Flowering now- July 2009

[Lori S.]

1) It's not much to look at with its small, raggedy flowers but Dianthus monspessulanus perfumes the air with a fragrance most unlike dianthus... a sweet perfume rather than the usual clove/spice scent. )
2) Old man's bones, Sedum divergens.)
3) Penstemon hirsutus with its narrow, pinched-mouth flowers... one of those whose seed masqueraded as P. whippleanus.
4) Reticulated bells of Digitalis grandiflora.)
5) Another Scutellaria alpina.
6) Onosma stellulata... took a surprisingly long time to bloom from seed.  I learned this spring, while cleaning up around these plants, that the stiff hairs on old dried leaves are almost as much to be feared as the glochids on cacti!
7) Rosa 'Jens Munk'
8 )Saxifraga cotyledon still blooming quite spectacularly in a front border.
9) More and more verbascums...
10) Gentiana lutea now open.

[cohan]

Diphylleia sinensis

thanks gote--- IF you remember, that would be nice

lori--i searched just a little last night--Plans for a Future Database, listed it as hardy to Zone 0! but they are in england and dont always have firsthand info, i guess thats based on a northerly or high altitude range..

[cohan]

5) Another Scutellaria alpina.
6) Onosma stelluata... took a surprisingly long time to bloom from seed.  I learned this spring, while cleaning up around these plants, that the stiff hairs on old dried leaves are almost as much to be feared as the glochids on cacti!

lots of great stuff, really like those scutellarias...do these alpine species like moist spots/dry/average? just curious as most of the local menthaceae are marsh/slough plants..

[Lori S.]

The scutellarias I've shown here are all in regular soil, full sun to part shade - they get rain plus the occasional watering if it's too long between rainfalls... not at all fussy in our climate/conditions. 

[David Nicholson]

You really do grow some lovely stuff Lori.

[Sinchets]

Cohan, some of the Scutellarias here, and Turkish ones I grow, will take drought in summer and sprout back with new leaves after the autumn rains.
Lori, the real pain comes when you try collect seeds from Onosma- the tiny hairs take days to work back out of your fingertips. 

[Lori S.]

Thank you, David!
Thanks for the warning, Simon... I think I'll pass on that then!

[Sinchets]

I've had to fight the goldfinches for ours- not a single Onosma wild in our area, but they have learned to pick the seeds out of most of mine. 

[Lori S.]

Oh well, can't begrudge the goldfinches!  (That reminds me, I did collect seeds from the onosma last year... shook some out without great discomfort, somehow... but with my new-found respect for them, I'll be sure to wear gloves this time!) 

[ruweiss]

Dear friends, I was in holidays for some days and could not answer your questions about the Pterocactus tuberosus
and the sempervivums.
Cohan, the Pterocactus grows since several years in the open garden at a very hot place near a big Chamaecyparis
in company of other cactii, agaves and yuccas. The soil is bone dry at most time of the year.
Semp. arachnoideum is worth a try in your climate, in the Alps they grow in under sometimes very harsh conditions
high up the mountains.
For trough and crevic planting the small rosetted forms of Semp. arachnoideum are very useful, their needs are good
drainage in a neutral to acid mineralic soil. Too much humus results in weak plants. Some clones are quite vigorous,
my best plants origin from some rosettes which I got from the late Mr.Tlatla from Czechia, his floral paradise and generousity
are unforgetable for me.
These(and other Semps) enjoy a very weak solution of some liquid manure from time to time.

[Lori S.]

Sempervivum arachnoides is indeed completely hardy here (and down through zone 2, at least).  The commonly-available forms grow easily in regular garden soil (which is alkaline through the Great Plains) and no special conditions.  Nice plant for a "xeric" feel.

[cohan]

Dear friends, I was in holidays for some days and could not answer your questions about the Pterocactus tuberosus
and the sempervivums.
Cohan, the Pterocactus grows since several years in the open garden at a very hot place near a big Chamaecyparis
in company of other cactii, agaves and yuccas. The soil is bone dry at most time of the year.
Semp. arachnoideum is worth a try in your climate, in the Alps they grow in under sometimes very harsh conditions
high up the mountains.
For trough and crevic planting the small rosetted forms of Semp. arachnoideum are very useful, their needs are good
drainage in a neutral to acid mineralic soil. Too much humus results in weak plants. Some clones are quite vigorous,
my best plants origin from some rosettes which I got from the late Mr.Tlatla from Czechia, his floral paradise and generousity
are unforgetable for me.
These(and other Semps) enjoy a very weak solution of some liquid manure from time to time.

interesting note on the pterocactus...
as lori says, the S arachnoideum, and many other semps are very hardy here, even many species which dont seem to come from areas as cold as we are here--they must have endured it in their genetic past... whether they could be grown here in such an exposed way as in your troughs is a different question--probably not, but worth some experimenting-i lost a couple that were in a large pot last year, whereas i have never lost any in the ground;
another thought mentioned by someone on another forum: if any peat(nursery soil) is left on the roots when transplanting, the semps have greater risk in winter, though that i think is about wet, not sure if it was an issue for me...

lori--good to hear about the scutellarias, will watch for them...

[mark smyth]

If only my Nymphaea 'Helvola' had 3 flowers at one time. So far mine has only had 2 this year 

[gote]

Diphylleia sinensis

thanks gote--- IF you remember, that would be nice

Snail mail address please
Göte

[Tony Willis]

some dierama's and a watsonia in flower at the moment