May 09 in the Rockies

[cohan]

Cohan,
I love the little Dodecatheon.  Beautiful!! That is one impressive plait as well.... must take a while to brush your hair when you take it out! 

thanks paul, i love the dodecatheon too! we have some around here, but much taller--i think i see them in roadsides/pastures, but havent been able to stop to photograph any, i've searched on my uncle's farm here, they used to grow there, but i think they have been overgrown by grasses and willows etc...

the hair doesnt take so long, i'm  a pro

just a couple more sets to go on this thread, but thats it for tonight (this morning? 1 am here)

[Luc Gilgemyn]

It really doesn't stop Cohan !! 
What a great wilderness - what a wonderful series !
Thanks again for sharing !

sigh.... must go back.... sigh

[Gerdk]

A trip and a landscape to dream of. Thank you Cohan!

- and these delicate primula!

Gerd

[ranunculus]

Magical posting, Cohan ...

[cohan]

thanks, gerd, cliff, luc--
i do feel lucky to have this (relatively) close...
hopefully i can make another trip that way soon to see what may be flowering later in the season; this past weekend we went south into alberta's cactus country, so those pics will come soon (not as many...lol)

[Sinchets]

So many interesting plants and tough little things too I would imagine. Is it hot and dry there in summer?
The Brassica looks like a Draba I once had from a seed exchange. It wasn't true to name, but did look like yours.

[Paul T]

Cohan,

Cute little Primula and second Dodecatheon.  I love the Dodecs, although have not grown many of them.  Such fascinating flowers on them.

[Sinchets]

You should try some, Paul. They seem happy here and with their summer dormancy escape the worst of the heat. 

[Paul T]

Simon,

They're not exactly "freely available" here in Aus.  I have grown a couple from seed in the past, and still have one species persisting at the moment.  I lost my lovely pot of medieia (can't recall the spelling right now, getting late) that I had had for years.  Dried out too much one summer I think and never returned.  Was most disappointing.  I think I still have D. jeffreyii, if memory serves me.  Would love more of them as they have the most interesting flowers.  Great to be able to enjoy them here on the forums at any time of year.

[Sinchets]

We have seeds on some D.meadia (possibly hybrids) just now and I am currently growing Dd.conjugens and jeffreyi from US wild seeds. You are right though they are little stunners when flowering. We have them in a woodland bed where they are quite, dry but shaded in summer.

[Ragged Robin]

Cohan, if only there was a pop up to say you'd been on a trip - as a latecomer I am completely blown away by your epic journey of epic proportions - the landscapes and skyscapes and sheets of different coloured waters are like giant canvases, each one with its own time- honoured tale to tell.  With you as narrator the whole experience comes to life and I love the juxtaposition of the miniscule with the massive - not a sprint it seems but a marathon and at every stage a prize worth finding.  Thanks so much for the energy required to capture and show us this wonderful world on the run 

[cohan]

So many interesting plants and tough little things too I would imagine. Is it hot and dry there in summer?
The Brassica looks like a Draba I once had from a seed exchange. It wasn't true to name, but did look like yours.

thanks simon, i will look at drabas...
in the plains area, they need to be tough for sure-apart from spots near rivers (then subject to flooding of course, last year that area with the dodecatheons was probably under water.), low wet spots, and, i think, areas at the base of mountains on the right side where snow probably gathers, the area overall is dry all year--we went in february, and most spots right on the Kootenay Plains were just as bare and dry as now, and it seems to be always windy, as i think wind funnels through that space between the mountains...

the alberta rockies are dryish overall, though a bit farther west and higher up (along the icefields parkway for example) it is not as dry as the easternmost edge and lower elevations: most of the big weather systems come from the pacific, and have had a lot of their moisture knocked out by the coastal mountain ranges, then much of what is left catches on the western side of the rockies in b.c. (beautiful rain forest there), some is still left for the highest mountains in alberta, but by the time the clouds get to the lower eastern mountains, they dont drop much precipitation....

hot is another issue altogether--certainly temps of high 20s at least can happen, probably occasionally and in sheltered pockets it could hit 30, but this is still fairly far north and high elevation--the lower areas i'm guessing at around 12-1300m so chilly winds are never far, and cloudy weather is usually cool--even down here at 900+metres, we have been having a chilly summer--a few days in may in high 20's, then nothing much above low-mid 20s, and not much of that...today's high is supposed to be 15C, and we have had nights not far above freezing...no doubt at those higher elevations frosts occur throughout the summer...

[cohan]

We have seeds on some D.meadia (possibly hybrids) just now and I am currently growing Dd.conjugens and jeffreyi from US wild seeds. You are right though they are little stunners when flowering. We have them in a woodland bed where they are quite, dry but shaded in summer.

do these species stay tiny for you?
my wildflower book gives size ranges from 10-20cm fro conjugens and 5-50 for pulchellum..not sure if different clones stick to a height, or if its all environmental..certainly a number of plants that grow higher up and here are much taller down here...
here, the dodecs are flowers basically of wet meadows, what we call sloughs, which could have standing water in spring and in wet years, and could be dry or merely moist in dryer years/by midsummer..i suspect similar of the spots i found them in the mountains...

[cohan]

Cohan, if only there was a pop up to say you'd been on a trip - as a latecomer I am completely blown away by your epic journey of epic proportions - the landscapes and skyscapes and sheets of different coloured waters are like giant canvases, each one with its own time- honoured tale to tell.  With you as narrator the whole experience comes to life and I love the juxtaposition of the miniscule with the massive - not a sprint it seems but a marathon and at every stage a prize worth finding.  Thanks so much for the energy required to capture and show us this wonderful world on the run 

thanks, robin--i probably started the thread around the time you were going on your trip..i know what you mean though, hard to get to all the wonderful threads on here!
this day trip certainly felt like a sprint, but the posting has definitely been marathon...lol

[Maggi Young]

this day trip certainly felt like a sprint, but the posting has definitely been marathon...lol

  I'm sure it can feel like that for you to prepare all the pix and write the posts, cohan, but the end result feels like a great visit for the reader and is much appreciated, I assure you!