Hi, this is my first post, so hope it doesn't sound too naff.
I have just 'finished' construction of my first rock garden. I've been growing plants for years with only moderate success, but now I have come to live in central-western France (Poitou-Charentes) from wet and cold Belfast. Here I have a large but fairly flat garden. It is atop a limestone hill and my rock garden is about 20ft by 6 ft with a drop of about 18".
The climate here is ... well about zone 8. Dry and sunny, and sometimes very hot, summers. Winters also fairly dry during the coldest months. Min winter temperature between -10oC & -15oC but I guess it could be colder in a bad winter. Late autumns (falls) and springs can be quite wet.
The soil is chalky, but not dreadfully alkaline - I guess about pH 7.5 - 7.8. The soil mix to the rock garden is ~ 40% grit, and smaller quantities of compost, topsoil and sand.
As a gardener, I am not all that clever, but I have learned how to germinate a wide variety of types of plants, and, now I have got used to the strength of the sun here, I should be able to get more of them to survive.
My question is simply could members kindly suggest plants that are not too challenging (but not too 'bog-standard') that I might be well advised to try growing. I only really like growing plants from seed as a) then I can think of them as 'all my own work' and b) French garden centres and nurseries are truly pathetic in the range of plants that they offer... at dazzlingly inflated prices - unless they are petunias or pelargoniums!
I already intend to try to grow some of the following well-known genera.. primula, pulsatilla, gentiana, allium, lewisia, campanula, dodecatheon, but would much appreciate hearing of your own favorites that might be within reach of my skills.
I intend to cover rain-shy plants with glass sheets, though I might try constructing a series of plastic tents to keep out winter wet if that seems feasible.
So... over to you...
