Rock Garden Pics
Thought it'd be fun to start a rock garden thread. Alpine flowers, cactus, sempervivums, ice plants, sedums...basically anything that grows in gravel, rocks, and boulders.
Here's a few pics of my growing sempervivum collection for starters. Feel free to share!
Comments (43)
mmmm12COzone5
4 years agoLaura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoRelated Discussions
72-hour rock garden(a story w/ pics)
Comments (16)Security is an issue for me but I'm much less concerned then most people, and I think at least(knock on wood) for now, I have good reason. First, I avoid putting any plant down by the street that would just KILL me if it was stolen. About the only plant down there that has much emotional attachment is a 2-3 year graft of Picea abies 'Dandylion', a golden-seedling gift from Bob Fincham. That said, I'm sure Bob has a dozen more grafts in the works so it's hardly irreplacable. I try and keep my 'really coveted' plants closer to the house where you'd have to drive up my driveway, park, dig up the plants and then leave before my neighbor called the cops. This leads me to the second point. My neighbor is a retired police officer and he's also a neighborhood bulldog. He constantly walks his dog(3-5 times a day, every day), mows the yard and generally watches things with a California-cautious eye. It's good to have neighbors like this who can monitor things when I'm gone. While he and his wife do take small trips, it's certainly refreshing to know that it wouldn't be easy to dig up a half dozen plants without him noticing. Especially now since there is no parking on the street, you'd really be out of place parking next to this new bed. Finally, we're in a dead-end cul de sac in a VERY quiet, low-crime area of Washington. People frequently leave their garage doors open, etc. without too much worry. I guess ultimately if someone wanted to rob me they could and in this day and age, if someone really wants to rob me for my plants then I guess they need the plants(or money) more then I do. Hopefully it never comes to that. If they asked, I'd just give them a few for free and show them my plants. -Will...See MoreAHS Open Garden Tours - Rock Gardens
Comments (7)Hello to everyone, Paul, thankyou so much for your time and effort!!! It was great to meet you in person. You definetly have talent w/ photos also. It is not easy to capture "gardens" in bright light. Invitation: I will be around over the weekend 10:00-7:00, Sunday 10:00-2:30ish, should anyone want to venture out. A chance to view many new and rare varieties. Located 25 minutes from the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. The nursery is also impressive for size, selection, and age. There are no schedules here so come relax and enjoy. Rock Landscape & Gardens Inc. 1054 240th St. Baldwin, Wi. 54002 rocklandscaping@baldwin-telecom.net...See MoreRock Border/Rock Garden
Comments (28)When we can manage to find some time, we're going to run the rocks down the right side of the deck too. We're hosting a graduation party on the 24th, so we've got a million irons in the fire! Over the weekend I just happened to stop into a local greenhouse and they had 1 pot with 4 tiny "Oddity" Sempervivum - I was super excited, I've been looking for it! Now I have to figure out where it's going to go - probably down that right side when it gets done....See MoreLooking for gardening advice. Perennial Flower layout for zone 6.
Comments (5)You can add 10 photos per post, and then add additional photos in follow up comments. From my perspective more photos are great. Consider repetition. Look at how the repetition of white-flowered plants along the top of your formal rock wall gives a rhythm to that part of the bed. Right now your listed plants have one of this and two of that, and some of them aren't plants that will be happy with your growing conditions such as your hybrid tea roses. Having some plants with a year round presence that repeat throughout the garden will give it coherence, even in a garden that tends to have a lot of variety. So choose one or two plants that you will use in several spots around the bed such as the evergreen heather and Dianthus listed below. Alternatively, if you can make yourself limit the variety, plant large masses of a few kinds of plants, sort of like the mass of annuals in the lower right corner of your photo above but with perhaps a half dozen types for the entire bed. Picture a mass of bloom covering a 5' diameter mass of Dianthus or creeping Phlox. Stunning! Choose plants that suit the conditions. At one point in my life I lived in a house with a similar chunk of ledge with shallow, acid soil. I found that planting a combination of evergreen, blooming heaths (Erica) and heathers (Calluna) along with a variety of low-growing plants that are tolerant of low water and sun worked well. Some of them were thyme, perennial candytuft (Iberis), Sedum, Hens-and-chicks (Sempervirens), low growing pinks (Dianthus such as D. gratianopolitanus), and basket of gold (Aubrietta). There are some low bulbs that will do well here also, particularly some of the species tulips, crocus, and small daffodils for really early flowers. Even though the plants I used were tolerant of low water, I did need to water this area far more often than the rest of the garden because it had so little soil and it was fast-draining. Post in the Perennials Forum and the New England forum for ideas on other specific plants that work well in this type of setting. Create a bed elsewhere (perhaps along the top wall of your parking area) where you can create a bed of deep, fertile soil for plants like your roses, lilies, hydrangeas, etc. that won't do well in this bed. Celebrate the rock. Folks often pay a lot of money to create natural looking rock gardens where rock doesn't occur naturally and you have it for free! In my garden I used some very short rock walls but not many to level soil in a few spots and a few large rocks or lines of single rocks placed in conjunction with plants to do the same. Rocks will look most natural when placed partly buried. Where there was bare ledge, I