Thank you! The variety of plants one can grow in a relatively small space makes it interesting. The tufa rock garden is irregularly shaped but I'd guess it's maybe about 300 square feet. There's also a crevice garden that's about 100 square feet, and a number of troughs.

Fantastic show Lori!
Thank you so much for posting all these
Wow!
While I long for one or more of each and every treasure that you can grow...I am finding myself especially enamored of the Pyrethrum leontopodium--seed or plant and where did you acquire it from? can it handle the heat? do you think I could grow it here?
The plant to the left of it in the pics--does it get bluish flowers? I picked up a half-dead plant that looks a lot like that (except nowhere near as happy). It's coming around and starting to make blue flowers...have to get a pic.

I have been trying to keep up with weeding and taking pictures and attempting to ID plants...sometime I'll get around to posting a bunch of photos that I have taken...
but here are a couple from today that came with IDs
Saxifraga crustata

I thought it was supposed to have pure white flowers, but look at those spots...

Phyteuma scheuchzeri


Saponaria x boissieri

More lovely things! You have a wonderful variety of plants yourself, dirtdorphins! Isn't Pyrethrum leontopodium a neat plant?!? I grew it from seed a few years ago; the seeds were from one of the seed exchanges I'm in, either NARGS or SRGC, don't remember which offhand. It's a Central Asian alpine, from Kyrgyzstan (possibly also Kazakhstan and Russia?) and you can tell from the look of it (i.e. covered in fuzz) that it can't take winter wet, so it may do well in your area - it's certainly worth a try.
The plant in the photo to the left of it is Edraianthus niveus, just introduced not too many years ago; it has brown buds and yellowish-white flowers.

haha--well I'm working on it--
@growitall,
Indeed that fuzzy one is spectacular. I tried to participate in NARGS--had quite a bit of trouble with the system declaring me spam and no response regarding the problem or rectification, so, I gave up.
I would gladly swap seed with you--if there is anything I could possibly tempt you with...
How about this really cute vetch that covers the mountainside in early spring?

I collected some fresh seed pods today and I'll get some more as they 'cure'--my first attempt at starting them this winter was a dismal failure.

Here are a couple pics of the plant that might be Edraianthus tenuifolius. What do you think?
It was labeled as grassy bluebells, hand written, and had something slightly resembling E. tenuifolius, but misspelled?, also added.
It is more purple--not blue (sunset shots when I got home)

It was all brown in the middle, but is showing new growth and I'm hopeful that it might live after all.

Yes, I'll certainly try to collect seeds from the pyrethrum - I'll let you know how it goes.
That is a lovely astragalus! I like the sagebrush behind it in the photo too - just picked one up at the local rock garden club plant sale in May.
Did you scarify the seeds? It's not necessary but will give the quickest germination for most Fabaceae. Since I grow most seed indoors, I do want quick germination and often get it in a day or two after scarifying by rubbing the seeds on a flat file to abrade through the hard seed coat.
Yes, I'd say it's either Edraianthus tenuifolius or E. graminifolius - looks like it has recovered nicely!

Wonder pics, all! I'm taking pics, but just don't have time to "process" them. I am falling way behind, our Chapter plant sale that I organize is this Saturday, and everything is exploding in growth, including the weeds! Oh and then my truck almost lost a wheel last week. Yow!

Looking at some old pics of my Saxifraga crustata in flower, they have spots, too, similar to yours but not as prominent, Dirtdorphins. My flower stalks always are taller than yours, but this year, with all the extra rain they will be taller than ever. This sax is the easiest for me to grow and propagate. And luckily it is also very popular at our plant sales, so they always command a price.


A really nice astragalus, too. I wouldn't mind seed of that, either. I just collected fresh seed of Corydalis nobilis and Claytonia virginica, will have fresh seed of Pulsatilla turczaninovii/ambigua. (The same as Lori's.... her's is from my seed.) When the plant matures, it can look like this:

Fresh pulsatilla seed germinates very easily. Dried seed is more difficult.
Plenty of other stuff, too.
Digitalis lanata
Dalea candida
Allium stellatum (our native phenotype)
Dracocephalum ruyschiana
Hystrix patula
Iris tectorum
Iris sintenisii ssp. brandzae
Phemeranthus calycinus
Penstemon grandiflorus (our native phenotype)
Scilla numidica

I didn't get to send seed in to the NARGS seed ex last year, so I have a good bunch.

Very nice, Rick! My really nice Pulsatilla turczaninovii/ambigua - even bigger than the beauty you show - was essentially dead this spring! Once again, who the heck is it that spread the fallacy that snow cover is good?!? This was the snowiest winter ever here (the norm is patchy snow, lots of ground exposed) and I have stunning losses - old 10 to 15-year old plants of tougher-than-nails species that are suddenly gone. (I don't usually have plant losses other than the totally inappropriate yet ever-so-hopeful stuff that I trial in the rock garden.) The common filler plants, I can certainly replace (though I'm gobsmacked), but it kills me that my 10-year old Cyclamen purpurascens are dead this year, as is my large patch of Castilleja miniata!! I don't want to live on this planet any more!!

By the way, Saxifraga crustata doesn't have spotted flowers - they are a "plain" dull white ("unimpressive" and "dull white or cream" according to Malcolm McGregor in Saxifrages: A Definitive Guide to the 2000 Species, Hybrids and Cultivars). What's being passed off as "S. crustata" (and certainly looks like it foliage-wise) is likely a hybrid of some sort, hence the spotted petals.
Malcolm also says the flowering stem on S. crustata can be up to 40cm but the inflorescence is loose and fairly sparse with only up to 30 flowers; petals are up to 6mm.
This sort of misrepresentation is not uncommon - many place sell hybrids of S. longifolia but refer to them as though they are actually S. longifolia. While I appreciate that I can then buy a hybrid that will produce offsets (and is not monocarpic as is S. longifolia, which categorically does NOT produce offsets), I wish they'd just label the plants correctly.

