Alpines (or alpine wannabes) in May

Can't wait to see how it turns out! :-)

Rann

Sounds promising...

Alta, you'd be surprised how easy it is to collect enough seed for the exchanges. You won't have any problems. Don't know if SRGC allows moist packed seed from North America. Not sure if it would be an issue, since they send overseas seed through customs.

I feel like singing from the Wizard of Oz - ♫ Ding dong, the willow's dead . . .
Finally, after a battle all season last year, I am semi-safe in declaring it dead. Now it is going to be the centerpiece for my new rock garden! And even my neighbors love the idea!

Iris reichenbachii opened today, this time the ones in the troughs.

I never said design and scale were a strongpoints of mine . . . .

It really does have nice netting in the throat area.

This just opened for the first time too. It was given to me as am Iris sanguinea seedling, but obviously wasn't, because the foliage is so different (and now the flowers, too).

Iris minutoaurea

Rick, I had to get an extra customs package last year just for the NARGS seedex, so this year, I think I'll ask for two or three right off the bat. ;>)
I have I. reichenbachii in a trough too, so you're not the only one! Well, it's a rectangular trough, so I'm hoping for an interesting asymetry... LOL! (Actually, I'll just be happy if it blooms!)

Draba ventosa:

I. minutoaurea looks very interesting - the shape of the uprights, especially!

Hacquetia epipactis:

Iris minutoaurea is a shy bloomer. Look at how large the plant is, and this is the first time it bloomed.

Draba rigida, Dracocephalum botryoides and that iris again.

Rick, that Iris minutoaurea is exquisite....please save seed!

A 'studio' shot of my Anemone nemorosa 'Allenii' (just a black cardboard placed behind the plant)

Salix jejuna...a Newfoundland endemic

Salix reticulata...the leaves are so shiny it really needs to be taken on a cloudy day.

Primula pedemontana

and I'm delighted that my Diapensia is blooming! (another Newfoundland native)

Has anyone had any experiece with Iris minutoaurea? Does it set seed by itself, or do I need to hand pollinize? Some iris species here don't seem to get pollinized on their own, or the associated insect is lacking . . . . or something.

I guess I'll HP two, and not the third. Fortunately, they are still open today. This could be a challenge: they are so small about 1 to 1.25 inches in diameter, and less than 3 inches high. Finding a method to crouch down in that garden will be a puzzle.

Just went out and checked out my other minutoaurea. This one I bought from Rice Creek Gardens in 2006 (the first from seed started in 2005). It is about one-fourth the size of the first, and has three buds for the first time too! One is opening today, so I can cross pollinate.

Stage one in the new crevice garden....I ran out of rock! I am also trying to accomodate plants already in place.

Spent another day working on the crevice garden...all the rock is in place and the plants in. In a couple of weeks I'll add a topdressing of fine gravel...want the new darlings to bulk up a bit first!

A long view of the new garden...it is essentially triangular in shape

and a pic of part of my trough collection

Very nice Todd! Its always nice to have a spot to plant
new acquisitions and seedlings. Can't wait to see them
all plumped up and thriving.

Looks good, Todd - such potential! Sally, I love the look of the boulder bed you put in - just wonderful! I plan on putting in a tufa bed this spring... fortunately, I still have some (well, several) old beds that need renovation. I'd really prefer to start fresh though... so much easier with a clean slate, than having to dig up and move things, and keep track of new positions and identities. Oh well.

A little snow overnight, but gone in a few hours; cold misty rain today.
Dianthus myrtinervius ssp. caespitosus, starting to bloom.

Gentiana verna, from seed last year, and starting to bloom.

Congrats on the Gentian! I've never been able to keep that stinker alive over winter.

I've had no luck with gentians either..

Gentians aren't difficult here... must be our drier climate, I imagine. G. acaulis grows easily, right in clay.... kind of surprising to come upon big blooming batches of these in the yards of people who are essentially non-gardeners, LOL!

You've already got tons of jewels in that new crevice garden, Todd! Nice pics.

I have Dianthus mytinervis seedlings, now that I see the mature plant, I'm excited.

I haven't even tried the small gentians from seed yet. I guess I am working in to them from the larger species.

Dryas octopetala. They keep collecting the leaves that blow around...

Epimedium lishischenii

Epimedium stellatum 'Wudang Star' (hanging over Jeffersonia dubia foliage)

Epimedium grandiflorum noid

Epimedium x youngianum 'Beni-kujaku'

Hesperis kotchyi
you can't really see the foliage. A seedling just happened to come up in the "wrong" place.

Saruma henryi

Our native Thalictrum(Anemonella) thalictroides

You are way ahead of us now Rick...our Saruma is only a few inches high and Epimediums just showing buds. All my Hesperis died over the winter...it was a wicked winter this year with lack of snow cover.

Very nice epimediums.

Update...the first Epimedium alpinum are blooming today

I had terrible seed set on my H. kotchyi last year. Hopefully this year will be better.

Okay, I know you all think I have a "disease" called Pulsatilla turczaninovii on the brain, but my two mature plants are really taking on their own personalities this year. (Although, they have always been a little different.)

This pic taken today on a day so windy that the gails picked up a $350 barbecue grill at work like it was Auntie Em's farmhouse on the Wizard of Oz - 2 feet off the ground moved it 7 feet away. Completely demolished, of course.

I think the diminishing moisture is making the petal ends curve back more.

P.S. These digital cameras make thing so easy. I wouldn't of had a prayer of taking any photos at all today with my film camera.

A windswept Trillium luteum

To the left, a little Deinanthe caerulea
Next to the rock, Disporopsis pernyi
Behind the rock, Helleborus purpurescens
Behind, Uvularia grandiflora

Iris sintenisii ssp. brandzae