Before the internet and digital tools became intrinsic of everyday botany, scientists used tools like this punched-card key to identify Colorado mosses.</p> Created by William Weber, former curator of the University of Colorado Museum Herbarium, the key requires its user to select cards corresponding to particular traits of the moss in question. Whether it be the shape of the leaf, the color of the plant, or the elevation from which it was observed, each trait has a matching numerical code. After stacking the selected cards the user is left with a single hole that still shows light, which codes to a particular genus. This way anyone with a general knowledge of botany can identify the genus to which a moss belongs. </p> These days, keys for identifying plants can be found online, like this one from the Southwestern Environmental Information Network (SEINet)</a>. Check out the rest of SEINet for a treasure trove of botanical tools, such as a map search function, plant lists, and images of specimens housed in museum collections around the world.</p>
</p> If you are looking for something amazing to do at the Gardens right now, visit our Cloud Forest Tree exhibit at the west end of the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory. The Cloud Forest Tree and the Boettcher Tropical Conservatory always have something blooming, so even when it is cold and snowy in Denver, you can escape to the tropics at Denver Botanic Gardens.</p>
The whirlwind of spring activities is well underway here at the Gardens but in a few weeks fresh energy in the form of our class of summer horticulture interns will be adding to the mix. Denver Botanic Gardens Internship Program dates back to 1976. Since inception, hundreds of budding horticulture professionals have gone through the program, and today they are educators, landscape professionals, public garden horticulturists and more. This year eight enthusiastic and talented students will be working alongside our horticulture staff, learning about the art and science of gardening in a public garden. They come to us from across the country, representing horticulture programs at South Dakota State University, University of Wisconsin River Falls and Madison, Virginia Tech, Colorado State University and Front Range Community College. After fall clean-up in the garden and before the rush of spring planting arrives, many winter hours are spent preparing for our summer interns. Horticulture staff members develop projects and classes, recruit and interview applicants to the program, organize orientation activities, learning opportunities and a variety of fieldtrips for the summer. While the interns are here, they work side-by-side with our team of professional horticulturists performing daily garden maintenance tasks. They also work on an individual project and team projects. All of these experiences provide them with valuable hands-on experience, enhance their horticultural knowledge and introduce them to career options within the field. These unique opportunities are available thanks to generous donors who have created endowments or made donations specifically for the purpose of furthering the education of our next generation of horticulture professionals. Numerous members have also kindly opened their homes, providing housing to the out-of-state students. These resources, along with our horticulture staff who love to share their knowledge, work together to create a memorable summer for our interns. May and the arrival of our summer interns are just around the corner. Who knows, I may work with my future replacement this summer!</p>
Iris 'Lady Beatrix Stanley'</p> As I was driving home yesterday I passed a house which boasted a narrow bed along its north side with hundreds--maybe thousands of snowdrops. I began looking intently (through Capitol Hill mind you--one of Denver's most plant-dense neighborhoods). Surely there must be more bulbs out? A block or two later I saw a fabulous stand of crocuses in the corner of one lot, then nothing in the way of bulbs the next mile or so home.</p> Friends: Denver is BULB country: Denver Botanic Gardens is positively LOUSY with bulbs right now...let's take the reticulate iris as a case in point. They're called netted iris, by the way, because their bulbs are swathed in a netted tunic--although some think it's because their flowers are often netted with fine lines of color. The picture above shows a wonderful stand of Iris</em> 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' positively GLOWING in the Plant Select Garden. Don't miss it! This is a hybrid of the next species, and it has become widely (and cheaply) available in recent years. There's no excuse for us not to have it in our gardens except sheer laziness! (I better get on the stick and order some this spring</a> so I can be even more self-righteous NEXT</em> year!) Since it is missing from my own garden...