Fifty more..Simms'.APEX rocks!

Tetraneuris (Hymenoxys) scaposa top and Erigeron linearis bottom

Would be botanists are constantly complaining about DYC (Damn Yellow Composites) in the West: get over it! Asteraceae are one of our greatest treasures, and these are two excellent examples.

I posted over 50 pictures depicting that many (and MORE!) taxa in my last post about the remarkable crevice garden complex at the Simms Street APEX recreation center in Arvada, Colorado. I've decided to assemble some of my best shots I've taken there the last few years: I've tried to get out there pretty regularly, but it's almost 20 miles from my house, so this compendium is far from complete.

A few takeaways:

1)    rock gardens cram in a heck of a lot of flowers!
2)    they have a fantastic, endless season of interest!
3)    there is a huge scope of experimentation in this kind of gardening: most of the plants here are rarely found in gardens--even botanic gardens.
4)    you can fit a garden like this almost anywhere--including in a container on a patio or balcony!

I could drone on after every picture...but will resist. There will be a little philosophizing at the end however--musn't miss that!

Phlox subulata 'Laura'

Artemisia asoana

Yucca brevifolia and Tulipa linifolia

Junellia succulentifolia (right) , Agave neomexicana (left)

Phlox 'Laura'

Echinocereus triglochidiatus 'Inermis'

Agastache rupestris

Euphorbia spinosa

Eriogonum umbellatum v. porteri

Penstemon deustus

Lesquerella ovalifolia

Draba polytricha?

Delosperma MESA VERDE

Acantholimon cf echinus

More different Acantholimons!

Zooming in...

You'll have to forgive me for horning in, but I just had to get a better look on this perfectly sited group of spikethrifts in their seedy glory. This, friends, is gardening at its very most amazing and best!

Asperula gussonii

Maihuenia poepiggii

Anthemis cretica

Delosperma congestum 'White Nugget' (below), Phlox 'Laura' above

Salvia multicaulis

Penstemon sileri  (mistakenly distributed as P. linarioides)

Erigeron scopulinus

Veronica 'Snowmass'

Echinocxereus sp. (right) and Heterotheca jonesii (not in bloom) left [it's rarely not in bloom!]

Four cool plants!

Haplopappus glutinosus

Erigeron compositus (dense cushion white flowered form)

Erigeron compositus (lax lavender form)

Gymnocalycium bruchii (Thanks Greg Smith!)

Narcissus bulbocodium & Phlos 'Laura'

Townsendia incana

Fibigia clypeata (yellow), Veronica oltensis

Panicum virgatum

Salvia greggii

Oenothera macrocarpa & Agastache rupestris

Agave neomexicana

Agave parryi

Agave lecheguilla

 

Yucca nana

Pinus monophylla 'Blue Jazz'

Arctostaphylos patula

A litlle vista

Petunia patagonica (Oh YEAH!) and Arctostaphylos pungens behind

Othonna capensis

Hedysarum fedtschenkoanum. ex Kazakhstan (thans Vojtech!)

Phlox nana

Stachys lavandulifolia

Penstemon eriantherus

Alyssum cf stibnryi in winter

Eriogonum shockleyi in winter (out of focus, I know--we're fading out slowly at blog post's end!)

Yucca nana in Winter

Well, that's it: if you bothered to count, there are a lot more than fifty plants in this and in the previous post as well. I lied!...and there are dozens more I missed. And many I've not seen bloom. There was a big mat of Zauschneria, for instance I missed. Zinnia galore. Melampodium. 

Simms APEX crevice garden--or more properly, "the Community Heroes Crevice Garden" has been one of the most remarkable new gardens to come to my awareness in my rather long professional career. Like the Kendrick Lake Xeriscape Garden when it was at its peak (roughly 2005-2015) it reveals fantastically grown plants at every turn, and is a graduate course in horticulture each time you visit. These two gardens, along with Lauren Springer Ogden, Rob Proctor, Kelly Grummons and Bob Nold have been some of the most inspiring influences outside of Denver Botanic Gardens proper when it comes to our regional horticultural scene. Kenton Seth is a force to be reckoned with!

I will follow up this post with a photogallery of the garden of itself (rather than vignettes): the very structure and design of the garden is really as inspiring and revelatory as the plants within it.

Here are a few more links to give you some other views of this garden:

https://denvergardeners.wordpress.com/tag/crevice-gardens/

http://yourhub.denverpost.com/blog/2017/08/garden-springs-up-in-just-one-day-at-82nd-simms/194617/

https://nargs.org/forum/visit-apex-crevice-garden-arvada-colorado?page=1