Alpine and Rock Garden team blog

Many churches and monasteries are scattered throughout Armenia, adding an extra dimension to your journey whilst travelling. Sometimes if you are lucky, you may have amazing plants and buildings together, in addition to the fantastic scenery. One highlight from our trip was seen when visiting Karahunj, also known as Zorats Karer, Armenia’s Stonehenge. In the grass I found a very beautiful Astragalus that was incredibly furry and bright. Absolutely amazing.

Left, Karahunj, Armenia's Stonehenge, and right, the beautiful Astragalus we found there

We had an entire day travelling around a very interesting mountain called Mount Arayiler, which is quite close to Yerevan. This mountain resembles a resting man when viewed from certain positions. The legend goes that the Armenian king had almost died after a very difficult fight. He was not sleeping and not dead, just being. His bride managed to wake him up after getting the dogs to lick him back to health again... Anyway, around Arayiler were many beautiful plants. On the north side of the mountain, in alpine meadows, we spotted large numbers of Bellevalia pycnantha growing happily in the wet meadow, which was soon to have cows grazing. The ticks were very happy to jump on us, as we were the only living thing they had seen since the snow melted!

The bright blue flowers of Bellevalia pycnantha

We then travelled to the south face of Arayiler and after a very long climb in the car, we arrived at what was the last place Mount Arayiler erupted from. Even now you can see how the whole of the mountain blew out, and lots of volcanic tuff is scattered over the hillsides. Of course we cannot have lovely scenery without plants, and on that hillside we found lots of Tulipa julia, scattered all around. A lovely small, red tulip, which is quite common in Armenia, but this was in a truly fantastic setting.

Tulipa julia on Mount Arayiler

The next day we were travelling up to a castle and church, called Amberd. On the way up we saw many lovely bulbs, mostly on the alpine meadows at high altitude, where the snow had just melted. There we found our mystery plant. We were looking at Corydalis nariniana which is a lovely stout, red and white corydalis, with a long bright red spur. In amongst this plant we found another corydalis that looked like nothing else we had come across before. It has small, short, stout flowers with up-turned lips, very unusual. We asked our botanist guides and they thought it might be a mutation in the population. Possibly even plant evolution in action!

Left, Corydalis nariniana, and right, the mystery plant!

Our second but last day was full of surprises and unexpected things. We had afternoon tea in an Armenian tea shop, which could rival anything in a swanky London establishment. This was next to a hillside full of obsidian and many interesting plants associated with this unusual growing medium, like Fritllaria caucasica and Pulsatilla albana.

Left, Armenian afternoon tea, and right, Pulsatilla albana outside the tea shop

Then it was off to the Tsakhkadzor ski resort where we rode up in the ski lift to see alpines where the snow had freshly melted. Finally, on our way back to Yerevan, stopping by a very unusual hummocky landscape made up entirely of Onobrychis cornuta. There in the vegetation we came across a poisonus snake, which we first thought was an Armenian viper, but later found out it was actually an Iberian cat snake, which is not venomous to man. However it was still exciting to see as it was the first snake I have ever seen in the wild.

Hummocks of Onobrychis cornuta, home to the Iberian cat snake!

- Kit -

Armenia is a wonderful place to travel to look for alpines. My particular aim was to see spring bulbs, with an emphasis on irises, especially the 'juno' irises and Oncocyclus irises (known as 'onco' irises). Armenia has four different types of onco iris, which grow from rhizomes and have amazing, showy flowers, so the hunt was on to find them all. The country is very mountainous, with most places 700 meters or more above sea level. There are amazing geological features all around, which makes for great plant hunting because you find lots of different habitats in a small area, with different plants to match, all crammed in!

The amazing geology of the Armenian mountains

We went to find iris lycotis (also known as I. iberica subsp. lycotis) on our first day. Travelling south from the capital Yerevan, where the countryside is quite flat, we started to gain altitude and then came to the site of the irises. Growing in Acantholimon scrub, these gorgeous flowers just dotted the landscape like black hankies.

Flowers of iris lycotis dotted the hillsides
 

The second place we found an onco iris was on the following day, as we walked up a gorge that had a large fish reservoir running alongside the road. There, sharing a very interesting habitat with lots of other bulbs like Leopoldia caucasica and Ornithogalum sigmoideum, we found Iris paradoxa, growing in an area that in early spring, would have been a stream running off the mountain. Just next to the wet habitat where we found the iris, there was a south facing slope which was as dry as a desert. This area also supported a range of different plants.

