Rob's plants
home garden plants wildlife seed photos
plant sale journal topics plantlinks fun guestbook

The rock garden

 

The rock garden takes up only a small area in our overall scheme - but it's one of my favorite areas. And since it straddles the front walkway, we all get to admire it up close every day.

I can't call myself a rock garden afficionado - that would mean I'd know the ins and outs of alpine soil types, know how to place all the rocks for the most authentic look, and I'd feel comfortable throwing words like "scree" about. But I learned early on that a rock garden is the best way to showcase small perennials, especially those that require excellent drainage. And a few years ago I finally joined the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS), so I guess that officially makes me a rock gardener.

To provide for the needs of those small perennials, our rock gardens are somewhat elevated from yard level, and the native clay has been generously amended with sharp sand, granite grit, rocks dug up from other garden areas (there's a use for everything in our garden), and some compost.

Our original rock garden was a strip between the driveway and the front walkway. It is badly in need of help at this point - the yucca we planted there originally gave up, but left lots of babies that come up all over, amid the tangle of various creeping or sprawling thugs, such as Kamtschat, blue-spruce and dragon's blood sedums, myrtle spurge, catmint, woolly thyme, and sea thrift. We now call this part the rock garden annex.

The newer part of our rock garden, carved out of a corner of our front yard, was originally called the "front corner", but steadily morphed into a rock garden. It is now our main showcase for small alpine species. The photo above was taken a couple months after the most recent upgrade, with many of the plants coming into their own nicely. The blooming specimens include Dracocephalum nutans, Linum campanulatum, Sedum kamtschaticum, Coreopsis auriculata, and Penstemon hirsutus. The photo below shows the garden on the same day in late May, from the opposite direction.

A problem with the rock garden is that I like it so much, I make it just a little bigger every year. That's fine with most types of garden - just cut away a foot width of grass, plant some low-growing perennials in the newly plantable area, and voila! But with a rock garden, it means rearranging the whole deal, to maintain a semblance of slope (I'm not pursuing the boulder field look) and natural rock placement. Ah well, it keeps me busy.

A list of plants we grow in the main rock garden

Acaena myriophylla (cadillo)
Acaena saccaticupula (goose leaf)
Aethionema glaucinum
Aethionema grandiflorum (stonecress)
Allium carinatum ssp. pulchellum (keeled garlic)
Allium carolinianum
Allium daghestanicum
Allium hyalinum (glassy onion)
Allium senescens (broadleaf chives)
Allium strictum (stiff onion)
Anemone x lesseri (windflower)
Antennaria plantaginifolia (pussytoes; lady's tobacco)
Aquilegia bertolonii (columbine)
Aquilegia buergeriana 'Calimero' (columbine)
Aquilegia shockleyi (desert columbine)
Arabis soyeri (rock cress)
Armeria maritima (sea thrift)
Armeria welwitschii (thrift)
Asarina procumbens (trailing snapdragon)
Asphodelus albus (white asphodel)
Aubrieta deltoidea (purple rock cress)
Barnardia japonica (squill)
Calandrinia grandiflora (rock purslane)
Campanula rigidipila
Campanula sarmatica
Chionodoxa luciliae (glory of the snow)
Clarkia tenella (godetia)
Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam' (laceleaf coreopsis)
Cotula hispida
Crocus sativus (saffron crocus)
Crocus speciosus ssp. speciosus (autumn crocus)
Crocus vernus (and hybrids) (spring crocus)
Delosperma cooperi (hardy ice plant)
Dianthus 'Spangled Star' (spangled star pink)
Dianthus amurensis 'Siberian Blues' (Amur pink)
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink)
Dianthus deltoides (maiden pink)
Dianthus giganteus
Dianthus myrtinervius (Albanian pinks)
Dianthus turkestanicus
Draba athoa
Draba lasiocarpa var. compacta
Dracocephalum argunense (dragonhead)
Dracocephalum botryoides (dragonhead)
Dracocephalum grandiflorum (dragonhead)
Dracocephalum nutans (nodding dragonhead)
Edraianthus parnassicus
Edraianthus tenuifolius (grassy bells)
Ephedra minuta (miniature joint fir)
Ephedra regeliana
Erinus alpinus (alpine balsam)
Eriogonum crocatum (saffron buckwheat)
Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sphaerocephalum (round-headed desert buckwheat)
Eryngium agavifolium (agave-leaved sea holly)
Eryngium alpinum
Eryngium bourgatii (Pyrenees sea holly)
Eryngium venustum
Gentiana occidentalis ssp. aragonensis
Gentiana septemfida (crested gentian)
Gentiana siphonantha (gentian)
Globularia meridionalis (globe daisy)
Globularia nudicaulis
Globularia repens (matted globe daisy)
Helianthemum apenninum (white rock rose)
Helianthemum nummularium (sun rose; rock rose)
Heterotheca pumila (alpine false goldenaster)
Hypericum kiusianum var. yakusimense
Indigofera pseudotinctoria 'Rose Carpet' (prostrate indigo bush)
Iris tectorum (Japanese roof iris)
Leibnitzia anandria (Leibnitz daisy)
Leontopodium palibinianum
Lewisia cotyledon (bitter-root)
Limonium gougetianum (statice)
Limonium minutum
Limonium virgatum ssp. dictyocladum
Linum campanulatum (yellow flax; western flax)
Linum suffruticosum ssp. salsoloides 'Nanum'
Montiopsis umbellata
Oenothera perennis (small sundrops)
Orostachys malacophylla var. iwarenge (Chinese dunce caps)
Orostachys spinosa (dunce caps)
Penstemon confertus (yellow penstemon)
Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red' (foxglove beardtongue)
Penstemon euglaucus
Penstemon grandiflorus (large-flowered penstemon)
Penstemon hirsutus (hairy penstemon)
Penstemon hirsutus var. pygmaeus (dwarf hairy penstemon)
Penstemon kunthii (Kunth's penstemon)
Penstemon neomexicanus (New Mexico penstemon)
Penstemon ophianthus (snake-flowered penstemon)
Penstemon pinifolius (pine-leaf penstemon)
Penstemon procerus (small-flowered penstemon)
Penstemon serrulatus (Cascade penstemon)
Penstemon triflorus (scarlet penstemon; Heller's beardtongue)
Penstemon venustus (shrubby penstemon)
Petrocallis pyrenaica
Petrorhagia saxifraga (tunic flower)
Phemeranthus spinescens (spiny fameflower)
Phyteuma vagneri
Potentilla neumanniana (spring cinquefoil)
Potentilla nevadensis (Nevada cinquefoil)
Pulsatilla turczaninovii (Siberian pasqueflower)
Rosularia sempervivum ssp. glaucophylla
Salvia jurisicii
Saponaria pamphylica
Scutellaria alpina (alpine skullcap)
Scutellaria orientalis ssp. oreophila (skullcap)
Scutellaria pontica (skullcap)
Scutellaria sevanensis
Scutellaria suffrutescens (pink skullcap)
Sedum 'Angelina' (stonecrop)
Sedum 'Autumn Joy' (showy stonecrop)
Sedum 'Mentha Requien' (stonecrop)
Sedum 'Stardust' (showy stonecrop)
Sedum aizoon (stonecrop)
Sedum ellacombeanum (stonecrop)
Sedum glaucophyllum (cliff stonecrop)
Sedum hispanicum var. minus (Spanish stonecrop)
Sedum kamtschaticum (Kamtschat sedum)
Sedum sexangulare (watch chain stonecrop)
Sedum sieboldii (October daphne)
Sedum tetractinum (stonecrop)
Sempervivum (hens and chicks; houseleek)
Silene armeria (sweet william catchfly; none-so-pretty)
Silene campanulata? (red mountain catchfly)
Silene keiskii?
Sisyrinchium macrocarpon
Talinum paniculatum (jewels of Opar)
Thymus x citriodorus (variegated lemon thyme)
Verbascum dumulosum
Veronica fruticans (rock speedwell)
Veronica saturejoides
Veronica spicata (spike speedwell)
Veronica spicata 'Red Fox' (pink spike speedwell)