(oh yes, the title: I am NETtled that more NETted iris are not ordered over the interNET!!)</p> Iris histrioides 'Major'</p> This is a tale of woe! Once widely available in the Dutch bulb trade, the family that grew this commercially ceased to do so decades ago. You'd be hard put to find this nowadays. This plant has persisted in this one spot in the Rock Alpine Garden since 1984. That's 30 years worth of flowers! Perhaps our meritorious staff in that garden may want to think about dividing and spreading this about in this vicinity this summer? (hint hint)...</p> Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin'</p> I remember when this was a fabulously expensive bulb a few decades ago (1970's to be more precise). I have rhapsodized about this amazing plant</a> at length elsewhere. Suffice it to say the several dozen bulbs I planted in my rock garden a few years ago all perished the winter before this one when we had our disastrous April freeze. The ones at the Botanic Gardens came through unscathed. Not that I'm bitter or anything. See these now in glory in the O'Fallon Perennial border.</p> Iris 'Harmony'</p> Harmony indeed! Just LOOK at that clump--this one is in the upper meadow of the Rock Alpine Garden. I have not often seen these iris clump up so thickly! When they do, however, they become susceptible to Ink blight--a dread fungus that loves to do in reticulatas. It will be interesting to see if these come back NEXT year...the bulbs are so inexpensive, it's almost not worth the effort to divide these. I have done so right after they bloom when their in full leaf and find it works well.</p> Iris 'George'</p> I should have put a ruler next to this monster--it's almost a foot in height! Tucked at the back of the Rock Alpine Garden, George loves this spot and is the largest of its kind I've ever seen. It is (like 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' and 'Katharine Hodkin') likely a hybrid of the true Iris histrioides</em>: which is not available in commerce at all (and may never have been). Except for 'Major', that is: the Dutch select all of these plants for their vegetative vigor: they're all reproduced form bulb divisions.</p> The bulbs that do this best are generally sterile hybrids--as a consequence none of these reticulate irises seem to set seed in Colorado. There are a few wild forms in cultivation (I have a few in my house), and these might actually reproduce from seed in our conditions. Which I would love to see happen. As long as we grow these mules, we shall have to divide them on a three or four year sequence to keep them from overcrowding and dying.</p> Iris 'J.S. Dijt'</p> I finish with another classic: the deep purple form of Iris reticulata</em>, growing in the Lilac Garden. These were planted ten or more years ago, and are still thriving.</p> Reticulate iris have been put in their own genus by the great Russian botanist, Rodionenko: Iriodictyon</em>. I have a hunch he's correct. They are as easily grown as crocuses, and far less often seen. I think we're missing out by not planting these on a massive scale throughout our region where they do so well.</p> Once you have several hundred (or let's say a THOUSAND) of your generic, Dutch hybrid reticulatas scampering all over your garden...then and ONLY then you can click on the U.R.L.</a> and see that a vast universe of hybrids is being generated by a mad Canadian I met decades ago when he (and I) were mere babes in the woods horticulturally. I'm speaking of Alan McMurtrie. Some day I'll blog about him more fully.</p> Until then, come wander through the Gardens and marvel at our bulbs, and jot down the ones you would love to see in your garden next spring. Denver Botanic Gardens has online bulb pre-ordering happening now!</strong></a> Here is a catalog of the bulbs that are for sale and how you can order.</a> Get a jump on your spring gardening. Place your bulb order between now and June 22, 2015 to reserve them for easy, hassle-free pick up in September!</p>
