There are as many varieties of Ranunculus as there are buttercups in a meadow. Not surprising as a buttercup is a Ranunculus family member as is this Ranunculus calandrinioides.

What is Ranunculus Calandrinioides

• This perennial plant is happy grown in containers or an alpine house.
• Growing 8 inches tall and 6 inches wide.
• In suitable climates some of the 200+ species can be useful as ground cover outdoors.
• The roots are fleshy and thick and different species may be tubers or fiberous rooted.
• The lance shaped leaves are bluish-green and upto 3 inches in length.
• Flowers are cup shaped white or pink 2 inches wide.

Growing Ranunculus Calandrinioides

Germination guide from B&T Seeds
Ranunculus calandrinioides seeds will usually germinate in 30-90 days, even under good conditions germination may be erratic. Sow seeds about 2mm deep in a Well drained seed sowing mix at about 10°C.

Seeds will mostly germinate as the weather warms up in Spring, some may germinate during the Summer or Autumn but are more likely to stay dormant until the following Spring.

Various Ranunculus from

Thompson & Morgan

Not everyone wants a Leylandii hedge, in fact few gardeners want Leylandii at all. Fortunately there are other conifers and shrubs to suit most people. I have just introduced some new dwarf conifers into my rockery with a range of alpines.

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Aurea’ AGM

• This is sold as being ideal for small gardens and rockeries
• It will grow a pyramid shape with sprays of yellow tipped blunt shaped leaves.
• Chamai, means ‘dwarf’ Aurea means gold and Obtusa means blunt shaped.
• After 10 years it should be no more than 2 feet high by 18 inches wide
• It is now planted in well drained soil in full sun but with some shelter from the wind.

Picea pungens ‘Montgomery’

• This I bought as a grafted shrub with blue needle like leaves
• A slow growing blue coloured specimen due to grow to 20-30 inches in 10 years.
• These pictures look a good bit taller than the shrub I hope to grow. Well here’s hoping the graft is on small stock.
• Female cones are cylindrical, green when young, maturing to pale brown.

Cryptomeria Japonica ‘Golden Promise’

• Taking 20-50 years to reach 24 by 18″ this is a true slow grower
• It should make a rounded shrub with green foliage turning creamy gold in the heat of summer.
• By autumn there will be a purple tinge to the leaves but it is a hardy evergreen.
• Also known as Japanese cedar.

Tips and Comments

• I was inspired to try more plants after visiting Perennial’s York Gate Garden. They have many prostrate and vertical conifers on display but disappointingly will not let me show you the photographs. Not very charitable from the Gardeners Royal Benevolent charity!
• I bought the plants at Slack Top nursery.
• The visible labels are made from copper. You scratch the name into the soft material and they should age gently but remain legible. I bought them from Wilkinsons and hope they help me with the names as my memory fades.

I discovered a 6 inch pot in my greenhouse with a label saying Habranthus but I don’t know where I got the contents from. There were a couple of short, green, narrow leaves and little else until this week when flowers erupted from the soil on 4 inch stems with petals nearly as long.

I water my greenhouse with a hosepipe spray except when I am adding fertilizer and recently I have been misting over all the pots and plants. You can see how the spray has stuck to the Habranthus flower.

Habranthus is a genus in the Amaryllidaceae family with species from Central and South America extending into southern North America. They have narrow, linear or strap-shaped leaves. Their flowers are very similar to Zephyranthes and both are called rain lilies.

This variety of Habranthus is flowering in late Summer (Sept) and offers a delicate touch to colour with minimum fuss. Habranthus bulbs should be quite hardy in the UK.

What is a Rain Lily

Rosemary Sims from Daves Garden gives the best description ‘Like the Hippeastrums, Habranthus is hardy where ever the ground does not freeze and summers are hot. They are also excellent and forgiving pot plants but should be left outside during summer so the rains can touch them.
This is among my favorite of all rain lilies because of its size and that it continuously blooms in waves from April through about September (on the gulf coastal plain). The large Hippeastrum-like flowers all face in the same direction and give a charming effect. They are about 4″ long and across and on stems from 12″ to 24″, depending on how much rain has spurred them to bloom and whether they are in shade or sun (shorter in sun). The leaves are about 1/3″ wide and are flat and floppy but not unattractive in the garden.’
There are over 20 species of Habranthus to choose from and other plants also called Rain Lilies such as the Zepyranthes and Cooperia.

