Townsendia spathulata, the Pryor Mountains
form is just flowering now in my alpine house
or perhaps you would prefer something choice to grow in
the alpine house.Lewisia rediviva
featured here, is lovely to look at and very easy to grow. Just
look at this specimen.
As long as you keep it dry from seed setting time until September
it will flower more and more each year for you.
You may just want something
for the garden, a trough or the alpine house. Aquilegia grahamii
is a fairly new introduction from Utah and a Certificate of Merit
winner in 2001. Although growing to 80 cm (32 in.) in its native
habitat, it remains 15-20 cm (6-8 in.) in cultivation.
and although not a North American plant, Dianthus microlepis
'Rivendell' also makes a good display in the trough or alpine
house. The photo shows my plant at the 2002 Chesterfield show
and was taken by Cliff Booker.
on the left is a dwarf form of Penstemon eriantherus
only 15 cm tall with flowers of a rich purple/blue. Just shows
what is available if you grow from seed
Edraianthus pumilio makes a superb show plant.
Physoplexis comosa need protection from slugs to look
its best.
In addition to the nursery side of
the business I also give
slide talks (see below) and
write 'easy to read' articles featuring many of these plants growing in the
wild, in pots for alpine house culture or in the rock garden.
Many Eriogonum, Douglasia,
and Penstemon species grow here in a raised bed completely uncovered
all year round. Attention must be given of course to drainage
and although the main compost is approximately 50/50 soil/grit
the top 6" is coarse horticultural grit only. Naturally,
being exposed to all winds and weathers, growth is slow to start
at the beginning of the year and the plants do look a bit 'tatty'
in early spring. However they grow much tighter than in the alpine
house with the flower stems much shorter. Many of the Androsace
sp. can be also grown in tufa and look so much better than in
a pot.
A recent addition is a sand
bed made with sand sizes 2-3mm particles and filled to a depth
of 12"-18". Many of the more difficult plants can be
grown in this type of bed, being fed once a year with Osmocote
or something similar. There have been several articles written
on sand beds in the NARGS bulletin and the internet is also a
good place to find information on this type of culture.
With an alpine house, you will be able to grow more of the more
difficult items that are in this list and remain dry on rainy
days. Campanula piperi or C.shetleri and the Astragalus sp.,
Hymenoxys and Lewisia are just a few that can be grown this way
for show purposes or just for personal satisfaction. I have a
great many contacts in the USA with excellent plant growers and
do my best to bring into cultivation in the UK, new species or
cultivars where possible. If you are looking for that 'special'
North American alpine plant, please contact me as I may be able
to get hold of it for you.
We have many plants in small quantities and for that reason they
do not appear on the list. Visitors to the nursery in the past
have been very pleased with their 'special' acquisitions.
If my site has interested
you, please take time out to enter comments in my guest book
below. Thank you.
Now go to
the buttons below and 'give 'em a click'. The slide talks link
takes you to all my talks and dozens of photos featured in those
talks. If you are interested in photos only,
then click on the two photo site links or have a look at our
new garden site. There you can see even more plants. Photos are
also being uploaded to the catalogue page. Check there as well.
catalogue ................. slide talks and photos................. articles
click here for photo site no.1
click here for photo site no.2
click here for Graham & Iris's
garden site
click here for Graham's 2005 NARGS
tour of the U.S. west coast.
click here for links to other sites of special interest
01761
472187
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not e-mail me?
and
then..........................................
troughs such as this home made
container that has a cleverly designed slit down the side to
use for crevice plants and Penstemon rupicola hanging from the
top.
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