Aug 31: Rock Gardens, 2022
The return of the fab color combo, a pretty poison, and dusky penstemon
I’ve been smitten with what I call rock gardens for years. They’re neither formal nor cultivated; they’re simply places where flowers grow out of rock. The gardens I know best are in the Sandia mountains, all of them above 10,000 feet. My interest in them is closely tied to my fascination with what I think of as the tenacity of life.1
Last year was the first time I’d seen death camas (above) in the Sandias. It’s a type of lily which is said to be poisonous to livestock in particular. A sense of tenacity regarding my own life inclines me toward keeping a distance from them as well. Which turns out to be pretty easy — they almost always grow above me, on hard-to-reach rocks in the Sandias.
Above is a photo of my favorite rock garden. It’s both the same and different each year. It features that great color combo of pink and orange, with flourishes of green, that pulls me in every time. In the past, I’ve shared up-close views of the coralbells and lichen in this area;2 this time around, I’m showing a wider view. I think I may never have seen such a lovely arrangement there before.
Here’s a closer view of death camas (above). The flower clusters do indeed look like miniature lilies.
I’m used to seeing coralbells and death camas grow out of rock, but only occasionally see penstemons doing the same. The flowers below are called dusky penstemon, or Whipple’s penstemon, and they’re my favorite of all the penstemons.3
And finally, the last of the fab color combo for 2022,4 a wild geranium against another background of orange-yellow lichen, not far from where I saw the coralbells.
I wrote about the tenacity of life vis-à-vis ponderosas growing out of the rock at El Malpais earlier this year. Last summer, I shared photos of rock gardens twice, first on July 8 and again on July 21.
Last year’s closeup is here; this year’s showed up earlier this month.
There’s another purple penstemon that grows high in the Sandia mountains, rocky mountain penstemon. Dusky penstemon is rather hairy and has a pinkish tint; rocky mountain penstemon leans a bit more toward blue.
Maybe the last for this year. I reserve the right to change my mind.
What you've aptly named tenacity for life, our tai chi uber-master called flowers growing out of rock "a manifestation of love." While I never noted much love exuding from said master, I always think of him and agree when I see these tenacious plants finding their way out of rock to bloom.
The wildflower rock gardens are my favourites!