This plant looks very appealing here. Is it congenial to being grown as a domesticated plant? E.g. in a container? I wonder, too, if it would rebel at high summer temps. The database describes as being a cactus/succulent but most of the photos contributed seem to originate from locations that would have mild summer temps. Anyone know more? Does it strongly prefer the Alpine climate?

ooooh yeah, thanks for asking Donald!
I am also very interested in this plant and need to learn more

Thank you Magga
How 'bout it? What can you tell us

I absolutely love this plant! I first saw it at Bide A Wee cottage garden and bought a small plant a couple of years ago which I have in a large container. It really is interesting at every stage throughout the season and is trouble free. I love it.

I would like to know if any of you know an online nursery that sells this plant?
I would love to give it a try in my raised sempervivum beds.
Is there a trick to keep it growing in that tight and beautiful mound?

It is lovely growing with the colorful heuchera.

The tight growth you see is how it looks in spring. As summer progresses/and it blooms, it will be looser.

Thank you for the information Rick.

This plant is a common wildflower in Iceland. It is also a favored garden plant here. It dies down to the ground in winter and comes back in spring. It likes our cool Icelandic climate very well and stays tight and rounded until sometime in August when rhe stalks have grown rather long. It does not like wet conditions but grows well in raised beds espevially if it has some grit in it. The plant in my photo is taken at my country site, where I planted it in in "wild" soil which is mainly silt and is a bit acidic.

Thanks,
Not an easy plant to find around here!
I did find one place in Canada, that also happens to have some other wonderful and hard to find plants that I covet, so I may have to bite the bullet...
I have found seeds, all over the place...

this first one, R. yunnanensis, looks to be much more heat tolerant, taller and sprawly
copied and pasted from ??somewhere:

RHODIOLA
—Rhodiola yunnanensis. (50) RHDI-28. Packet: $4.00
'HONG JING TIAN'. Caudex-forming succulent with annual stems to 18", with whorled leaves. Pink-purple flowers on female plants and yellowish flowers on males. Western China, 3000 - 12,000 feet, in forests. Zone 7. Used like R. rosea in Chinese medicine. Easier to grow and more heat-tolerant than rosea. Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.

RHODIOLA (ro-dee-O-la)
CRASSULACEAE. Succulent perennials much like Sedum. Easily grown in well-drained soils. Hardy.
—Rhodiola rosea. (100) RHDI-21. Packet: $3.00
1/4 gram: $25.00, Gram: $54.00, 5 grams: $200.00, 10 grams: $350.00
'ROSE-ROOT'. Dense clusters of yellow flowers in May and June. Very hardy perennial to 10", with crowded succulent grey-green leaves, often tinged red at the base. Northern regions. Zone 1. The leaves have been eaten in salads, steamed, or pickled. The rose-scented root is a valuable medicine, being adaptogenic like ginseng, increasing strength, endurance, learning, memory, is cardioprotective, anti-carcinogenic, and is used for a wide variety of conditions. For a good overview, see Herbalgram No. 56, 2002. Prechill 4 weeks or give GA-3 at 200 to 500ppm to germinate in 1 - 3 weeks.

I have tried Rhodiola rosea twice from seed from the NARGS seed ex. Planted in pots in Jan-Feb, then left outside for a cold treatment as I do with many other seeds. Nothing ever germinated, but I do also recall wondering if there was viable seed present in the packets when I planted them.

The Rhodiola rosea has male and female plants so to get viable seeds I guess there have to be both sexes near each other, - that's life😍. Here we divide the plants or take root cuttings to propagate.

I also have another Rhodiola: Rhodiola semenovii (hope I'm spelling it right. That one is not native here and is rare in gardens. I was helping some people removing shrubs from their garden an they gave me this plant that nobody knew an I planted it in my country site. It really surprised me when it started to grow that spring/summer. There are photos of it in the database.

It is the second day of Christmas today and I'm having my family of 15 here tonight. Turkey already in the oven.😉

Magga the photos of Rhodiola semenovii are wonderful.
Have a wonderful Christmas gathering.

I got a very nice healthy plant from Crimson Sage out of California. It is an alpine plant. My chickens seem to really like it so I have to watch them when they are loose.

Wonderful
Thanks Deb!
I did not know about Crimson Sage--I am checking them out and wow, they have a lot of neat stuff

What a great nursery. Thank you for posting the information Deb.