Deceptive complexity of rock gardens

 Not the most exciting spot of my garden: I am always impressed with plants that sow into crevices (of which there are a number in here) are often not what you'd expect there--such as Silene armeria...This rather bland wall harbors quite a few little stories: notice how the sandstone wall is capped with granite--which geologists call a "discontinuity": our rock garden was built atop an existing sandstone structure: not many visitors seem to have noticed or commented on it: they do blend colorwise pretty well...

 

Here we get down to the nitty gritty: I only labeled seven plants, but could have scrounged another couple if I had to (the original image was high resolution--you'd be surprised what was lurking here that doesn't show up on Blogspot!). Seven is enough...from top clockwise to the bottom...

1) I've never keyed out that ferny Ferula that Mike Bone and I collected back in 2010. Unfortunately, it's monocarpic. It eventually makes an attractive frilly rosette a foot or so across, and blooms with showy umbels of white. And then it dies--always leaving a seedling or two to carry things on...I have grown very fond of this--and am always relieved to see it's perpetuated itself.

2) Sempervivum: I have nothing more to say than that I love these and don't have a clue which one this is. Impossible to have too many (or too many kinds)...

3) Verbascum roripifolium is one of my "signature weeds" that grows all over my garden. But I've learned it is especially beautiful on walls where I tuck in seedlings about now every year. This one beat me to the punch and grew on its own! 

4) the Rhodanthemum  was collected by my colleague and friend Mike Kintgen. It's been showing up in more and more crevices around my garden--blooming on and off for months. It's become a favorite of mine and if you get it I think you'll say the same. Notice the fat seedpod of the one on the left--I'll collect that tonight!

5) Nepeta mussinii is all over my garden: when it's in full bloom it looks like lavender clouds on the ground. I have been slowly eliminating it in more and more places (just too weedy I'm afraid). I'll miss those lavender ground clouds one day...

6)  Silene armeria is another weed, which I shall probably always have: it self sows into pots, all over the garden and blooms for months. Oh well...

7) Delosperma 'Copper Spinner': rather than FIRE SPINNER, I maintained one of its sibs with somewhat softer orange-red flowers. It died back a bit this last year: is this a rooted cutting, or is a seedling from the mother plant above? Perhaps well find out next year!

What I find amusing about this list is that I didn't plant any of these myself (except perhaps the semperivum)--they all spread to where they are by seed on their own, or perhaps by layering in the case of the Delo...but I still call it my garden!         

Now if this represents a square foot (albeit tilted) of my property, which in turn comprises around 24,000 square feet, I can only imagine the stories I've managed to pack into the whole space! And of course the same is true for your gardens...albeit unless you have a rock garden, you might not have such strange and marvelous plants! You can pack in a lot more plants in rock gardens and as Elisabeth Zander and I were just discussing on a ZOOM call, the rock garden is infinitely easier to maintain than any other type of garden. For one thing, there's all that ROCK!

As president of the North American Rock Garden Society I hope you consider joining what I believe is the premier plant expert group around. Rock Gardeners are simply amazing! I suggest you join NARGS first (but SRGC, AGS and the other societies may eventually lure you to join them too!)  Just click HERE. It's always time to come aboard!