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KAREN BROWER'S FAVORITE PLANTS

Sat, 11/24/2012 - 17:12

 

There wasn’t space in the Winter issue to include all the plants that Karen Brower has grown at her Southwest Montana home. For the full story, see “A High-Country Cottage Garden” on p. 20 of Zone 4 No. 16.

 

Karen’s favorite plant varieties, as she said, “are easily grown from nursery plants, or often from seed, and add a lot of color and interest to the garden.” She offers a few seasonal plant suggestions that can grow well in many zone 4 gardens.

 

 

Early Spring

•   Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa spp.)

•   Creeping veronica (Veronica pectinata)

•   Japanese peony (Paeonia japonica)

•   Drumstick primrose (Primula denticulata)

•   Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris)

•   Species tulip (Tulipa sp.)

 

Late Spring

•   Darwin and lily-flowered tulips (Tulipa spp.)

•   Columbines, many hybrids and species (Aquilegia spp.)

•   Dwarf and intermediate bearded iris (Iris spp.)

•   Alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis) ‘Basket of Gold’

•   Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata)

 

Early Summer

•   Siberian and German iris (Iris spp.)

•   Penstemon Eatoniiand P. ovatus

•    Mediterranean Pinks (Saponaria Ocymoides)

•   Oriental poppies (Papaver orientale)

•   Bellflowers (Campanula cochleariifolia and C. carpatica)

•   Fleabane (Erigeron speciosus )‘Pink Jewel’

 

Mid-Summer

•   Delphiniumspp. ‘Pacific Hybrid’ and ‘Connecticut Yankee’

•   Yellow columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha)

•   Daylilies (Hemerocallis  spp. ‘Stella d’Oro’, ‘Hyperion’, and Candy series)

•   Common peonies (Paeonia  spp.)

•   Bee balm (Monarda didyma) ‘Marshall’s delight’

 

Late Summer/Fall

•   Sedum‘Autumn Joy’ and ‘Matrona’

•   Coneflowers (Rudbeckia fulgida and R. nitida (6 feet tall in my garden!)

•   Aster novi-belgii‘Professor Kippenberg’

•   Chrysanthemumx rubellum ‘Clara Curtis’

•   Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)

•   Blazing-star (Liatris punctataand L. spicata)

MAKING XMAS AT CARAS NURSERY

Fri, 10/26/2012 - 17:56

Just as Santa's elves are busy making presents for Christmas, the elves at Caras Nursery in Missoula, Montana, are hard at work decorating trees and arranging goodies for the opening of the Christmas Shop the first week of November. Andra and I visited third-generation nurseryman Bill Caras today, who took us behind the scenes–actually, curtains hung throughout the retail area to hide the elves' activity–and were duly impressed with their care and craftsmanship. Bill said the chief elf will let him do small projects in the back but is not allowed to work on the trees.

Ah, the trees! Several, such as the one in the adjacent photo, look like they belong in the Fezziwigs' Victorian parlor (conjure up a remembrance of the Christmas Carol), with crimson and green and gold ornaments covering every cluster of needles.

If in the Missoula area this holiday season, stop in to visit Bill and his elves 2727 S. Third. "I'm really a plant person," he says, "but the Christmas Shop has become a tradition. And a fine tradition it is. www.carasnursery.com. — Dan Spurr

The latest edition of Zone 4!

Mon, 08/27/2012 - 14:59

Lewis & Clark Native Plant List

Mon, 03/05/2012 - 18:19

The following is a list of plants collected by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their 1804-1806 expedition from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean and back. An article in Zone 4 No. 13 on the Lewis & Clark Native Plant Garden, part of the Idaho Botanical Garden, in Boise, Idaho, did not have space for the entire list, which is herewith presented. 

 

 

