Ivydene Gardens Plants:
Alpine List

The Odds and Sods Gallery shows colour photographs of some of the following alpines.

The Alpine Garden Society Encyclopedia of Alpines Volume One (A-K) (ISBN 0-900048-61-1) and Volume Two (ISBN 0-900048-62-X) or (ISBN for Complete Work 0-900048-63-8) by Kenneth Beckett describes just under 1000 genera of alpines known to be in cultivation, or to have been in cultivation, from the world's mountain flora. As the standard reference it now relaces The English Rock Garden (1919) by Reginald Farrer and The Present Day Rock Garden (1937) by Sampson Clay.

"What is an alpine plant?

Technically and from a botanical perspective alpine plants are those which grow above the tree line in mountain regions of the world in what are called subalpine and alpine zones; this includes species found at low altitudes in severe climates devoid of trees such as the Arctic and Antarctic. From a horticultural point of view, however, this definition is extended to include many other small flowering plants and ferns from low altitudes, whether from the seashore, marsh or woodland. 'Alpine' and 'rock garden' are frequently used to encompass this wide spectrum of different plants. In reality any small plant suitable for growing on the rock garden, scree, raised bed or in a trough in the open garden, as well as a great range of others more easily grown within the confines of an unhearted glasshouse or cold frame, are included in the above books and within the definition of 'alpine'.

By general agreement, rock and alpine plants are thought to be small, often with a hummock, mat or tufted habit and often less than 1-1.3 feet tall. However anyone who has visited a mountain region will know that not all plants seen there necessarily fit into this handy definition. In general 2 feet inheight and 3.25 feet spread has been taken as the maximum, but at the same time some potentially larger plants are included.

Thus the alpine gardener cultivates a wide range of plants from true alpine and rock adapted species to small shrubs, a great range of woodland species, dwarf ferns and a myriad different types of bulbous plants."

Although there is a few plants with their plant description pages in the Odds and Sods , I have decided to put the rest into the other Galleries and note in their page that they are an alpine.

For further information consult the Alpine Garden Society.

Deciduous Of plants that shed leaves at the end of the growing season and renew them at the beginning of the next: semi-deciduous plants lose only some of their leaves at the end of the growing season.