Description: We attended the Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society 2011 Western Winter Study Weekend in Sidney, BC from 25 to 27 February. The theme was Plants Along the Silk Road. I attended talks Friday night by Dr. Bobby J. Ward Modern-Day Plant Hunters and Hans Roemer on The Silk Road through the Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan Saturday I heard Vojtěch Holubec on The Celestial Mountains - Tien Shan Alpines and bulbs from Uzbekistan, Kazakstan and Kyrgystan and Bill Terry on Poppies along the Silk Road (I then skipped out in order to go hiking and then book shopping in Sidney..) Saturday night we had a fun banquet followed by a nice multimedia show by Yvonne Rorison: Images from Far and Near to Capture the Imagination Sunday morning I listened to Stephanie Ferguson talk about garden design and plant selection for her Calgary rock garden - Sun, Stone and Water: Growing Exquisite Plants from Remote Alpine and Steppe-Desert Environments. (Skipped out again for more book shopping..) Finally, I attended another interesting talk by Vojtěch Holubec on Pamir and Donkeys: How donkeys are important in plant hunting vi 002. Date: 25 February 2011, 20:02. Source: Fritillaria sewerzowii, Saxifraga x kellereri (Suendermannii). Author: brewbooks from near Seattle, USA. Camera location48° 38′ 53.55″ N, 123° 24′ 19.71″ WView all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 48.648207; -123.405475.
Description: Another Paul Christian offering. This Central Asian species is related to Crown Imperials and the like and has a similar growth habit. Like many Fritillaries though it specialises in shades of brown and green (think chocolate mint ice cream.) An expensive experiment but there are hints all over the place in the literature that it could be a good garden plant given a sunny raised bed and really gritty soil, which is what it has here. Don't all jump to congratulate me though - it's not too hard to get a Fritillary to flower staight from the nursery (if you can keep the slugs off.) Next year will be the test. Will it persist? The houseleek there is a form of Jovibarba sobolifera I think. I really like the long red pointy leaves. Date: 28 March 2010, 12:10. Source: Fritillaria sewerzowii in bud. Author: peganum from Small Dole, England.
Description: A bit further up. I've just found it sort of lying down (I can't bring myself to take a photo for you). It's not broken, just wilted. Root damage I suppose, as a result of rotting off underground I suspect. Not exactly surprising but a shame nonetheless. Now it's completely collapsed and turned yellowish. Oh well. Date: 2 April 2010, 09:36. Source: Fritillaria sewerzowii. Author: peganum from Small Dole, England.
