He discussed in detail the three main categories of seeds:

1) Those that germinate with no special treatment. These include members of Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Crassulaceae, Onagraceae, and most Caryophyllaceae.

2) Those that require stratification (temperature changes).These include members of Apiaceae, Campanulaceae, Liliaceae, Ranunculaceae, Polemoniaceae, Asclepiadaceae (now part of Apocynaceae), Polygonaceae, and Primulaceae.

Castilleja seeds have an unusual mesh-like covering. To get them to germinate, you first need to rub the seeds to remove this.

3) Those that require scarification (scratching of the seed coat). These include members of Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Geraniaceae, and many genera that used to be in Scrophulariaceae including Castilleja and Penstemon.

There is much more detailed information about seed germination on Alan’s website at www.alplains.com/germination.html. He also mentioned one of the seminal (pun intended!) volumes on seed germination written by Norman Deno. I found it on the web and downloaded it. Click here for a copy of Seed Germination Theory and Practice (11.5MB).

Alplains was started in 1989, partly out of Alan’s frustration in trying to find certain rare plant seeds. Originally employed as a software engineer, he found himself devoting more and more time to the collection of seeds, first grown in his gardens on the eastern Plains of Colorado and then from wild flora of the western United States. His 2011 catalog contains seed of over 1000 different rare and unusual plant species, including a large selection of cactus seed from the collection of Jeff Thompson. He also traveled to the Chilean Andes in 2001 and brought back seeds of several rosulate violet species and many other Andean gems. For more about Alan or to see his catalog, visit www.alplains.com. Thanks to Alan for sharing his knowledge with us, and to NARGS for organizing these speaker tours.

One species of Cypripedium (lady’s slipper) is pollinated by a wasp that is attracted not to the orchid but to the fungus gnats that are attracted to the flower. It parasitizes the gnats. Many pollination relationships are equally complex. I learned a lot about the large bumble bees (“bumbling Bombus“), smaller short-tongued bees, wasps, and flies. Flies are better able to handle cold temperatures and pollinate many of the early-blooming wildflowers. Yesterday, I saw lots of small flies on the snow queen (Synthyris reniformis) that are blooming right now as we are closing in on spring.

Thanks to Nan for teaching us about pollination and for encouraging us to look more carefully at the activity going on among the flowers we so enjoy. Nan brought several copies of a booklet on growing native plants from seed. For those who didn’t get one, there is one in our library now, or you can download it at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr823.pdf

View into the White Cloud Wilderness

WYOMING – BIGHORN MOUNTAINS

We visited in mid July (13-19) in 2008. In the northern Bighorns, it was a perfect time because all the roads were open and the alpine flowers were at their peak bloom. The southern Bighorns are higher in elevation (at least in the Cloud Peak Wilderness) and some of the trails were still closed due to high water stream-crossings.

Northern Bighorns

Lots of good campgrounds, but we chose North Tongue (7,900 ft. – just N of Burgess Junction with 12 sites along a creek, $12/night, water pump). This campground is centrally located, by the Burgess Visitor Center and near Burgess Lodge for groceries. We found the showers at Arrowhead Lodge, 4 mile E of Burgess Junction, were better and less expensive. A prettier campground was Bald Mountain (near Medicine Wheel), but at 9,200 ft it would have been very cold at night and there were LOTS of mosquitoes.

Almost everything is off Hwy Alt14 and 14 and just driving these roads is LOVELY! Specific places to visit:

Medicine Wheel Native American site – an easy 1.5 mi hike along a gravel road. Lots of alpine flowers and there is an interpretive building and person available to ask questions.

Bucking Mule and Porcupine Falls – Two short hikes into very nice waterfalls both off FS Road #14. Bucking Mule is a 2 mile moderate hike to a high rocky viewpoint of a lovely falls. Here you see lower elevations species that grow in the pine forests and on basalt rock outcrops (Eriogonum, Arnica, Castilleja) and woodland species. Porcupine Falls is a very short (¼ – ½ mile), but VERY STEEP hike!!

