Northern Hemisphere July 2010

[Ragged Robin]

Thanks Davey, you've made my day  

That's exactly the effect I was trying to create but it's getting the balance of sun and shade and moisture right to suit all the plants in a small space.

[Ragged Robin]

Glad you like it too Graham...it was really good, as you say, when the P.vialii were at the height of flowering - it's the first time I have succeeded with them and I really hope they spread and pop up through the fern fronds.

[angie]

Robin lovely pictures I like your fuchsia in amongst your foliage plants .

Angie

[Roma]

I captured the following plant tapestries on a garden visit on July 2nd.  All common plants but beautifully interwoven.  The plants were covering steep and really rather dangerous steps down a grassy slope.

[Ragged Robin]

Thanks Angie, the fuchsia come up each year like bright jewels amongst the green 

Roma, I think the tapestries of leaves you show are exceptionally lovely mingling together.

[WimB]

Nothing really special flowering here now, but a good colour show (even in the hot and VERY DRY summer we've been having)

Three hortensia's (I don't remember the cv-name)
Caltha palustris 'Alba' (flowering for the second time this year)
Three Clematis (Again, I forgot the cv-name, I'm really bad at remembering the names of shrubs and climbers  )
1 Clematis 'Jackmanii'
2 Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' Thanks to Uli for the determination
Echinacea 'Harvest Moon'
Echinacea 'Summer Sky'
Echinacea 'Sunrise'

[WimB]

And some more:

Echinacea 'Virgin'
Glycirrhiza glabra
Lippia citriodora
2 x Lonicera ... (you see, I'm really bad at remembering their names) Lonicera periclymenum Thanks to Uli for the determination
Saponaria officinalis
Viola tricolor

[TheOnionMan]

Wim, it struck a nerve seeing a photo of Saponaria officinalis (bouncingbet)... while pretty enough in flower, it is on noxious weed lists for many US States, the species considered invasive, now successfully colonizing most of North America and Canada.  I pull them out of my lawn all the time, the sturdy pull-resistant tap roots need a tool such as a dandelion weeder to pry out the root.  I see some yards around the area, where homeowners probably not knowing this is an invasive pest, allow them to grow into big patches because of the pretty flowers.  Is this plant considered invasive in Europe or other countries/continents?

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SAOF4&mapType=nativity&photoID=saof4_002_avp.tif

[WimB]

Wim, it struck a nerve seeing a photo of Saponaria officinalis (bouncingbet)... while pretty enough in flower, it is on noxious weed lists for many US States, the species considered invasive, now successfully colonizing most of North America and Canada.  I pull them out of my lawn all the time, the sturdy pull-resistant tap roots need a tool such as a dandelion weeder to pry out the root.  I see some yards around the area, where homeowners probably not knowing this is an invasive pest, allow them to grow into big patches because of the pretty flowers.  Is this plant considered invasive in Europe or other countries/continents?

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SAOF4&mapType=nativity&photoID=saof4_002_avp.tif

Marc,

if I'm correct S. officinalis is indigenous in Europe. So it was probably imported in the USA ??
Here it grows in my herbgarden and is planted in a plastic bucket with the bottom cut out so I do not really have a problem with this plant.

[TheOnionMan]

Marc,

if I'm correct S. officinalis is indigenous in Europe. So it was probably imported in the USA ??
Here it grows in my herbgarden and is planted in a plastic bucket with the bottom cut out so I do not really have a problem with this plant.

It is native to Europe to western Siberia, apparently introduced and escaped to most all of North America. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponaria_officinalis

I find that the tall stems, when they dry and go to seed, are brittle and the open capsules are just like salt shakers, with tiny poppy like seed that fly out everywhere.  I try to get the stems removed before they reach this phase, otherwise picking the stems effectively disperses the seed.  I wonder if this plant is on the invasives list for other countries, Australia and New Zealand for instance, or just for North America?

[WimB]

Marc,

maybe I should remove the picture.
I do not want to be responsible for you getting to much stress 
Never heard that it could be an invasive weed, there are a lot of people which have this plant in their herbgarden.
Since it's native here it probably has too many natural predators to be invasive. 

[cohan]

Marc,

maybe I should remove the picture.
I do not want to be responsible for you getting to much stress 
Never heard that it could be an invasive weed, there are a lot of people which have this plant in their herbgarden.
Since it's native here it probably has too many natural predators to be invasive. 

that's the difference, of course, where the plants are native, they have controls--i have many native plants here which have aggressive stolons and seeds, but few if any native plants here grow in stands which exclude other plants as invasives can do...
saponaria may be in alberta, but is not a feature of the landscape in my area..

[Gerdk]

And some more:
Echinacea 'Virgin'
Glycirrhiza glabra
Lippia citriodora
2 x Lonicera ... (you see, I'm really bad at remembering their names)
Saponaria officinalis
Viola tricolor

Wim, What a nice pattern on Viola tricolor - is it a cultivar or did it appear spontaneously in your garden?

Gerd

[Pascal B]

I have seen Saponaria growing near roadsides or along railway tracks here in the Netherlands but never in high numbers, just some small patches. Actually it is quite rare nowadays whereas my mum used to remember using it during the war for what it was: natural soap. Crushing the leaves & stems and using the resulting water to wash themselves. According to my mum (now almost 80) it is much rarer than it used to be, at least in the Amsterdam area where I live.

[WimB]

And some more:
Echinacea 'Virgin'
Glycirrhiza glabra
Lippia citriodora
2 x Lonicera ... (you see, I'm really bad at remembering their names)
Saponaria officinalis
Viola tricolor

Wim, What a nice pattern on Viola tricolor - is it a cultivar or did it appear spontaneously in your garden?

Gerd

Thanks Gerd,

it's a spontaneous seedling. Do you want some seeds from it?

Wim