Last week after so much warm weather, I "just had" to uncover my wintering boxes.


And a good thing, as the Lewisia rediviva were sprouting.
These were the seed batch from last year that went dormant rather quickly. I had hoped they would be doing better...

Unpacked.


Most of Minnesota is officially in a drought.
Now I am looking forward to the "big" snowfall we're supposed to get tomorrow and Monday. I am smack dab in the middle of the projected center.

My fritillaria seeds were planted last September, and I get my best germination after a spring snow that stays for a couple days or so.

I like that screen enclosed "wintering" box.
Squirrels and magpies play havoc with anything not contained here.
I have been using translucent plastic boxes,
but eventually they give out after several winters.

Yay! You received a good amount of it!

It looks similar here, too.

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

Wow! Amazingly beautiful, and so much farther along than we are!!

In contrast, here's mine from yesterday.

I'm sorry Chelle!
but you probably won't be dragging the hose around for a while--
we've had a terribly dry (and mild) winter here and everything is early. My roses have never looked better though, and none of them have to start over from the ground this year, which is nice

I tidied up the rock garden yesterday, and wouldn't you know it but the first wild animal damage of the year was in there! Guess I'll be attempting to toss around Milorganite today, while juggling a bucket and an umbrella.

The good news is that the new transplants seem to be doing okay so far ...even with the nearly non-stop rain. Now if I can just keep the critters away...!

Would love to see a pic of your Lewisia rediviva, Chelle. I'm pretty sure there are doing much better than mine....

It still looks very much the same as it did last fall, but as soon as ( or if ) it does something new I'll post a picture of it. That's the one that didn't disappear as soon as the snow cover left. I'm not at all sure about the status of other one.

What are yours doing?

So I went to look for the Lewisia I have pictured in the first post of this thread, and at present, it is lost within my pot ghetto.

But now, 2 weeks after that big snowfall, I have some others germinating at the 40°F temperature regime:
Lewisia rediviva from wild collected seed in the Wenatchee Mtns, and Lewisia rediviva from garden collected NARGS seed


Oxytropis viscida - unscarified seed planted in early spring 2013. Only seven seeds, so 2 full years and the third season seems to be the magic number.


Also Fritillaria stenanthera and F. sewerzowii so far.

Check it out--it lives and blooms this time

Telesonix jamesii

I was wondering if anyone has ever grown this Raoulia albosericea. A friend gave me one but it looks dead. I'll get a picture in the morning.

You might want to research the care for it. I bought a 4" pot at a nursery and it was dead in a week or so.

I looked not much out there for info. I think this is dead but maybe it will come around. Planted it in some semp soil.

I don't know if I watered it too much or not enough. It died before I got it planted out. Tomorrow I'll check some of my rock garden books for info.

This is what I have found. Raoulias are alpine plants native to the mountains of New Zealand. Plant in sunny place in well draining moist, gritty soil (like scree that has some organic matter mixed in). They take regular watering in the summer but protect from winter wet. Not sure what that means in the PNW. Information indicates they are evergreen.

Synonyms: Raoulia hookeri var. albosericea and R. australis var. albosericea (from Catalog of Life).

Thank you Connie. PNW is just wet so not much hope if this is still alive.

I would love to grow it but it sounds like it would have to be in a container that could be pulled under the eaves. This is the kind of plant that I think would look best in the garden or trough. I have too many plants to babysit in the winter as it is!