Little jewels

I've got all sorts of plants in my garden, but when I browsed my photos earlier today, I suddenly realized that those I miss the most now are the tiny ones that keep their secrets until you are really close or the time is right.

This is my Mentha requienii. It's hugging the ground, looks like a patch of moss, has tiny, purple flowers and an enormous minty smell. You just have to find it and stroke it first:



This Oxalis has greyish leaves that are about one inch tall and don't look like much, but the flower is very striking:



This Lewisia is about two inches tall. It sports nice, peachy flowers that fade to soft pink:



This Oenothera has leaves that look like young dandelion leaves. It dies after blooming, but is good at self-seeding. One only has to take care not to mistake young plants for weed. It is quite small, only approximately two inches tall, and the flower is huge, between three and four inches across. If I'm not watching carefully, the bloom might be dying before I get to enjoy it:

 

AHHH! A true treasure chest of beautiful little gems!

 

Sometimes the best things come in small packages. That Oxalis bloom is stunning.

 

Look at these! I had no idea that you had such an array of small flowering plants. They are indeed, jewels.
I was looking carefully at the Oenothera that you have shown here. I didn't realize that they existed in what looks like a dwarf habitus. The ones that I have in my garden are almost a meter tall! Mine have a lovely fragrance in the evening. Have you ever gotten down and sniffed yours? I am curious to know if they also have an evening fragrence.
I really like this plant. I will do a little research to see what I can find out about those little ones of yours. Very interesting.
The Lewisia is elegant isn't it?

 

Nice pics and descriptions. I appreciate the post so that I can become familiar with plants that I have not YET attempted to grow.

 

Thank you all. I like minis, they don't take up much room, and I get to enjoy them while I'm on my knees weeding.

Sjoerd, I've tried bigger Oenothera, but they are fairly borderline here. I've smelled it, but haven't found any fragrance in there. I've got a small one with tiny blooms that self-seeds freely too.



I've of course lost the name to the magpies. I like the way the flowers light up at dusk.

 

Yes Droopy...that's EXACTLY the reason that I have them--how they "light-up" at dusk. That is such a unique quality. Not all flowers have it. White Phlox have this quality too.
...and the tint, or the sort of yellow that they are (mine anyway), is so special, I find. It's not "just" yellow. I have taken countless foto's of the Oenothera with different cameras, but have yet to capture the "real" colour on film.
I grow two sorts- the tall yellow ones and another tall one, Oenothera biennis, I think that it's called. This latter one has a sort of reddish quality to part of the stem and the calix. I find that the evening fragrence is less with the 'biennis'.
At any rate, this special tint that the flowers have at dusk is important to me because after the work is done I often stay in the garden until the very last drop of light has vanished of an evening. It's so quiet that I can hear the shrews walking on the dead pampas grass leaves, the moths begin to rise out of their deep hiding places and the aroma of the flowers that I have planted surrounding the patio just sort of make for a very calming and pleasant experience. It's my favourite time of day. I just sit there looking, listening and sniffing...sipping a cup of tea.

 

I love these tiny treasures. I keep mine up around the pergola posts at my back door. They are indeed "gems."

 

Alpine types are among my favourites. When others can't cope with the hazards of flood or draught, there they are still sprinkling their colour, seemingly living on next to nothing.

 

Very pretty little blooms! The Oenothera looks like what I call evening primrose. OK now I have to google my plants scientific name.....

***************
OK that is what it is. Mine are tall too.

 

I've written these names down, now i have to see if they will grow or last up here,,, i think they will. We have simular climate just different times of the year tho. i think your like a month ahead of me, in growing.

They are great pics droopy an i am no good at flower names, so thank you for the huge help there.

 

Wrennie, they ARE evening primrose.
I wish that I had some good pics to show. I will look again after work.
That mass of "yellow sunlight" of yours are gorgeous.
Thanks for the pics.

 

Is that Oxalis variegated? It looks like it on my computer but I am not postitive. Pretty little jems...