didn't try to cover it up or dress it up with pots like your 1/2 barrels, I just left it bare and over time it did start growing some moss and lichens, and some of the Sempervirens and thyme crept up over the edges. I liked featuring the ledge because it's such a classic part of the New England landscape. In the planted areas, I mulched the soil between plants until it filled in to keep the soil in place, discourage weeds and help keep soil moisture more even. Keep winter interest in mind. Choose a few shrubby evergreens like the heather or evergreen perennials like the Dianthus and Iberis so that you have year round foliage to complement the rocks so your garden has winter interest. It's easy to get caught up in the flowers, but in New England we have many months of winter, and having an attractive garden view helps alleviate winter blues. On a practical note, don't rip out the grass next to your ledge garden until you have a plan and a general plant list of rock garden plants, and also have found spots for those plants you've already bought but not planted so that you don't get overwhelmed by too much bare soil. This area has potential to be a stunning show piece, and it's obvious that you have already put in a lot of work. If funds are limited which is often the case with new homeowners, several of my favorite rock garden plants can be started relatively easily from seed such as the low Dianthus and Iberis or one large pot can be divided at planting time and then redivided a year later. Often heaths and heathers can be found at big box stores as seasonal color plants, and since you have such a perfect garden spot for them (unlike almost everywhere else in the US) take advantage of that and snap up a few....See More
treebarb Z5 Denver
4 years ago
ZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years ago
popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agoLaura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoSome more pics from yesterday morning:
Sedum plachyclados "white diamond" with a wee little flower. I got this specimen from Skybird two years ago; it really flourished last season, but almost completely died back over the winter.
Sedum rupestre/reflexum "Angelina " and an unidentified ice plant. I'll know what it is when it blooms. Note the Interesting dried seed heads. I think they look like wooden buttons with stars on 'em.
Upper left: a funky burgundy sedum hybrid, "SunSparkler® Firecracker", plus a small gray-green clump of something growing beneath (I need to find it in my notes). To the right: a gold nugget iceplant that was bent on world domination until winter slowed it down, Upper right corner: Sedum "Autumn Joy".ZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
4 years agopopmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoLaura have you ever tried rock roses?
https://www.gardenia.net/plant/Helianthemum-Henfield-Brilliant-Rock-Rose
Here it is growing in my courtyard, a hot sunny area that most things won't live in.
I also have red rock rose. This one is several years older so bigger.https://www.gardenia.net/plant/Helianthemum-Red-Dragon-Rock-Rose
I love them because they produce alot of beautiful flowers.
Here is a wider picture of the bed. The plant in the back is an evergreen yellow broom. I believe it is the "bangle" from Lowes. Tagged as getting 2'x2' but it got very wide 5-7' while staying under 2 ft tall. There are 3 of the plants in the back row. I do provide water to keep everything going. But I did for the 2 or 3 iterations of plants we tried in this bed and everything died except this lot.
There are peach and purple ice plants yet to bloom in the front.Have you ever tried brooms?
I have purple brooms. Slow to establish but I think this lot is going. This bed suffers from a broiling hot environment due to the stone wall behind it and a reflection from the sun in the windows of the house during the hottest part of the summer that cooks plants right out of it.
And regular yellow, probably Scotch, broom.These are taller growing than my short ones that aren't in flower yet.
I know these aren't in a rock garden but I selected them based on their advertised suitability for rock gardens due to the difficult nature of some of my beds.popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agoLaura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
4 years agoZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoI have two O. ployacantha's ans one that is either O. macrorhiza or O. phaeacantha (probably the latter, but many Opuntias are hard to positively I.D. and they are wildly promiscuous and readily hybridize with one another) that I have collected from Jefferson County. All three of these guys I rooted last year and are covered in new pads this spring. I also have one that my son collected down south east of Pueblo last summer that hasn't quite taken off yet. It's not dead, but I don't think the soil I have it in is great for trying to root it. It did try to put out a new pad this spring but it gave up. I have no clue what species it is.
Cylindropuntia imbricata (cane cholla) can be found as far north as the south side of Colorado Springs (once you get down towards Fountain and south to Pueblo, its EVERYWHERE) and I have seen it growing in places around Denver as well. There is one I think growing next to the the on ramp from Havana to I-70 and one growing along an overpass on Quebec in Commerce City. As long as it gets good drainage, you should have no problem growing that one. Kelly Grummons, formerly of Timberline Gardens, also has several other cold hardy cholla (and number of other cactus) through www.coldhardycactus.com.
Was it the chainfruit cholla or the "teddy bear" cholla your talking about down in the desert? I love teddy bear cholla, and boy do the LOOOOVE me! I have had a lot of close encounters of the OUCHY kind with that guy!
Cylindropuntia fulgida (chainfruit cholla) (not the best, but it's the only photo I have of this guy). A piece of one of these guys once latched on to the back of my shorts while I was hiking. I didn't know it there until I sat down in the car to drive home...
