Plants of the genus Armeria are commonly known as thrift. This cultivar of juniper thrift is a dwarf-stemmed selection, and so forms an extremely compact mound (it's also a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit recipient).
Of the ninety or so species of Armeria, half are endemic to the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Armeria juniperifolia is one of those endemics, native only to Spain.
Armeria caespitosa is often listed as a synonym for Armeria juniperifolia, but I'm not certain if this is definitive after reading Feliner, G and G. González. 1996. Proposal to Reject the Name Statice juniperifolia (Plumbaginaceae). Taxon 45:709-710. (to summarize the paper simplistically, Statice juniperifolia was apparently thought to be an older published name for Armeria juniperifolia and so would take precedence in the world of assigning plant names if enough evidence was available to verify that the person who proposed the original name had actually meant that plant – it seemingly was rejected, though). In the paper, the authors mention a series of Armeria names and state, “Any of these names, except A. caespitosa, (cf. Garmendia in Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 39:209. 1982), would, if found to be synonmous, be displaced by A. juniperifolia.” That bit about excepting A. caespitosa has me curious if there's more to the name than what I've been able to uncover so far.
From a photography perspective, I like the subtle vignetting effect in this photograph. This was an early morning image from the Alpine Garden. The sunlight was filtering through tree branches, creating natural vignettes.
Photography resource link: For inspiration, see Sublime Photography, the photography of Mike Mander. I discovered the work of this Vancouver-area photographer over three years ago, when I found a gallery of his UBC Botanical Garden in infrared photographs. I still haven't been able to scratch the itch of wanting to try infrared photography after having been inspired by Mike. One day soon, I hope.
Armeria juniperifolia 'Bevan's Variety' - Z8 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Armeria juniperifolia 'Bevan's Variety' - Z5-7 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Hi Daniel, Lovely photo of the Armeria, obviously taken by someone who understands the fundamentals of depth of field, composition and lighting. A couple of questions, if I may, what is the spindly plant to the right of the Armeria? Looks a bit like a bitter cress to me, but I cannot see the rosette of leaves at the base. Also is the soil composition natural or has it been constructed to simulate an alpine herbfield?
Indeed, the plant to the right of the thrift is a bitter cress species, Cardamine oligosperma. This is a very common weed--at times it seems like the dominant vegetation in the alpine garden. The smaller rosettes to the left are plants of creeping speedwell, Veronica filiformis, and the larger, incised leaves above them belong to Aquilegia grata seedlings. All of these plants enjoy the open, sunny aspect and lack of significant competition.
The soil in the E.H. Lohbunner Alpine Garden is manufactured. Our existing native soil is thin, and although well-drained when left intact, it tends to loose much of its organic content, aeration porosity and infiltrability when worked. Because most of our precipitation occurs in the winter, as rain, we need to provide excellent drainage year-round. A considerable amount of grit and coarse organic matter is mixed into the soil as a consequence, and we top-dress with a gravel mulch to reduce moisture accumulation at the plant-neck level. However, the real advantage we have on this site is what underlyies the soil: tonnes of rock. See the Alpine Garden Interpretive sign at http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/education/alpine_garden.php, and the web entry on the Alpine Garden here: http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/garden/alpine.php.