I picked one up and it says Hardy to zone 5 so the cold and summer drought should be fine for it.

I want to keep it in a pot, do I use cacti soil and extra perlite? How often do I water? When winter freeze comes do I leave it outside in the pot?

Hi Keith,

I have a couple of these planted in my garden. My 'soil' is coarse sand and I didn't add anything to it before planting them. The rule for keeping plants in pots is subtract 2 hardiness zones. So if they are hardy in Zone 5, a pot would probably work (I think hardier than that). The only pots I leave outside year 'round are the ones too big to pick up but I do manage to get them to a protected spot against the house.

They are native to Northern California subalpine areas - you find them growing in rocky outcrops. Don't use any potting medium that will hold moisture against the plants and don't water in the winter time. Do you know what DG is? Decomposed Granite - that's what they are growing in in the mountains. Oh, and plant them a little crookedly so water doesn't sit in the crown of the plant.

Daisy

DaisyI said:Hi Keith,

I have a couple of these planted in my garden. My 'soil' is coarse sand and I didn't add anything to it before planting them. The rule for keeping plants in pots is subtract 2 hardiness zones. So if they are hardy in Zone 5, a pot would probably work (I think hardier than that). The only pots I leave outside year 'round are the ones too big to pick up but I do manage to get them to a protected spot against the house.

They are native to Northern California subalpine areas - you find them growing in rocky outcrops. Don't use any potting medium that will hold moisture against the plants and don't water in the winter time. Do you know what DG is? Decomposed Granite - that's what they are growing in in the mountains. Oh, and plant them a little crookedly so water doesn't sit in the crown of the plant.

Daisy

Even in winter we sometimes get warm days with rain, so Mabye it can't stay outside?

It rains in the mountains and amazingly enough, we have gotten 5 inches since the first of the year in Reno. Mine look good. I suspect its more of a drainage problem then a watering problem. Like I said, mine are planted in coarse sand. The ones I've seen in the mountains are planted in the seams of decomposing granite in the outcrops.

They are really cool - they seem to cling to any little bit of gravel even growing sideways sometimes. I found a photo of some growing in habitat:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

Daisy

Hi Keith,

One of my seedlings is blooming for the first time:


Daisy

DaisyI said:Hi Keith,

One of my seedlings is blooming for the first time:


Daisy

That's pretty! The one I got is white and orangish striped. Question, how is granite nutritional? Couldn't I use cactus soil with granite mixed in?

There's nothing nutritional about granite. My soil is just what you see in that picture and I didn't add any soil amendments to my cactus garden. They get watered once a week and also get afternoon shade.

The fast draining part is the important part.

Daisy

DaisyI said:Hi Keith,

One of my seedlings is blooming for the first time:


Daisy

This is the one I picked up, it has purple highlights on the leaves.

Oh, I like that one.

DaisyI said:There's nothing nutritional about granite. My soil is just what you see in that picture and I didn't add any soil amendments to my cactus garden. They get watered once a week and also get afternoon shade.

The fast draining part is the important part.

Daisy

I couldn't find granite, what else will improve drainage? Do I use regular potting mix or one for cacti?

I would try to make your drainage as rocky as you can get, more rock than soil, make that cactus soil as rocky as you can get, ..absolutely hates getting wet feet. Too bad I can't make it last on my side we get way too hot and dry here, I did manage about a year or so before it went kaput. I used very chunky media, pumice, kanuma, akadama, very little soil. I would have also used chicken grit if I had it then.
Here is what mine looked like before: It was happiest here in early to mid Spring, then it just dries out bad once our dry heat returns, I try to move it to the coolest side of my garden, not much is cool here so it dries out, but it did make a come back one time, but just too tough on my very arid side here, hit and miss

Sorry can't comment on snow, we don't have that here on my side, just winter rains if it does come.

17May2014

There is fish gravel, I can try adding a bunch of that.

If I'm planting water shy succulents and cactus in pots, I add pumice (I used to go down to the rock yard to get it. They would let me pick up all the little pieces that broke off the "feather rock") or perlite.

Lewisia can handle more water than you might think if they are in well draining soil. Its the moisture being held against their roots that kill them. In their native habitat, they are rained on every afternoon during mid to late summer. If the day starts clear and gets hot, the clouds build up, the rain falls. It mostly happens in July and August - we get most of our annual rain then.

So Tarev, look east. When you see those big columnar clouds building on the mountains in the afternoon, its time to water the Lewisia.

Daisy

Oh I don't have lewisias now, I already accepted the reality it is just too hot and dry here. We do not get the rains you have in July and August. Lewisias just go summer dormant here, because of the intense heat. No use to water them either. They try to come back in late Fall when temps cool down the way they like. Too picky temps wise so I have abandoned the idea for now of growing them again. Unfortunately the bad combo of cold temps and rain is what we have in late Fall and winter, so really dicey.

Mine survived the winter and is thriving!

I wish I planted lewisias again last Fall, we are having quite an extended cool down, temps that they want. Maybe next time.

I have 2 in 1 gal pots, they have grown so much they have split the pots, going to divide this week. They take the cold and rain of Portland. They are native to the Columbia Gorge, That is the spot M Lewis found them and named them.

That is good Steve, your location is ideal for them!

Considering the amount of rain the west coast has gotten last fall and this winter/spring, its amazing that there's anything in my cactus garden that isn't a pile of mush. We got 4 inches of rain last October giving us 15 inches of rain in 2016. Since January 1st, we have gotten 12 inches of rain and 3 feet of snow. These numbers aren't significant until I mention that the average rainfall for our end of the desert is 8 inches a year.

Lewisia cotyledon are all doing great. I am hoping some went to seed and I start seeing little ones soon.


The newest addition (planted last May) is Lewisia rediviva. I found an entire field of them out in the desert last May - I would have never noticed them if they hadn't been blooming. I restrained myself and dug up only one. L. rediviva is dormant for most of the year, makes an appearance in the late winter, blooms in May and is gone. The rosette withers before they bloom. Not a real exciting Lewisia but a pretty cool find.

We got some rains coming in later, which they say will bring more snow up in your area.