Dear All, Yesterday was a hike day and we saw some wonderful rock gardens created by Mother Nature at Salt Point State Park on the Sonoma coast. There were Alliums in the rock, Brodiaea terrestris in the pathway (where it has less competition from the grasses) and Triteleia laxa in bloom as well. The Dudleya was especially wonderful, but I guess showing a picture of it would be out of bounds although there are some geophytic Dudleyas I understand. A few people joined us afterwards to go back to see the Alliums in the spot I showed them in bud before. Here they are blooming at last: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… We thought you might like to see this one growing in the rocks (and that will allow me to show the Dudleya too). It was too dangerous for Bob to climb down the cliff to get very close to it, but it is amazing to see how it is growing. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… Finally in honor of species Lily week today Bob photographed Lilium martimum, a rare California North Coast lily found in scrub, fens, and openings of closed pine cone forests. These are in an undeveloped area that is wet late and very near some blooming Rhododendron occidentale. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… In Peggy Fiedler's book, Rare Lilies of California she describes this one as easier to grow in cultivation than some of the other rare ones: Lilium bolanderi, L. humboldtii, and L. vollmeri. Two other rare ones she says are also possible to cultivate: Lilium occidentale and L. pitkinense. Mary Sue Mary Sue Ittner California's North Coast Wet mild winters with occasional frost Dry mild summers
