Brother Tim passed me the first Lewisia, which is also the one that is doing the best. And my second Lewisia was purchased from a local nursery. I grew them both in the greenhouse like houseplants for several years, but they only did moderately well with that treatment. Since they are hardy here, I decided that they might like the dry, sunny edge of the memory garden. So, out they went in the fall of 2018 and they are doing alright out there.
Because their new home is directly under the giant Douglas fir tree, they don’t get much rainfall. Even in the very wettest weather, almost no water gets through that massive fir canopy. This should keep the Lewisias from rotting in the winter.
The second Lewisia is yellow-orange. It is starting to bloom now, so I’ll add a few photos in the next few weeks.
My 2020 plans for these plants are to feed them a bit and keep an eye on them to see how they are doing. There are native Lewisias to Washington, but I don’t think any are actually native to Seattle–they are more mountain denizens. I’ve seen bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) growing wild near our cabin in Tonasket.