With all the rain we have been getting in England it may be worth tracking down some bulbs and giving them a try. The flowers are very pretty but I must wait to see how many actually flower and how they survive. ( The drizzle is coming down in stair rods again to make my garden boggy).

Growing and Propagating Tips

• Sow seed in spring and grow on the bulblet.
• Offsets from bulbs may be grown on and used to propagate more stock.
• Grow on in rich, moist but free draining soil.
• Shelter from strong wind and avoid full sun

Zephyranthes

• The AGS seed distribution 2011 has provided me with an opportunity to grow this species from scratch.
• I have acquires seed packets of Aquarius, atamasca, candida, citrina, fosteri, primulina and reginae.
• I will report back on how I am fairing in due course. (October 2011 not too well as yet.)

Update May 2011
Germination of my Zephyranthes was reasonable with one or two of each variety now looking like thin grass witha miniature bulb attached.
They seem delicate for a by the wallop gardener like me.

Crevice gardens are all the rage at the moment. The careful alignment of rocks can create some interesting locations for alpine and rockery plants. They are also very good for helping wild life to thrive.
See pictures of the Alpine Garden society rock supplier.

Other crevices can arise naturally or be created in the environment. These very high retaining walls are on a roadside but have been left like a dry stone wall. Rubble and soil are piled inside the stone which has been cut and faced. Between the stone a variety of plants are colonising the area.

You can create your own dry stone wall or crevice garden from a stone and a bank of soil.

Features of a Dry Stone Wall.

• Water runs freely through the retaining wall and is not trapped on the leaves of plants that are susceptible to rot.
• The soil is often poor in nutrients and is attractive to plants that thrive on those conditions.
• Moss and lichen will colonise the damp shaded places but in the full sun other plant variety will grow.
• Parts of the wall will be hot and dry so the plant selection should bear these conditions in mind.
• Insects and birds can use dry stone wall for food and shelter. Leave some uncut grass at the foot of the wall
• Height is not crucial but the wall needs to be at least a foot thick.
• Local rocks are best and will dictate the ph of the conditions.

Showstoppers for Nooks and Cranies.
From Canadian Gardening Magazine

• Rock jasmine (Androsace sarmentosa) A popular Himalayan species with grey, woolly rosettes that spreads slowly to hang over rocks; covered with carmine flowers in May.
• Woodruff (Asperula gussonii) Mounds of dense, silver-frosted, dark green leaves; stemless pink flowers in late spring or early summer.
• ‘Dickson’s Gold’ campanula (C. garganica ‘Dickson’s Gold’) Outstanding for its bright gold foliage, it also has light blue, star-shape flowers in summer.
• Rock stork’s bill or heron’s bill (Erodium petraeum spp. crispum) Although delicate in appearance with its lacy foliage, this erodium prefers full sun, wind and rocks. Flowers are white with dark purple veins; blooms non-stop from June to October.
• Siskiyou bitterroot or siskiyou lewisia (Lewisia cotyledon) Wonderful, succulent rosettes with a long succession of shades of pink to red-orange in late spring to early summer.
• Linum hirsutum This new flax has woody stems clothed in soft, hairy leaves. Large amethyst flowers are produced from July until frost.
• ‘Airemist’ primula (Primula allionii ‘Airemist’) A new alpine primula that has compact, delicate-toothed leaves with large, stemless flowers of purest white in early spring.
• Veronica bombycina A mat-forming, stunning plant with tiny, silver-felted leaves; covered with pure blue flowers in May.

