Loved, lost and FOUND! (a few more trophies of the past)

Haplocarpha scaposa on the highveld north of Harrismith, Orange Free State

More pictures from the past...most of them plants long gone. A few still cling to my garden with their fingernails...many of these I haven't thought of for years because they were transparencies I no longer use. But thanks to Ann Frazier, who has painstakingly scanned hundreds of old pictures in recent months, they suddenly have a new lease on life--and are found truly again! As I look at these, I remember days long gone and magical scenes in nature and in my garden--many of which will never recur.

Haplocarpha scaposa

Although abundant in the Drakensberg and the Highveld, this wonderful daisy is no longer in our collections. I never saw it growing as happily as it was one October day on the veld north of Harrismith..we stopped our bus to check them out!



Haplopappus (Stenotis) acaulis

One of the most abundant and widespread DYC of the West, I adore this plant where on the alpine tundra of the Sierra Nevada, or sagebrush steppe and desert throughout the intermountain region.

Helichrysum albobrunneum

We grew this for years and harvested lots of seed...but somehow it slipped away...



Helichrysum milfordiae

Another helichrysum that thrives in Scotland and Sweden and not so much for me...abundant in the high Drakensberg...

Helichrysum pagophilum

Abundant in the Black Mountains of Lesothos--this grew everywhere in vast mounds. Not so much for us in the garden however...


Helichrysum retortoides

This one persisted for years...until it didn't. Saw it recently, probably at Edinburgh--it's still around.



Heliophilum sp.

This was perennial and glorious and lasted several years...I forgot to harvest seed. One of the plants I most regret losing from my South African expeditions...

Hermannia "stricta" on Hantamsberg

Probably not really stricta...this won many prizes when shown at AGS shows in Britain over the last few decades...



Hermannia "stricta" on the Karoo

A horrible picture of what probably IS stricta taken on the karoo...


Hermannia sp. on pass east of Cradock, East Cape

This one was photographed high enough it may be hardy!



Hesperochiron pumilus (and friends)

This was in a trough for a few years. I wish I could recreate this picture!--the white star gentian makes an interesting twin...

Rose Mallows (Hibiscus moscheutos)

I love these things--if I only had a place to grow them...

Holothrix cf thodei?

And orchid. And rather homely. Would love to grow it nonetheless...



Hymenoxys lapidicola and Lesquerella alpina

A nice color combo, no? I still grow both of these, but they don't look this good any more...


Hypericum cerastoides

I have seen this the wild--and still have one or two struggling in the garden. One of my faves...



Hypericum sp.

Long ago lost this and its name as well...



Juniperus excelsa in Pakistan Himalaya

Somebody had to keep warm and cut this ancient juniper...

Juniperus excelsa in Pakistan Himalaya

And this one two--notice the forest beyond for scale...



Juniperus turkestanica in Pakistan Himalaya

They haven't quite gotten to this one yet...



Jurinea sp. in bud

It was monocarpic, and I neglected to save and sow seed...

Jurinea sp. in bud

I think I prefer it in bud!


Lachenalia sp. on the Roggeveld, Karoo

I only saw a few lachenalias at high elevations: boy would I love to grow this one outside!



Lamium eriophilum

This incredible endemic of the Toros Dag really needs no comment. One year I had hundreds of self sown seedlings...



NOT Leontice, but filed here in error: check back for the REAL name
(Henrik Zetterlund corrected me...now to find his correction)..



Leontopodium nivale

It's fashionable to grouse about Eidelweiss...there are in fact dozens of spectacular species in the Himalayas, but this European is undeniably stunning...



Leucojum vernum v. carpaticum

I grew this superbly in several gardens. But in my current garden it grows but won't bloom...



Lilium candidum

For years I drove by and admired these lilies in June. Then one day they were gone and replaced with something pedestrian and I ignore the yard as I go by...(every day just about)...


Lilium formosanum pricei and Scrophularia macrantha

One of my more inspired combos--now long gone (don't even remember where I planted this...) Oh yes! It was early at Quince (I recognize the background now)...



Linanthastrum nuttallii

You can walk through acres of this on Rabbitears pass in late June or July. And we grew it for years in this garden. It and the garden are no more...I think they changed the plant's name as well..

Linum aretioides

I wish I still had this Turkish delight...



Loasa lateritia

A token of one of the most magical days in my lifetime--above Laguna del Maule, where I walked through acres of rosulate violets ankle deep--and this was on a steep scree overlooking paradise.



Lobelia x vedrariensis

These lasted a few years...a long time ago!



Lysichiton americanum

Another day I shall not forget in late April 1981 at Savill Gardens. Possibly the most wonderful garden visit I have ever had. Late afternoon--golden light and almost no other visitors. Somewhere I have pictures of glades full of this species of narcissus or that one--and the only slide scanned so far is this stretch of stream--on the other side it was all white the Russian cousin...I would like to go back to that most magnificent of English gardens one more time in the spring.....

