King of the Alps (Eritrichium nanum)
We are experiencing a wonderful surplus of wildflowers this week on a tour of Dolomites with Greentours. I hadn’t intended on reporting on this journey until we returned home but today was such a wonderful experience I just had to share some of what we have been seeing. Every day has been a discovery of new plants that we had never seen, with hundreds of species recorded so far, but today was just over the top for anyone interested in alpines.
We spent the day walking at over 7000 feet looking over majestic scenery and crawling up crags to get close to cushions of alpine plants or walking next to meadows where flowers and butterflies were abundant. I’m just going to share a few of the images at this point to give a sampling of what we are seeing but for anyone who is interested Greentours does a phenomenal job of giving you a rich and thorough exploration of the landscape. We’re on the trail from about 9 to 5 every day and each day seems to exceed the last in wonderful experiences. I expect to provide a more complete sampling of the wildflowers in the future but this is a sampling of today’s encounters.
View into Austria
Silene exscapa
Geum montanum
Alpine Toadflax (Linaria alpina)
Phyteuma hemisphaericum
Alpine Poppy (Papaver aurantiacum)
Juncus jacquinii
Pedicularis verticillata
Soldanella minima
Ranunculus glacialis
Vitaliana primuliflora
Potentilla nitida
Potentilla nitida detail (note the green stamens)
Saxifraga paniculata on rock outcropping
Last, but not least, we have encountered a number of Gentians and several have the stunning blue color that Gentians are famous for. It seems appropriate to begin with the blue Eritrichium and end with a Gentian.
Gentiana brachyphylla
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day June 2015
Stewartia japonica
Hello to Summer. It’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day and the Stewartia decided it was an appropriate time to open its flowers for the occasion. It always astounds me that a tree with such beautiful bark manages to have exquisite flowers as well. Unlike other years we have yet to put out all the hose sprinklers because we seem to be getting thunderstorms every other night. The peonies and maincrop irises are all passed now but some of the iris are just happening now. One that has pretty much taken hold of a spot in the garden is a hybrid, Kimboshi.
Iris x pseudata ‘Kimboshi’
Another iris that keeps expanding its space every year is the Japanese Iris, Agripinella.
Iris ensata ‘Agripinella’
Another flower from the Iris family that is blooming right now is the Prairie Iris.
Alophia drummondii
This one I grew from seed obtained from the SIGNA (Species Iris Group of North America) seed exchange in 2013. There are several of the Zephyranthes, Herbertia, and Moraeas that seem to want to bloom about this time of the year in the greenhouse. This one is said to be zone 8, but I might give it a try outside when I have enough of them.
Another greenhouse item right now is from the Amaryllis family
Cyrtanthus mackenii
Like many of its kin, this comes from South Africa.
We also have a number of Ismene and Hymnocallis in bloom. They are easily grown in pots that can be overwintered completely dry and then brought outside for the growing season. My favorite at the moment is Sulfur Queen, which is a hybrid between two Ismene species.
Ismene ‘Sulfur Queen’
A very special little Astilbe that I picked up at Oliver Nurseries this spring has come into bloom.
Astilbe ‘Cobblewood Fireworks’
This is a very dwarf astilbe with thick shiny green leaves and lovely pink flowers that was originated by Darryl Probst.
Another rather special plant coming into bloom is a Lysimachia with a very tropical aspect.
Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla
It withstood a difficult winter with flying colors.
If you are looking to feed the butterflies and bees while satisfying your lust for flower color I would recommend a very nice butterfly weed, ‘Hello Yellow’.
Asclepias tuberosa ‘Hello Yellow’
This is very vigorous and covered with dazzling yellow flowers. I saw a large, bright orange butterfly on the plant at one point and it was an OMG moment, but I couldn’t get the camera in time.
Many other flowers are blooming. I’ll let some of them speak for themselves.
Jacob Cline Monarda
Calendula hybrid
Stokesia laevis ‘Honeysong Purple’
Delosperma basuticum
While this post is about the flowers blooming today, I would be remiss in my reporting duties if I didn’t observe that it is also maximum fruit day where the strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are all flowing into the house. And it is also when the birds are having their mulberry/wild cherry festival just beyond the garden fence.
Scarlet Tanager
Enjoy!
