Here are my first efforts -

Lewisia (Lewisia cotyledon 'Rainbow') - purchased transplant - planted out 10/13 in a raised bed of horse manure with a dusting of clay and peat.



Looks pretty good to me so far.






Another that asks for sharp drainage - Hardy Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus 'King of the Blacks'), (started from seed in spring of 2012 and left to sit in its starter pot through that first winter and most of the following year).

This one was left in its starter pot and needed more root room quickly, and since I was short on time right then I merely set that pot in another that was handy. The roots are growing through the drainage holes into the bottom pot and the entire plant looks very happy.



We're experiencing a lot of rain right now and today I noticed that there was standing water in the lower section; that's why it's now tipped on its side.

After losing several cactus plants that were hardy for my zone, but did not appreciate the growing conditions in my gravel garden, I started growing them in pots. They spend their summers outdoors in full sunshine.

In winter they go into my greenhouse, where I keep them as cool and dry as possible until spring.

I wish I'd thought of growing my Dianthus in pots. I planted two in the garden - never to be seen again.



The first was labelled Dianthus monspessulanus, the second D. pavonius, but I don't know how accurate those names are. I bought them at the local rock garden society plant sale, and I don't know where the seed came from or who grew them.

Oh, but they are so cute! Especially the second one; it's just a lovely little burst of color!

I have an unheated GH that could be used for some of these plants, but I'd much rather find a way to keep most of them outdoors year-round. Trial and error, I guess.

Dianthus 'Mrs Holt' is a good candidate for growing outdoors year-round in the rock garden. It's low-growing, and slowly forms a wide mat of gray leaves, with lots of pale pink flowers in early summer. I planted it in my gravel garden in 2005, and (please let this not be a jinx on it) it is still alive!

Very pretty, June. It seems to have found its happy spot.


I tried two different plantings of Current-leaf globe-mallow (Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia) last season; one in our clay soil in a dry bed, and one in a medium-sized basket container. The garden plant did bloom, but it looked fairly weak and spindly overall. The potted plant (topped with aquarium gravel) didn't bloom, but looks like a much sturdier plant. I'd be surprised if the in-ground plant returns, but feel pretty confident that the other one will.

I've grown Dianthus pavonius from seed to flowering in a pot. D. monspessulanus turned out to be mutt.

June, care to label your cactus?

OK, Rick, my hardy cactus collection consists of: Coryphantha macromeris and C. scheeri, Echinocereus coccineus var arizonicus, Echinocerus fendleri, Echinocerus reichenbachii var. perbellus (two variants, one dark spined, one light spined), Echinocereus x roetteri (two variants, one flowers pale pink with green at the base the petals, the other shell pink with orange shading inside), Echinocereus triglochidiatus var mojavensis, Eriosyce curvispina, Escobaria leei and E. sneedii, Gymnocalycium baldianum and G. bruchii, Maihuenia patagonia and M. poeppigii, Maihuenopsis ovata, Mammillaria heyderi var bullingtoniana, Opuntia imbricata var arborescens and O. phaeacantha, and Tunilla microdisea. Phew! Now my fingers ache.

For anyone interested in growing hardy cacti I recommend the following reference book: 'Cacti and Succulents for Cold Climates' by Leo J. Chance, published by Timber Press.

The Dianthus monspessulanus looks correct - is the fragrance a very sweet perfume (as opposed to the usual clove spice Dianthus fragrance?) One of my favourite plants... rather tatty-looking flowers, forms a large mat in time, wonderful because it perfumes the air in summer.

Wow, South American cacti, June! Well done! I take it your greenhouse isn't heated?

Troughs are another way to grow plants that need sharp drainage, lean soil or special conditions in general, without making in-ground rock garden beds:

Great troughs, Lori! How do you over-winter them?

In answer to your question, my greenhouse is heated, but only to 1C. When the outside temperature falls to minus 15C or lower, the heater can't keep up with the heat loss, and the greenhouse temperature drops a few degrees below freezing. This is fine, though, since my aim was to emulate winter conditions the cacti would experience under a layer of snow. However, in the daytime, when the sun is shining the greenhouse heats up fast and I have a hard time keeping it to below 10C. Because of daytime solar heat, I need to water the cacti a couple of times during winter.

JuneOntario said:....troughs... How do you over-winter them?

Thanks, June. There's nothing done to the troughs for the specific intent of overwintering them. They remain outside where they are year-round. Those along the driveway get snow shovelled on them, simply because they are right beside the area that needs to be cleared. Those elsewhere just get whatever snow falls on them. The snow cover has been much more constant through the winter the last few years; in the past, the troughs (and garden as a whole) used to be exposed a lot through the winter.

We made a bit of a change to the layout of troughs in the driveway last fall. Where there used to be the double row that you can see in some of those photos, there's now a single row... gives a little more room for backing out of the garage now that we have a truck again as well as the car. The others are now in the back yard, which should be good as they will also get more sun there.

Thanks for the information, Lori!

Fixpix, you requested a photo of the one trough to show the whole thing. You can see it more or less in these photos... but I will cheat a bit and show how the trough changes through the summer, with the bloom period of the different plants in it :

Draba rigida and Primula marginata are the first to bloom in May and early June, followed by Phlox hendersonii (said to be a fussy one to grow), and then by Saponaria x suendermanii in mid-July:

Beautiful Lori!

Love this forum.
Good luck with your Lewisia Chelle. I used to have one, got it in a trade as grown-up plant... the owner was angry cause she couldn't make it bloom, and guess what. A couple months after I planted it in the garden, it was full of pink flowers.
But it died.
I tried to create a really sandy substrate, rocks, pebbles etc but it didn't make it.

June, love your cacti collection... although I am not really a fan. I try to stay away from spines, spikes, thorns and so on.
But still, I have a couple hardy Opuntias out there :)
Never thought Dianthus would be hard-to-please in the garden. I always thought of it as a "common" plant.
As I see some in many gardens around here.
Maybe it's only the case with some special species???

Lori,... as always, admiring your troughs...
I'm a few years behind you... but I hope to have some nice troughs to brag about

Thanks, Calin.

I haven't seen it in so long...

...no way to tell how it's doing now, when it's under so much snow. Come on spring!