Exquisite! And true to the name. This one is often mislabeled.

Thanks Rick!
Yup, that's been part of the long quest.

dirtdorphins said:

• Woolly Turkish Speedwell (Veronica bombycina)
• Uploaded by dirtdorphins

Super cool been waiting for this one for a long time and finally

Beautiiful
very vivid color

Okay, we got a name change for the thread now
It can be resurrected in a timeless fashion whenever anyone wants

Regarding my comment about leaving space for aspiring shrublets--hah!
this was from '15

dirtdorphins said:Well, we finally got a bit of rain here--thankfully!
and I was looking at this picture (cursing the focus)...

and discovered that one of my fledgling daphnes was celebrating
so I ran out to sniff it and took a picture in the dark, in the rain

Here is that itty bitty daphne now

smells even better
and everything has grown (well, except for the stuff that died or got smothered or replaced...or...)

Oh that daphne.....
I've got some seeds...perhaps they might consider germinating...
The progression with your pictures is a perfect lure to get oneself going... . I simply love the setting of a fairly flat layout.Those boulders... .
Summing up: many
Thanks for sharing.
Arturo

Your pictures are amazing. I've always been enamored of 'alpine gardens' but my climate isn't exactly conducive to the plants which thrive in alpine settings. So I've spent a lot of effort the last few years trying to see which alpines can survive my climate. It's been pretty brutal but every year there are more and more survivors. My rock garden is sadly just a bunch of pots on my front porch where they get more sun than most of the rest of my yard and are relatively protected from wildlife. Here is a sampling of blooming plants today:
#1 Myosotis terglouensis (now Eritrichium nanum)
#2 Androsace lagunigosa
#3 Gypsophila repens Filou Rose
#4 Scutellaria indica var parviflora
#5 Minuartia verna (now Sabulina verna ssp verna)
#6 Saponaria x Rosengnome
#7 Aquilegia barnebyi Mini Form

Very nice Scott!
Apparently, my climate isn't either--no such thing as 'cool' sun in the summer. I tend to fry things. I've largely given up on the true alpine effect...

That Scutellaria is super cute!

Blooms from today

Hi Jo Ann! long time no see--looking good
I've been de-stalking and dividing irises--yours are looking fresh!

Yes the iris are just going out of bloom.Next are the lilies.

I have just found this thread. What a wonderful time I had reading and looking at amazing photos. Can't wait to get back home and see how my new raised beds are doing.
This is one of my favorite rock garden plants.

Good to know, Lynn! I have ordered Poncha Pass Red Sulphur buckwheat (E. umbellatum) for spring for my rock garden, similar I think—flowers start out yellow then form dark red seed heads. From High Country Gardens. Might not be as compact as yours. I'm looking forward to it.

https://www.highcountrygardens...

I, too, read through this thread late last summer when I started planning and building my rock garden. Great ideas

here were some of my faves from last spring

Zoe that is a very nice plant.

Dirt I love them all, I think I must find that cute little Veronica. 😍

I tried to find that wooly veronica last fall at my local nurseries but no luck, so I got the more common dark green foliage. I'm still coveting the grey. I also have a penstemon pinifolius.

I planted several itty bitty Anacyclus "Silver Kisses" (Mt Atlas daisy) in October, and they have grown and filled in all winter in freezing temps. I'm looking forward to seeing how these ground-huggers bloom. Dirt, I found your photo on the database. Not sure it's the same cultivar, but looks close

It'll be great Zoe!
I got that cute little Veronica from HCG--finally, had to wait a few years for it. Doesn't ship well.

Hi dirt @dirtdorphins, I've made some progress with my rock gardening...since everything has to start from seed here ( none of our local nuseries carry rg plants... ) it has taken me time to grow enough little goodies so as to venture into rgardening. One of my successes has been P.pinifolius. At present I've got about 8 pots of them. Mine presumably ought to bloom yellow ( it is the sulphur coloured variety). Do you place them in full sun or do they prefer part sun and some dappled shade?
@valleylynn Lynn, following your suggestions from elsewhere , I've also succeeded with many Lewisias! Now my yard is getting overflowed with them ( I must have about 30 pots or more !) :The Lewisia cotyledon hybrids were spectacular this past spring ( early October onwards) and are getting ready for another summer flush. They are much easier to grow that what I ever had expected! What I'm most delighted are the wild species that survive my own lack of experience: Lewisia columbiana var rupicola and L. c. var wallowensis from Alplains seed. Also a batch of L.leeana! Today 4 little L.tweedyi seedlings were looking promising ( my most cherished... ). Thanks for your cheering me towards them!
Some of my early sown ( years 2017) Penstemon species species are already blooming, whilst the newer sown are barely seedlings yet. Just getting familiar with such a vast genus...

Congrats Arturo!
I'd love to see pics of your progress.

Mine in part shade tolerate it, while those in full sun thrive.

Thanks, dirt!. My progress is very slow including that of setting aside time to borrow my godson's cell phone and get some acceptable photos ... I still have my Nikon analog set with very good optics, but I never managed to upgrade to digital...a pending issue... But, thanks to different NGA threads and forums, I have promised myself to make the effort. I've come to love the wonderful bunch of people that show up here so that's part of my returning kindness. specially to you.
Since building a full scale rock garden has been relegated to future years and some of my rock garden plants are ready for display, I re-invented the rock garden retaining wall instead of my conventional stone walls for my raised beds. So now instead of having a vertical stone wall for my garden flowers I have raised beds edged with naturally sloping material with stones acting as retention structures with rock garden plants growing in between. Here its cheap to get rounded glacial rocks of any size, even I can quarry for them in my property if I dig for them in certain spots. None would be accepted by formal rock garden conventional sages , but definitely serve my purpose From what I know, rocks don't recognize at all whom they share the landscape with... It took me quite a while to arrive to this simple solution. I hope it serves others to figure out similar alternatives, specially for those like us, that live in montane areas.

I just checked HCG and Wrightman Alpines, both are out of stock on the Veronica bombycina.
Think I will contact them and see when it will be available again.

Arturo, I am so happy that you gave the Lewisia a try.Many of them are so easy to grow. Would love to see photos of yours. And the seedlings.

I have Penstemon pinifolius, the orange form. I love Dirt's red form.