I just joined this forum but have been growing alpines and dryland plants for quite a few years. My garden is in Eagle Idaho which is not far from Boise, the state capital. We have very hot summers and moderately cold winters that don't usually have too much snow. The elevation is around 2700' and the average precipitation is less than 12'' per year most of which comes in the winter as either rain or snow. MY primary interest is in North American dryland and alpine plants though i do fiddle around with the odd exotic. I have a pretty unstructured outlook on growing plants, my general method is scatter lots of seed and see what works. I like to collect my own seed as much as possible but I do buy seeds from some of the collectors every year. As in nature, it is all about lots of seeds getting spread around to find the right conditions. My garden area is about an acre which has pressurized irrigation from the Boise river. This fall I will be adding a fairly major addition that will be focused mainly on western dryland plants with a special focus on Penstemons and Eriogonums. I also have a small "prairie" section that currently has 11 western grass species. Wow, that was more than i wanted to say.
Here are a couple of links to my pictures, one just for this year and one for the last few years.
http://ImageEvent.com/teita/jimsrockgarden2010
http://ImageEvent.com/teita/spring06rockgardenplants
I look forward to being an active member of this forum.
Jim
