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Tundra

Tundra is found where the climate is too hostile for trees to grow. The ground stays frozen year round, except for a thin layer at the surface. There are two major types of tundra. Arctic tundra dominates the far North, above the Arctic Circle. Alpine tundra is found above timberline in the continent's major mountain ranges. Bighorn sheep, marmots, mountain goats, and grizzly bears are common animals of the tundra. Few gardeners toil in the tundra. The climate is too severe and the soil too thin for cultivation. The tundra is, however, a source of specialty plants for gardeners in more temperate regions.

Cushions and Buns

A rock gardener is judged by the quality of his or her buns. That's right. Full, tight buns are the sign of a skilled gardener. The more the plants maintain the compact form of their alpine homes, the greater the achievement. Removed from the cool summers of mountaintops and transported into the humid heat of lower elevations, many alpine plants languish. The challenge for the rock gardener is to grow alpines to the perfection of form they would attain in the wild. A well executed and successfully planted alpine rock garden is a marvel to behold.

Arctic Tundra

The Arctic tundra is a land of vast plains dominated by dwarf shrubs, cushion-forming wildflowers, sedges, grasses, mosses, and lichens. In winter, the ground is covered by a blanket of snow several feet thick. In the dead of winter, the sun never rises above the horizon. By contrast, summer days are warmer and endless. Above the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets in summer. The upper layer of soil thaws, but just a few feet below the surface lies the permafrost, which never melts. Much of the area is covered with standing water, forming shallow marsh associations that support a blanket of sedges. These shallow marshes are critical nurseries for much of North America's waterfowl and shorebirds. In the drier areas, wildflowers bloom in one brief summer burst, along with dwarf willows and shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae).

Alpine Tundra

Alpine tundra, found above timberline in the Rocky Mountains, Sierras, and Northern Appalachians, supports a flora similar to that of the Arctic tundra. Cushion- and mat-forming wildflowers grow amongst a carpet of dwarf shrubs and trees, sedges, grasses, and lichens. The two types of tundra are so much alike because during the last ice age, mountaintops were the only refuge for tundra plants. Above the thick sheets of glacial ice towered the highest peaks, where tundra species flourished. As the glaciers receded, the plants recolonized the North from these lofty precipices.