Salvia indica</em></p> The first salvia to bloom at Denver Botanic Gardens every spring is actually from Western Asia and Turkey rather than India as the name would imply. It shows one extreme of the range of form the genus can display. Now look below at a Western American gem:</p> Salvia pachyphylla</em></p> Over the last few decades, a veritable flood of sages have become available commercially at local garden centers. Some, like this Mojave Sage (Salvia pachyphylla</em>) thanks to Plant Select</a>. Most are very xeric, and many bloom for months on end, starting in May. Since the genus Salvia may contain over a thousand species, and probably even more hybrids, no wonder some gardeners are frustrated at what to grow in their gardens.</p> Why not sign up for my upcoming class, Genus Salvia for Colorado Gardens.</a> I originally prepared the precursor to this talk for a Symposium at Huntington Botanical Garden in 2014 and reworked for our local conditions. It represents my summation of growing over 100 kinds of salvia over the last few decades. There is a salvia for almost any condition in your garden, sunny or shady, wet or unwatered. Many salvias available through local garden centers are barely represented in books, and little known outside our region.</p> Salvia pisidica</em></p> This wonderful groundcover is a good example of an outstanding Xeriscape salvia from southeastern Turkey that was introduced to horticulture 30 years ago by Jim Archibald, but Denver is one of the few places where it's made itself at home! This has been offered at our plant sale for years, but few realize what a wonderful evergreen, xeric groundcover it is. This picture was taken in Mike Kintgen's private garden but fabulous spreads of this plants can also be found at the Denver Botanic Gardens in the Rock Alpine Garden</a> and the Gardens at Kendrick Lake. There are many spectacular salvias from the Mediterranean and Asia that were introduced here at Denver Botanic Gardens, and these will be a focus of the talk.</p> Salvia penstemonoides</em></p> Here is another spectacular salvia growing at Mike Bone's private garden which he has propagated at sold at our spring sales several years now. Thought to be extinct, the "Penstemon salvia" was rediscovered twenty years ago, and has been propagated and shared widely by plantsmen--and it has become a long-blooming spectacular plant for a xeriscape or dry border in Colorado.</p> Salvia caespitosa</em></p> There are even tiny species like this one that you can grow in a rock garden or large trough. And there's a vast world of tropical salvias that make wonderful bedding plants and elements of the summer and autumn garden.</p> I believe there will be many more spectacular salvias showing up in our gardens in the next few years--and you can get a sneak preview on Wednesday night, March 11 here at the Gardens! Press here for registration details</a>.</p> </p> </p>
Aloe polyphylla</em> at Semonkong Lodge</p> Few plants better epitomize the quandaries of plant conservation than this iconic aloe, endemic to the heights of south-central Lesotho, South Africa. Once relatively abundant (Alan Beverly estimated at least 10,000 a half century ago), this magnificent national flower of Lesotho has become extremely rare in nature...although increasingly abundant in gardens.</p> Aloe polyphylla at Malealea, southern Lesotho</p> There is reputedly a nursery selling plants in Lesotho grown from seed, but as I travelled around the country, I only saw massive plants like these that I suspect where harvested in the wild. Wild collection is certainly one reason that so few of these are still found growing wild--that and the fact that they make a fascinating sound when giant rocks are tossed into them (the countryside is filled with bored, young pastoralists who are very efficient at lots of things--killing anything that moves, and killing aloes).</p> Aloe at a typical roundeval in Lesotho</p> Again and again as we drove through villages I'd notice spiral aloes growing at this or that roundeval: happy and quite enormous. I didn't notice any little ones--perhaps they were there?</p> Of course, collecting even seed of this is strictly prohibited, the sale of large specimens especially so (and always has been). Nevertheless, Aloe polyphylla</em> has been firmly established in cultivation over the last half century. In fact, some nurseries in California have enormous stock beds that are beginning to produce vast quantities of seed. I have seen plants marketed quite cheaply at Denver area garden centers the last few years--some by Monrovia, one of the largest growers in the country.</p> Colorado columbines are sold by the thousand (if not million) each year in our area--and never cease to retain their glamour and beauty as a consequence. Is the Spiral Aloe diminished if it becomes more widely available commercially? I don't think so. The solution to pollution is dilution--a well known adage. I'd like to coin a new one: the Salvation from Depradation is Propagation!</p> If this plant had not slipped into cultivation decades ago, I believe it would truly be in peril of disappearance. I believe one day those cultivated plants may provide a gene pool that could re-stock the wild populations that have succumbed to the destruction that often comes to plants in poor countries that have little in the way of environmental education or enforcement. </p>