Shell Falls and Interpretive Center – right along Hwy 14 is interesting, but will be under construction for a couple of years, so this may be closed.

Black Mountain Lookout – 2 mile hike into this very nice lookout with great views. ATV’s are allowed on this trail and we passed one group, but the hike and views were well worth it.

By far the best flowers were found on two quiet roads that just wound over the high open country.

Sheep Mountain Road (FS Road #11) goes N of Hwy Alt14 and by Duncum Mountain (9,830 ft). I could have spent all day exploring off of this road. There were fascinating rock formations, snowfields, open meadows filled with alpine flowers and beautiful views!!! Lots of great habitats with wonderful flowers. We continued until the road went down in elevation near Cold Springs and we were out of the alpine zone. THIS IS A MUST!

Hunt Mountain Road (FS Road #10) goes S of Hwy Alt14 and by Hudson Peak (10,162 ft). This is a less traveled road and not as well maintained, but well worth going as far as you can. Near Hudson Peak we saw huge areas of Eritrichium nanum and Aquileja jonesii. Farther down we came upon Basque shepherds and fields of wildflowers. There are lots of areas to walk around and explore and more great views.

We also took the loop drive from Burgess Junction to Sheridan and then back via Hwy 335 and FS Road #26. The drive was nice, but nothing spectacular. We preferred the alpine areas, although there were some interesting historical sites related to logging; an old splash dam and tie flumes along Road #26.

We did not explore much in the Granite Creek/Shell Creek area (junction Hwy 14 and FS Road #17). My brother didn’t mention anything specific in this area, but it looks interesting.

Not worth your time is FS Road #15, which is entirely in the woods and boring.

Southern Bighorns

Lots of good campgrounds, but we chose Sitting Bull (8,600 ft, in the trees and near a large meadow, just N of Meadowlark Lake, 42 sites, pump water, $12/night). Again, this was centrally located although most of the lodges in this area were closed, so stock up on food.

The two main areas to explore in the southern Bighorns are around Meadowlark Lake and the Circle Park area. Both provide access into Cloud Peak Wilderness. We were kept from too much wilderness hiking due to high water streams, however we did do several drives/hikes all off of Hwy 16 including:

Crazy Woman Canyon – a fascinating drive with deep canyon walls and large rockfalls which winds down a narrow canyon along Crazy Woman Creek (FS Road #33) This road is not very good, but if you keep going you will see some very interesting rock formations. It is quite low in elevation, so the plants are very different and it is a good contrast to the alpine flora.

Sheep Mountain Lookout – a nice drive and good views of the overall area.

High Park Lookout and summit of Big Horn Ski lift – this is one of the prettiest lookouts that I have ever visited (and I’ve been to lots of them). The lookout is just S and E of Meadowlark Lake on FS Road #429. The trail is only about ¼ mile, but it goes by some remarkably large rocks covered with gardens. At the lookout we found Telesonix jamesii, Kelseya uniflora and Penstemon spp. Once you visit the lookout, take the small road (FS Road #433) just after the cattle crossing to its end, which is also the top of Big Horn Ski Area. Here you will end up on a large rocky area with Meadowlark Lake below you, Cloud Peak Wilderness beyond and great alpines at your feet.

We didn’t do as much hiking in the southern Bighorns. The trials into Seven Brothers Lakes and the numerous lakes in the Circle Park area are all suppose to be very nice according to my brother. He specifically recommended Seven Brothers Lake. The stream crossings were too high when we were there, but we did make it into Lily Lake and Lost Twin Lakes.

Lily Lake – a short hike (1.5 miles one way) into a very picturesque lake. The drive up to the trailhead (Battle Park at the end of FS Road #24) is very nice and we liked the short hike, except for the ATVs. Like many of the trails, this one has ATV traffic, which causes noise and destroys moist areas along the trail.

