Name That Plant!

Elmer took the pic of this planter at Cornell Plantations. The small yellow sedum at the base is Angelina, but what is that lovely dark plant?
Please post a reply if you know the answer.

Visiting Marilyn Menegus!

What treat to visit Marilyn. Her front yard has been transformed into a rock garden!


This front will only get better with age.

Around the back of her home was an urban oasis.

This area is more mature, and just a lovely place to enjoy a summer evening.

Her porch steps were filled with a stunning array of troughs and planters!



Everyone who attended had a great time. Marilyn is a most gracious host!
To see more pics of this wonderful garden tour. Please CLICK HERE.

Upcoming~Plant Societies Sale

Symphandra, a campanula relative

The Plant Societies Plant Sale in conjunction with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Western New York is this coming Sunday, July 26, 2009 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension,249 Highland Avenue.
Sale hours are 10 AM to 2 PM.
Other groups selling plants will include the Iris Society of Greater Rochester, the Perennial Society, and the Genesee Valley Hosta Society.

All members of the Genesee Valley Chapter NARGS asked to bring Rock Garden Plants and have them at our table by 9 AM.

Jerry Kral's Garden ~ Wow!

a wonderful "table" rock garden

Jerry garden was a sight to see! From the front with an average size city lawn area, though the area was not definitely not average at all filled with roses, shrubs, perennials,unusual annuals, and amazing conifers you are just getting a small taste of what is to come when you round the corner to his back yard.


Most of his acre is a lush shade garden filled with amazing plant specimens and art work.




He does have 2 miniature areas tucked into his back garden. There's a mini hosta garden.


And a mini conifer garden complete with a water feature.


Once you wander through to the back of the property, you find the sunny rock garden area. This is the newest addition to Jerry's garden. We all had a wonderful time visiting this area.




There was just so much to see and so many pictures to take! More photos will end up overloading this page so if you want to see all the pics, please CLICK HERE.

Upcoming~ Garden Tour

Campanula 'Little Punky', a miniature version of Campanula punctata

Our next get together will be a tour of Jerry and Karen Kral's garden on Wed. July 8 at 6:30 PM.
Started over 16 years ago, the garden is 3/4 of an acre with the front yard a quarter acre and the rear a half-acre. Work on an additional quarter acre purchased 4 years ago will give the garden a full acre within the city of Rochester. The “Great Wall of Kral”, using 155, two and a quarter ton pallets, was completed last year (2008.)
From the wonderful detailed description in our news letter, the Semper Vivum, it is not a tour to be missed.

Pics from a Czech Republic Garden

Elmer was kind enough to forward pics from his trip in 2008.


Salvia daghestanica(Dwarf Silver-Leaf Sage)
When this salvia is in bloom, it has spikes of beautiful blue flowers.




Degenia velebitica
When in bloom, degenia is covered in yellow flowers.

Thank you Elmer for sharing the photos!

Photos from Gardenscape

A big Thanks to Elmer for sending photos that he took of our booth at Gardenscape!


It was great that this year we were able to have our own space in the main area as opposed to the vendor area.


The tufa displays were impressive! I was amazed at what an awesome job everyone did to put them together. The people who stopped by the booth were equally amazed. So many people touched the tufa and wanted to know more about it.



The hypertufa planters looked great too.




As you may have noticed, the lighting in the dome has something to be desired. It is difficult to get pictures that are either not too washed out from a flash or too dark from no flash. Elmer did a great for the conditions.





Already looking forward to next year!

Highland Trough Planting Success

The trough planting workshop went great. The weather was perfect and generous members brought more than enough sempervivums to plant.



We all learned something new and had a lot of fun talking and working together. A special thanks goes out to Betsy for teaching us tips and tricks.


Betsy giving pointers.


Elmer giving it a try.

Thanks to everyone that attended! Two beautifully planted hypertufa troughs now flank the staircase to the castle. The entrance looks fantastic because of all of you.


Finished trough with sign from Judy S.

June's Upcoming Event

Dwarf Iris Setosa with Alpine Dianthus and Forget-me-nots from Remy Orlowski's Garden

Hi All!
The Proud Market Sale went wonderfully. Everyone who participated should be proud of themselves!
So on the the next event...
On Wednesday the 10th we are having a trough planting workshop at the Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park. Please bring a few sempervivums and gloves. We will be working as a team to create beautifully planted troughs to enhance the entrance to the castle. This will be a lot of fun! Refreshments will be provided.

I'm hoping to get photos from other members soon. If you've got photos please send them my way.

Upcoming ~ Proud Market Plant Sale

Sedum 'Harvest Moon'

Our Chapter’s Plant Sale will be held as part of the Proud Market Plant Sale
Saturday, May 23, 2009
7:30 AM until plants are sold (usually before noon)
Rochester Civic Garden Center
5 Castle Park
Rochester, NY 14620

Welcome Members and Visitors!

Sempervivum from David Slayton's Garden

Hello All,
This site is going to be the blog for the Genesee Valley Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society.

Plans for this site are:
~Photos of members gardens, field trips, and specific plants
~General Chapter info(more in depth info will be in our monthly newsletter The Sempervivum available only to members.)
~Links pertinent to rock gardening from organizations and members

Of course this blog will adapt to member's wants and needs since it is OUR blog.