Alan Tower</p> DENVER Botanic Gardens implies we're a local institution, which is true. But what greater proof of the regional--nay!--national and international reach that we have than when nurserymen from 1,000 miles away maintain a close relationship with us and our collections. I photographed Alan a few years ago when he hosted me on a lecture tour to Spokane</a>. I spent several days exploring his extremely diverse and beautiful nursery and gardens (Tower Perennials and Design</a>), and an unforgettable day on Steptoe Butte where I took this picture, looking at wildflowers (described in the link in the previous sentence). But the relationship between Alan and Denver Botanic Gardens goes back all the way to the 1990s!</p> Cupressus arizonica</em> 'Raywood weeping'</p> One day I got a call from Alan saying he was driving into town and wanted to donate two unique specimens of Cupressus arizonica</em> 'Raywood weeping' to our collections. I was surprised to see the size and splendor of the plants, and they were subsequently planted, one in Dryland Mesa (picture above) and another in the Dwarf Conifer Collection. Both have since almost doubled in size and are a pride and joy of our collections. As I walk around the Gardens every day or so, I inevitably walk by one or both of these, and when I do, I think of Alan and his surprise appearance years ago.</p> Here's a picture of the other specimen I took today:</p> Cupressus arizonica</em> 'Raywood weeping'</p> There are few conifers more dramatic or entertaining. Kids see them and say they look like Dr. Seuss characters. They are rare enough I've never seen them in another public garden (but then perhaps I haven't looked carefully enough?).</p> Last week I got a call from Alan: "Is Chihuly</em> still going on?" He had planned a trip to Canyon Country and realized he might swing by and visit en route--just a few hundred mile diversion is all. He was joined by a friend, Miles Stookey, who had never visited the Gardens before. They drove straight through after Thanksgiving dinner, arriving in the morning last Friday--and they proceeded to spend the day taking hundreds of photographs throughout the Gardens. They were elated with the sculptures, the gardens--and they did not come empty handed. This time, Alan brought Picea abies</em> 'Gold Drift', a deep golden form of the European spruce which he says will make 'Raywood weeping' pale by contrast! Below you see his gift--which has not yet been planted (but soon will be I think).</p> Picea abies</em> 'Gold Drift'</p> People often ask me, where do plants at Denver Botanic Gardens come from? A large proportion are of course from nurseries, garden centers and greenhouses in and around Denver. Many of our finest treasures come from Index Seminum--the centuries old exchange between botanic gardens. Many of our most precious plants are collected by staff and associates on mountains and plains all over the world. But some of our choicest specimens are gifts like this, from talented nurserymen and collectors all over the United States who care about Denver Botanic Gardens, and want to see our collections prosper.</p> Alan is just one such plantsman, who has traveled thousands of miles over the decades to enjoy our Gardens, and to leave his mark upon them. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a World of plantsmen to make a botanic garden.</p>
Denver Botanic Gardens was once again the host of the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society’s New Waterlily Competition this year. This contest draws entries of new waterlily hybrids from skilled hybridizers around the world. This year there were 21 entries in three categories - hardy waterlilies, intersubgeneric (hardy x tropical crosses) and tropical waterlilies. The entries were sent to the gardens in the spring and were grown in the Four Towers Pool this summer. Each entry received the same size growing container, soil, fertilizer and sun exposure. Senior Horticulturist Tamara Kilbane and her team of volunteers maintained the plants throughout the growing season. Photos were taken to show the size, growth habit and blooms of each entry. A panel of 16 judges from around the globe then used these photos to score each entry. The official winners are as follows: '</p> 'Milky Way'</strong> - Best New Waterlily Overall and First Place Tropical Waterlily - Hybridized by Buafah Garden, Thailand</p> 'Morada Bay'</strong> - Second Place Tropical Waterlily - Hybridized by Florida Aquatic Nurseries, USA</p> </p> 'Siam Purple 2'</strong> - Second Best New waterlily and First Place Intersubgeneric Waterlily - Hybridized by Pairat Songpanich, Thailand</p> 'Sangria'</strong> - Second Place Intersubgeneric Waterlily - Florida Aquatic Nurseries, USA</p> </p> 'Lemon Meringue'</strong> - First Place Hardy Waterlily (and Third Place Overall) - Hybridized by Tony Moore, USA</p> 'Siam Beauty'</strong> - Second Place Hardy Waterlily - Hybridized by Pairat Songpanich, Thailand</p> In addition to the official judging, visitors to the gardens were given the opportunity to choose their own favorite waterlilies in each category. Over 700 people voted throughout the summer months, and the winners of the “People’s Choice Awards” are listed below.