Cylindropuntia bigelovii (teddy bear cholla). Pretty sure a grumpy mama grizzly bear is more friendly than these guys, but they are so cool looking.
Yes glochids suck, but if that's the price I have to pay in order to grow cactus, I will gladly do so. Cholla also have glochids, it's a defining feature of the opuntiads, but those are tame when you consider the spines themselves are barbed. Trying to pull them out of your calf when they've dug in there a solid 1/16 of an inch is no easy feat.popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agoLaura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
4 years agoLaura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
4 years agoThe ice plants are finally starting to bloom! **cheer**
Delospermum basuticum "gold nugget"
"White Nugget" that I got from Skybird earlier this month. So pretty!
Delosperma cooperi
Delosperma floribundum
I'm still waiting on my favorite, "firespinner"" to bloom. It took a beating over the winter, so we'll see...mmmm12COzone5
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoWe've got some blooming also. The white nuggets from Skybird were the first to come in. They are almost done now. Then the yellow arrive and they are peaking now. Here are some pics. We have it growing in two areas. It is really beautiful both in and out of bloom. It gets sort of a reddish color in the winter which is also really pretty.
It is amazing to me how they like to grow away from shade and water to the hottest parts they can reach. They are always cropping up in our brick courtyard.
Firespinner was third to develop flowers. Not quite at it's peak and will probably develop more flowers. This was a mystery ice plant, thought to be yellow, when I got it in the free for all at the swap. I think from gcore. So it was a real surprise when the firespinner color showed up.
The white nugget we got at the 1 yr ago spring swap from Skybird. It is a bit of a slow grower for me but I'm looking forward to when it fills in this area.
The taller purple was 4th to flower and now Table Mountain Purple (shorter variety) is just starting today. I'll take some pics when it gets more flowers. Everything in my yard is wonky this year due to the late cold and snow.GardenChloe,
I think you have alot more variety of ice plants. Would love to see pics of yours.
popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agoSkybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agopopmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoMy peach ice plant. This one has always struggled a bit and has been slower to establish than the others.
In the larger bed.
In fact I had sort of despaired of it last year and took a purple ice plant stalk in stuck it in the middle of it. It established right away and has started to take off. So in the end the peach one may be overcome. This is the best year for it so far. It has filled in and I've gotten more peach flowers.The purples are starting to come in. I couldn't resist taking some pics even though I know they will get more spectacular in a few days. I have two areas of these Table Mountain Purple ice plants. I am trying to get them to fill in the ledge. This area is a huge problem for plants since it gets baked by sun reflecting off our living room windows. Cooks and kills the plants on this ledge.
Table Mountain Purple are my favorites of all my ice plant. They have a great display of flowers and low compact foliage that requires no maintenance.Laura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agoI want to say it is Mesa Verde (because that sounds like what I think I bought) but in the plant description it says it flowers from late spring through fall. Mine only flowers in late spring.
https://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/2643/mesa-verde-ice-plant/
It does look the same though.Not sure if it is Alan's Apricot as that one says it grows thick and suppresses weeds. My peach is the least thick of all mine and the most weedy. It has taken the longest to fill in. Here is a closer view. The taller ice plant that you see in the center top is the longer purple that I stuck in a single stalk next year. It really established and pushed the weaker, sparser peach aside.
It loves the heat of the stones. Like the other ice plants would love to be in a rock garden like yours.
mmmm12COzone5
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoMy pink and purple ice plants at their peak.
Surprised to see the red rock rose still blooming. It is usually a spring bloomer but due to the cooler weather seems to have had a phenomenal year.
treebarb Z5 Denver
4 years agopopmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
4 years agoI do have a mostly spineless optunia that I bought from Kelly G. several years ago. I bought it to feed to my tortoise. I grow it in a pot. In the Fall, I shove the whole pot under the deck and take it back out in the Spring. It usually blooms yellow. Kelly always said they should be grown out in the landscape not in a pot, but I really dislike cactus so it's how I keep it under control. If anyone wants a pad, let me know.
DenverDryGarden
4 years agommmm12COzone5
4 years agoDenverDryGarden
4 years agoOk here is granita orange.
And the second one I think is granita raspberry. The next 2 are of a little mini crevice flagstone table area, inspired by Kenton Seth’s blog, we will see if it survives!
DenverDryGarden
4 years agoSorry forgot to add these two! First pic is the purple mountain sun daisy (Plant Select) mentioned above. The second is a close up if talinium parviflorum Judith’s Fame Flower from HCG. I don’t have it in a rock garden but it would be great for that. It’s tiny, about 4 inches tall.
mmmm12COzone5
4 years agoAre these blooming now? I only have one blooming now. It is my longer purple. This is it today.
It also keeps the blooms open in the shade and opens before sun hits it. Seems to bloom more off daylight than having to have direct sun like some of them.
This one blooms later and longer than my Table Mountain Purple but I don't remember the official name.
I would LOVE granite orange. Have to keep an eye out for it.DenverDryGarden
4 years agoLaura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
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Laura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)Original Author