Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....

[astragalus]

Sorry for sending two of the same plant.(now fixed)  I meant to include this lovely daphne.  I'd love to see this garden in a couple of years.

[astragalus]

In my crevice garden at the moment.

Astragalus utahensis
Daphne x hendersonii 'Ernst Hauser

[Maggi Young]

In my crevice garden at the moment.

Astragalus utahensis

 It's a small world... today a visitor was telling us that he had a nice plant of Astragalus utahensis to take to the Glasgow show tomorrow.... though he's not sure if the flowers will open in time.... and here is Anne showing us the same plant enjoying life in her American garden.

[astragalus]

Maggi, I sure hope it makes it to the show.  It's a wonderful plant - beautiful foliage and fabulous flowers.  Then again, some years a plant will just up and die almost overnight.  No particular reason - it's almost as if it woke up and realized that it was growing in the northeast and not the southwest.

[ranunculus]

Astragalus utahensis on the show bench at East Cheshire AGS Show on Saturday last.


ASTRAGALUS UTAHENSIS

[Maggi Young]

Lovely, Cliff, was that Sam Sutherland's plant which won the Duncan Lowe trophy?

It was Sam who visited today... now wondering if it was another Astragalus he is hoping for tomorrow!? 

[ranunculus]

Lovely, Cliff, was that Sam Sutherland's plant which won the Duncan Lowe trophy?

It was Sam who visited today... now wondering if it was another Astragalus he is hoping for tomorrow!? 

You read my lips which never moved Maggi.   

[Diane Clement]

was that Sam Sutherland's plant which won the Duncan Lowe trophy?

No, he won it with  Androsace hirtella

[Maggi Young]

Quite right, Diane.... so long as one of us knows what's happening, eh?!  

The Astragalus was in a class for "an American" plant and was beaten by  a big Trillium... is that right?

 And it was the George Smith trophy which is a painting by Duncan Lowe... have I got my frightful memory sorted out now.... or should I go to bed early......

[astragalus]

The crevice garden as the daphnes start to finish blooming.  Mostly blue and yellow now with penstemons, genistas and veronicas blooming.
Also Onosma nanum, quite lovely and condensed.

[Ragged Robin]

Anne, your photos are lovely showing your crevice garden treasures in that light

[astragalus]

Thanks.  It seems to be a great place for plants and what I like best is that the color keeps changing from one week to the next.

[Lesley Cox]

Anne, what is the super blue Penstemon in Reply 234? A fabulous colour, on a neat plant.

[astragalus]

Lesley, that's Penstemon uintahensis and it's one of my favorites.  I had difficulty keeping it in the open garden but it's doing very well in the crevice garden.  The color is marvelous.

[Tim Ingram]

I don't know how I have managed not too discover this remarkable thread for so long! Unfortunately in the far flung south-east rocks are not so easy to come by and I have concentrated more on building simple sand beds (they still grow plants really well!), but they lack some of the aesthetic appeal of crevice gardens, and definitely lack the romance of playing with rocks! We have had talks on the famous Czech alpine gardens and gardeners, and they must be the finest in the world notwithstanding some great gardens in the UK and US. Mine by comparison is relatively modest, though my interests are not, and a crevice garden now looms on the horizon!