Aubretia is an excellent, 6″ high perennial that is almost smothered with flowers in early spring.
Aubretia is suitable for rockeries, walls, borders, edging paths, planters and window boxes. Spread is 12-18in and flower colours include blue, rich purple and pink shades.

Sowing Instructions

• Sow by just covering the seed, from late winter to early summer, in a good free draining seed compost.
• Add some grit or sharp sand to ordinary compost as Aubretia doesn’t like wet feet.
• Make sure the compost is moist and not wet and seal in a polythene bag.
• Germination usually takes 14-21 days at 65F .

Growing Instructions

• Transplant, when large enough to handle, into boxes or 3in pots.
• Later plant out 12in apart into a sunny, well drained garden soil preferably containing lime.
• Trim with shears after flowering to keep plants tidy. Allow to trail if you like the unkempt look.
• Desirable plants can be increased by cuttings or layering in late spring.

Old Hybrids to Look Out For

• Doctor Muller – deep violet-blue
• Mrs Rodewald – larger red flowers.
• Bridesmaid – pale pink  with a deeper eye.
• Barker’s Double -  a pink mix with semi and double flowers

You can buy seeds or plants from Thompson Morgan

Aubretia deltoidea Variegata has white edged leaves.

Aubretia deltoidea Aurea has gold edged leaves. Aubretia is also in books with the spelling Aubrieta and Aubrietia

I have talked before of Lewisia becoming trendy and offered some growing tips.
I have had another year of experience and like the way my plants are performing.
The above plant is flowering amongst the old leaves of the primula that cropped up in the sandy soil of my rockery.

Description of Lewisia

• From the Portulacaceae family most Lewisias could almost be mistaken for succulents.
• They produce thick or fleshy, green, shiny waxy leaves in rosettes.
• Lewisia grow 6-10″ high and flower on straight stems that are prone to lean over.
• Flowers are profuse, round-shaped and occasionally doubles or semis.
• Lewisia blooms come in bright pink,  apricot, white, or plum red.
• Most varieties are evergreen but resent damp on the leaves.

Varieties of Lewisia

• Lewisia rediviva, also called bitter root lewisia has thick, fleshy, deciduous leaves and pink to white flowers. Detailed growing information is available here.
• Lewisia cotyledon has persistent leaves and grows in the form of mat like rosettes. ‘Little Plum’ has deeply veined flowers in white with pink or red stripes.
• Hybrid lewisias are available as inexpensive seed mixtures. Galaxy mixed
• The Alpine garden society lists 100 cultivars and species
• Lewisia tweedyi is shorter at 6″ tall but has 3″ wide blooms in white and cream. Great for a rockery or alpine house.

More Photographs of Lewisia

National collection of Lewisia can be seen at Ashwood Nurseries

I have reported before about the Alpine house at RHS Harlow Carr. Now we can begin to see the fruits of all the labours both in growing and display.

There must be 100 different plants on display many of which were in flower this week. I know the pictures are small but how many varieties can you recognise?

Just by observing the plunge beds regularly, I am picking up tips that I hope to be able to use in my own cultivation.

See Gardeners Tips on Plunge Beds

Beginners instructions for building a plunge bed for growing Tete-a-tete narcissus from the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society.
‘To construct a plunge-bed dig a pit in a well drained piece of ground that will not flood – near a tree or hedge will be fine. A wooden frame, sufficient to hold the pots, on top of the ground will do equally as well. Place the pots in the plunge-bed or frame and cover them with soil/compost/sand to a depth of about 5cm. They can now be forgotten until the spring. A strong cardboard box stored in a dry cold garage or shed will do equally as well. Cover the pots in the same way as above and don’t let them dry out.’

Hepatica cultivation has been popular in Japan since the 18th Century. Now they are capturing the hearts of British growers.
They are named  for their leaves which, look like the three lobes of the human liver.

Leaves and Foliage

• The leaves are basal and dark leathery green, each with three lobes.
• The foliage, which follows the flowers, can be almost as interesting as the blooms.
• Some leaves are arranged in glossy green clover shapes with delicate, dark markings. Others are almost bronze, or marbled, with a pale variegation.

The Flowers

• Flowers with doubled petals and a range of colour patterns have been developed
• Hepatica reaches a height of 3-4” and flower from February to May. Flowers may be white, bluish purple or pink; they are supported singly on hairy, largely leafless stems.
• Hepatica var. japonica f. magna flowers are large and come in shades of blue, purple, red and white, green and occasionally yellow, with contrasting colours for the stamens.
• Some Hepaticas come with frilly centres, or totally double. Some have two-tone petals and their variations are even more subtle than those seen in auriculas, but you do have to peer closely to appreciate them.