</p> </p> Hardy, First Place - 'Siam Beauty'</strong>, hybridized by Pairat Songpanich (Thailand); Second Place - 'White Hot'</strong>, hybridized by Mike Giles (USA)</p> </p> Intersubgeneric, First Place (tied) - Siam Purple 2</strong>, hybridized by Pairat Songpanich (Thailand) First Place (tied) - 'Sangria',</strong> hybridized by Florida Aquatic Nurseries (USA) Second Place - Unnamed</strong>, hybridized by Florida Aquatic Nurseries (USA)</p> Tropical, First Place - 'Good Morning'</strong>, hybridized by Ittipol Takul (Thailand) Second Place - 'Purple Joy'</strong>, hybridized by Buafah Garden (Thailand)</p>
Joan Franson and Cistus laurifolius</em></p> Joan Franson, long time volunteer and champion of Denver Botanic Gardens, passed away on Thursday, October 17. Her obituary in the Denver Post</a> provides more information on Joan. There will be a Memorial Service for Joan at Denver Botanic Gardens this Tuesday morning in John Mitchell Hall at 10 a.m., October 28.</p> Those of us privileged to work at the Gardens tell ourselves it's all about the plants. And of course, plants are infinitely variable and beguiling. But every few days someone strolls by and you find yourself intrigued, or in the case of Joan, you are simply bowled over by their energy and charisma.</p> I actually first met her forty years ago before I even worked here, when she gave a talk to the Rock Garden club on wildflowers. I was dazzled by her wonderful photography, but it was her crisp, Midwestern voice, with lilting cadences and rhetorical flourishes, that mesmerized me! She ended her slides by billowing out fresh bedsheets from J.C. Penney with gorgeous painted images of wildflowers--yellow ladyslippers, blanket daisies--and she urged us to hustle down and buy some. The Federated Garden clubs (another of her passions) had arranged to have a portion of sales from each set of sheets sold go to a special fund for wildflower preservation. Who could resist? I scuttled down there the very next day and still have these sheets tucked deep in my linen closet--a tad threadbare since they were my favorites for a few too many years. But I can't bring myself to get rid of them!</p> The plant in front of Joan above is a hardy rock rose, or Cistus--usually quite tender Mediterrean shrubs--thriving in Joan's garden. She'd purchased this at our plant sale decades ago, and for many years hers had to be the champion specimen. She had many suchlike gems--especially hardy shrub roses, which she preferred and ultimately she was instrumental in having these become the dominant roses sold in our region today.</p> Rosa</em> 'William Baffin'</p> The enormous mounds of 'William Baffin' in the Schlessman Plaza portion of our Romantic Gardens are excellent examples that Joan adored. I can never walk by these without hearing her crisp, Indiana accent that carried across the garden, "This rose is magnificent, but I warn you it gets very big. In fact, it requires its very own Zip Code." Joan was a hoot!</p> When she marched into your life (yes, Joan marched! she did not shuffle nor tread quietly), you could be sure you'd be entertained and soon you'd be chuckling. And there was usually a purpose for the visit. She dedicated untold hours in many capacities on behalf of Denver Botanic Gardens--perhaps her very favorite cause of all. I remember overhearing her once with friends of hers saying, "There are other bigger gardens, but our garden here is a jewel with many facets, and it positively gleams."</p> Joan had a special place in my affection (likely reciprocated). She was President of the Associates of DBG at the time I was hired. (The Associates managed volunteer affairs and the gift shop back then). The group also provided the funds that paid my salary, and she loved to boast that she was my first "boss": and a darn good one she was too!..</p> I must end my tribute to Joan with another rose, Rosa</em> 'Golden Wings', one that was one of her favorites. This may explain why it seems to be growing all over Denver Botanic Gardens. The picture doesn't show how big the flowers really are, nor how profusely they bloom for months and months on end. The refulgent color, its fragrance and the colorful hips make this a wonderful presence in the garden. I have one in my own garden, and I know whenever I shall see it, I will gratefully recall Joan's compelling presence, her words that flew on golden wings, and envision her wandering through bowers of roses and rare flowers for all eternity.</p> </p>