Bi-hemisphaeric twins: re-uniting Laurasia!

Trollius laxus v. laxus at Denver Botanic Gardens

It will be a few months before our native globeflower begins to bloom in the high Rockies--but this, it's eastern cousin always blooms in April. Trollius are widespread in the Circumboreal, subalpine regions of both Eurasia and North America--but this taxon seems to have a very similar cousin in the Dzungarian and Tian Shan Mountains of Central Asia.

Trollius dzungharicus in the Tian Shan Mts., Kazakhstan

 Although the more "typical" globeflowers with bright orange, globular heads occur in both Tian Shan and Altai Mountains, this soft yellow form is found sparingly as well--much more reminiscent of our American species.

Saxifraga flagellaris on the Tian Shan above Almaty, Kazakhstan

You can imagine my surprise when I found this whipcord saxifrage, which looks almost identical to what one finds twelve time zones away in the Colorado Rockies, growing in almost the same sorts of conditions!



                                             Saxifraga flagellaris (Colorado form) in a trough



 I actually managed to grow this in my garden--or trough rather: this is our native form of Saxifraga flagellaris--which looks identical to its Asian cousin.

Dryas octopetala on Horseshoe Mt., Colorado

 

Mountain Avens or Dryad is universal in tundra throughout much of the hemisphere: although they have been classed as different spedcies, or at least different subspecies, I find these two kinds almost indistinguishable.

Dryas oxydonta on the Tian Shan

This is the brilliant blue alpine geranium of the Tian Shan. It has an electric blue flower...

Geranium regelii on the Tian Shan, Kazakhstan

 Here is a compact form of the widespread meadow geranium (G. pratense) from the summits of the Tian Shan. Although superficially the dissimilar from the Pink American below--they are nevertheless related and classic examples of a Holarctic group of plants. Yes, I know there are a few geraniums in the Southern Hemisphere--they don't count because they are really different and don't fit into my grand scheme of things!

Geranium fremontii on South Park, Colorado

 Some botanists have lumped this with Geranium caespitosum. But not me! I still call this Geranium fremontii, named for the most restless and peripatetic of Western explorers...

Gentiana algida in Colorado

Gentiana algida was once known as G. romanzovii--honoring a Russian Botanist. The Eurasian manifestation seems to be a tad yellower (below) but I suspect they are equally intractable in cultivation!

Gentiana algida in the Altai Mts. of Kazakhstan

 

There are, of course, dozens of androsaces in the Chamaejasme section that look virtually identical: here with the rather local Colorado subspecies shown first, and the Kazakh cousin next.

 

Androsace chamaejasme v. carinata on Pikes Peak

 

The central yellow spot turns red on the American one as seen below in the Asian species.

 

Androsace akbaitralensis on the Tian Shan, Kazakhstan

Primula is a huge genus centered on the Himalayas: there are only a handful of species in Central Asia, and likewise in North America, but these are uncannily similar to one another

Primula xanthobasis on the Mongolian Altai Mountains

The Nivalid section of the genus Primula is apparently not that closely related to the Parryi Section of North America, but they are remarkably similar in habit and habitat: the one above is likely to be as hard to grow as its look-alike cousin, P. parryi that occurs over much of the Southern Rockies and intermkountain region.



Primula ellisiae (from New Mexico) in my trough garden

This beautiful endemic of central New Mexico has turned out to be quite easily grown in gardens--every bit as lovely as its fussier cousins.

Primula specuicola near Moab, April

There is a strong family resemblance among all the Aleuritia secion (once more graphically called "the Farinosae" for their flour like farina on the leaves. The one above grows on moist seeps in the canyonlands.  

Primula algida on the Tian Shan mountains, Kazakhstan

This one occurs above treeline over much of Asia.

Angelica turkestanica on the Tian Shan mts., Kazakhstan

Central Asia boasts a miniature Angelica that grows above treeline. It seems to be almost indistinguishable with its American equivalent below.

Angelica grayi on Horseshoe Mt., Colorado

Named for Asa Gray, the American twin is seen here growing on an almost identical alpine scree habitat. Of course, Asa Gray was the first on to note the parallels between East Asian and Southeastern American flora--but these circumboreal alpines are even more pronounced in their similarities and point to a time when their ancestors were single species spread over a single continent--Laurasia--that has now been split between Eurasia and America. I say it's high time to reunite these continents in our gardens at least, don't you agree?

The list of twins such as this could go on for hundreds of pages and not begin to exhaust the botanical twins that can be found in the Continental Western United States and then again on its steppe-sister climates of Central Asia....each year I suddenly notice a new brace of these, and am glad to be able share this!