Very high light, cool conditions, very lean soil (low nitrogen, sharp drainage), maybe some specific added nutrients?

Or maybe they sprayed it ;)

Very pretty! Is this plant difficult to find or grow?

I haven't been perusing the plants lists of the alpine houses, so I can't say how hard it is to find.
It certainly seems easy enough to grow (at least to the modest level of my endeavor!) I only planted it last year; it wintered fine with no protection, and has had no special care.

Hi, my guess is that the other plant has been grown under cover and that possibly some buds have been taken off so a larger number are produced in one go for a show. Maybe also a high potash feed.

Very nice ABgardeneer. Is that a Sisyrinchium behind, or (please, please) maybe an iris?

Herzegovina, just "hop and skip" from where my relatives live in Slovenia. Anyone know any plant names with that epithet? Maybe sloveniana, slovescina, slovenski, slovenija, slovene . . . I suppose I should get out my book on botanical Latin.

Rick, it is indeed an iris. It gets tiny pale yellow bearded flowers, and was labelled only as "Dwarf Iris v. 'Alaska'... perhaps an I. pumila selection? Or just a miniature dwarf german iris?

Hmmm, but that does make me wonder...would there happen to be any reasonably hardy sisyrinchiums, preferably in colors other than blue, that would ease my disappointment at not being able to grow S. striatum? Is anyone in a colder zone having success with S. californicum, by any chance?

Well, in a quick search, I didn't come up with any other plant names bearing that specific epithet, but the attached link lists some plant species native to the Slovene alps, for example, Campanula zoysii. Not quite what you were looking for, but interesting!

Lori

Here is a link that might be useful: Juliana Museum alpine garden site

Another reaason why I am always anxious to get the NARGS seed exchange listing: there is someone that usually donates seed gathered in the Slovenian Alps. That is where I got my Allysum oviense seed, if I remember, and several others. That link you found, Lori, is interesting. After reading that "well known" Slovenian legend that I had never heard before, I'll never look at Pontentilla nitida the same way again. And despite my previous disinterest in potentillas, I may have to find this pink form. The Triglav is on the Slovenian flag. And as you might have guessed, "zlat" means gold, "rog" is Slovenian for horn.

I would guess that any iris as small as the one in your trough, and still producing a tall bearded type flower, would be an Iris pumila of some kind. Especially if it is an old cultivar, because I suspect that by now breeders are testing all across the size range.

I do have our native Sisyrhincium in the lawn, but never ventured anywhere with that genus.

Rick