Orchids of Bruce Peninsula II I was saying earlier that one could spot quite a few Cypripedium spp.- Lady’s slippers, at Singing Sands National Park in Bruce Peninsula. Tread lightly on the trails, watch carefully and maybe you’ll even meet the lady’s slippers fairy from the image below. Cypripedium reginae – Showy lady’s slipper; it […]
One of my goals is to concentrate on the propagation of a few N. American native plants that would be as prized in our garden as any Chinese or S. American novelties. The hype of using native plants in our gardens and landscapes it always cut short by their difficulty to propagate (and by the […]
While gazing to the rocky shores of the Georgian Bay in Killarney, one plant kept drawing my attention (and camera) – the bristly sarsaparilla: Aralia hispida. Growing in any small crack of the big granite boulders, with shiny leaves and blackish fruits proudly swinging in the wind, it made me think, again, how many wonderful, […]
“One poem/ per blossom is not enough/ for a peony.” – Ryumin And if I may add, one picture per blossom would not be enough for a peony either. I realized this at New York Botanical Garden when the herbaceous Paeonia (P. lactiflora) collection was in full bloom. There are plenty of books and websites […]
And after a while, following the trail and botanizing and/or admiring the scenery you’ll make it to the Omu Peak and Omu Chalet. It is time to have a snack, and finding a place to sit down (outside) is easily done. Careful though – because you’ll be surrounded by Campanula alpina, Primula minima, and clumps […]
Although not considered an emblem flower of the Carpathian Mts., Leontopodium alpinum – the Alps Edelweiss is much sought after. Whenever we had friends coming with us, they always wanted to see it growing on the mountain. It is not common everywhere, but we found it one day while hiking on Valea Cerbului towards a […]
Before leaving the Bucegi Plateau, one more look at the grassland plant communities in the alpine areas revels associations of Carex, Luzula, Festuca, Sesleria, Agrostis, Nardus,and Poa species – lots of them! In the summer time you’ll also find Campanula serrata another Carpathian endemic, flowering in these alpine and sub-alpine meadows, with typical blue flowers […]
Geum reptans is an alpine gem of which I was able to collect a few seeds. Growing in crevices and spreading in mats over boulders, it was already past flowering during late July, and its ornamental fluffy seed heads were getting pink. Although also admired for its yellow flowers, I find the pinnate, fernlike foliage […]
Yet another subject that I don’t have enough time to dedicate – the climbing Aconitum species. While the old fashioned monkshoods have been in the gardens and are well known for a long time (yes, despite the fact that they are highly poisonous), the climbing ones are still to raise a few eyebrows. Most of […]
The Plant Gold Rush continues with the most precious of finds: the alpine golden nuggets. We found them at Wrightman Alpines during their open house last Sunday. It had been a while since I was lucky to admire their Saxifrages in flower, so we made another trip that turned out into a photography extravaganza. Many […]
The Latin word saxifraga means literally “stone-breaker”, from Latin saxum (“rock” or “stone”) + frangere (“to break”). Pliny the Elder thought the plant was named like this because at the time it was given to dissolve gallstones (another example of the Doctrine of Signatures). Even so, Saxifraga is a very good name for a plant […]
Flowering faithfully from spring through summer and late fall, the Gentians are my most beloved flowers. Although I am usually associating them with a mountainous environment, there are plenty of species/varieties growing happily in ordinary garden conditions. This gallery contains Gentiana species and varieties from our travels and from Lost Horizons Nursery (where a few […]
Yeah, I have to show off more of the Roscoea ‘Cinnamon Stick’, it’s tooooo beautiful… The first species to flower is also one of the most cultivated – Roscoea cautleoides. Typically it has pale yellow flowers, but there are also forms with pink flowers. Roscoea auriculata – native of Nepal, Sikkim and Xizang, has large flowers […]
Some of you may be surprised to find out that the following image belongs to a gentian, but it’s true. This is Gentiana lutea (Yellow gentian, Bitter Root), native to the mountainous regions of central and southern Europe (Carpathians, Alps, Pyrenees…), where usually grows in alpine and sub-alpine meadows on calcareous soils. It is a […]
In the garden world the common ‘everyday’ can vanish somewhere between real and surreal; for sure Arisaemas are to blame for this. Mysterious and animistic creatures, they are permanently watching us, even from the underground. At Lost Horizons Nursery there are quite a few Arisaema species (Cobra lilies or Jack-in-the-pulpits) around; sometimes benevolent and sometimes mischievous […]
I someone would ask me, I would say that no garden is complete without at least one member of the ephemeral genus of Corydalis. The more common is the delightful Corydalis solida and varieties but wait until you meet the lord of the genus: Corydalis nobilis. If lucky to be able to drive you can […]
