Yes, it's a gorgeous time of the year in trough land. Each day when I get home from work I first rush to the driveway to see what's blooming, then later on I (reluctantly, sometimes) go in to see the family.
My new crush is this haberlia sp. Case (possibly haberlia ferninandi-cobourgi according to the Wrightman website, which I believe is synonymous with haberlia rhodopensis). I bought it four years ago from Wrightman Alpines Nursery at the annual plant sale at Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring, NY. I had never seen it for sale before and was excited to try it, as I told Harvey Wrightman as he rang me up that day. He assured me that it was easy, as long as it was north-facing, planted vertically, and free draining, but he warned me that it was slow to come to blooming size. Haberlias are gesneriads like African violets, but hardy, and evergreen, here in zone 6B. They originally hail from limestone cliffs in Greece and Bulgaria.
I planted it between two larger-sized rocks, north-facing, in a trough...and waited until this year for it to bloom. It's a gorgeous thing in bloom, and totally worth the wait. Harvey passed away in 2016, but I still think about him, and his patience and generosity with a total stranger that day, every time I enjoy this haberlia.
Thankfully his daughter Esther is still running the nursery, and coming to the Stonecrop sale every April.
