Friday, October 8, 2021

Alpine Rock Garden and Rutherford Conservatory, at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (visit part one)

As I've been going through my photos from the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (I visited on September 10th) I decided that the next time I visit I'm going to walk the opposite way through the garden, beginning at what I usually consider to be "the end". Even though I am sure to stop and turn around as I walk, you see things differently when you're headed towards the plants, and you're not so tired at the end of the garden!

We start my coverage of this garden visit at the Alpine Rock Garden. I'd been wandering for two and a half hours when I finally walked into the rock garden, thus I wasn't as sharp as I would have liked to be.

Still, I spotted this little beauty.

I'm a sucker for a good rosette...

...and it's something new to me! Common name "sempervivum-leaved rock jasmine" (more info here)

Next up is one of those serious "lust list" plants...Adiantum aleuticum 'Subpumilum’: "A truly dwarf maidenhair, and a very slowly spreading groundcover.  Shiny, glossy black stalks hold aloft contrasting, limey-green pinnae.  Rarely available, it takes good drainage and light shade and rich soils." (source)

I hope this will be available through the Hardy Fern Foundation next year.

This was a fun discovery!

Saxafraga x geum 'Dentata' growing on a rock—who knew it liked it like that?

Now I've hiked up to the Rutherford Conservatory which is the last spot to visit before I wrap things up here.  

That's a stellar patch of Begonia pedatifida.

There are so many plants inside the conservatory that I admire and then walk away from, thinking they're not hardy. I have no idea what these are, but I know the begonia above (B. pedatifida) is hardy for me in Portland.

And if these bright green leaves are Cyrtomium falcatum (Japanese holly fern) then it's hardy too.

Curculigo sp., which was hardy in my garden for several years.

Of course I do (madly) wish I could grow tree ferns outdoors in my Portland garden. Sadly that's not an option unless I want to go to heroic measures to protect them.

I love mossy poles for growing smaller things on, and really need to make one.

Adiantum hispidulum, aka Rosy Australian Maidenhair Fern (I think that's what it is on the left) is also pretty darn cute. 

Back outdoors now and checking out their hypertufa containers.


Complete with a miniature crevice garden...

And look! Microcachrys tetragona, creeping strawberry pine...

More from the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden next week!

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All material © 2009-2021 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

16 comments:

  1. I've always been interested in making hypertufa pots. Now, after seeing Carnies in one I may not put it off much longer.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

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  2. Love those unusual Adiantum ferns. I am slowly getting all the ones that are hardy here. I am thinking I will even get the ones for Zone 6 given all the strange weather/temps we now have.

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    1. I found a couple of nice ones the other day (Adiantum caudatum for example) but then learned they're not evergreen.

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  3. This is another garden I'd love to see in person some day. I loved everything about it, from the ferns to the new-to-me succulent.

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    1. So many gardens to see! I hope you do get the chance.

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  4. That unnamed Begonia looks really cool.

    Lovely textured leaves and colours.

    I love the jungly type planting in the conservatory.

    Have you not considered growing a Dicksonia antarctica in your garden? I would have thought that they would be hardy enough for you.

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    Replies
    1. Oh I've considered it plenty, but no, they're not. They'd live through a winter or two maybe, but eventually they'd give up the ghost, so to speak.

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  5. I love alpine rock gardens for their serenity, naturalistic landscaping and the surprise plants one can spot in nooks and crannies. I'll have to see if I can find a suitable rock for my (hairy)
    Saxafraga 'Dentata'. Hypertufa, miniature crevice garden and tiny plants: a very satisfying combination!

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    1. (hairy) Saxafraga 'Dentata'?

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    2. I lost the tag, but after a prolonged internet search, I found someone's ID request for the same plant. The reply: "Saxifraga x geum 'Dentata'. A naturally occurring cross between S. hirsuta and S. umbrosa. The hirsuta contributes the slight 'fuzziness' to the foliage." (mine could use a shave...)

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    3. Wow, thank you! I need to take a look at mine, I've never noticed fuzz...

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  6. So greeeeeeeen! Lovely to see.

    A neighbor just planted several tree ferns in his front yard--right up against the house. Eyeroll.

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    1. So very green... and after a long hot dry summer too. I wonder what their water bill is like?

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  7. I'm not sure I should ever visit. I'd be so excited and spend all kinds of $$ on "green plants" that would die instantly here in Davis, lol.

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    1. Well they don't normally have that many plants for sale, so maybe you'd be okay?

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