Lost Twin Lakes – if you are up to a fairly long hike (5.5 mi one way) this is the one I would recommend. This was a beautiful trail!!! There is much to see and the cirque lakes at the end are spectacular and surrounded by several 12,000+ foot peaks! We took lots and lots of pictures and it was the only place that I found Primula parryi. The trailhead is just north of Meadowlark Lake at the end of FS Road #27 (West Tensleep Trailhead) and the trail goes into the Cloud Peak Wilderness (so there are no ATVs!). If you have time, TAKE THIS HIKE!

Check out my brother’s book Backpacking Wyoming: From Towering Granite Peaks to Steaming Geyser Basins (Douglas Lorain). There are lots of additional trails he recommends.

References:

USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region
Download copies of trails/campground and other useful info.

Order copy of Bighorn National Forest map ($10)

 

Fabulous limestone rock formations along Sheep Mountain Road

WYOMING – BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS

We didn’t do as much off-the-road exploring in the Beartooth Mountains, mainly because many of the roads were impassible and some areas were closed due to grizzly bear (a camper had been attacked and mauled at a campground some 15 miles from us only 2 days before we arrived).

We stayed at Hunter Peak Campground along the Chief Joseph Hwy some 6 miles southeast of the junction with the All-American Hwy (#212). There are 11 sites, a water pump and it is close to the small commumity of Prairie, which has a general store.

Chief Joseph Hwy is a beautiful drive! If you come through Cody, WY on your way back from the Bighorns it is the best way to get into the Beartooth Mountains. Although we didn’t have time to stop along this road, there are lots of interesting places that likely have great plants! The substrate rocks changes considerably along this drive, so the plant life is interesting.

Although we were close to Yellowstone, we wanted to avoid the crowds and preferred the more remote drive to Beartooth Pass (10,000 + feet). The views from this marvelous road just can’t be beat!!! There are loads of places to stop and explore or take off on a short hike. Don’t miss Clay Butte Lookout, (which is now a small visitor’s center) right off of Hwy 212. It is not open every day, so you will need to check. However, the walk up (if the gate is closed) is only about 1.5 miles and well worth it. There are lots of great plants in the open areas by the lookout and along the road. If the day is clear, you can see some magnificent views of the Absaroka Mountains!

We also enjoyed the Top of the World Store on the drive to Beartooth Pass. It has all sorts of interesting things. About 1 mile farther east past the store you will come to the lovely Island Park Lake with a campground. This is definite grizzly bear country and chances are very good that in the meadow just south of the campground (gated road #149 with a GRIZZLY BEAR WARNING sign), that you will see a grizzly. Every time we past here there were 1 or 2 grizzlies feeding on grubs and roots.

One hike that I would highly recommend was a 6-mile round trip into Beauty Lake from Island Park Lake. We had to remove our boots/socks to cross an outlet stream at Island Park Lake, but the views and scenery on this trail were spectacular!!! This was one of our favorite hikes and I saw lots of great flowers!

Of course the best drive, views, and flowers were on the drive to Beartooth Pass and at the summit. TONS of great alpines to see and marvelous views! We took this drive 3 times, never got tired of it, and each time I found some sort of new plant.

FOREWARNING – there are grizzly bears in this country and they HIGHLY recommend that you have bear spray before going out on any trails. The stuff is really expensive if you buy it there ($50), so I recommend that you get it in Cody where it was apparently much less (maybe $30).

Peter’s talk in Eugene concerned the building of his present 5-acre botanic garden/nursery, in only 8 years. He stripped soil and re-built mostly with pure glacial sand over much of his 5-acre property by hand and for the most part alone. He showed a wide range of scree, shade, and bog gardens, and—most exciting—cliff-like crevice gardens and creative use of peat blocks, all planted with an incredible range of plants. He says he has 14,000 species and varieties in his database, almost all grown from seed. His policy is to find hardier varieties by planting out 50 or 100 seedlings. If these die, he’ll try again. An idea of the scale he works on: one picture showed a new sandhill in his garden ready for planting as a “steppe”. There were over 4,000 pots in close array, all seedlings from his nursery. After planting these, he added a rock and gravel veneer, and broadcast more seed— mostly annuals and hemiparasites like Castilleja (he showed a lovely pink C. haydenii) and Pedicularis, two of the many genera that he grows in variety. A view a year later gave an idea of how rock gardening can create a spectacle!

