On Saturday I was in the mountains east of Manning Park gathering morels in last year's Garrison Lake fire area when I came across some beautiful flowers on a ridge top so barren that it didn't even have enough plant material to burn. They looked familiar, and I identified them as Lewisia rediviva when I got home. I have a similar area in the lane border south of our new retaining wall. I was thinking that these flowers just might grow in this gravel-covered soil poor in organic matter. Has any member tried growing this species in the Vancouver area? Also, are there any local sources for seed? The Internet doesn't bring up anything except online sources.
You may want to check out Alpine Garden Club of British Columbia as they hold plant sales and seed exchanges. You might be able to get some seed at those events.
Lewisia rediviva was on the AGC-BC seed list last year. I had one growing in a clay pot for many years but lost it in the heat dome last summer - perhaps I didn't give it enough water. I think it would grow well in the Vancouver area but might get lost planted in the open garden because it dies down completely after blooming.
We have some plants growing in the cacti house that are protected a little bit from winter rain -- they've been there for years.
Margot and Junglekeeper, thanks for the information about the AGC-BC; I'll check out their sale next spring unless I find some seeds sooner.
That's an old post, so modern browsers won't show the image unless you specifically click on the image. But no, that plant was from interior BC.
At least during dormancy lack of water not a problem, in one recorded instance an herbarium specimen of some vintage grew when planted. So that I would think even being hit by heat in a pot while still in leaf - if that was the case with yours - would not normally kill a severe climate conditions adapted plant like this. With in fact the main problem with open garden cultivation in coastal BC being too much rain.
So, if neither lack of water nor excessive heat killed my mature, dormant Lewisia rediviva, what did?
Here's an update. I went to the Alpine Garden Club of BC's spring sale in April, 2023, and bought what was labeled as Lewisia rediviva. This was transplanted to a larger pot and kept indoors until the leaves shriveled, then moved outside in September. It was kept outside all winter and into next spring; the location was right against the south side of our house, under the eaves. It grew well and started blooming in May, 2024. However, the 8 blossoms were all on a single scape and were fairly small; so, I don't think that this plant was L. rediviva, which has blossoms on single stems. I couldn't find a Lewisia with a scape, but the bought plant had most of the characteristics of L. rediviva. After this, I went back to the site east of Manning on July 24, 2024, and collected a few plants of the wild Bitterroots, which had finished blooming but still had seed pods loaded with seeds. I planted these in pots and placed them in the same outside location as the bought plant, where they stayed until blooming in May, 2025. These blossoms were significantly larger than those of the bought plant but were still only about half the size of the wild blossoms that I had seen. This may be because I planted two roots in a single 6" pot and the plants each produced many more blossoms than the wild plants. For next year I'll try a single plant per pot, as well as checking if one will survive at the base of our south facing laneway. Here is a photo of two plants in a 6" pot.
We definitely have these in Okanagan BC https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=lewisia rediviva&noTransfer=0
Okanagan Lewisia native plant blooms in May this is in a private park facing approx SW maybe a foot of snow cover in winter minimal rain otherwise rattlesnakes love this same location (I’m not kidding) gravel and rock approx 1700 feet above tidal sea level beautiful flowers … survivors for sure