Common Name

Scientific Name

Grand fir

Abies grandis

Subalpine fir

Abies lasiocarpa

Vine maple

Acer circinatum

Rocky Mountain maple

Acer glabrum

Big-leaf maple

Acer macrophyllum

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Western red baneberry

Actaea rubra ssp. arguta

Bluebunch wheatgrass

Agropyron spicatum

**Taper-tip onion

Allium acuminatum

**Aase's onion

Allium aaseae

White alder

Alnus rhombifolia

Sitka alder

Alnus sinuata

Western serviceberry

Amelanchier alnifolia

Big bluestem

Andropogon gerardii

Western columbine

Aquilegia formosa

Kinnickinnick

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Silver sage

Artemisia cana

Fringed sage

Artemisia frigida

Big sagebrush

Artemisia tridentata

Longtailed wild ginger

Asarum caudatum

Four-wing saltbush

Atriplex canescens

Arrowleaf balsamroot

Balsamorhiza sagittata

Water birch

Betula occidentalis

Blue camas

Camassia quamash

Redstem ceanothus

Ceanothus sanguineus

Buckbrush ceanothus

Ceanothus velutinus

Netleaf hackberry

Celtis reticulata

Green rabbitbrush

Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus

Clarkia, ragged robin

Clarkia pulchella

Spring beauty

Claytonia lanceolata

Sugar bowls

Clematis hirsutissima

**Bunchberry dogwood

Cornus canadensis

Pacific flowering dogwood

Cornus Nuttallii

Red twig dogwood

Cornus sericea

Douglas hawthorne

Crataegus Douglasii

White prairie clover

Dalea candida

Purple prairie clover

Dalea purpurea

Purple coneflower

Echinacea angustifolia

Silverberry

Eleagnus commutata

**Gray rabbitbrush

Ericameria nauseosa

Cut-leaf daisy

Erigeron compositus

**Shaggy fleabane

Erigeron pumilus

**Wyeth buckwheat

Eriogonum heracleoides

**Oval-leaf buckwheat

Erigonum ovalifolium

**Strict buckwheat

Eriogonum strictum

**Sulphur buckwheat

Eriogonum umbellatum

Oregon sunshine

Eriophyllum lanatum

Western wallflower

Erysimum capitatum

Yellow glacier lily

Erythronium grandiflorum

Idaho fescue

Festuca idahoensis

**Virginia strawberry

Fragaria fragaria

**Woodland strawberry

Fragaria vesca

Oregon ash

Fraxinus latifolia

Chocolate lily

Fritillaria affinis

Yellowbells

Fritillaria pudica

Blanketflower

Gaillardia aristata

Prairie-smoke,

Geum triflorum

Broom snakeweed

Guiterrezia sarothrae

Creambush oceanspray

Holodiscus discolor

**Mountain hollyhock

Iliamna rivularis

Scarlet gilia

Ipomopsis aggregata

Rocky Mountain iris

Iris missouriensis

Common juniper

Juniperus communis

Creeping juniper

Juniperus horizontalis

Rocky Mountain juniper

Juniperus scopulorum

Prairie junegrass

Koeleria macrantha

Winterfat

Krascheninnikovia lanata

Western larch

Larix occidentalis

Bitterroot

Lewisia rediviva

Great Basin wildrye

Leymus cinereus

**Twin-flower

Linnaea borealis

Lewis' blue flax

Linum Lewisii

Fernleaf biscuitroot

Lomatium dissectum

**Canbyi biscuitroot

Lomatium canbyi

Nineleaf biscuitroot

Lomatium triternatum

Orange honeysuckle

Lonicera ciliosa

Twinberry honeysuckle

Lonicera involucrata

Silky lupine

Lupinus sericeus

Hoary aster

Machaeranthera canescens

Osage orange

Maclura pomifera

Mahonia

Mahonia aquifolium

Pineapple weed

Matricaria matricarioides

Fool's huckleberry

Menziesia ferruginea

Yellow monkeyflower

Mimulus guttatus

Lewis' monkeyflower

Mimulus lewisii

**Miner's lettuce

Montia perfoliata

Scapoose evening-primrose

Oenothera caespitosa

Prickly pear

Opuntia polyacantha

**Turkey peas

Orogenia linearifolia

Oregon boxwood

Paxistima myrsinites

Shrubby penstemon

Penstemon fruticosus

Wilcox' penstemon

Penstemon wilcoxii

**Silverleaf phacelia

Phacelia hastata

Lewis’ mock orange

Philadelphus Lewisii

Engelmann spruce

Picea Engelmannii

Whitebark pine

Pinus albicaulis

Lodgepole pine

Pinus contorta

**Limber pine

Pinus flexilis

Western white pine

Pinus monticola

Ponderosa pine

Pinus ponderosa

Sandberg mluegrass

Poa secunda

Narrow-leaved cottonwood

Populus angustifolia

Black cottonwood

Populus balsamifera trichocarpa[BaC1]

Quaking aspen

Populus tremuloides

Shrubby cinquefoil

Potentilla fruticosa

Bittercherry

Prunus emarginata

Chokecherry

Prunus virginiana

Douglas fir

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Bitterbrush

Purshia tridentata

Oregon crabapple

Pyrus fusca

Oregon oak

Quercus garryana

**Sagebrush buttercup

Ranunculus glaberrimus

Cascara buckthorn

Rhamnus purshiana

Oakleaf sumac

Rhus trilobata

Golden currant

Ribes aureum

Wax currant

Ribes cereum

Sticky currant

Ribes viscossissimum

Nootka rose

Rosa nutkana

Cluster rose

Rosa pisocarpa

Wood's rose

Rosa woodsii

Thimbleberry

Rubus parviflorus

Salmonberry

Rubus spectabilis

Peachleaf willow

Salix amygdaloides

Lance-leaved stonecrop

Sedum lanceolatum

Worm-leaved stonecrop

Sedum stenopetalum

Silver buffaloberry

Shepherdia argentea

Cascade mountain ssh

Sorbus scopulina

Scarlet globemallow

Sphaeralcea coccinea

Munro globemallow

Sphaeralcea munroana

**Sand dropseed

Sporobolus cryptandrus

Needle-and-thread grass

Stipa comata

Blue-eyed grass

Sisyrinchium Douglasii

Common snowberry

Symphoricarpos albus

Mountain kittentails

Synthyris missurica

Mountain goldenbanner

Thermopsis montana

Western red cedar

Thuja plicata

Western white trillium

Trillium ovatum

Mountain hemlock

Tsuga mertensiana

Evergreen huckleberry

Vaccinium ovatum

Death camas

Zigadenus sp.

Beargrass

Xerophyllum tenax

 

** = non Lewis & Clark Species

 

 

 

 


 [BaC1]P. balsamifera is balsam populous and P. trichocarpa is black cottonwood.  Does au intend to have both of these trees i.e. two entries?  It is incorrect as shown here.