Peter gardens in one of the coldest, wettest areas in southern Sweden, but he grows an amazing range of choice plants that certainly overlap widely with things we should be growing here. We shouldn’t be surpised that he can grow Meconopsis to perfection, but he is also able to grow 30 species of cactus on “hot” exposures of his sand beds. In this single rapid-fire program, I saw perhaps 50 plants in his garden that are completely new to me after 20+ years of attending NARGS lectures and winter study weekends. The most jaw-dropping perhaps, given his location, were a sumptuous series of Oncocyclus iris, including forms of I. paradoxa, I. iberica and I. sari—all seed-grown and mostly from his own, or his brother’s, collections in the Caucausus. He says that most collections of these species have been from lower elevations or more southern populations where they are winter-growing and therefore very vulnerable to frost damage and rot. The higher elevation Oncocyclus come into growth in early spring and survive without protection.

Another eye-opener was the beautiful presentation of silver-leaved beauties like the ”vegetable sheep” Raoulia hookeri and Helichrysum milfordiae in moraine-like sand beds with moving water under (or in one slide, in full freshet OVER the raoulia). Many of us have learned the hard way that not all silvery things are drought-adapted, but it is jolting to see them survive underwater!

I could go on about his meconopsis, primulas (including a couple of “geranium-leaved” Cortusoides species P. palmata and P. latisecta, and a stunning bright red P. maximowiczii, all unlike any I’ve seen in life or in slides), Diapensia lapponica and Loisleura procumbens (two Arctic-Alpines that we’re unlikely to succeed with in Oregon). Peter also grows many South Africans including ice plants and some unusual bulbs (e.g., an Androcymbium, perhaps A. fimbriatum and lovely little Ledebouria ovatifolia from Lesotho). Some of the truly oddball plants come by way of his brother, who’s both a globe-trotting adventure mountain-biker and a botanist, e.g., a tall yellow monkshood, Aconitum atlanticum, “from the edge of the Sahara”. I could go on, but you get the idea.

Again, if you missed this talk, you will be hearing about it from everyone who did go. And it is the best possible showcase for friends who wonder what the rock garden thing is about!

Peter photographing in the lava.

Last week, the Emerald chapter was host to Peter Korn, an extremely knowledgeable gardener from Sweden. He was in town for three days as part of this year’s NARGS speaker tour. His October 14th talk, “Building for Growing: How to Create Different Environments in the Garden from Deserts to Bogs,” was a virtual tour of his 5-acre botanical garden near Gothenburg. For the last 8 years, he has been transforming the original spruce forest into an amazing garden where he seems to be able to grow almost anything. Much of it is an extraordinary rock garden built by dumping huge amounts of glacial till sand (he brought a little for us to feel!) directly onto old lawn and his soil, which he claims is so bad even the weeds don’t grow in it. His site is blessed with a natural bog, something he has taken full advantage of, growing numerous wetland plants and also growing tricky plants that like the good drainage of sand but need cool conditions and moisture from below. I don’t think I was the only one in the audience to be inspired to go home and redo their garden. Read Loren’s write up (Building for Growing: An Inspiring Talk from Peter Korn) for more details about the talk. For more about Peter’s garden, visit his website at http://peterkornstradgard.se/english/eindex.htm.

