Plants flowering in the open rock garden.June '09

[Maggi Young]

While I have not been lucky enough to visit Tromsø myself, Ian has toldme how wonderful the Botanic Garden is.... and how fine many private gardens are, too. Finn Haugli has tempted us with his talks about the TBG and now Viggo is doing just the same!
Have you ever seen so many  flowers on a Dryas octopetala mat?   Or on a Gentiana verna angulosa, come to that ? !
I tell you, this place must be magical to be so beautiful!  


Edit : I have made a new thread for all these lovely June photos.

[Sinchets]

Some lovely pics, makes me wish I was back up a mountain today looking at the spring flowers 
Flowering now:
Origanum tytthantum - a real butterfly magnet- seen here with a Meadow Brown- there were also Map Butterflies - but these were camera shy 
Leptodactylon californicum- the first flower- hopefully more to come

[Lori S.]

Incredible photos!

A few meagre offerings from here:
1) Astragalus angustifolius
2) Leptodactylon pungens ssp. pulchrifolium - it's only had a few flowers, but I'm impressed that it survived the winter!
3) Carduncellus pinnatus
4) Saxifraga longifolia hybrid
5, 6) Silene saxifraga
7) Saxifraga paniculata v. minutifolia 'Red-backed Spider"... or so it was said to be - I've not been able to find any reference to a cultivar of that name.
Interesting seedpods on Astragalus purshii var. lectulus

[Paul T]

Lori,

Lovely pics.  I really love the Carduncellus pinnatus.  I think I prefer it in flower rather than in bud, but they are both so very cool.  Such an amazing radial design.  How big actually IS the plant?  Hard to tell from the pic, but it looks like it could be a reasonable size?  Not something I've ever encountered in real life, so I have no size reference in my head. 

[Lori S.]

Thanks, Paul.  A rosette of Carduncellus pinnatus is about 15cm in diameter, in my conditions, anyway.

[Paul T]

So it is quite petite then..... very cool.  Thanks for the extra info.

[Lesley Cox]

And then there's this one Paul, but not in flower here at the moment, Carduncellus rhaponticoides.


This doesn't best show the arrangement of the rosette which like pinnatus' is immaculate in its layout of the single rosette. Both are somehow less pristine once they have clumped to several rosettes. This one too, grows to about 15 cms in diameter but sometimes they'll bloom at quite a lot less, and totally stemless of course. Propagate from root cuttings. I've never had fertile seed from either and if you see it on the occasional seedlist, don't bother. (Anyone know differently from this?)

I took this 18 months ago. Not sure what the white spots are, a passing seagull maybe.

Thanks for the link, by the way.

[Lvandelft]

Lesley beat me with this, found this evening a picture from an old dia. The color is not so good, but the rozette is nice though.
My experience is that this Carduncellus rhaponticoides is easier to keep longer alive.
The C. pinnatus often will flower to death.

[Lesley Cox]

Mine never flowered that much but I did lose it in a trough when a dianthus grew over it. I find the flower of pinnatus is a slightly greyish lavender while rhaponticoides tends towards a clear purple. I'm very fond of them both though so prickly. The fine prickles on the leaf edges of the latter can cause excruciating pain if they're not pulled out, like a blackberry prickle left in the finger.

[Lori S.]

I've had C. pinnatus flowering annually over a few years but not yet flowering itself to death ... which does, however, sound wonderfully dramatic, LOL!  (Though really irritating, in reality, IMO!)
It would seem like a terrible waste of effort for a plant to flower itself to death yet not produce viable seed...    My plants  produce abundant seed, but I guess I should attempt to germinate it prior to offering it in the seed exchanges.

A not-so-quaintly-symmetrical double...

[Lvandelft]

Maybe the words 'flowering to death' was a little exaggerate. What I meant was that I noticed that after flowering
so rich and right in the middle of the rosette the flowerhead is rotting away and the whole plant disappears, mostly when
it is a very wet summer. The roots will rot and not thrive again. But that is my experience.

[Lori S.]

1) Delosperma nubigenum - planted last year.  It came through the winter very well.
2, 3) Vella spinosa - it is rather interesting in the way that bare spiky branches form a mesh over the leafier stems below.
4) Penstemon procerus, local wild form.
5) And Delosperma basuticum, from about a week ago.  (Also planted last year, and wintered well.)

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Good show Lori !
Interesting to see the Delosperma overwintering that well in your climate !!

[Ragged Robin]

Lovely colourings, Lori, the

Penstemon procerus, local wild form

is a dream 

[Paul T]

Thanks for the further pics and info on the Carduncellus everyone.  Sounds like I need to find it here in Aus.  I just love the form to it.  Would be worthwhile trying it I think, hopefully with some advice at the time.  Anyone out there in Aus who has a spare plant they can send me (Heck, I think it is worthwhile asking, even if a positive response is not expected  ).  I think the smaller unusual plants are just so interesting, but will make sure I look out for prickles on the edges of the leaves by the sound of it. 

Thanks again.

And Beautiful pics, Lori.  The Delosperma look lovely, particularly that last one.