Bulletin - Summer 1979 - North American Rock Garden Society

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A NEW HYBRIDSAPONARTAZDENEK ZVOLANEK AND JAROSLAVPrague, CzechoslovakiaPhotograph by Jan Hulka, PragueKLIMAFor a number of years Czech rockgardeners have been enjoying such saponariahybrids as S. x olivana with itslarge cushions bearing pale rose flowerson a compact mat. It showed its qualityat the May, 1978, Show in Prague,blooming for three weeks in full sun.This hybrid results from the activitySaponaria pumila x ocymoides rubra compactaof good size and the less frequentlyseen S. x 'Bressingham Hybrid' withits smaller, bright red flowers on tinybright green cushions. Now our growersare excited by a new, so far unnamed,hybrid originating in Austria from across between Saponaria pumila x S.ocymoides 'Rubra Compacta.' Thisoutstanding hybrid has flowers of awarm rose up to an inch in diameterof our pen-friend, Fritz Kummert ofMauerbach, Austria. The cross wasmade in 1974 and the seed was sownin October of the same year. Onlytwo seedlings came up. One provedvery similar to Saponaria pumila;the second is the new hybrid.According to Mr. Kummert (and inour experience, also) it is easy to propagatecuttings from plants planted out126
in the garden, but not from pottedplants. Cuttings should be made of theyoung shoots in early June taken fromthe center of the plant when it startsinto growth again after trimming itback following its blooming period.This excellent hybrid has not beenwidely distributed until recently. It hasonly one small defect: it is as yetunnamed.A GOOD TEMPERED SYNTHYRISEDITH DUSEKGraham, WashingtonThe impact of some plants can bestbe described as love at first sight.Others steal slowly into one's awareness,taking on the comfortable companionabilityof a pair of old shoes. Myfirst sighting of Synthyris reniformison the gravel prairies near Olympia,Washington created almost no impactat all. Wee scraps tangled in otherherbage and struggling for the rightto live, they had few leaves and evenfewer flowers. Still, they were theearliest of our native wildflowers. Mostof them were of that indeterminate colorour English friends are wont to callmauve with an almost audible sigh ofresignation. Unlike S. missurica, whoseflowers climb nimbly up the stem, thesewere collected toward the top wherethey did their best to make some sortof showing.A bit of searching revealed here andthere a plant with blossoms of a quiterespectable lavender. More rarely therewould be a pure white one whosevirginity was set off by glowing pinkstamens. "Oh well, might as well tryone," I thought. Prying the chosen oneaway from the stems of the shrub ithad chosen as a provider of shadetook a bit of doing. On arriving home,disengaging the plant from the grassin which it was enmeshed was evena more delicate operation. The resultwas a wisp of roots, four leaves, andtwo scrawny stems of flowers. A checkaround the garden turned up a likelylooking home, rich in humus, wheresunshine and shadow played tag acrossthe plant. Once it was tucked in, Ipromptly forgot all about it as showierplants and other garden matters demandedattention.Early the next spring as I was scootingaround trying to finish the "fall"clean up, a bright spot caught my eye.There was friend Synthyris bloomingits heart out. What a difference! Thescrawny thing had increased to a handsizedclump and was a solid mass ofbloom. To be sure, each flower wasa small thing in itself but when itsocialized with its many fellows, theeffect was quite pleasing. Smallcheckered gray and white butterflieswere as enthralled as I. The plant wasso well attended by them that therewas standing room only. It is saidto be impossible to make a silk pursefrom a sow's ear but this little planthad set out to prove otherwise. Needlessto say, my indifference to this smallperson began to disappear.In succeeding years I have addeda white flowered plant and a few withsomewhat larger petals of a more definitecolor. Each year the original planthas tried to outdo its performance of127
Page 1 and 2: Bulletin of theAmericanRock GardenV
Page 3 and 4: Vol. 37 Summer 1979 No. 3Bulletin o
Page 5 and 6: from a "wildflower nursery" — tha
Page 7 and 8: WE'RE IN THE CHIPS:Exploring the Hi
Page 9 and 10: Shadows lengthened. We had a fiftee
Page 11 and 12: ledges, others taking full sun righ
Page 13 and 14: cashmeriana. We had hoped so muchto
Page 15 and 16: NOMOCHARIS IN MASSACHUSETTSRONALD A
Page 17 and 18: The leaves are paired to scattered(
Page 19 and 20: guide and do not discard any seeds,
Page 21 and 22: CYCLAMEN IN CONTAINERSBRIAN HALLIWE
Page 23: the summer; for other species it sh
Page 27 and 28: VICTORIA ROCK GARDENSSYBIL McCULLOC
Page 29 and 30: these are only a very few of the ch
Page 31 and 32: THE EVOLUTION OF A GARDEN...And Gar
Page 33 and 34: two inch by sixteen inch by eight i
Page 35 and 36: to Sallie Allen for distinguished s
Page 37 and 38: MANUAL OF ALPINEPLANTSby Will Ingwe
Page 39 and 40: carpings out of the way, let us pro
Page 41 and 42: what a wealth of plants are everywh
Page 43 and 44: decided they would be unable to fol
Page 45 and 46: plant, where the seed fell, and whe
Page 47 and 48: den gave me three plants, among the
Page 49 and 50: PLANTS FOR THECONNOISSEURDWARF CONI
Page 51 and 52: SCARCE and INTERESTING BOOKS . . .o
Page 53 and 54: THE ROCK GARDENMaine Hardy PlantsCh
Page 55 and 56: DIRECTORATEAMERICAN ROCK GARDEN SOC

Bulletin - Summer 1979 - North American Rock Garden Society

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