Peter grows thousands plants from around the world, mainly from seed. While here, he was hoping to see some of these plants in the wild as well as to collect some new seed. Before coming to Eugene, he spoke to the Siskiyou Chapter. Loren Russell picked him up at Jeanne Mehl’s lovely garden in Glendale and took him to the North Umpqua in Douglas County to see the native habitat of our treasured endemic, Kalmiopsis fragrans (now officially considered a separate species from K. leachiana in the Siskiyous). On Thursday, before the talk, Ed Alverson brought him ought to see the West Eugene Wetlands and to the Northwest Garden Nursery, one of the very best gardens in our area. The following day, Loren and I and my friend Sabine Dutoit took Peter out to see some native rock plants in the Cascades. We started out with a hike to Horsepasture Mountain where we were eventually able to find a few plants Peter wasn’t already growing (for more about this hike see my personal blog at Natural Rock Gardens at Horsepasture Mountain). He really enjoyed a stop at the milepost 7 lava area along the McKenzie Highway to look at all the rock ferns hiding in lava caves (I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to figure out how to build a lava tube in his garden!). And what would a trip to the McKenzie be without a stop at Sahalie Falls? Saturday, Loren took him up to the wonderful Dancing Oaks Nursery before he headed up to Portland to continue his tour.

Loren and Peter collected seed of skyrocket (Ipomopsis aggregata) at Horsepasture Mountain to replenish Peter's garden as, without hummingbirds in Sweden, his don't set any seed.

I hope he enjoyed his time here as much as we enjoyed having him. Thanks so much to Loren for hosting and driving Peter around, to Paula and Ted Hewitt for hosting him for 2 nights, and to Ed Alverson for taking him around on Thursday. It takes many volunteers to make a visit like this go so smoothly.

Thanks to all who made the drive out to the country to help out. It was great to catch up with members after we’ve all gone off to do our own things this summer. I think combining the picnic with the workshop worked well. Maybe we’ll do it again in the future.

Looking across Kathy's garden to some of her sales tables

The Siskiyou Chapter of NARGS is really lucky to have Kathy Allen as a member. Not only does she have an amazing garden down in Central Point (2850 Taylor Road, click here for map), but she shares many of her treasures by propagating her plants from seed. She also grows an amazing assortment of other unusual rock garden plants from seed she buys. Each year, she holds at least three plant sales at her house. It’s a long drive, but going to one of her sales and visiting her garden is well worth it.

Loren and Kathy examining plants in some of Kathy's many troughs and planters

I just went to her fall plant sale this week. Loren Russell also made the trip down. He purchased extra plants for members of the Portland Chapter, where he’ll be speaking next week. I bought a number of plants for my own garden and some to bring to sell at our meeting in October. These will be sold at cost as a favor to our members. We know it is hard for people to get down to southern Oregon.

As usual, she had many new plants in addition to plants she’s grown in the past. There were at least 8 kinds of Penstemons, lots of different species of Aethionema, and a number of gentians. It’s hard not to want to buy one of everything. You’ll never see a selection of rock garden plants better than this anywhere else. We’ll announce her spring sale next April for anyone who is interested.

David Sellars photographing Lewisia tweedyi

David presented classic alpine views: some to illustrate his idea of landscapes built as ‘fractals’—that is, recurrent shapes and angles that are nested at successively smaller scales. Interesting idea, but perhaps not a direct clue for rock garden design—you might, as a famous 19th Century British Earl did, order up a garden-sized replica of the Matterhorn complete with fractal chalets and fractal chamois. More directive was David’s presentation of the ‘disorder’ of alpine habitats. He showed us Pyrenean cliffs dotted with Saxifraga longifolia; massive moraines and tiny outcrops in the Dolomites with Silene acaulis and Eritrichum nanum; cliffs, rubble fields and road ballast in the Bighorns with such treats as Aquilegia jonesii, and rocky meadows in the Olympics. Here, David said, the best habitats for alpine plants (or, perhaps, the habitats of the best alpine plants) are in disturbed soil, at the disorderly (chaotic) end of an ordered landscape. Nature may, perhaps, tolerate straight lines, but saxifrages, androsaces, and campanulas are not drawn to them.

