July 2016 – Botanically Inclined

At the beginning the year I declared 2016 as The Year of the Thistle, including in this category besides the ‘true thistles’ (Cirsium, Carduus and Onopordum), other genera that don’t have spiny leaves/or are commonly called thistles (Jurinea, Centaurea, Carthamus, Carlina, Rhaponticum, Echinops…).
I wasn’t joking. Some of the new tried out species are doing fine and are already planted out – Berkheya, Jurinea sordida, Carlina acaulis. Probably Centaurea triumfettii would have also flowered if not transplanted too late.

But, another one, a true thistle is flowering! Cirsium canum, in its second year from seeds, proves out to be a most wonderful plant. Everything, from the silvery, bold foliage to the neat, globular flower buds and the soft flower heads continuously foraged by some pollinator – it’s just perfect!

Cirsium canum – An architectural thistle with silver-green foliage and purple flowers from late summer to fall; it will remain in a clump and therefore it can be safely grown in the garden for the delight of the pollinators :)

I wish I had more seedlings! A full sun position suits it very well. In the wild habitat it grows in somehow moist meadows and I think it would like a bit more moisture than it has, but it has fared well so far with very little watering.

Cirsium canum flower head

There are so many more such species to try…

Centaurea triumfettii ssp. stricta

Carlina acaulis

Jurinea sordida

Nelumbo lutea

A bit of a surprise – there is a lotus that grows wild in Ontario! It is found only towards the extreme southern part of the province, and according to wiki it was introduced in various regions by the Native Americans who carried it along with them as a food source (the tuber). It is fully hardy to zone 5, as long as the water is deep enough and the roots won’t freeze.

Nelumbo lutea foliage; yellow flowers in late summer

In warmer regions it is quite a colonizer and also called water-chinquapin. Supposedly, it is the largest native wildflower, at least in wetlands, its leaves reaching more than 60 cm in diameter! The seeds are surely among the largest too!

Nelumbo lutea seeds – 1 mm grid

I cannot abstain from trying to germinate a couple of these seeds. They need to be scarified or nicked and should germinate in water after +/- 2 weeks. For scarification you can use sandpaper or, for large seeds like these, a file. When scarifying the question is always – how much of the seed coat should be removed? It varies from species to species but the general rule is: ‘less is more’. When done well, the seeds will slightly enlarge in a few days; if not, they can be easily scarified some more.

I am sure everyone knows that lotus seeds can remain viable for several decades, given their extremely hard seed coats, so most probably I didn’t file them enough. My short nails, have gotten even shorter.