Iris paradoxa 

Driving further south again, and the weather feeling warmer still, we pulled up by a promising looking south-facing hillside, to see if we could spot some nice plants. This habitat had some shrubby trees and lots of annuals in the grass. On quite a steep slope we spotted our third onco, Iris lineolata (I. acutiloba subsp. lineolata). Many of the clumps were quite large, with many flowers. What a beautiful sight! I could tell that lots of animals had been grazing here by the amount of droppings all around - nice food for the irises!

Iris lineolata 

We saw our last onco when we returned to the north again, and had some trips out from Yerevan. In the hills around Yerevan, if you are lucky, you may spot a lovely onco called Iris elegantissima (or I. iberica subsp. elegantissima). This was again growing in long grass with lots of annuals and pretty grasses. Sometimes in the shade of trees, sometimes out in the open. There were fewer flowers but they are large, with white standards (the upright petals) and black beards on the lower petals (falls). These spectacular flowers can be seen from far away.

Iris elegantissima 

We were also interested in seeing Iris caucasica, which is a juno Iris. The juno irises grow from a bulb with fleshy roots attached, the leaves are more like a small leek than an iris and the standards (usually the upright petals) of the flower often point downwards and are much smaller than the falls. This group is one of Kew's National Plant Collections and they are grown in the Alpine Nursery. We spotted I. caucasica in quite a few places. The one thing that was very interesting about this plant was the variation in habitats that we saw it growing in. They ranged from sopping wet hillsides in muddy clay, to Artemisia scrub, in almost desert conditions.

Iris caucasica on a wet Armenian hillside 

It is a beautiful bright yellow flower but on first opening it’s almost green. A truly wonderful plant - even when you have to fight rainstorms to see it!

- Kit -

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Committees meet several times a year, including on the Monday of the Chelsea Flower Show. At these meetings growers can submit new or interesting plants to be considered for awards. The Alpine Nursery at Kew usually shows plants to the Rock Garden Plant Committee and this year we sent four species to the meeting at Chelsea: Arisaema fargesii, Dianthus haematocalyx subspecies pindicola, Conanthera trimaculata and Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus.

The plants ready to be taken to the Chelsea Flower Show early on Monday morning

About the awards

RHS Committees can give several awards to plants for exhibition. A Preliminary Commendation is awarded to a plant 'of promise for exhibition', an Award of Merit is given to a plant 'of great merit for exhibition' (not to be confused with the Award of Garden Merit, which is awarded to plants that have undergone a trial to assess their garden worthiness), and a First Class Certificate is given to a plant 'of outstanding excellence'. Two other awards are the Botanical Certificate for plants 'of exceptional botanical interest' and a Cultural Commendation awarded to the exhibitor of a plant showing 'evidence of great cultural skill'.

So how did our plants do?

The Arisaema didn't win anything this time but the other three all received awards. Dianthus haematocalyx subsp. pindicola is a small, low-growing alpine pink from the mountains of south east Europe. It received a Preliminary Commendation and also a recommendation to be considered for an Award of Garden Merit.

Flowers of the award winning Dianthus haematocalyx subsp. pindicola

The South African bulb, Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus, also received a Preliminary Commendation. This plant grows in Eastern Cape, the summer rainfall part of South Africa. It has fantastic bright orange, tubular flowers and has great potential as a plant for a cool glasshouse.

Left, the plant of Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus shown to the Committee,
and right, the flowers close up

The third plant from Kew's Alpine Nursery to win an award was the South American Conanthera trimaculata. This Chilean bulb is in the same family as the Chilean blue crocus, Tecophilaea cyanocrocus, and received a Preliminary Commendation in 2001. This year it was looking particularly good, with several flower stems displaying many violet-blue, bell-shaped flowers. The name trimaculata means three-spotted and refers to the three dark spots on the back of each bloom. This year it gained an Award of Merit and also a Cultural Commendation. The second is especially pleasing as it is awarded to the grower of the plant and is recognition of the horticultural skill of the staff in the Alpine Nursery at Kew.

The flowers of Conanthera trimaculata

So a good Chelsea Flower Show for Kew's Alpine Nursery!

