Eritrichium nanum

[Mark Griffiths]

lovely, well done!

[eritrichium]

Here is a photo of my Eritrichium nanum, Seed in 2011, from April 2014:

[eritrichium]

...and the same Plant on May 9:

[Maggi Young]

Welcome eritrichium.    The plant is growing well isn't it?   The foliage is a really  good green.

[eritrichium]

Yes, the Plant grows very well and is in very good condition. Two seedlings are also in the pot, one from August 2013 and the second from April 2014.

Greetings from Germany

Jan

[Maggi Young]

Where do you keep the plant, Jan? In an alpine house or cold frame? Where in Germany do you live?

[eritrichium]

I live in Saxonia, Eastern Germany. From Spring to Autuum, the plant is in my Garden, in the winter in my glasshouse, protect for winter wet.

When it rain, i put the plant under a roof, directly wet is deadly for the plant. 

[Maggi Young]

I think that the time it spends outside is good for getting the plant to look so healthy.

[eritrichium]

Yes, thatīs right. 

[Philippe]

Congrats, the plant looks very healthy indeed!
Mine didn't stand the winter, this was the last one. Too much humidity under very wet snow for weeks last winter probably helped murdering that poor thing, although after seeing your plant, I also realize mine was probably never really happy anyway, and just waited for that good excuse to give up with dignity
Keep on reporting how your Eritrichiums are doing!
 

[eritrichium]

Thatīs very sad!!! Eritrichium donīt like winter wet and also directly rain in late summer (August).

[penstemon]

This is its American cousin, E. aretioides. (Some botanists say it's nanum.)

[penstemon]

The second cousin, Eritichium howardii.

[penstemon]

I suppose I should mention that eritrichiums are not particularly difficult to grow here, so the pictures don't represent any exceptional skill. One time a very well-known rock gardener from the EU saw the plants in a trough here, and I said, "Oh, those .... There are millions of them up the road about 48km, and about 3km higher up."
What you need, of course, is a terrible climate, just like the ones eritrichiums grow in, and I can provide that for the plants. (You don't see them growing in Bermuda, for instance.)
It's the middle of November, and tonight's low will be -23C.

[astragalus]

Penstemon, those are lovely eritrichiums you're growing.   E. aretioides is quite difficult here in the Northeast, but E. howardii is a much better doer.  It flowers reliably and even self sows mildly.  One popped up in a piece of tufa (they are all in the tufa garden) and has remained there at least 4 years, perfectly healthy looking but no flowers so far.