Garden Buildings, Garden Tools and Equipment > Alpine Houses

Why, wherefore and whatever!

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Palustris:
I thought that I would begin by defining what is meant by the term 'Alpine House' , but that is not that easy.

To me it is a glasshouse made, designed, altered to suit the growing of plants which for one reason or another do not grow well outside in the conditions prevailing in a particular locality. Now that definition could also refer to a glasshouse for growing Orchids or one for plants needinf heat (in a cold climate) or coolness (in a hot climate). So one then needs to define 'alpine'. In its strictest sense it means plants growing above the tree line in the Alps. Slightly less strict, it means plants found growing above the tree line in any mountains anywhere in the world. In my definition, it means any plant which I grow which is dwarf, hardy and grows on or around rocks. Mind some of the things I grow come from river valleys and some are not that hardy.

Many of these plants will grow very happily in the garden in this part of the world and that is where they are better grown. They do far better in many ways outside than in. However, there are many which for a variety of reasons do not take kindly to my conditions.

 What we are talking about is,then,  a glasshouse in which hardy (ish)dwarf plants can be grown to avoid the local climatic conditions.

So, the main enemies of these plants are excessive wet, fungus attack and insect damage. The kind of wetness meant here is not just rain, but mist and fog and lingering dampness. Many of these plants get rained on or covered in mist in their natural habitat, but that dampness is very quickly burnt off a soon as the sun comes out. Many of them grow in very windy areas where again the wet is blown away and just as importantly the spores of most fungi do not arrive or cannot begin to grow without that dampness. Finally most insects, especially aphids do not reach the plants so they are not so much of a problem, both for their weakening effect on the plants and for the number of viruses which they carry and inject into the plant tissue when feeding.

Finally the other very important reason for this kind of glasshouse is in a word' Display'. Some of these plants are so tiny , or fragile or fleeting (flower wise) that the only way to see them in all their beauty is undercover and at eye level..

ideasguy:
A very good and VERY informative posting, Eric.

I found the fillowing points of particular interest:

--- Quote ---So one then needs to define 'alpine'. In its strictest sense it means plants growing above the tree line in the Alps. Slightly less strict, it means plants found growing above the tree line in any mountains anywhere in the world. In my definition, it means any plant which I grow which is dwarf, hardy and grows on or around rocks. Mind some of the things I grow come from river valleys and some are not that hardy
--- End quote ---
I'm pretty certain most gardeners are only aware of the latter definition (i.e. your own definition)
I for one hold that opinion, due to the "Alpine" tags given to plants at Garden centres.


--- Quote ---Some of these plants are so tiny , or fragile or fleeting (flower wise) that the only way to see them in all their beauty is undercover and at eye level..

--- End quote ---
Ive attempted to grow plant in those brackets outdoors, and, since I don't have as much time as I'd like to patrol the garden and offer assistance to specials, I lost them.
Very often, I don't plant out until they are in flower, so I can remember what they looked like (usually very beautiful) and wish I'd taken more care.

May I add another reason to your list? To protect dainty little plants from slugs.
Plants which just don't stand a chance out in the garden. Ive one real beauty at present - Leucanthemum catananche
I bought it in flower, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I planted it out, and it was razed to ground level overnight!
I put down slug pellets and it recovered. Then the pellets ceased to function (buried?) and the slugs have eaten it to a stump again.
Needless to say, that delight hasn't managed to give me a flower since planting.

Thanks for initiating this topic, Laurie. Its proving to be a revelation!

NightHawk:
Thanks Eric for getting this topic rolling with an extremely detailed and informative text.  8)

I'm sure that anyone interested in growing alpine plants will benefit greatly from this.

Laurie.

Palustris:
Forgot about mollusc attack. Mind being in the Alpine House does not atop the blighters from attacking. We remove a fair number of them every night. Morisia Fred Hemingway gets regularly cropped.
More to come when my headache stops ;D

bossgard:
Eric, George. Kathy and Laurie, and anyone else interested.
You asked for me to check in after our outing on Mt. Rainier yesterday. We weren?t able to make the goals that we had set for ourselves, but like all things it seems like there is always good in what we might think when an experience turns sour.
We checked weather reports for the day both by television and newspaper so we set out by auto quite early in the morning. Had a few rain showers on the way, but the sky looked lighter towards our destination. Got into the Federated Forest Area and the rain increased, then Rainier National Park. Everything was fine until we started the ascent up to Paradise, the mist closed in, around the mountain and we did not have camera views except for one sun break and no road pull-overs. The road up is a narrow two-lane road, that looks like it is just stuck up their by duct tape, or chiseled out of the rock. No side rails, or very few, and straight down on the side of the road. This mist came in over the road, and it was like pea-soup fog, with very limited driving vision. Followed the white stripes, and arrived at the Lodge and Information Center locations, it was raining there so my hiking buddy and I went into the Center to use the restroom. When I came out, it was starting to snow rather heavy and started to lay, and my buddy was very discouraged. My immediate reaction is that we should get out of there, after seeing the ?professional hikers? in their proper clothing, and me in my hiking shoes, jeans, and light weight shirt and jacket, no pack, no bedding, no tent or other equipment, little food.  My buddy said, ?Let?s get out of here? and thankfully he knew of another way down that was much better than how we got up there. One of the rangers behind the desk where they file their hiking plans, said to one of the hikers, this is not a GOOD day to climb the mountain. Coupled with one death on Mount Si (North Cascades) earlier in the week who fell from a trail (he was experienced), and another hiking couple that got caught in bad weather and had to be rescued --  that is my BAD experience.
Now for the GOOD part: Eric, thanks for your definition of Alpine House and the Alpine plants. On Sunday I was misted on, snowed on, rained on, breezed on, cold(ed) on, no sunshined on, low temperatured on,  but I am not a dwarf, but I am a puny little guy. And we didn?t even get past the tree-line. I think I know how an Alpine plant feels.
Seriously, a couple of questions for you guys: Since it is definitely a crime to take any type of vegetation from a Federated Forest or National Park in US where do you get your plant specimens?  I think here you have to be a licensed grower/nursery-man/propagator to even touch them. Other question: I assume that there are a number of mountaineer-plantsmen that have dedicated at least a greater portion of their lives to the study of these plants? I can also see national governments being very interested in them as perhaps a food source (?) when the Ice Age returneth. Have any of you actually got the specimens yourself? Any information posted on the Internet to study? I haven?t checked here yet.Yes, this subject intrigues me!!
-Toby
P.S. Sorry for the length of this posting. One other thing, it was interesting trying to guess the nationality of some of the pros at the Center.

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