Japanese Connections

• Hepaticas are still a Japanese cult plant and there are several hundred forms available to collectors. British alpine specialists are beginning to obsess about these little flowers, which belong to the Ranunculus family and come in various colours and forms.
• The Japanese name for hepatica is “Yukiwariso”, which means “the breaking snow plant”.
• There are more than 650 forms of these rarefied Japanese miniature forms in cultivation.

Growing Conditions
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Regular visitors will remember that I recently received a gift of membership too the AGS.

I continue to get good value for money via the magazines, free seeds and the local West Yorkshire Group meetings. Saturday 8th May was a talk by Tony Gartwaite with photographs by Mike Ireland called ‘show stoppers.’

This is an excuse to show some more of my pictures. Hover over pictures for info

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Corydalis popovii is a small bulbous plant flowering up to 6 inches in height. In spring it assumes a white colouring after the purple flowers. This plant comes from Central Asia and is easy to grow and long-lived in a well-drained compost in a pot.
They can be grown in the open garden in full sun and freely drained soil.
Fertilize with a specific fertilizer for bulbous plants, every 2-3 weeks, from when the first flowers start withering.
Corydalis plants don’t like cold temperatures or wet conditions and need a rest period before being brought back into growth.

Corydalis wilsonii arrived from it’s native china comparatively recently.
It is a compact herbaceous plant with light green leaves.
It flowers on errect spikes, 1″ long, in a deep yellow during late spring.
This variety is suitable for growing in pots.

I have just bought a Corydalis Kingfisher from the local AGS meeting. Kingfisher has blue flowers with a hint of green from March to Aug and is only without flowers when dormant during winter.

Alpine Species
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This genus of conspicuous Aster like flowers deserves to be better known.

Growing Habits of Townsendia

• This perennial genus comes from North America and Mexico.
• Some Townsendia are tall, erect plants, like typical daisies, others form small, leafy rosettes, or have a sprawling, prostrate appearance.
• The plants like a sunny well drained spot or they will be short lived.
• Sow seed in gritty compost and surround plants with grit or gravel.

Some Species of Townsendia.

• Townsendia formosa shown above has lilac coloured flowers above thin narrow foliage.
• Townsedia grandiflora has large violet flowers 1-2″ wide on 5-10″ stems in summer.
• Townsendia exscapa has white or pale pink flowers.
• Information on the other 20+ species by L M Shultz

Cassiope are a valuable group of small wiry stemmed ericaceous perennials with white bell-like flowers blooming in spring. Leaves are unstalked and densely overlap.

Tips for Growing Cassiope

• Grow in lime free sandy or mossy soil. Very hardy if given good drainage.
• The smaller varieties are good alpine house and pot plants growing below 12″ high.
• Plants are cheap to buy and can be propagated from cuttings or by pegging down.
• Plants hybridise quite easily.
• Grow in a cool shady or semi-shady places in the rock garden or shrub border.

Hybrids and Species to Grow

• Cassiope Randle Cooke is a super little Cassiope with deep green leaves closely clasping the stems.
• Cassiope Badenoch shown above has a mass of off-white bell shaped flowers
• Cassiope Edinburgh another wiry stemmed ericaceous perennial with tightly packed deep green leaves and larger white bell-like flowers in spring.

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You do not need a large garden to grow a massive range of interesting plants and flowers. The 2p coin gives some impression of scale to this Saxfraga cranbourne which is about the same size as the coin.

Note how it needs the protection of grit plus a sand and grit plunge bed as these small plants can easily be washed away and generally do not like damp roots.
Many alpines dislike wet foliage and would rot so I always water from below.

There are many species of Primula that could form the basis of an interesting miniature collection. This photo is of Primula allianii Joan Hughes. There is a National Auricula and Primula Society if you get keenly interested.

Similarly there are many Androsace to collect and experiment with. This display, in a 4 inch pot, requires several plants of Androsace carnea pyrenaica together to make the interesting shoe.
There is a specialist society within AGS for these small plants Androsace.org.
See a range of other pictures here .

Small can be beautiful in the world of Saxifraga as can be seen with this Saxifraga Cranbourne one of the Kabschias series. This hybrid has a flat cushion bearing many rose pink flowers.

Normally Saxifraga suendermannii has a solitary white flower but x kellever has these pink flowers. The hybridisation of Saxifraga is one of the pleasures of this plant.

Saxifraga griesbackii from Englerias section has lime encrusted rosettes with tall arching sprays of pink flowers. The flower stalk is covered in deep red glandualr hairs show above. They look good over a long period whilst the inflorescence is growing and opening.

I have arrived late to the pleasures of Saxifraga but to see the range of plants I have been missing I looked at the Rock Garden Society of North America
If naming of varieties is still a difficulty for you at least you can find out what your variety probably isn’t by referencing this site.