Plants flowering in the open rock garden- July 09

[Lori S.]

First flowers on a couple from seed last year -
1) Serratula coronata
2) Sideritis glacialis

[Paul T]

Simon,

That is a bright Silene, isn't it!!

[Sinchets]

It is a stunning colour, Paul.
Lori, that's a lovely Serratula. Have you any information about where it is from?

[Magnar]

Lori: First time i see a white Serratula, interetsing.

A few from my gravel bed the later days:

Dianthus subcaulis
Dianthus plumarius var lumnizeri
Daphne cneroum vairigata
Saussurea stellata, what will become of these buds?

[Lori S.]

What a stunning saussurea, Magnar!  

Just an aside... when Josef Halda spoke at the local alpine garden club this spring, he commented that saussurea could not be transplanted successfullly from pots, and had to be either moved into place as cuttings or grown in place from seed.  I have very little experience at growing them - just a big batch of S. nepalensis this year -but I have not found them (albeit a sample of only one species) sensitive to being moved out of pots.  Perhaps he was talking about plants that had been grown on in pots for much longer?  

I will try to figure out where I got the Serratula from...

[Sinchets]

Sadly for me Saussurea stella is a plant that never coped with the move from Aberdeen down to England     A beautiful little plant, but not one to try in the heat we have I wouldn't think.
The Serratula is really interesting with its almost Centaurea like flower. I just googled it and apparently it is European- growing in North America- So here aremy offerings for today- Americans growing in Europe.
Firstly a plant that doesn't mind being cooked in the summer heat- Zinnia grandiflora- though some rain would help it make a bigger mound!
Second another one for a hot dry place- a self sown Melampodium leucanthum. Hopefully if we get rain soon it will make a bigger mound in flower all the way through till winter. These self sowings have been much more adaptable than the parent, which was nearby last year- it made it through the winter but didn't pull through the spring.

[Magnar]

What a stunning saussurea, Magnar!  

Just an aside... when Josef Halda spoke at the local alpine garden club this spring, he commented that saussurea could not be transplanted successfullly from pots, and had to be either moved into place as cuttings or grown in place from seed.  I have very little experience at growing them - just a big batch of S. nepalensis this year -but I have not found them (albeit a sample of only one species) sensitive to being moved out of pots.  Perhaps he was talking about plants that had been grown on in pots for much longer?  

I will try to figure out where I got the Serratula from...

I have a few Saussureas, and I have never noticed any problems transplanting them. But they have not been growing in pots for more than a few months before I planted them out.

[cohan]

Lori: First time i see a white Serratula, interetsing.

A few from my gravel bed the later days:

Dianthus subcaulis
Dianthus plumarius var lumnizeri
Daphne cneroum vairigata
Saussurea stellata, what will become of these buds?

saussurea is very cool--looks like a bromeliad at this stage..

[Paul T]

Very much like a bromeliad.  Cool! 

[Lesley Cox]

Saussurea belongs to Asteraceae doesn't it? Some of the very woolly, high alpine scree species are magnificent - and difficult I expect.

[Sinchets]

Welcome back, Lesley. Yes there are some great high Himalayan Saussurea, which i suspect would be difficult anywhere hot and dry like here- I am thinking red spider mite city. I'll bet they are easier in Norway though 
Flowering here now- and taking a lot less time to do it than it did in England:
Seseli gummiferum

[cohan]

Flowering here now- and taking a lot less time to do it than it did in England:
Seseli gummiferum

interesting plant! is it Apiaceae? how large, cant quite work out the scale in the pic...

[Stephenb]

Seseli gummiferum: Well, that one's a lot easier with you than in Norway  - I've tried and I'm jealous!! Beautiful plant... I actually bought a plant many years ago in the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, but it was doomed to freeze to death... Other Seseli spp have survived here though-I've just dug out an S. montanum I've had for many years.

I suppose you haven't tried bleeding the stem for the gum it's supposed to yield?

[Magnar]

Saussurea stella has opened the buds

[ranunculus]

Certainly worth every minute of the wait, Magnar ... a glorious little thing.