Alpines (or alpine wannabes) in May

Very nice, Rick! Love that pulsatilla! I find that Dienanthe caerulea needs a lot of water... had to move it into shade to keep it from wilting every day, though it doesn't even get hot here. Have you found that?
Your epimediums are way ahead of mine - I see one flower open on the most advanced, which is E. x rubrum... and that's it. Same for your dryas.

Edit: Oh, and BTW, now that you have a digital camera, we expect a lot more pix!!! ;>)

This message was edited May 20, 2009 8:57 PM

Fabulous pulsatilla. We have rain at the moment not winds..

The Dienanthe caerulea came from Chen Yi back in 2006. I guess I didn't know what it really was then because I had put mulched in full sun. It came up and went dormant very quickly (3-4 weeks), and I thought it died. The next year it returned and did the same thing. Year three I transplanted it in the shade of an Amelanchier, and it's been doing comparatively well. Obviously still a small plant, but no, I haven't found it to wilt easily in the shade. However, our summer air is much more humid than yours. FYI, a Chapter member here has a huge one - almost a meter in diameter! It grows in complete shade.

E. x rubrum is always the first to bloom here too. I don't have E. alpinum.

All my pics this year have been digital, as I got the camera last winter. My "problem" now is that I am stll back on my old WinME pc with a tiny tiny cpu. Takes a lot longer to edit and send pics. With my film camera, I used to really labor with a tripod on still days, etc. to get any decent pic of a flower. Now I feel like I am cheating!

Valeriana montana (I think).

That last Valeriana, and this Veronica liwanensis grow between stepping stones in full sun dry clay. It's a wonder they survive at all! Liwanensis does better than V. oltensis.

A small Corydalis ochroleuca. A normal size plant in the background.

Leftwood, do you know if corydalis ochroleuca makes viable seed? My luteas seed all over the place, but I haven't as yet found any ochroleuca babies from the one I planted last year. I know my blue corydalis is supposed to be sterile, but is quite different from the other 2.

Corydalis ochroleuca does make viable seed, and is self fertile (you don't need two different plants). The one pictured is a volunteer seedling. (Who could have planted it in such a small crack?) The species seeds around nicely for us in MN, but is not a thug as C. lutea can be. I do not grow lutea for that reason. I have germinated seed of C. ochroleuca just for kicks, too. This season, I am going to try germinating C. solida.

I don't think I found any babies of ochroleuca sprouting up until a couple years after my first plant was in the ground. With all the seed it produces, you'd think gathering seed would be quick and a cinch. In reality, it requires a bit more patience than you'd think.

Gorgeous plants everyone :-)

OK here are a few plants that are flowering now:

First up a very pretty pink Pulsatilla vulgaris I raised from seed:

Tulipa tarda

Ranunculus alpestris

A white Pulsatilla vulgaris:

Polemonium repens just starting into bloom:

Erythronium revolutum 'White Beauty'

Rann, your alpines are at the exact same stage as mine. Wonderful! (but somewhat depressing considering I'm so much further south!)

Thanks Todd :-) It's been an unusually warm spring (second year in a row) so this isn't really typical ..... not complaining though! lol

Ranunculus parnassifolius

Rann

Saxifraga oppositifolia - it needs a better spot. It gets drowned in a neighboring dianthus every year so I never get more than one flower ..... I think it would do better in the stone walll.

Rann

It's been warmer than usual here too....although its suppose to be cool all next week.

Here is Daphne retusa

Oxalis ennaphylla Minutifolium...had some help in the cold frame so blooming earlier than usual.

Caltha palustris Flore Pleno

Trillium grandiflorum

Lovely plants, rannveig. I especially love the pink pulsatilla and the white erythronium.

Thanks for the info Leftwood. I'll bet if I get any ochroleuca babies, they'll be crossed with one of the many lutea I have. Hope they're not pale yellow. I like the bright yellow and the white with the spot of yellow and green.

Gentiana verna, from seed last year, now open!

EDIT: Acckk, where did the photo go??!?

This message was edited May 23, 2009 6:11 PM

One more time... G. verna... (I swear, I saw the photo in the preview!)

Aubrieta deltoides 'Blue Indigo':

Pulsatilla campanella, and some Lewisia rediviva seedlings to the left:

You certainly have the touch with those gentians, Alta. And rediviva seedlings! What luck (or skill)!

Epimedium davidii. I have better pics of the flowers, but this one shows the most excellent foliage and the contrasting calyx.

I'd say skill with the gentian...blooming the second year from seed is a challenge for any Gentian, let alone a VERNA!

Hi all,

Thanks for sharing many pictures of wonderful alpine plants which I can't grow in here zone9. I miss seeing spring ephemerals in my garden and I feel already the signs of summer around the corner in here.

Lilium rubellum

Hydrangea serrata

Goldenfish, neither of those plants bloom here until August! You live in a different world!

In my part of the world, the Androsace sempervivoides are starting.

Armeria caespitosa

Lathyrus vernus...a bit of a weed really as it self-seeds all over the garden

Primula hirsuta

Pulsatilla bungeana...grown from seed last year

Ranunculus kochii...looks like a double R. ficaria to me!

This may not be the right place for it, but I have to say the pulsatilla turczaninovii that I wintersowed and had given up on, has finally sprouted! I can't say the same for either of the gentians, though.

P. turczaninovii is very late in spring emergence and flowering, compared to other pulsatillas.

Fritillaria camschatcensis

Iris cristata 'Vein Mountain'

Lewisia pygmaea

Penstemon paysoniorum