Strawberry Jewels & More
Strawberry jewels
Last year we replanted strawberries after disease had taken hold in our old row. I first put in 25 Jewel strawberries in a double row 18″ apart with pinebark mulch. Those 25 were allowed to expand and expand they did. I would say that the mesh of strawberries is about three foot wide and so dense as to exclude most weeds.
Double row of Jewel Strawberries
They have been extraordinarily productive. We’ve been bringing in a very large bowel of strawberries every night and predominantly from this patch. Later on last year, near the end of June I added another 50 plants (Allstar & Cavendish) and those have been contributing too, but not nearly so many as the jewel plants. Somehow in my unreasonable fear that we would not have enough strawberries, I added another 25 strawberry plants this spring (Cabot). I think we will need help picking next year.
3 nights of strawberry picking
Meanwhile on the flower front much has been happening. I was really pleased to see the Martagon lily ‘Arabian Knight’ flowering for the first time.
Martagon Lily ‘Arabian Knight’
I love the way the Martagons have a completely different profile from the normal lily hybrids. The foliage itself makes a statement. We’ve also have the first flower on a small Chinese lily that I got from Far Reaches this year.
Lilium duchartrei
This is said to spread underground so that should be fun. I wouldn’t mind a clump of these little guys.
I was more than pleased to see that a couple of my favorite Arisaemas (fargesii and candidissimum) have finally decided to emerge. Take a note for future years that I should not expect or dig in these areas until June.
Arisaema fargesii
There are a number of little rain lilies popping out in the greenhouse right now. They are all a bit tender for this area, but I may give them a shot at outside exposure when I have enough of them in hand. For the moment I just take out to sit on the back porch.
Habranthus brachyandrus
Zephyranthes rosea
Habranthus tubispathus var. texensis
Zephyranthes dichromantha
You can see from the pictures that these little bulbs are multiplying in there pots, but it’s hard to compete with the oxalis which REALLY multiply in the pots. I started separating out the oxalis from 2013 plantings this year as they went dormant and the original 1-3 bulbs have expanded a lot.
Oxalis flava ‘Yellow’
Oxalis flava ‘Yellow’ yield
They can be kept in a bag until August when they will be ready to go again for fall/winter blooming in the greenhouse. As a reminder the Oxalis in the greenhouse are nothing like the little pests you find in the garden.
Oxalis flava – yellow
Thinking of the greenhouse, there is a South American bulb with gorgeous deep blue flowers that has been blooming steadily for the last two weeks.
Gelasine elongata
I always enjoy seeing these new bulbs or seeds bloom for the first time. I recently planted out several Anemone multifida ‘Rubra’ that I grew from the NARGS seed exchange in 2014.
Anemone multifida ‘Rubra’
Similarly this little Dianthus that I planted in tufa was grown from the NARGS 2014 seed exchange.
Dianthus spiculifolius
Speaking of seed exchanges, now is the time to be gathering seed from the early flowering plants. For many of them, like the Jeffersonia, you have to watching carefully to see that you get the seeds before the wind and the insects do…
Harvesting Jeffersonia dubia seeds
Jeffersonia dubia seeds
Identifying the seeds for these large seeded plants is pretty straightforward but many plants are pretty tricky. Helps you appreciated what goes on for a more wide-ranging seed collector like BotanyCA.
I had a perfectly wonderful time at the NARGS annual meeting, but that deserves a posting in itself. I will say that I brought back a number of exotic plants including this little Conandron that I’ve put in the alpine bed.
Conandron ramondioides
The alpine bed continues to be very successful. I’ve added another Lewisia since they seem to like it so much.
Lewisia longipetala ‘Little Peach’
And the alpine aster has returned from last year.
Aster alpina
Out in the main garden beds the astrantia is coming into bloom, along with the horned poppies.
Astrantia ‘Moulin Rouge’
Yellow Horned Poppy (Glaucium flavum)
Orange Horned Poppy (Glaucium flavum var. aurantiacum)
There is one little garden mystery. Somehow a european spotted orchid has appeared on the opposite side of the yard from where it bloomed last year (and where it has no flower buds this year). I have no memory of having planted one in this spot. But nonetheless it seems to be happily blooming away.
Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Let me close with the first thing I check in the morning — the spuria iris.
Spuria Iris ‘Cinnebar Red’
Spuria iris ‘Stella Irene’