Bulletin - Summer 1979 - North American Rock Garden Society

two inch by sixteen inch by eight inchdeep trough. One trough is devotedto the more interesting succulents suchas Sempervivum ciliosum, Crassula milfordii"Silver Stars" and Orostachysspinosus. Under them I am trying someof the aestivating little bulbs such asFritillaria pudica and F. recurva, successfullythe first year. Dodecatheonclevelandii var. patulum is doing welland increasing rapidly after three years.Another trough is devoted to thingsfrom New Zealand. Raoulia grandiflora,Helichrysum milfordiae, and Celmisiasessiliflora are some of the plants thatI am attempting to grow here. Fuchsiaprocumbens cascades over the side. Ikeep a plastic, hand-made cloche overthis trough in winter. In fact, I hopeto keep cloches over three more troughsthis winter if I can prevail upon myhusband to make them.A Sophora japonica in the "UpperForty", a mere whip of a thing whenI planted it in 1961, is now thirtyfeet high and forty feet wide, and coversthe whole upper garden with itsbeautiful, lacey shade patterns. It isanother case of not being master inmy own garden. I have had to giveup growing such delights as salpiglosisand zinnias, but am well compensatedby being able to grow some woodlandthings like trilliums and erythroniums.I grow many kinds of them, and myfavorite erythronium, Erythroniumrevolution var. johnsonii, is naturalizingartistically. I have been able tokeep Cyprepedium calceolus for eightyears, but I have to keep a screenaround it to protect it from birds andsquirrels. It is planted in decomposingforest litter with an old drain tile buriedeight inches below to assure quickdrainage.One of the shrubs that I am especiallyfond of in the upper garden is Menziesiapurpurea, grown from seedstarted in 1959. I love the subduedelegance of this Japanese member ofthe Ericaceae family when it is coveredin spring with its small campanulateflowers of bright red tinged with purple.Garden visitors are interested in thelabelling system which we havedeveloped. My husband has made labelsby capping nails with plastic tape onwhich are punched numerals. Eachplant has its numbered nail beside itand the number refers to its nameon a plant list. This system is onlyused where leaf raking is not necessarybecause the nails are so apt to beraked out and lost. Aside from thatthey are permanent and ideal. I usethem for all plants in the troughs, bog,scree and moss garden. I have limitedtheir number to eight hundred to keepdown the work of checking them overonce a year and making new plantlists as some plantstake their place.fail and othersAfter thirty years of gardening thislittle plot, I look around and I ampleased. Also amazed. I didn't do it.I just played out there a little bit,did the things that obviously had tobe done, and let the plants dictate thelandscaping. And behold! I have amini-estate.135