Over the past few months I've made a point of asking various friends across the US and Canada about particular problems they may have growing rock garden plants in their particular locale. As a function of elevation, precipitation, humidity, etc. many have given up on growing various alpines but have found more than adequate choices to populate their gardens, which provide them with beauty, persistence and an acceptable level of challenge. But some have persisted in their view that THEIR area of the US simply doesn't allow for growing so many of our favorites, and restricts them to (please pardon me if you are a Hosta lover) hostas, and the various woodland plants such as trillium. In particular, the Midwest has more than a few gardeners who find their climate utterly inhospitable to most rock garden plants. So, if you are a gardener in Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, or even Arkansas, can you offer some insights into what you grow and how you manage to overcome the hot and muggy summers and the unreliable (or totally non-existent) snow-cover? Thanks in advance
