Cultivation of Lewisia longipetala x cotyledon 'Little Plum"

[Bob Resch]

Can anyone guide me in with cultivation of Lewisia in general and the subject plant specifically. I am new to rock garden plants and in process of building a crevice bed (photo of work in progress attached) which contains pure coarse sand. I want to include Lewisia in my bed but am getting conflicting information from growers as to cultural requirements. Particularly drainage and sun/shade needs. I have some understanding of its native environment in the northwest U.S. but would like to hear of your experiences if you have grown Lewisia.
La Grange, Illinois 60525 - Zone 5b-high humidity-hot summers-annual rain about 38 cm with undependable snowcover.

[Lesley Cox]

Hi Bob, welcome to the Forum. I'm sure many people will be able to help, on both sides of the Atlantic, and perhaps even here in the not quite Antarctic!

I think Lewisias would like your crevices very much indeed, especially if they are not sunk down too deeply, so that air can get around the collars. Having said that, my mother used to grow L. cotyledon hybrids in the open rock garden but they always got covered with chickweed so were perpetually damp. She lifted them and dusted them off, so to speak and potted them for the local flower show then replanted when again, they became covered with chickweed. They flowered magnificently and lasted for years, seeding all over the place. The soil was very well drained and with grit and gravel dug in, and the seedlings were especially happy in the gravel. I've found that Lewisias in troughs seed well into the gravel paths below and make beautiful plants from there.

This all applies to L. 'Little Plum' which is a long-lived perennial and seeds freely, coming true from seed. It is easy in the open (gritty) garden or in a pot or trough. If thoroughly neglected the leaves can shrivel up but are soon restored to good health when watered. It is not true (in my opnion) that the evergreen Lewisias can cope with extreme drought. They seem to like good moisture at least in the growing/flowering season. Somewhere in an old Alpine Garden Society Bulletin there is a wonderful photo of 'Little Plum' wedged into a rock crevice or shelf. It is a wonderful and very rewarding plant.

Your winters are colder than mine and summers probably hotter and certainly more humid but Lewisias should still be worth a try and I would expect will do well for you.

[Bob Resch]

Thank you for you supportive words and encouragement. As things move forward I will post my experiences.
I think this forum is wonderful, to be able to carry on a conversation with a New Zeland enthusiast willing to share experiences and ideas is a marvel.
Thank you again

[gote]

At the moment I am in woodlanders so I have next to no Lewisias but I grew deciduous Lewisias very successfully in a ventilated cold frame in a well drained sloping (east) open position.
The soil was gravelly but with relatively high humus content and high content of nutrients. Well rotted farmyard manure and no lime.
The glass came on as soon as they started to go dormant and was kept on until they started growing in the spring.
I had zero losses and good growth.
If they will grow in your crevice garden depends upon your local (winter) climate and the amount of drainage you have got.
Cold winters are definitely no problem. Wet winters certainly are.
That you get different advice is because people have different (micro-) climate.
Good Luck
Göte.
PS
I lost most of them because mice got into the frame - beware!   

[Bob Resch]

I should have realized individual experiences/techniques result from the situation(s) with which the grower is confronted. Thank your for your insight.
The crevice bed concept is of interest to me because of the variability of our seasons. I saw and read how the heavy rock proportion within the bed will moderate this variability thus protecting the plants. Winters here are quite unsettled in that there are short periods of unseasonable warm days interspersed with the normal winters temperatures ranging from -12C to -24C. Our winter temperatures have been on a warming trend over the last ten years thus in many years we are a USDA Zone 6. As a result, what snow cover we have often melts quickly creating a wet environment which then freezes. It is for this reason, as well as the low incidence of fungal problems and sand being weed free, I believe coarse sand is recommended as fill within the crevices. This from an Alpine Garden Society Guide The Crevice Garden and its Plants 

[Maggi Young]

I sympathise, Bob: these situations with winters that are not uniformly cold with  reliable snow cover are a real trial to cope with. Poor plants not knowing what season they might expect in any given spell..... is it any wonder they give up the ghost? 
Oddly, my perception of Illinois was that your winters would be harder, without the "hot flashes"!!
It does seem that the crevice method, with sand does provide a good home and I look forward to seeing how your beds progress in future years.  

[Brendan Marnell]

I should have realized individual experiences/techniques result from the situation(s) with which the grower is confronted. Thank your for your insight.
The crevice bed concept is of interest to me because of the variability of our seasons. I saw and read how the heavy rock proportion within the bed will moderate this variability thus protecting the plants. Winters here are quite unsettled ......... what snow cover we have often melts quickly creating a wet environment which then freezes. It is for this reason, as well as the low incidence of fungal problems and sand being weed free, I believe coarse sand is recommended as fill within the crevices. This from an Alpine Garden Society Guide The Crevice Garden and its Plants 

Bob's clear preference for coarse sand as the fill between the crevices prompts the question ... To what depth are crevices filled with sand only?   Some sources including the article in The Rock Garden No. 110 and the brief notes on AGS website re Crevice Gardening mention soil or loam or compost but do not spell out the detail of the mix or the constituents of the compost as far as I can see.  Nor can I find specification of the topdressing.  Where are these bits of the jigsaw hiding please?  (I have the sandstone slabs.)

[Maggi Young]

Hello Brendan - how are you? Long time no see, as they say! Great to have you join us.


There are several threads on the Forum dealing with the construction of crevice beds .....such as   http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4656.0

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4462.0
And also in the following issues of International Rock Gardener, which you can find listed on this page :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG nos 4 April 2010,  No 8 August 2010 and no 12 December 2010  will be of help, I hope. For instance, in IRG $ of April 2010, ZZ tells us, in realtion to the construction of the crevice garden for Montreal Botanic Garden.....

"The geotextile was covered with 5-7 cm of fine soil and then with approximately 30 cm of sharp sand. "



 Hope this is helpful......

Maggi

[mark smyth]

Hi Brendan!

Bob, I grow Little Peach exposed on my rockery where it grows in a mix of grit and top soil

[Brendan Marnell]

There are several threads on the Forum dealing with the construction of crevice beds .....such as   http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4656.0

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4462.0
And also in the following issues of International Rock Gardener, which you can find listed on this page :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG nos 4 April 2010,  No 8 August 2010 and no 12 December 2010  will be of help, I hope. For instance, in IRG $ of April 2010, ZZ tells us, in realtion to the construction of the crevice garden for Montreal Botanic Garden.....

"The geotextile was covered with 5-7 cm of fine soil and then with approximately 30 cm of sharp sand. "



 Hope this is helpful......

Maggi

A powerful blast of info from many sources with great pics, thank you very much Maggi.  I'll be still studying them in months ahead.

Hi Mark

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Brendan, there's a lot around here to keep  you occupied when the weather is not good for gardening!
 Enjoy it!
  maggi