Alpine house 2011

[ruweiss]

In the last cold and rainy days it was a real pleasure to watch the opening
of the first flowerbuds in the Alpine house, moments missed for such a long
time during wintertime.

[Lesley Cox]

A real pleasure Rudi to see your alpine house coming to life for the spring season. I look forward to many more pictures of your beautiful and beautifully grown plants.

[Maggi Young]

Ah yes, Lesley, I see you recognise Rudi as one of the Forum's Alpine Treasures, too!

[tonyg]

The androsace is the kind of plant that has caused me to become passionate about alpines.  Small but perfectly formed!  The Dionysia curviflora (another special plant) looks as though it is growing in the plunge but perhaps it has just overflowed its pot?  The lower parts, in contact with the sand look very compact.

[gervandenbeuken]

Some photos from Dionysias taken in my alpine house in the last two weeks.
All plants are seedlings from D. afghanica.


( Edited by maggi to show plant names so the search facility can locate the pictures.)

Dionysia afghanica GW-H 1308
Dionysia afghanica zaailing (2)
Dionysia afghanica zaailing (3)
Dionysia afghanica zaailing
Dionysia aghanica x iransharii
Dionysia 'Judith Bramley'
Dionysia 'Ludek Zvolanek'
Dionysia 'Perlmut'
Dionysia 'Zdenek Zvolanek'
Dionysia zaailing van afghanica.JPG

[gervandenbeuken]

Á few yellow flowering species and forms.


( Edited by maggi to show plant names so the search facility can locate the pictures.)

Dionysia aretioides 'Bevere
Dionysia tapetodes GVDB-MK 0631 F1 hybride
Dionysia tapetodes ex. John Dixon  (2)
Dionysia tapetodes Hewer 164
Dionysia 'Yellowstone'

[Nick_the_grief]

WHen I grow up I'd like to grow these !

Absolutely stunning plants guys - you have my admiration

[Carlo]

Unbelievable Ger! I wish I was visiting again just to photograph these amazing plants! (Actually seeing the two of you again would be the real prize!).

[Graham Catlow]

Ger, fabulous plants.
I really like the purple shades. One day I may live somewhere with a garden big enough for an alpine house and then I can try growing these. I have a real liking for cushion plants.

Graham

[ArnoldT]

Ger:

Do you have a long range shot of the entire greenhouse.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Here's silent in admiration... 

[Maggi Young]

The range of colours in the D. afghanica forms and hybrids is superb... those dark eyes!  

Would you care to give some notes about your regime in the alpine house, Ger.... is it kept frost free, what is your potting mixture and so on?

[gervandenbeuken]

The range of colours in the D. afghanica forms and hybrids is superb... those dark eyes!  

Would you care to give some notes about your regime in the alpine house, Ger.... is it kept frost free, what is your potting mixture and so on?

Well Maggi, it is not necessary to make a secret from it. Very important to have good air movement in the alpine-house. Also good light conditions are indispensable. The compost I use for my Dionysias is a mix of equal parts perlite, seramis, grit and a very small amount of potting soil.
Especially in winter during damp conditions I'm using 2 vents encouraging additional air movement.
Not important to keep the alpine frostfree because these plants are completely hardy.

[Maggi Young]

Thank you, Ger.... I hope this will help others decide they can try to grow these beautiful plants for themselves.

Do you water into the pots or only to the sand plunge?
Do you rotate the posts regularly to keep the growth even?

[gervandenbeuken]

Thank you, Ger.... I hope this will help others decide they can try to grow these beautiful plants for themselves.

Do you water into the pots or only to the sand plunge?
Do you rotate the posts regularly to keep the growth even?

Basically I keep the plunge moist, but during dry periods and especially in spring when plants are actively growing it is necessary to give the plants an additional watering.
Important to water the plants along the edge of the pot and to be sure to keep the plants dry.
Unfortunately we do not have those fantastic plant shows like you have in the UK. So it is not really necessary to rotate the pots to have an even growth or flowering.