next Euroseeds order. Oh and I have seen T.leptodes listed as perennial 
Rodger- I meant Erigerons in particular. I am not sure how a shrub from your temperate rainforest would cope here in our dry summer heat.
Luc, Aquilegia ‘Blueberry’ looks good- and ideas as to its parentage?
Lovely Aquilegia viridiflora- I’ve never had any luck with it- so well done!

[Ragged Robin]

How unusual Helen, do describe the scent when the flowers are fully open  

[Maggi Young]

Helen, I found that the flowers really scented best in the late afternoon and evening ...but that was in Aberdeen weather   The flowers may need to be open fully for a day before the scent is noticeable... it is really  delicious!