Awesome! I would also gladly compensate for seed in the event that you would be willing to share more than I could exchange for
I will hike the mountain again tomorrow and get more astragalus pods --there are many. Is it wrong to call it a vetch?

Good to know that S. crustata can have spots, thank you Rick.
Have a good plant sale!

Lori, I did not scarify the seeds initially. I did read about that later...and then long about April I found a few in the surface of my pots and scratched them up a bit with some gravel and then I put them in an area where I forgot about them and they have since been dry and baking. Whoops. They could still germinate at some point like next spring along with the weed seeds--it's possible.
I don't currently have a suitable indoor space here. I do very well with easy seeds (weeds and other) directly sown in my fabulous germination beds, known as the garden...but otherwise my caretaking is pretty sketchy. But I am going to try again.
And would appreciate any and all detailed instruction.
Thanks,

dirtdorphins said:
Good to know that S. crustata can have spots, thank you Rick.

I think we cross-posted or very nearly... please read my comments!

dirtdorphins said: Is it wrong to call it a vetch?

Well, if you're going to hang out with plant geeks, yes ... Vetches are Vicia spp..

Lori--I am sorry about your losses!

and apparently I was typing not knowing you posted --so I am also a bit disappointed to learn about my crustata hybrid
Well, actually, I think the spots are cute, so in the grand scheme of things I am not really disappointed with the plant --just the part where I cannot put said pics under its supposed name...again

Sigh

if you find a better planet to garden let us know--

growitall said:
Well, if you're going to hang out with plant geeks, yes ... Vetches are Vicia spp..

Okay, thanks.
I've always called them all vetches, actually 'vetchys' as in oooh look at that cute vetchy...but I will make a concerted effort not to type that anymore

Well, I will accept "vetchy", just not "vetch"... Kidding, totally.
With my concern over the plant losses, I guess it's obvious I have no particularly pressing real life concerns at the moment... I still appreciate the sympathy though!

S. cristata - up to 40cm and 30 blooms. Is this in the wild, or in cultivation, too?
Still, mine is a hybrid anyway. My first flower is beginning to open today, and it definitely has spots.

I never got to transplant my Globularia seedlings last season. I still have several in the same 3.5 inch pot.
Globularia trichosantha


Antennaria rosea ssp. confinus
14 April and 21 May

27 May and 31 May

2 June


Fritillaria camschatcensis - from seed collected on the Kenaj peninsula of Alaska. I had figured that this would also be a dark form, like the ones I grew from Cordova, Alaska, but no.


Aquilegia vulgaris from seed collected in the Slovenian Alps in 2008, planted in 2010, sprouted in 2013.


About as black as they come... a probable Aquilegia hybrid - but mostly Aquilegia kuhistanica.

Leftwood said:S. cristata - up to 40cm and 30 blooms. Is this in the wild, or in cultivation, too?

Sounds like mostly observations from the wild. He notes that more robust stems and more impressive heads of flowers are seen in the Loibl Pass on the Austria-Slovenia border. He also says that it is "not particularly common in gardens and is often unimpressive but the hybrids with S. paniculata and S. hostii are often nice plants".

Dark as can be, Rick!
A few more...
Globularia cordifolia; Silene bolanthoides; Aethionema schistosum and Androsace sp. (maybe A. villosa jacquemontii?); only one flower on Eriogonum umbellatum var. smallianum:


Eremostachys speciosa:


Phacelia sericea (that was supposed to be Synthyris dissecta!); Geum alpinum 'Beech House Apricot'; Plantago urvillei; Calceolaria biflora:


Another Silene bolanthoides; Aubrieta caucasica; Erigeron nematophyllus; Penstemon pumilus seedling:


Eritrichium howardii still in bloom; Erigeron linearis; Edraianthus niveus with Pyrethrum leontopoides and Aubrieta caucasica; Potentilla porphyrantha:


Anthemis cretica ssp. leucanthemoides; Penstemon x 'Pink Holly' and Dianthus sp.; Androsace septentionalis; one measly flower on Clematis scottii:


Asperula daphneola, just planted; Saxifraga x longifolia:

Lori ,

I have been watching your great diversity of plants , do you start a lot from seed or have a good source for rock garden plants?

Indeed Lori grows it all!
(mostly from seed I'll wager)
that Penstemon pumilus seedling is unbelievably cute

gardengus said:...do you start a lot from seed or have a good source for rock garden plants?

Both. I start a lot of plants from seed, plus have access to plants from Beaver Creek (an alpine specialist nursery) at the Calgary Rock and Alpine Garden Society (CRAGS) plant sale each spring, along with plants that members are selling.
I have been ordering seeds from the Czech seed collectors the last few years, a great resource for interesting species from the Caucasus, China, etc.!
I also ordered from Wrightman's this year (and once in the past) mainly to get more saxifrages from their excellent selection. Shipping from down east is pretty expensive though, and will increase in cost (for me) when the business relocates to New Brunswick.

Better pics of Silene bolanthoides:

Oxytropis viscida (quite fuzzy pictures, sorry - I'm always fighting with my current camera):

Campanula alpestris:


I like how the flowers on Oxtryopis viscida occur in a wide range of colour in natural stands (see below), and often age to a sky blue - visible in the lower part of the first photo above.