While on the subject of alpines at Chelsea, mention must be made of the wonderful display put on by the Alpine Garden Society, which received a Gold Medal. A few Kew staff helped out in their own time with staging this stand, including fellow bloggers Joanne Everson and Katie Price.

The Gold Medal winning, Alpine Garden Society stand at Chelsea this year

- Richard -

Roscoea is an Asian genus of 20 species, distributed along the Himalayan Mountains and into China and Myanmar (Burma). They are in the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), with rhizomatous roots that are dormant in winter. There are a number of subspecies and varieties, plus some hybrids and cultivars. Here at Kew Gardens we concentrate on the species and naturally occurring varieties. Most are grown in pots in the Alpine Nursery but some are also grown outdoors, especially in the Rock Garden.

Roscoea cautleyoides in the Rock Garden (Image: Richard Wilford)

When the plants come into flower, pots are moved from the nursery into the Davies Alpine House for display. Different species are in flower from May to August. The flowers look quite exotic and some people have commented that they remind them of orchids.

Roscoea humeana (Image: Richard Wilford)

Flower colour is generally a shade of purple or yellow but there are some white forms as well - we grow Roscoea tibetica forma alba and also R. humeana f. alba. In some the pale flowers can be nearly pink or may be so dark that they look almost black, such as R. scillifolia. There are two yellow forms in the Alpine House now: R. humeana f. lutea and the yellow form of R. cautleyoides. Here at Kew we have observed that the yellow forms tend to flower before the purple forms of the same species.

Left, Roscoea humeana forma alba, and right, Roscoea cautleyoides forma sinopurpurea (Images: Richard Wilford)

There is one plant that breaks from this general colour scheme and this is Roscoea purpurea 'Red Gurkha' from Nepal. As its name suggests, this plant has striking red flowers, sometimes with narrow white streaks on the lower petals. The stems are also flushed red in some forms.

Roscoea purpurea 'Red Gurkha' flowers in July and August (Image: Richard Wilford)

Cultivation

Here at Kew we repot the Roscoea collection in late January to early February, in a moisture retentive but well-drained compost, then plunge the pots in sand in an outdoor frame. The pots are watered in, then only the sand is kept damp until the first signs of growth in spring. Once they are in full growth they are kept well watered and shaded from the sun on hot days. Between the time the foliage dies back in autumn and repotting takes place in winter, both pots and plunge sand are kept completely dry. 

Left, repotting roscoeas in January this year (Image: Graham Walters) and right, the Roscoea frame in the Alpine Nursery (Image: Richard Wilford)

We find most species propagate readily from offsets but they are also quite easy to propagate from seed, although this does mean it is longer before they reach flowering size. 

- Sue -

The Rock Garden at Kew Gardens is home to alpines and Mediterranean climate plants from around the world. It usually reaches its glorious peak in May but the weather we have had recently has brought the flowering season forward by a week or two so there is already plenty to see.

A view of Kew's Rock Garden this week

Among the flowering plants you can find here are several peony species. Most do well in a free draining soil and sunny position like the following species, Paeonia anomala subsp. veitchii, sometimes called just P. veitchii. This specimen was collected as seed on a Kew expedition to Sichuan, China, in 2003.

Paeonia anomala subsp. veitchii on the Rock Garden

There are plenty of irises in flower too, especially the 'bearded irises', which have a tuft or beard of hairs down the centre of their lower petals. They grow from thick rhizomes that are planted near the soil surface. The next photo shows the dark purple Iris sabina, a little known species from central Italy, near the town of Palombana Sabina, from which it takes its name. In front is a pale form of Scilla peruviana, collected as seed in Tunisia in 1989. This scilla is not uncommon in cultivation but normally has deep blue flowers.

Iris sabina behind a group of Scilla peruviana

One more highlight for now is the showy blooms of a monkey flower, Mimulus naiandinus, endemic to central Chile. This has seeded itself into rocky cracks and is in full flower now. It has been in cultivation in the UK since the 1970s but usually under the name 'Andean Nymph'. Only in 2000 was it given a species name, and was described in Curtis's Botanical Magazine.

Mimulus naiandinus flowering on the Rock Garden

These are just a few of the wonderful plants you can see now on the Rock Garden at Kew. Over the next few weeks more and more will bloom so come along and explore the twisting paths and rocky ledges of this spring garden highlight.

A general view of Kew's Rock Garden

- Richard -