A Moment

Knautia macedonia on midsummer's day.

Planting Tufa in a Hypertufa trough

 As the "hyper" in "hypertufa" signifies, hypertufa is an approximation of real tufa rock.  My whole infatuation with hypertufa is based on fakery!  Real tufa rock, a type of limestone formed by the accumulation of carbonate materials leached out by water, is found in very few places.  Tufa is beloved by gardeners because it is very lightweight and incredibly porous, allowing tiny roots to grow deep into it.  Because it is so porous, it holds water like a sponge.

I was lucky enough to be given half a dozen pieces of tufa by a fellow member of the Watnong Chapter of the National Rock Garden Society last year.  I'm still not certain why she gifted me with such valuable chunks, but I won't question it.

All winter long I'd looked forward to planting a saxifrage trough with the tufa, so this spring I cast my favorite rectangular trough for myself, and included a crevice for growing a plant sideways.  

My neighbor Ray and I started by filling the trough with a lean mix of gravel, sand, grit and a bit of topsoil.  I threw a piece of iberis from the back yard into the crevice as we filled the trough.  Being rudely dug up and planted sideways is a lot to ask of plant, but I've got lots of iberis so it's worth a try.

We used my cordless hammer drill and 3/8", 1/2" and 3/4" masonry bits.

Ray drilling holes.

 

We kept the holes blind, and about 1 1/2" deep.  We enlarged them a little at the top to allow for the larger crowns off some plants.

I've got 4 or 5 different saxifrages growing in various troughs, so we grabbed small rooted pieces from all of them.  I also had a couple small saxes that I'd purchased at various plant sales this spring.

Tiny saxifrage chunks packed into the holes with the same mix that filled the trough.  We found a chopstick the perfect tool to pack the mix in around the tiny roots.  Ray brought moss to the party, using it as topdressing to wedge the tiny plants into their new homes.

A tiny primula allionii in the shady side of the tufa.

More saxes on the top of the tufa.

The finished left-hand side of the trough.  We planted choice larger plants like horned rampion, another primula, a big chunk of a saxifrage, and an epimedium in the growing medium around the tufa.  

I feel like a real "rock" gardener now.

 

Fingers crossed that our tiny masterpiece flourishes.

A Great, Unassuming Plant

Saponaria pulmilo.  It doesn't really ask for anything.  It's content to ramble around the feet of the dwarf iris in a very shallow trough in full sun.  I'd forgotten about it until it bloomed. 

A Small Triumph

The lewisia in the crevice is blooming.  I'm not crazy.

Hail

At the tail end of a week of spring thunderstorms and showers, the hail hit us Friday evening.  Rachel and I were both home, and watched in amazement at the windows.  The hail was furious, as if someone was throwing rocks at the house.  Some hailstones were as big as a quarter.  As it was happening, I knew that it was bad in many ways, but I was excited and amazed at the ferocity of it. 

 I could see leaves coming down from the trees around us.  I grew up on a farm; I know what hail does.  I feared for the worst.

It was tough on the fleshy echeverias...

...and the orchid.  Throughout the garden things were pruned by the hail.  Broken stems and buds were everywhere.  The hostas looked like they'd been hit with shotguns.  The garden is a mess, but will recover.

The hail took out almost exactly half of our string lightbulbs.

I won't even post pictures of our cars.  I'll save those for the insurance adjuster.

Spring springing

I realized that I started this post about 10 days ago and never finished it.  Sorry it's out of order now.  Think early May as you read this. Cerastium tomentosum above.

Pink Phlox and semps

Same pink phlox, different trough.

Purple pulsatilla

Red trillium

Purple rock cress

Cerastium again.  Love it.

Trough Jewels

It's that time of the year...when the alpines in the troughs really shine.  It makes sense that a lot of these plants are spring bloomers.  They have such short growing seasons in their native habitats that they need to get on with the business of reproduction before winter returns.  Above is taxus cuspidata 'Nana Aurescens', a dwarf Golden Japanese Yew.  The new growth is so yellow that it looks like it's blooming.

 

In the same trough is veronica whitelyi, having its blue moment.

Aubrieta x cultorum 'Joy', a purple rock cress.  I've got to remember to take cuttings of this one for insurance.

Genitana acaulis (thanks, Ray!)

This is lewisia cotyledon 'Little Mango'.  I've gotten smarter about growing lewisias and now give them a really lean, mean mix of gravel and granite chips, some sand, a handful of Turface, and only a little topsoil.  I also cover them in the winter to keep them from getting soggy.  It's always a treat to me to get a lewisia to re-bloom.

I experimented with planting a lewisia vertically last year, in a hole that I cast in the side of a rectangular trough.  It seems to love this situation and is gearing up to bloom soon.

Light pink phlox and a darker pink saxifrage from Home Depot.

Pass-along draba from Ray.

Red pulsatilla vulgarism with new blue growth of sedum sieboldii behind.