 |
|
|
|
800 x 600 pixel resolution Font Size set to "small" (96 dpi). Internet Explorer 5 or Netscape 4.7 Browsers or later |
|
I am indebted to John Lonsdale, for allowing The Alpine Garden to hold this wonderful collection and for sharing such a comprehensive library of photographs with plant lovers everywhere. |
| John Lonsdale gardens in Exton, SE Pennsylvania
in the NE USA. The vast majority of the plants featured here flourish
outdoors in a wide variety of situations ranging from deciduous woodland
to deep sand beds in full sun. No artificial protection has been
afforded to date. However, in future, following the very wet spring
and summer of 2000, the sand beds holding the dryland Corydalis and more
sensitive Juno irises, for example, will be be covered for the months of
June thro' August. Although John has two greenhouses, these are used
only for raising bulbs from seed prior to introduction into the garden,
and for growing plants such as certain Cyclamen or Narcissus species which
are 'tender', or which have not yet been trialled outside but might not
be expected to do well. Nothing is grown in pots other than seedlings
and the greenhouse bulbs.
Exton is in USDA zone 6b, winter minimum temperatures
can reach -5F, summer maximum is over 100F. Humidity is very low
from late fall to late spring/early summer but then often reaches 100%
in July and August, accompanying temperatures in the 90-100F range.
Much of the winter passes without snow cover, approximately 36" being the
total depth of snow falling over the winter period.
The garden is approximately 1.5 acres in area and is on three levels. The lower level is generally exposed to the south and hence very sunny, although in places shade is provided by a number of specimen trees. The entire garden is traversed by a 40 degree slope which corresponds to the woodland edge; the slope is some 400 feet in length and around 100ft deep. The top of the garden, apart from a power line cutting, is native deciduous woodland, mainly comprised of American beech, a number of oak and hickory species, maples, sassafras and tulip trees. Dogwoods (Cornus florida) are also native and abundant, other non-introduced natives include Rhododendron periclymenoides, Arisaema triphyllum and Chimaphila maculata. As might be expected, the garden soil is moderately acid and is superbly drained. In many places the ground is very rocky, with many exposed rocks, some pockets tend towards pure sand. With the exception of the fabricated raised beds, no attempt has been made to modify any of the soil, and it appears so far that none is necessary. When necessary, some supplemental water is given, generally via an overnight soaking from a sprinkler every 7-10 days when conditions demand. The images on this site were all taken with
a Nikon Coolpix 950 digital camera and processed using Adobe Photoshop
5.0. (Subsequent editing has been done using Metacreation's "Painter 5.5"
and Jasc Software's "Paint Shop Pro 7.0").
John would welcome any comments or questions regarding both the garden and the plants grown there. Some images are undoubtedly wrongly or controversially named - please comment if you see anything untoward. Comments can be addressed to John via e-mail at john@johnlonsdale.net, or alternatively, you can visit John's wonderful site at http://www.johnlonsdale.net |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
