| Where the garden meets the wild | ||
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SAXIFRAGA SAXIFRAGE Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family) |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
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This exquisite flower belongs to a Saxifrage
whose name we are still seeking. It plainly belongs to Saxifraga Section
Irregulares, the group with flowers that are bilaterally symmetrical,
usually with three short petals and two long ones. Resources Our reference for Chinese species is the online Flora of China. For Section Irregulares we also look at a key by Mark Tebbitt. For other species we start with Saxifrages: The Complete List of Species, by Malcolm McGregor and Winton Harding, published by the Saxifrage Society. These templates do not perfectly overlap, but plant lovers knowledgeable enough to notice this will be used to making adjustments. The rest of us will at least have plausible names for our plants. |
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Photographs © Paige Woodward |
Saxifraga bronchialis subsp.
austromontana (Wiegand) Piper.
Pot 6 cm / 2.5". In Canada, C$6.00. Elsewhere US$5.50. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Saxifraga cespitosa subsp.
emarginata (Small) Rosend. Here you see it in bloom on
the cool, moist, north side of our rock
garden, with S. occidentalis.
Pot 6 cm / 2.5". In Canada, C$5.00. Elsewhere US$4.25. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Saxifraga cymbalaria Linnaeus.
Not available this season. |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward
Photograph © Pat Woodward
Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Saxifraga ferruginea Graham. Pot 9 cm / 3.5". In Canada, C$5.00. Elsewhere US$4.25. |
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| Saxifraga
fusca Maximowicz. Dusky saxifrage. Section Micranthes. エゾクロクモソウ
Ezokurokumo-sou (Japanese). This is
a vigorous plant of partly shady wet spots, native to Japan's northern island,
Hokkaido. From a rosette of coarsely toothed, kidney-shaped leaves rise
several stems bearing panicles of small, airy, maroon-green flowers in
August. Height to 30 cm (12"). Zone 5, perhaps colder.
Pot 10 cm / 4". In Canada, C$8.00. Elsewhere US$7.25. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Saxifraga
sp. We're still straightening
out the name of this member of Section Irregulares. Clouds of ethereal
flowers bloom in July-August on 15-cm (6") stems above a tufted
rosette of fleshy, wavily lobed, kidney-shaped leaves. At a distance the
flowers look pink, but up close they are white with a tiara of rose spots,
as shown in the picture at the top of this page.
Grow this charmer in damp shade, alone or as a beautiful groundcover. It
is native to China, we think. Our
plants are garden divisions. Zone 5. Another Irregular highly worth collecting is Saxifraga stolonifera. Pot 9 cm / 3.5". In Canada, C$4.50. Elsewhere US$3.75. |
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Photographs © Paige Woodward |
Saxifraga occidentalis S.
Watson. Zone 5.
Pot 6 cm / 2.5". In Canada, C$4.00. Elsewhere US$3.25. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Saxifraga oppositifolia Linnaeus. Zone
2
Pot 6 cm / 2.5". In Canada, C$6.00. Elsewhere US$5.50. |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Saxifraga stolonifera Curtis.
Syn. Saxifraga veitchiana I.B. Balfour. Section Irregulares. Mother
of thousands, Strawberry saxifrage. Hu er cao (Chinese). Yukinoshita
ユキノシタ (Japanese). At first glance ~ and even second glance ~ this
plant resembles our nameless Saxifraga sp.
in both leaf and flower. It is a little larger, however; its parts
differ in many minor ways; its younger leaves are reddish violet on the
underside; but above all, visible at several paces, this plant
produces offsets, strawberry-like, on slender red stolons. It is easy to
grow in damp shade and blooms in fall. Native to Japan, the Korea
Peninsula and
much of temperate China. Our plants are divisions of garden stock we
received as Saxifraga veitchiana. Height to
40 cm (16"). Zone 5.
Pot 9 cm / 3.5". In Canada, C$6.00. Elsewhere US$3.75. |
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| This page was updated Nov. 5, 2006 | ||
