Alpines - Section 1 (A-C)

I'm starting this section with a "classic" alpine house plant, Asperula suberosa which has been popular for a very long time. On close examination it has typical leaves of a woodruff, but in this species covered in hairs so they appear grey green. It can have the odd flower at almost any time but the main flowering time is spring when it can cover itself with long tubed, four pointed sugar pink stars. It likes to be kept fairly dry and underpotted with lime in the compost. It can also be tried outside in a trough but in wet areas may appreciate some protection.

IA complete contrast, these are my plants of various forms of Alstroemeria hookerii grown from seed collected in Argentina/Chile. These are not so commonly grown as they are a bit awkward in cultivation and can look tatty as they come into flower. They need high light levels to keep them short and that can be hard to supply. Many of the species are fairly hardy, I tried one outside but it was immediately devoured by slugs.

Left, Alkanna aucheriana from Turkey, this picture was taken in the alpine house at Wisley. This plant has a reputation for being hard to keep, but I have no experience of it.

I can't remember the current name for this bindweed, it used to be called Convolvulus mauritanicus. It's from North Africa and it is not reliably hardy in parts of the UK. I had a plant in the garden but sadly it did not last long. Next time I get one I will overwinter a few cuttings in the greenhouse as insurance.

Not a very good picture of a Calceolaria, I grew this from seed labelled C. uniflora (was darwinii). I have been told that many of the plants in cultivation under this name are hybrids with C. fothergillii. Whatever it was it grew and flowered for a few years and then disappeared. Some of the other "bag flowers" are very easy to grow, but few are as spectacular. In mild moist areas Calceolaria tenella might be worth a try, it's a little charmer!

Finally a plant with a reputation for having a short life which I have kept going for many years, this is Campanula carpatha (not to be confused with C.carpatica which is a vigorous plant for the open rock garden). It flowers all year round but even more in the winter. Only a few flowers in this picture but it can be quite spectacular some years.

Next Section