On August 5, 2014, Denver Botanic Gardens conducted its second trial evaluation day for the York Street Trial Garden. Located right outside our main entrance gate, visitors can get a look at various plant entries participating in the trials.</p> The purpose of Denver Botanic Gardens’ York Street Trial Garden is to evaluate the performance of plants submitted by seed and plug companies. From the data collected, we hope to assist in the companies’ assessment of submitted entries in their vigor in our Rocky Mountain environment and popularity in the trial. Plants are evaluated on a scale of one to ten on their uniformity, vigor, floral characteristic, and foliage. Denver Botanic Garden horticulture staff members, DBG garden volunteers, Denver Garden Club Members, The Denver Botanic Gardens’ Guild, local nurserymen, local and national growers, and other local Green Industry and horticulture professionals were invited to evaluate the plants.</p> Thirty-five different plants were part of the trial garden representing six different seed and plug companies from the United States and France. Before planting, the trial bed area was prepared by removing weeds and debris. Organic compost was added to amend the soil. Twenty plants were planted for each annual and perennial entry. Only five of each shrub and vine entry was planted. Of the 20 plants per entry, five plants were chosen randomly, and these five were measured and photographed on a biweekly basis.</p> Plant entries were watered twice a week by an automated irrigation system with popup heads. Entries were also hand-watered to supplement the irrigation watering schedule on an as needed basis when low precipitation rates and higher temperatures were experienced. A water-soluble fertilizer was used to feed the plants. Beds were hand weeded; no herbicides were used.</p> On evaluation day a total of 58 ballots were collected.</p> Results</strong></p> </p> Best of Show: Hibiscus</em> ‘Mahogany Splendor,’ PAS Entry</p> </p> First Runner Up: Plectranthus</em> ‘UF06419’ Trusty Rusty, Ball FloraPlant Entry</p> </p> Second Runner Up: Helianthus annuus</em> ‘Suntastic Yellow With Black Center,’ HM Clause Entry</p> Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to the participating companies who submitted plant entries. We hope to expand the number of participating companies in the 2015 York Street Trial Garden.</p>
Bouteloua gracilis</em> 'Blonde Ambition' on left</p> I'm talking about the OTHER kind of grass, incidentally. The orange Agastache on the upper right of this picture is also a Plant Select</a> choice: Agastache aurantiaca</em>--a spectacular species one does not see nearly enough. Both of these, and many more Plant Select choices are growing and blooming magnificently right now (took this pic yesterday!) at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield--in the fabulous series of gardens wrapped around the Visitor Center and historic schoolhouse, designed by Lauren Springer Ogden and her husband Scott--and maintained superbly by Emilee Vanderneut, lead horticulturist at Chatfield. I have been dazzled by this garden since early spring--and I think it's as beautiful now in early autumn as it was in its glory days of June, July and August! A truly multi-season garden. This is a wonderful place to see many grasses, but three of the best species promoted by Plant Select are here in droves--grown to perfection. 'Blonde Ambition' is a Blue Gramma on steroids (Bouteloua gracilis</em>) selected by David Salman. It is here in wonderful drifts.</p> Sporobolus wrightii</em> (Giant Sacaton)</p> I believe this is barely a year in the ground. Giant Sacaton is one of the most dramatic, but very useful Plant Select choices. It's like a more manageable Pampas Grass, only totally drought tolerant. I think it's more subtle and easier to live with! These will only get more spectacular in the key spot they're put in near the Farm Schoolhouse.</p> Muhlenbergia reverchonii</em> Undaunted ruby Muhly TM</p> Hitherto, the most spectacular planting of this unbelievable native grass was in the Rock Alpine Garden at York Street...but you can now see it in big drifts and in wonderful combinations in the breathtaking native gardens at Chatfield. How clever to see this grass growing in a garden designed by the Ogdens, when they were also the ones who first collected the seed of this strain, which I personally consider to be the most beautiful of ornamental grasses. If I could, I would make all the Kart Foerster Calamagrostis</em> transform instantaneously into this (with perhaps a few 'Blonde Ambition' tossed in). Seeing this garden in the majestic setting of Chatfield is an inspiration.Get on down there PRONTO! You too will be singing Hallelujah!</p>