David moved on to discuss garden design by way of Reginald Farrer’s beloved orderly limestone strata—here, we were shown the massive, stair-step rock gardens at Kew and RHS Wisley. These formations are almost hideous when juxtaposed to the mountain scenes, but they have influenced our idea of where plants should grow. Like David, when I visited Utah’s Tony Grove Lake, I ran toward the stairstep formation he showed us, to be disappointed by the plants, just a few common buckwheats. (What David didn’t show—a few hundred yards away, there were big boulders covered with Petrophytum caespitosum and other choice rock plants.)

David ended with a project in his own garden—reclaiming a bank from an overgrown rhododendron. His rock work appears to be human-powered, using local rock—primarily rounded glacial granite boulders. He pointed out that his first approach after clearing the bank was almost brickwork, and almost back to what he’d done years before. His chaotic solution was imposed by using rocks of varying size, placing the largest more or less randomly. He finished the project with a tufa jewel-box for choice saxifrages, including S. longifolia grown from seed he collected in the Pyrenees

In the end, whether we share David’s dislike of Kew-like order or the precision of a Czech crevice garden, we should be comfortable in designing plant-friendly rock features with local stone and a personal touch.

Tasha King photographing a drift of fawn lilies

Last Sunday, eight of us headed up to the Portland area for a day of garden visits. While the weather was overcast and gloomy when we met at the Sebring Garden in Eugene, as we drove north, the weather steadily improved, blessing us with a wonderful warm spring day for our trip. It didn’t cloud up and start sprinkling until we headed back down the freeway at the end of the day. Perfect timing!

We started our day at Elk Rock Garden at Bishop’s Close (www.elkrockgarden.com), just north of Lake Oswego, and one of the hidden gems of the Portland area. The garden was as beautiful as I remembered. It was first built by Peter Kerr around World War 1, making it nearly 100 years old, and was given by his daughters to the Episcopal Bishop of Oregon with the stipulation that it be open to the public. It contains an amazing collection of some of the grandest trees you’ll ever see in a garden. Rather than high maintenance perennial borders, it is mostly filled with mature woody plants. Their fresh spring foliage and flowers color the grounds in an elegant manner. Many of the trees were clearly chosen for their attractive bark, and there is an amazing variety of foliage texture from both deciduous trees and conifers.

Some of the group admiring a handsome specimen of Parrotia persica at Bishops Close

Many of the woody plants were ones we’ve grown or seen in pots at garden centers but could hardly recognize in their mature state. Several of us were particularly taken with a handsome specimen of Chinese fighazel (Sycopsis sinensis) with beautiful bark and leaves and an attractive multi-branched growth habit. Beneath the trees and shrubs were easy-care carpets of Anemone nemorosa, Erythronium oregonum and other native wildflowers, and various species of Epimedium. The 13-acre estate sits on a slope above the river with a fabulous view out to Mt. Hood. It is hard to imagine the city of Portland is so close while wandering around this peaceful refuge.

Ginny Maffit showing us blooming Darmera

From there it is just a hop, skip, and a jump to Berry Botanic Garden (berrybot.org). Its diminishing financial situation has forced the garden to be put up for sale, so we wanted to see it one last time, and for some of us, for the first and last time. Alas, its difficult financial state has meant that there is no longer a paid gardener, and sadly, the once fabulous garden is showing signs of neglect. There are still many choice plants in the rock garden and woodland areas, but horsetail and other weeds have infected most of the beds. Portland NARGS member Ginny Maffitt took time out from her busy schedule to give us a special guided tour and pointed out many of the wonderful plants that remain. Several beautiful Kalmiopsis fragrans were in perfect bloom. This is a rare native from the North Umpqua area in Douglas County. An unusual white form of another rare native, Synthyris stellata, also caught my eye.There were some beautiful drifts of Fritillaria meleagris and Primula denticulata. The troughs are attractively arranged and housed some interesting plants including a recumbent species of Cassiope I’d sure like to try. We got to look at the propagating greenhouse which had a whole corner of wonderful pitcher plants (Sarracenia spp.). Just outside was a really interesting experimental roof garden set up. It was divided into different sections each with a different soil mix and different types of plants. One section had Lewisia, others had Sedum, and one even had gentians. What a wonderful thing it would be to have dazzling Lewisias blooming on your roof!

trough area at Berry Botanic Garden

Our last stop was Wild Ginger Farm (www.wildgingerfarm.com) in Beavercreek. Truls & Emma Jensen often sell at NARGS events and regional plant sales, but none of us had been to their nursery. We were warmly greeted by Truls and his three happy dogs Kobe, Mokie, and Lucy. There were a number of unusual plants in their nursery including many species of Penstemon and Eriogonum, lots of Lewisia cotyledon just starting to bloom, and some great Arisaema with their wild looking flowers. None of us went home empty handed!

