Plants flowering in the open rock garden- July 09

[Lesley Cox]

The yellow Scutellaria is superb Lori. It takes me right back to Greece where it bloomed in gravel drifts at the side of the mountain roards. I used to grow it well too in a warmer garden but here, I can't even get the seed to germinate. Thomas H has sent me two lots and not a sausage.

[cohan]

Pardon me, since none of these is really in the rock garden, but they are sort of rock garden-ish... ?
1) Antirrhinum sempervirens is starting to bloom.  (I remain quite amazed that it's proven to be hardy here.)
2) Scutellaria orientalis ssp. alpina
3) Scutellaria alpina
4) Penstemon barbatus (shown here with Allium moly) are starting to bloom throughout the front yard in their many colours.

the scutellarias are nice--love the green! i photographed wild Stachys today, but havent seen the native Scutellaria yet this year..

i sowed Allium moly last year, with no results...lol

[cohan]

Thank you, Magnar!

Also, I'm impressed that the small specialty garden center I've gotten various penstemons from, evidently takes pains to ensure that their stock is labelled correctly (not just from this one, but from others I've keyed out).  Bravo!
  Anyway, there is the starting point of penstemon identification... the shape of the anther sacs, which leads one to the penstemon group, and thence, eventually, to the actual species.  Wow!

3) Eriogonum schockleyi... just planted this spring (so I can't claim to have actually grown it yet.  

some impressive keying work, lori
which garden centre is that?
love the eriogonum! as i do, i think, most of them! but flat and silver is very good for me

[Sinchets]

Which Scutellaria would that be, Cohan? I have S.resinosa, but I am not sure if that onegets as far north as you. Are you still interested in Scutellaria, Lesley? Hopefully off on a sed hunting day to the limestone slopes where S.orientalis grows (Big River Gorge).
Flowering now:
Ptilostemon casabonae- if there are plants outside the gates of hell this might be one of them 
Dianthus nardiformis- a Bulgarian native with a very long flowering season- midway through now- but it will rebloom in autumn.

[Paul T]

  Ptilostemon casabonae is cool, but nasty!!    Nice Verbascum in the background too by the looks of it.

[Ragged Robin]

Lots of thistle type plants popping up in rocks and dry places here - insects love them!

the Dianthus nardiformis has very pretty edging on the petals and I  love that colour with the silver leaves, Simon 

[Sinchets]

I really do like thistles and cornflowers- fantastic for butterflies.
The Verbascum made its own way into the garden- we have quite a few locall,y but I don't have a good enough key to work outall but the more obvious ones. There are some fantastic ones down south in the Rodopi mountains I hope to find soon. 

[cohan]

Which Scutellaria would that be, Cohan? I have S.resinosa, but I am not sure if that onegets as far north as you. Are you still interested in Scutellaria, Lesley? Hopefully off on a sed hunting day to the limestone slopes where S.orientalis grows (Big River Gorge).
Flowering now:
Ptilostemon casabonae- if there are plants outside the gates of hell this might be one of them 
Dianthus nardiformis- a Bulgarian native with a very long flowering season- midway through now- but it will rebloom in autumn.

great thistle! i saw a huge one from the car the other day--single head a couple inches or more across and hot magenta...not sure if thats C vulgare or something else... its a road nearby that seems to have different flora than any other road i travel--i've actually seen what seems to be some bedrock poking out--might just be large erratics--but thats really unheard of around here.. so maybe some spots with shallow soils, would like to try to get there to look around...also potentilla fruticosa, which i had never seen wild nearer than the foothills..

looking forward to the fruits of your trips...

the Scutellaria is S galericulata/epilobiifolia..its a marsh plant -'10-80cm' tall, my book says, if i remember right, around here its usually somewhere in the middle of that..nice long violet flowers, but not densely packed spikes..very pretty, though the Stachys (S palustris) is probably a bit showier..

[Lesley Cox]

Simon, yes, I'd be very intersted in S. orientalis and alpina but especially the former. I just love that plant. Used to grow it well.

[Magnar]

Gentiana algida flowering after 4 years.

[cohan]

Gentiana algida flowering after 4 years.

do you mean it did not flower for 4 years? or its 4 years from seed? either way, it looks like its worth the wait

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Superb Magnar !! 

[Lori S.]

1) Gypsophila silenoides, now in full bloom, forming a haze of white flowers; it would probably be more compact in full sun, and I will eventually move it there... when I figure out a space for it.
2) Silene saxifraga, still going strong.
3) I've gotten a much better appreciation lately for the many beautiful sempervivum cultivars that are available and have added a few in the last couple of years... Sempervivum x 'Ruby Heart'.  I can almost imagine some of them to be tiny agaves...
4) Sempervivum x 'Bronco'
5) Sempervivum x 'Blue Boy'
6) An old unknown sempervivum that is, nonetheless, a favourite for its very large rosettes.

Oh, and I keyed out the purple penstemon... I'm delighted that it seems to match P. whippleanus!  

[Magnar]

Gentiana algida flowering after 4 years.

do you mean it did not flower for 4 years? or its 4 years from seed? either way, it looks like its worth the wait

I mean it took four years from the seeds germinated and till I have the first flower.

[cohan]

13) I've gotten a much better appreciation lately for the many beautiful sempervivum cultivars that are available and have added a few in the last couple of years... Sempervivum x 'Ruby Heart'.  I can almost imagine some of them to be tiny agaves...
4) Sempervivum x 'Bronco'
5) Sempervivum x 'Blue Boy'
6) An old unknown sempervivum that is, nonetheless, a favourite for its very large rosettes.

Oh, and I keyed out the purple penstemon... I'm delighted that it seems to match P. whippleanus!  

great colour on blue boy--almost like an echeveria.. unusually long leaves on the last one! i recently got a couple of packages of tiny semps from europe...they are potted and recovering from the mailing....lol first set are starting to show true character now... great colours and forms...