Tag Archive for: Bloodroot propagation from seeds

Beyond flowers II

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Sanguinaria canadensis, our most beloved spring harbinger must be appreciated beyond its flowers; albeit beautiful, they last only few days. In very dry years, the leaves may go dormant early. However, with enough moisture they remain lovely until late fall!

Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot) pictured a few days ago

Asarum canadense it is also a ‘beyond flowers’ species; the flowers appear at the ground level and are barely noticeable. But the leaves emerge in early spring and throughout the season will keep very good company as a groundcover for other species, plus they remain decorative until late October.

Asarum canadense (wild ginger) leaves spotting the woodland floor in late October

Soon, only the queens of the woodlands (i.e. Hepatica) will be reigning over the forest, together with a few loyal evergreens (Chimaphila, various sedges and Mitchella repens). Their foliage will be replaced by the new leaves only in the spring after the flowering.

Asarum canadense and Hepatica acutiloba foliage in late October

Hepatica acutiloba pastel mix

You can grow these species together, like in their natural habitat (add few Trilliums and Erythronium americanum, Claytonia virginica…) or in various other combinations.

Sanguinaria canadensis spring

Asarum canadense spring

Hepatica acutiloba spring foliage

Appreciate them beyond the flowers, spring, summer and fall!

 

One picture: epicotyl dormancy

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Sanguinaria canadensis: seedlings of last and this year in the same pot = keep your pots for at least 2 years.

Cycles require for germination (moist at all times): W + C with about 50% of seeds with W + C + W (W- warm, C- cold). From a small sample of seeds you may never know, they can germinate all at once or in stages.
The epicotyl dormancy can be simple or double simple.

Sanguinaria canadensis 2 generations seedlings

Simple epicotyl dormancy = emergence of the roots in autumn and emergence of the shoots following spring; a germination pattern common for many species.

 

 

 

 

Thursday with Sanguinaria canadensis seedlings

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A change in the Friday’s seedlings routine.

In late fall I sowed Sanguinaria canadensis seeds directly in the ground in the idea to show how easy is to do it (like for many native species – take note if you have a large woodland garden/for naturalizations projects). To avoid disturbance by the squirrels, I sowed them underneath the leaves of an old Yucca glauca.

Sanguinaria canadensis seedlings

Sowed and forgotten. I found them the other day when preparing to dig out the old Yucca.

In the fall I forgot that the old Yucca was scheduled to be dug out this spring….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Yucca was removed and the seedlings replanted.
Happy ending.

 

The thing about Sanguinaria

…is that the seeds can have two types of morphophysiological dormancy (after Baskin & Baskin):

  • In the first case the roots will emerge in late fall after a warm stratification and the shoots growth will begin in the following spring (= after cold stratification); deep simple epicotyl dormancy.

Sanguinaria canadensis: seeds sown in summer 2016 – complete germination April 2017

  • In the second case (said to occur in about 49% of seeds according to a study), the shoots growth will begin in the second spring after sowing; deep simple double dormancy.

Sanguinaria canadensis: seeds sown in late summer 2015 – complete germination in 2017

The lots of seeds shown were collected from different sites, and I wonder if this was also a decisive/only factor in displaying the different types of dormancy. It is well known that the germination dormancy traits have a genetic component.

Temperatures in the summer/winter may also have role; to be sure I will try to repeat the sowing with seeds of both populations/at the same time. It would be nice to know and collect seeds from certain populations knowing they will germinate in the first year after sowing.

Note: To be clear, for Sanguinaria we are only talking about fresh/or moist kept seeds.