For most of human history, bogs (and such kin as marshes, swamps, mires, fens, morasses, muskeg, pokosins, seeps—“wetland” is a very modern eco-euphemism) have been associated with disease, discomfort, and bad metaphors, yielding little of note but peat moss, mosquitoes, and Bronze Age homicide victims. So why would a gardener (especially a rock gardener—we’re the drainage nuts, you know) build one? And why wouldn’t his friends and neighbors think he’s really gone over the edge when he starts bragging about it? It’s about plants, of course: some very nice plants are limited in nature to bogs. Even more need constant moisture during the growing season, and in our climate, these can best be accommodated in an artificial bog.

The bog in bloom

I built my first bog about 12 years ago as a transition between a waterfall-pond system and a dry-stream built to conceal land drains. Only 2 by 5 feet, the bog has been a refuge for a variety of neat plants, most living on for years while my finer alpines in troughs and rock gardens prove to be rather expensive annuals. When I put in a new front lawn a year ago, I installed a second, larger and sunnier bog as a transition to shrub beds.

How does one make a bog? I’ve read a number of how-tos in garden books and magazines. Most, in my opinion, illustrate a deadly mix of second-hand knowledge and plagiarism. Nearly all lose courage at some point and tell the gardener to puncture, slash, or perforate their pond liner “for drainage.” Er… sir, madam, this IS a bog-high water table, you know. “Bog drainage,” in my garden, would be another term for tree root invasion, desiccation, and wasted effort.

Here’s how I make a bog:

1. Location

Obviously, a bog is most natural when sited in a low spot. My bogs, one a marginal feature to a pond, the second in an artificial swale on my sloping lawn, are typical naturalistic sites. Vernally wet spots in the garden—especially hillside seeps—are good, and so are low spots or depressions caused by wind-throw in a woodland. It’s also possible to make container bogs—you can just fill the whiskey barrel “water feature” that didn’t work with suitable soil. A second consideration is sun. Perhaps surprisingly, the greatest variety of bog plants need at least several hours of direct sunlight, or at least bright filtered sun. Really hot exposures with afternoon sun can be a bit much though.

2. Construction

This reduces to hole, liner, soil, and water source. For a naturalistic bog, the outline should look right for natural drainage on a site. If a hillside seep, make the run-out go downhill; an isolated bog on flat ground would be rounded, a marginal planting of a stream or pond might suggest a bay with logs or rocks separating water from moist soil. The hole should be 12–18″ deep with vertical walls. Pond liner (butyl rubber) is usually recommended, but cheap PVC is quite adequate. Since the plastic is entirely buried, there’s no deterioration from exposure to sunlight. Both of my bogs are lined with 2 layers of 3 ml black PVC. Overlap the liner on all sides of the hole—you will trim it after back-filling with soil. Alternatively, you can bury a semi-rigid plastic or fiberglass pond liner, wading pool or container to its rim. In any case, don’t puncture it for drainage!

