Hi Bill,
I had never heard of Lithidora so I looked it up on the net. I've included the URL that gave me some info on this plant. Its piqued my interest in that it says it is a fabulous ground cover and would be terrific in a rose garden. What a great idea. Supposedly self seeds with abandon which is nice in ground cover... here's the info.

http://www.humeseeds.com/eflith.htm

I hope a local expert gives you the 411 on this plant around here!

Happy Gardening
Debra

Bill: When I first saw your post I thought "living stones"! They'd look great in a rock garden or on top of your stone walls. Googled lithodora and was surprised that it didn't look like stones at all. Oops, the living stones are "lithops", not "lithodora". Lithodora definitely sounds interesting though.

Obviously, I don't know anything about them.

Claire

I have had this for several years. In my mind it blooms later in the spring. I don't keep careful records so I don't know how long I have had it or when exactly it starts blooming. I don't think of it as groundcover since I haven't noticed self-seeding or spreading, but find the idea of planting under roses to be a nice one.

As for the lithodora, when I saw them last year out in Oregon, they were absolutely beautiful. They definitely had the roll of spreading groundcover. But I think the mild climate there is more to their liking. Still, knowing that they have that potential inspired me to try one. And now seeing that Briggs nursery is selling them, I would think that they should be OK here. Briggs doesn't generally sell things that aren't reliably hardy in this area.

Another blue flower I have on order is Meconopsis. It's said to be a challenge to grow, but I saw them in England and they are amazing! We'll see.........

Claire,
You're right about the lithops ("Living stones"), and I do plan to get some hardy versions of those for my new (still under construction) rock (boulder?) garden.

Bill,
The lithodora looks like a winner to me and definately worth trying in your rock garden area as well. I will be interested to hear how it over winters in your windy but more mild zone.
Where did you order Meconopsis from? In the back of my mind I thought the sale of them was restricted in the US. What a beautiful flower.

Hi Katy,
I have already overwintered one lithodora plant. I planted it last summer and it's doing OK. There was some dieback of one stem, but overall it looks good.

The Meconopsis I think is a hybrid (or maybe just a selection?) that's supposed to be a little easier than the species. It's called "Lingholm" and I ordered it from Wild Ginger Farms (www.wildgingerfarm.com).

I can't wait to start planting among the boulders that have just been set out back. I have several sedums, sempervivums and ice plants, as well as many traditional trailingplants. I think in a year or two they'll look great filling in the cracks and spilling over.

just saw this plant at Kmart this afternoon, it was blooming..It is a beautiful color blue but only hardy to zone 6 according to the tag..

Lisa

Lisa,

I don't know which variety of Lithodora you saw at K-Mart, but L. diffusa "Heavenly Blue" is listed at numerous websites as hardy to zone 5. That is the one I planted last year, and it came through this past terrible winter OK. It's not usually and expensive plant (I would think that K-mart has a very reasonable price anyway), so I think you should give it a try, especially if you have a small sheltered spot. This plant is low growing, so protecting it from wind should be easy, and you could tuck it in almost anywhere. Two things to keep in mind are that it needs a lot of sun, and hates wet soil in winter, so maybe plant on a high spot or a sloping area so that water doesn't collect in the cold weather. The color is gorgeous, so why not go for it?

Good luck.
Bill

I've planted lithadora at least 3 times and have never had it survive the winter, even in very sandy soil. And it is so pretty when blooming!

CC,
What variety did you plant? There is a big difference in hardiness between the various species and hybrids.

Bill

Hi bill,

I've had the same experience as capecodder. Planted Lithodora at least 3 times. I think a bit may have survived a winter, but I've never been able to keep a healthy, thriving plant alive from year to year. Hope your experience is different. The variety I planted was 'Heavenly Blue' and I think I may have had one called 'Grace Ward'. (--Unless that's a different plant altogether. Grin.)

I just planted Meconopsis grandis seeds that I got from Thompson & Morgan (US). We'll see if they ever germinate. I also ordered a packet of Meconopsis betonicifolia seeds from T&M US but those were backordered. Don't know if I'll ever get any of those. From what I've read, Meconopsis like shady, moist conditions. A hot, dry Summer can be the end of them.

I may give Lithodora another chance. If I could just find the right site... Love those blue flowers.

Leslie