Cushions

[tonyg]

Interesting to see Mick 'doing it properly'.. Undoubtedly the control of moisture at critical times makes all the difference with dionysias.  However some are more amenable to easier methods of cultivation.  I recall Mike Smith of Hythe Alpines saying he watered his dionysias freely from above when they were in full summer growth.  He did have ventillation fans though so the excess  on the cushions would not have lingered.

Here are the two I showed earlier as they are now.  The previous pics were from two or three years ago.  Now in 5" plastic pots, they still live in a plastic tray in the greenhouse alongside other, mostly young, plants.  Watered from below, but very little between November and February the results are good.  The problems arise if they get too dry or if damp in the cushion (especially just after flowering) causes dieback.  Remove the affected rosettes carefully and the plant will usually grow back.  In the case of D aretioides a little occasional rearranging of the cushion can restore the shape quite quickly.  However it is always a good policy to propagate by soft cuttings taken in mid-summer.

I use fine pumice over a layer of vermiculite in a seed tray.  The tray with holes in the base (coarse vermiculite stops the fine pumice from draining through) stands in another without holes into which water is poured, just enough to keep the mix damp.  Covered with a plastic hood and kept part shaded the cuttings root quite quickly.

[Maggi Young]

Tony's talk of removing dead patches from cushion plants  reminds me of another "side" to the showing cushions saga.... some classes are for "cushion plant shown for natural effect": this means that an irregular dome , perhaps growing , as would happen often in nature, around/over a rock. Shows which have such clases also  tend to have another class for a "cushion plant" from which we may infer that a more perfectly shaped circular cushion is being sought by  the judges.

For shows where there is no such distinction is made, then either type is eligible and the judges can fihght it out between them as to which style they prefer! 

[Lesley Cox]

To my mind a cushion plant would be one made up of many tiny rosettes and cushion-shaped when not in flower. The flowers are a bonus. So, no, not mound-forming campanulas such as the NZ raised 'Maie Blyth' even though she will make a rounded, mounded plant when three or four years old. But there's an excellent cushion (crocheted in Ray's posting about the show at Melbourne Botanic Gardens.

[Maggi Young]

I should surely have mentioned the New Zealanders, Raoulia and Haastia ... Having had such show success with these in the past ourselves, how could I forget them?   These plants  are exactly as Lesley describes and amongst the most attractive and challenging cushion plants...with  wonderful tight rosettes of grey furry foliage, in this case grown primarily for their form since flowers are tiny and not often seen in cultivation here.

[hadacekf]

Today in flower.

Draba-aizoides
Draba-polytricha

[cycnich]

This is Nigel Fullers 12 year old Dionysia 'Monika' at the Tunbridge wells AGS local group show yesterday which won best in show. Last week nigel won the Farrer medal at kent with a 20 year old Dionysia curviflora, not a bad grower of cushions is he ?.

[Maggi Young]

Lovely plant of Nigel's ...he is a terrific grower!

I'm sorry that I seem to have missed giving details of the Tunbridge Wells AGS show in my notice of the national show choices for this past weekend. It is hard to keep up with all the local show details at times! Apologies to all concerned.

 With plants like that Dionysia, it will have been a grand day out, I'm sure.

[Lesley Cox]

This is Nigel Fullers 12 year old Dionysia 'Monika' at the Tunbridge wells AGS local group show yesterday which won best in show. Last week nigel won the Farrer medal at kent with a 20 year old Dionysia curviflora, not a bad grower of cushions is he ?.

Just about big enough to sit on.

[SAXIFRAGE at LYMINGE]

Just about big enough to sit on.

This is what Jon Evans produced for one his images in the AGS Artistic Section at Kent & Exeter.
He is a very clever chap.

[ruweiss]

Yesterday in the Alpine House:
Dionysia iranica
Androsace vandellii

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Very well grown and healthy looking plants Rudi !!

[Alex]

Androsace helvetica a few days ago.

Alex

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Not very many cushions perform at their best outside in the garden, but here's one that does :

Schivereckia podolica

[David Lyttle]

This daisy is perhaps the ugly duckling amongst the Dionysias and Androsaces. (it had an unfortunate encounter with Dave Toole's boot prior to its career as a domesticated plant).
It seems to have recovered from that insult and has rewarded me with five flowers. Celmisia philocremna is known only from the Eyre Mountains where it grows on rock outcrops (philocremna = crag-loving). It is a very distinctive plant and is unlike any other any other species of Celmisa. It is curious that it was flowering in the wild in January and the cultivated plant is flowering in May.

[Gerdk]

Not very many cushions perform at their best outside in the garden, but here's one that does :

Schivereckia podolica

Indeed - nice performance!

Gerd