3. Soil

The soil for the bog may vary a bit, but generally you want to aim for a porous, rather acid soil that’s high in organic matter. My recommendation is to fill to about 6” below the final surface with clean, coarse sand. Builder’s sand is OK, but try to get a washed product with low fines content. Avoid beach sand or play sand-these are too fine. Since the sand acts as an inert water reservoir, you could probably use plastic sponges or old fiberglass insulation. To be safe, though, use sand! At this point, I add weathered oak or fir limbs or driftwood (fresh-water only) leaving the high points above the projected surface. The idea is to wick water to the surface and to provide planting sites above the water table for some plants. If the site slopes, place the wood across slope to slow percolation. Subsurface irrigation via a porous rubber “leaky hose” is quite convenient: just arrange the hose so that it runs within 18″ of any part of the surface, and cap off the end. The upper 6″ of soil should be a sand-organic mix. I used about 1 part sand/2 parts milled peat moss in my first bog, and a mix of oak leaf mold and fresh sawdust (1 part) and 1 part sand in my second bog. I’ve seen recommendations for more organic soils, e.g. 3 parts peat to one part sand, and these would likely suit the true acid bog specialists.

4. Final Steps

The final steps before planting are to trim the liner, adjusting height where necessary, concealing with wood or stones; check the irrigation system; and finally saturating the soil and tamping it down. The “next” bog I build will have planned hummocks and depressions—just 2 inches of surface relief can make a big difference when the water table is so close to the surface. I’d also like to grow live sphagnum as a medium for acid-lovers—in the Willamette Valley this would probably require a site with afternoon shade, and certainly with constant, soft water.

Some plants suitable for garden bogs

I’ve grown most of the following in my two bogs

Larger perennials, most suitable for bogs over 20 sq.ft.

Darmera peltata ~ Indian rhubarb or umbrella-leaf

Epipactis gigantea, e.g. ‘Serpentine Night ~ a runner, but lovely

Galtonia candicans, G. regalis ~ like many South African monocots, they like water

Gentiana sceptrum, G. andrewsii, G. makinoi ~ all upright bottle gentians

Lilium parryi, L. wigginsii ~ these and several other lilies like wet feet

Lobelia cardinalis, L. siphilitica ~ both do much better with constant moisture

Osmunda regalis ~ royal fern

Primula florindae ~ long summer bloom, very fragrant

Primula japonica, P. beesiana, other candelabra primroses; P. denticulata

Medium to small perennials, large and small bogs

Andromeda polifolia ~ bog rosemary is the one indispensable shrublet for bogs

Dactylorhiza spp. ~ All forms of this genus of European bog orchid are desirable. I have D. fuchsia, D. foliosa, and two other unnamed types.

Dodecatheon dentatum ~ white-flowered shooting-star usually found around waterfalls, but very garden worthy. This scorches in hot sun.

Gentiana sino-ornata, and Asiatic hybrids. G .acaulis, G. calycosa, G. newberryi, many others ~ These do very well when planted a bit above water table.

Graminoids ~ probably 90% of vegetation in natural bogs, but be careful. I can recommend red-leaved Uncinia uncinata, and probably Dichromena colorata

Hymenocallis traubii ~ this tropical looking amaryllid is hardy: too soon to tell if it will bloom for me

Iris setosa ‘Nana’ ~ beautiful, only 6–8″

Mimulus naiandinus, aka M. ‘Andean Nymph’ ~ pretty, long bloom, not weedy

Orchids, in var. I’m trying several Platanthera, Cypripedium californicum and C. reginae, among others. I’m passionately in pursuit of grass-pink, Pogonia ophioglossoides~ More later on the orchids!

Primula capitata, P. rosea, P. vialii

Rhodohypoxis baurii ~ fully hardy for me, blooms for six months

Sarracenia spp. and hybrids, Darlingtonia californica ~ pitcher plants alone will justify your bog!

Sisyrinchium ‘Devon Skies’, other sterile hybrids, almost ever-blooming—but avoid S. californicum!

Zephyranthes candida, Z. grandiflorum, other species and hybrids ~ At least some of the rain-lilies are hardy, I’m trying more of them in various garden habitats.

References

Fred Case wrote two articles on carnivorous plants and on bog plants in general for the Bulletin of the North American Rock Garden Society in 1992.

There’s a very useful article by Ron Determann on building a bog for Sarracenia pitcher plants posted on the Plant Delights nursery website: “Building a Pitcher Plant Bog”