Plant selection from Wild about Gardens

• Erysimum cheiri (Wallflower)
• Centranthus ruber (Red valerian)
• Aubrieta
• Arabis alpina subsp. caucasica (Rock cress)
• Aurinia saxitalis (Gold dust)
• Campanula carpatica
• Cymbalaria muralis (Ivy-leaved toadflax)

Echeveria can drive you up the wall. High on a rock face these plants cling to the rock with little support from their roots. On Maderia the ground was former volcanic rock and seemed porous.

• Echeveria are drought-resistant, although they do better with deep watering.
• Most will tolerate shade and some frost, although hybrid species tend to be less tolerant.
• Foliage is arranged in a rosette in a variety of shapes and colors.
• Flowers will appear on the top of stalks that grow from between the leaves.
• Suitable for crevise gardens or a rockery.

Other Rosette Forming Succulents

• Jovibarba heuffelii
• Sempervivum
• Rosularia
• Echevaria
• Graptopetalum
• Graptoveria

Read about Growing Echeveria and check out Australian site  The Succulent Garden

A variety of Scilla

Scilla is a genus of about 50 bulb-forming perennial herbs in the hyacinth family native to woodlands, subalpine meadows, and seashores throughout Europe and Asia. Their flowers are usually blue, but white, pink, and purple types are known; most flower in early spring, but a few are autumn-flowering.

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Narcissus Bulbocodium var. Nivalis.
Comes from Portugal, where often found in damp peaty soil. Also does well grown here in pots. Can also be naturalised in grass.

Related

Early Narcissus in pots

This is labelled as Iris Cyclogossa, but, I believe it is actually Iris Aucheri. – a dwarf form of the Juno Iris. See: Growing Iris Aucheri

Saxifraga grisebachii

Rhodohypoxis

Colcium ‘Angels Wings’

Saxifraga ‘Sulphur’

Verbascum letitia

Pleonie

Delospurnum congestum Golden Nugget

Primula seiboldii ‘Blue Japan’

Triteleia ‘Starlight’

Fritillaria

Primula is a genus with over 500 species and numerous hybrids, divided into 30+ sections.

Primulas all have flowers with 5 rounded petals like our own primrose Primula vulgaris. The cowslips, Primula elatior, flowers in simple umbels and the candelabras in rising tiers of umbels.

European Primulas

• These plant s are hardy and most will succeed in any well drained gritty soil with plenty of humus.
• All are spring flowering except Primula auricula, marginata, rubra and viscosa.
• Although most like an open sunny position care must be taken to avoid drying out in too much sunshine.
• With only a few exceptions the Primulas tolerate or even welcome lime.
• Some varieties die back to a resting bud during summer.

Asiatic Primulas

• Many of the candelabras are Asiatic in origin and grow strongly often  reaching 18-24″ tall.
• In addition to well drained gritty soil with plenty of humus, they like a cool half shady position.
• These Primulas tend to grow well in the north of England and Scotland.
• The rosette forming plants are beautiful but some of the smaller species have exacting requirements.
• The need to cover some rosettes through winter make these Primulas good alpine house plants.

American Primulas

• North America is the third region  for wild Primulas and the sparsest for varieties.
• Primula angustifolia from the Rocky Mountains is small and mat forming. They are very suitable for pots in the alpine house.
• Pans of Primula ellisiae need plenty of water during the growing season.
• Primula suffrutescens is almost shrubby but is not hard to grow in sandy scree.

Links and Resources

• The National Primula and Auricula Society
• Primula World
• Primula flower shows
• American Primrose Society
• Primrose Gallery
• Danish Primula Society
• Pop’s Plants holders of 4 national Collections of Primula Auriculas

Books

Primula A J Richards

Auriculas for Everyone
Mary A. Robinson.
GMC Publications.
ISBN 1-86108-149-9
£14.50 plus £2.50 p&p

Auriculas
G.Baker & P.Ward
B.T.Batsford Ltd.
ISBN 0-7134-7366-5

The Auricula: History, Cultivation and Varieties Allan Guest

Auriculas – Their Care and Cultivation
B.Hyatt Cassell, London.
ISBN 0-304-34070-7

See also Vitaliane primuliflora