Delosperma floribundum</em> 'Starburst'</p> There have been a veritable flood of hardy ice plants on the market in recent years, to the point where we have forgotten about some of the worthy old timers. This happens to be a twenty year anniversary for the time when I first saw and collected this delightful morsel on the windy steppe near Springfontein, just a bit west of the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa. It was growing in sparse grassland that was terribly reminiscent of Colorado. This picture is a particularly robust specimen in cultivation--but the wild ones were almost as flashy. This was one of the second wave of hardy ice plants that were championed by Plant Select,</a> and which certainly helped propel that worthy program.</p> The commonest query I get in recent years when the subject of hardy ice plants comes up is, "Aren't you afraid these will become weeds?" I can well imagine how a surgeon must feel when asked, "Aren't you afraid the patient will die on the table?" Of course, there is a remote possibility that any plant grown out of "context" (although humans have impacted practically every square centimeter of the earth so that I wonder if there really is a "natural," non-human context any more, truth be said...) and I invariably respond that Carpobrotus edulis</em> (the weedy Californian ice plant in question) is a massive plant comparitively speaking, and the ecology of California coasts and shortgrass prairie in Colorado are not one and the same. Well... guess what I found across the street from my very own house? My charming South African waif has flown the coop!</p> Delosperma floribundum</em> "escaped"!</p> As I pull out my car from the garage, and drive a few hundred feet down my street, on the unkempt prairie to the west of me I've been noticing some pinkish-purplish flashes. What could these possibly be? I finally stopped the car and wandered out and Lo! and behold, a dozen or so Delosperma floribundum</em> had naturalized in the weedy grassland. Horrors! What have I done?</p> Delosperma floribundum</em> ESCAPED!</p> Here you can see that all the plants are growing within a few feet of a weed barrier and a mulched bed that was where the original plants were planted a year or so ago (and which have summarily died). I am curious if the demise of the parent plant was due to the richer soil, or the pathogens engendered by the bark mulch. The lesson here, of course, is that Delosperma floribundum</em> is a grassland plant that prefers to grow in sparse shortgrass prairie, in a harsh pedocal soil to the fluffy garden pedalfer mulched with bark chips. This speaks volumes about our horticultural practices. We strive to grow plants from more humid climates that need more acid, humusy soils (pedalfers), while Plant Select and others are introducing plants from semi-arid regions that do much better in our alkaline, native mineral soils (pedocals). Crazy, no?</p> At Denver Botanic Gardens Waring House</p> Of course, a few self sown seedlings a few feet from the parent plant does not a rampageous weed make (although the exotic plant haters are loth to make any distinctions). Here you can see that Delosperma floribundum</em> has produced a random seedling on occasion in the past, such as this charming plantlet I photographed ten years or more ago growing in a low wall along the street in front of the Waring House. A number of the species ice plants have shown a willingness to seed--although rarely to the point of being a serious garden menace. I suspect a goodly number of our garden plants (including natives) can self sow enough to lead to a fastidious gardener avoiding them. I'm thinking of Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber</em>) , Knautia macedonica</em>, Perovskia, black-eyed-Susan (Rudbeckia triloba</em>) and a throng of other garden classics that have been proscribed from this or that local garden because of their profuse spreading. They are pesky plants in the wrong spot, perhaps, but hardly obnoxious weeds.</p> Obviously I shall be watching these Delosperma</em> over the years to see how much more (and if) they spread in the vant field. Meanwhile, I marvel that twenty years after first seeing these they've come home to roost, so to speak. If not home, across the way!</p>
