Mystery draba

[ChrisB]

I bought this on the members stand at the Newcastle Show on Saturday.  When I got home I started to look up info about what I'd bought and couldn't find this draba in any book, so I checked on google and still no luck.  Can anyone help me identify it?

The name that appears on the label is Draba sphaerellea coccinea.

[WimB]

Hi Chris,

could it be Draba sphaeroides v. cusickii??

[Maggi Young]

Hello, Chris,
 I think Wim has got the answer for you!

[ChrisB]

Many thanks Wim!!!!  What a place this is.  An answer to a mystery in a matter of minutes.  I love this forum.

[WimB]

You're welcome.
I bought that one last year and I managed to kill it in a couple of months...  I didn't think it was possible to kill a Draba
I placed it in a much too hot and dry part of the garden while it came from a nursery where it was growing in the shade so it was all my fault....

I hope you have more success with it!!

[ChrisB]

Well, that's given me a few more clues about what to do with it anyway, thanks again Wim.

[Lesley Cox]

At the beginning of my rock gardening life, I stayed with an elderly woman who, taken with Draba polytricha and a couple of others, decided to collect all the drabas she could find. Within a very short time she had a large collection of utter rubbish with just the very occasional star among it all.

[WimB]

At the beginning of my rock gardening life, I stayed with an elderly woman who, taken with Draba polytricha and a couple of others, decided to collect all the drabas she could find. Within a very short time she had a large collection of utter rubbish with just the very occasional star among it all.

[ChrisB]

 

This one looked rather sweet to me, Lesley, so I bought it.  Will wait to see a:if I can keep it alive, now I know its proper name and b:whether it performs.....

[David Shaw]

I wish it was var. coccinea though Chris, it would have been rather special!

[ChrisB]

Yes, David, but sadly, I knew that was incorrect.  Wonder who would have put that name on it though, seems odd to me.  Never mind, its a nice little plant and I'll look after it to the best of my ability

[veteran vet]

I have had this draba for many years, originally bought? as a potential show plant and then put out in a pot into a sand plunge frame where I forgot all about. It is still there many years later, seeding quietly around, exposed to all weathers the year round. Sadly the foliage is more interesting than the flowers but such is life but it is certainly hardy and tough in my Northumberland garden

[ChrisB]

Good to know its hardy here, George.  Thanks.  I think I'll keep it in its pot for the rest of the winter and think about putting outside next year.  Maybe in a trough.