A list of plants we grow in the rock garden annex

Allium cristophii (star of Persia)
Allium tanguticum (lavender globe lily)
Anemone altaica
Aquilegia alpina (blue alpine columbine)
Aquilegia atrovinosa (columbine)
Aquilegia desertorum (Arizona columbine)
Aquilegia pyrenaica (Pyrenees columbine)
Arabis blepharophylla 'Spring Charm' (rose rock cress)
Artemisia 'Powis Castle'
Athamanta turbith ssp. haynaldii (candy carrot)
Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Overdam' (feather reed grass)
Campanula carpatica (Carpatian harebell)
Carex buchananii (leatherleaf sedge)
Clematis recta var. purpurea (ground clematis)
Colchicum 'Waterlily' and 'Giant' (autumn crocus)
Dasiphora fruticosa (bush cinquefoil)
Dianthus superbus (fringed pink)
Dracocephalum canescens (dragonhead)
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)
Erinus alpinus (alpine balsam)
Eryngium planum (flat sea holly)
Euphorbia corollata (flowering spurge; poison spurge)
Euphorbia myrsinites (myrtle spurge)
Iris reticulata (reticulata iris)
Lavandula species (lavender)
Leibnitzia anandria (Leibnitz daisy)
Liatris spicata (blazing star; gayfeather)
Lilium henryi (trumpet lily)
Linum campanulatum (yellow flax; western flax)
Lychnis x arkwrightii 'Vesuvius' (Arkwright's campion)
Morina afghanica
Nepeta racemosa (catmint)
Oenothera fremontii 'Lemon Silver' (evening primrose)
Opuntia humifusa (eastern prickly-pear)
Penstemon venustus (shrubby penstemon)
Penstemon whippleanus (Whipple's penstemon)
Phuopsis stylosa (creeping crosswort)
Potentilla neumanniana (spring cinquefoil)
Raffenaldia primuloides
Salvia nemorosa (meadow sage)
Saponaria pamphylica
Scutellaria baicalensis (Chinese skullcap)
Sedum 'Matrona' (stonecrop)
Sedum cauticola 'Lidakense' (stonecrop)
Sedum kamtschaticum (Kamtschat sedum)
Sedum rupestre (reflexed evergreen stonecrop)
Sedum sieboldii (October daphne)
Sedum spectabile (showy stonecrop)
Sedum spurium 'Dragon's blood' (caucasian stonecrop; two-row stonecrop)
Sedum spurium 'Tricolor' (tricolor stonecrop)
Sedum telephium 'Red Cauli' (stonecrop)
Teucrium orientale
Thermopsis chinensis 'Sophia' (dwarf southern lupine, pea bush)
Thlaspi bellidifolium
Thymus pseudolanuginosus (woolly thyme)
Yucca filamentosa (Adam's needle)

Visitors to this page have left the following comments


 

I welcome comments about my web pages; feel free to use the form below to leave feedback about this particular page. For the benefit of other visitors to these pages, I will list any relevant comments you leave, and if appropriate, I will update my page to correct mis-information. Faced with an ever-increasing onslaught of spam, I'm forced to discard any comments including html markups. Please submit your comment as plain text. If you have a comment about the website as a whole, please leave it in my guestbook. If you have a question that needs a personal response, please e-mail me.

Your name

Your comments

home garden plants wildlife seed plant sale topics guestbook journal plantlinks

Last modified: February 12, 2011
Contact me