New tufa garden

[Lori S.]

Oh, piffle, Lesley!  

So, then, here I am boldly showing you the unsuspecting victims I've installed in the new tufa bed.  (Yikes!)  Anyway, any drastic errors re. lime tolerance?  
(I'm sure not all of the purchased ones, particularly, will be hardy but one must try... pity the poor innocents!  )

From seed:
Arenaria hookeri ssp. desertorum, Draba ramosissima (grown by a friend)
Asyneuma limonifolium
Inula rhizocephala
Besseya alpina
Chionophila jamesii
Saussurea nepalensis
Penstemon pumilus, virens
Stanleya pinnata, at the back

Purchased:
Lupinus excubitus austromontanus
Onosma aff. nemoricolum
Erinacea anthyllis... a long shot, I'm sure!
Phlox multifida
Astragalus coccineus
Anetilla aurea 'Galushko'
Calandrinia ranunculina
Convolvulus lineatus v. angustifolius
Caloscordum neriniflorum
Pinus mugho 'Valley Cushion'
And a smattering of experimental small bulbs

1) Planted up.
2) Asyneuma limonifolium
3) Besseya alpina
4) Inula and Convolvulus
 
I realize I'm not really using the tufa itself at this stage (instead, just plugging things in between the rocks) but that will come later.   (The goal at this point was to reduce the backlog of seedlings and purchases waiting to be planted... and I'm now down to one and a half trays!   )  

[Lesley Cox]

You were able to purchase Astragalus coccineus? Wow. (I'm thinking religious thoughts here.)

Everything looking good so far.

[cohan]

Oh, piffle, Lesley!  

So, then, here I am boldly showing you the unsuspecting victims I've installed in the new tufa bed.  (Yikes!)  Anyway, any drastic errors re. lime tolerance?  
(I'm sure not all of the purchased ones, particularly, will be hardy but one must try... pity the poor innocents!  )

From seed:
Arenaria hookeri ssp. desertorum, Draba ramosissima (grown by a friend)
Asyneuma limonifolium
Inula rhizocephala
Besseya alpina
Chionophila jamesii
Saussurea nepalensis
Penstemon pumilus, virens
Stanleya pinnata, at the back

Purchased:
Lupinus excubitus austromontanus
Onosma aff. nemoricolum
Erinacea anthyllis... a long shot, I'm sure!
Phlox multifida
Astragalus coccineus
Anetilla aurea 'Galushko'
Calandrinia ranunculina
Convolvulus lineatus v. angustifolius
Caloscordum neriniflorum
Pinus mugho 'Valley Cushion'
And a smattering of experimental small bulbs

1) Planted up.
2) Asyneuma limonifolium
3) Besseya alpina
4) Inula and Convolvulus
 
I realize I'm not really using the tufa itself at this stage (instead, just plugging things in between the rocks) but that will come later.   (The goal at this point was to reduce the backlog of seedlings and purchases waiting to be planted... and I'm now down to one and a half trays!   )  

i'm really eager to hear how you fare with the Calandrinia.... have you overwintered any species yet?

[David Nicholson]

Mmmmm, I'd be interested to know if you can winter Calandrinia ranunculina outdoors?

[Ragged Robin]

What a fantastic beginning to your tufa garden, Lori, the plants look settled in already and the tufa colour and roughness looks so natural...how long did it take to create the site?

[Lori S.]

No, I have not grown any other calandrinia outdoors... It is very likely doomed... but on the other hand, I have next to no belief in published zone/temperature ratings (with reference to the cold end of the scale, I mean), as I have found that the only way to know whether an unfamiliar plant is hardy is to test it myself. 

[cohan]

well let us know how it goes, for sure...
i have seen a couple species (wrightman's or beavercreek?) that sounded at least 'possible'...dont think i have seen this species...

[Lori S.]

Yes, it was from Beaver Creek; here's the write-up from the Beaver Creek catalogue site:

10424 Calandrinia ranunculina F&W A018  $6.00 
  2" x 4" Patagonia Zone 5
A new Calandrinia from Patagonia with the typical fleshy small strap-shaped leaves forming a low rosette; bright yellow blooms appear in late spring & continue on into summer; these Lewisia relatives from South America display some of the most vividly colored blooms to be found in rock garden plants & deserve much wider trial to establish their full winter hardiness; all share a common requirement for excellent drainage especially around their rubbery root crowns.
"Deserving much wider trial"... hey, I'm on it, LOL!

Thanks, Robin!  It actually only took 2-3 hours (as it is quite small) and much of that was me standing around and pondering!  In a very wet climate, I'm sure a great deal more substrate preparation would likely have been advisable...?  However, I no doubt took many shortcuts that I hope are justified by this dry climate. The test will be, as I mentioned, whether it grows plants!  My other very small tufa planting developed a rather picturesque growth of mosses on it with time, so I'm looking forward to that.

[cohan]

we should get discounts for doing winter trials
i thought the calandrinia probably  wouldnt be typical pink with that name...

[David Nicholson]

I have four two year old plants plants of Calandrinia ranunculina grown from seed and have put two of them outside in a little rock garden I have just built (mainly to be used for summer flowering plants) to see how they go on. I intend to leave them there through the winter to see how hardy they are in my climate.

[Lori S.]

"...we should get discounts for doing winter trials"

Yeah, I'd have been retired long ago if my plant costs had been subsidized that way, LOL!

[Lesley Cox]

I intend to leave them there through the winter to see how hardy they are in my climate.

But DO take note of that gravel round the collar part David, as in your climate winter wet may be the killer rather than cold. Now, DO feel free to tell me to teach my granny.