The “interesting things that showed up in my yamadori” thread.

[Tycoss]

I have collected a number of conifers and deciduous shrubs in the Canadian Rockies and prairies. With the conifers I retain a fair bit of the original soil. Interesting little plants from these habitats frequently show up in this.
I know they compete with the trees, and most will probably find their way into accent pots or rock gardens when I’m sure the trees are established and I can mess around near the roots. In the meantime, I’ll share some pics. I know a lot of you have had similar experiences and I’d love to see your little surprises as well.

 

[Tycoss]

Here are some anemone parvifolia that showed up with a collected spruce. Very tiny and elegant looking plants compared to many other anemones. May wind up in a kusamono pot.
The leaves and seed heads are attractive as well

 

[AZbonsai]

Funny just took a picture of this yesterday. They sit near each other on the bench.
Volunteer rosemary with bougainvillea:

 

[Tycoss]

A polemoneum (Jacobs Ladder) that came in with a Lodgepole Pine. The leaves are very fern like, and it has tiny blue flowers. Thes

e have shown up in a few trees.

 

[Tycoss]

This phlox hoodi showed up with a spruce from the high prairies. The foliage reminds me of a tiny juniper:
The baby toes in the back are from the same area.

 

[Tycoss]

Tiny androcace also showed up with spruce. These are about to bloom with tiny white flowers with yellow centers. The centers turn pink when they are pollinated. I’ll post pics of the flowers when they open. These are one of my favourites.

 

[Tycoss]

In one of the places I have collected spruce and potentilla the ground is nearly covered with alpine bearberry, arctous alpina, it is related to kinnikinnik, but is deciduous. It has black berries, brilliant red fall colour and trails very low. I think it would make a great accent plant, since it looks distinctive and interesting in all seasons.
Here you can see the little bell shaped flowers
New growth is a bit reddish too.
I find the texture of the leaves very appealing.

 

[Tycoss]

I just noticed another small polemoneum with a small spruce
It’s in the back left. Back right is a seedling columbine.

 

[Tycoss]

The androcace has started to bloom, and the polemoneum is nearly at it’s peak of first flush. They both flower for much of the summer.

 

[Tycoss]

There have also been a few woody shrubs that came out of collected trees. First, dwarf spruce, betula nana. It came in as a piece of cut up root with a spruce. It then grew shoots and was put in it’s own pot. These turn whole mountainsides bright orange in the fall in some areas.
Next is a wolf willow, eleagnus communis that hitchhiked in with a buffalo berry bush:

 

[Tycoss]

Sorry, the betula nana above is obviously not a spruce. It’s a dwarf birch.

 

[Tycoss]

The anemones I posted earlier have nice blue colour on the backs of their petals. Just noticed this:

 

[Tycoss]

Allium textile, a tiny native onion, has shown up in a piece of soil collected with a Saskatoon Bush. They are strong, but edible.

 

[Tycoss]

Arctous alpina fall colour:

 

[BrianBay9]

Nobody has a picture of termites in this thread yet? Dwarf mistletoe? All the "interesting" stuff that every accidently came home with me fell in the "May you live in interesting times" curse category.

 

[Sadrice]

But dwarf mistletoe is cute! It’s almost an added accent feature. Only half joking.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Tycoss, very interesting and right up my alley. I'm putting in a small native wildflower meadow in about 1000 square feet of my side yard. I've been collecting all kinds of local plants in addition to a 1/2 pound of native flower seeds from an online supplier. I must say, I haven't run into as many beautiful plants as the ones you have. While not a native, I seem to have drawn more than my share of portulaca volunteers, maybe from the commercial pine bark I use. No matter, I'll put them in the garden somewhere.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Common purslane, Portulaca oleracea is its own reward.

 

[Haroldjr]

A polemoneum (Jacobs Ladder) that came in with a Lodgepole Pine. The leaves are very fern like, and it has tiny blue flowers. Thes
View attachment 303876View attachment 303877
e have shown up in a few trees.View attachment 303875

Beautiful