Tag Archive for: Hepatica americana

In the woods and in the garden Hepatica are flowering. There is a whole page dedicated to them: Hepatica – queens of the woodlands, and there is nothing else new I have to say. Every spring my admiration for them grows more anew!

To those celebrating this weekend – Happy Easter, with love, peace and happiness to all!

The unusual warm weather experienced in SW Ontario for a while has determined many spring beauties to explode into fast growth and flowering. Then, the torrential rains arrived, and now we are heading backwards to the winter…(snow showers outside at the moment).

This is, most years, the early spring time in Ontario!

The earliest spring beauties are in flower: Lindera benzoin, Lonicera canadensis, Claytonia virginica, Caulophyllum, Hepatica americana and H. acutiloba.  Sanguinaria canadensis has almost finished flowering (depending on the region) and yesterday I noticed the first trout lilies blooming, plus Trillium erectum and T. grandiflorum with buds just about to open! The wild ginger is well on its way of carpeting the woodland floor/garden.

In the garden, few Primulas and Helleborus have been flowering for a couple of weeks now alongside Corydalis.  Other spring beauties are appearing almost on a daily basis. *Our native Primula mistassinica is in flower as well but I didn’t take a picture yet.

Young shoots of Caulophyllum thalictroides/giganteum

*Young seedlings have also appeared and some new sowings are starting to germinate.
Especially for those who have sown Caulophyllum in the ground two years ago (and the few lucky ones who received one year-old stratified seeds) –  be careful because the young shoots are dark colored (almost black) for a while and they can be easily stepped upon. Same goes for other directly sown native species in the ground, even if green colored/or sown in pots: Asarum  and Stylophorum diphyllum, Hepatica, should be germinating around this time, or soon.

 

We talked about seeds and  Hepatica germination – we need to have patience. Not only the seeds may germinate in the second year after sowing even if they were kept moist, also the seedlings, in most cases, are not very fast to develop.  Some will remain at the cotyledon leaves stage in the first season, others will grow one true leaf. In either case, they can be quite tiny and intimidating.

Let’s see about transplanting.

When to transplant?
One feature of Hepatica is that they put up a good growth in the spring through summer (roots, leaves, seeds, future flower buds) and then they take a ‘break’ until next year. For this reason I like to transplant in early spring or if not, in the fall; at least, the young plants will start the next season already well prepared.

What potting mix to use?
There are various recipes recommended by Hepatica growers. Unfortunately, most are not easy to reproduce exactly here. I’ve tried to mix various products available in the last years and some were better than others. What I want in the end is to have an easy to reproduce recipe using soil brands anyone can buy (in Canada).

I came up with this mix, which I think is pretty good: mix all ingredients in equal parts (1:1:1)

Perlite
Pro-mix potting soil
All-purpose potting mix:  Fafard brand is a good one. Unfortunately this sector of the landscape industry is non-regulated and most brands don’t specify the contents of the potting mix, plus, in almost in all cases they contain too much peat.

As a rule, as long as good drainage is ensured all should be well, so other combinations could be tried.

 Pots

Taller pots are preferable. You can basically use any type/size of pot proportionally sized in regards to the seedlings size and transplant 1-2 seedling/pot.
To avoid handling many individual small pots one can also use a rectangular planter instead. Another option is a compact-tray with a good height.

Transplanting
Remove the seedlings from the sowing pot and carefully separate them. As seen in the pictures, Hepatica seedlings have a fine root system.

Transfer the seedlings in a new pot, add mix and take care to press only around the roots. The watering will settle down the mix well (add more mix if necessary).

Clockwise: Hepatica acutiloba pastel mix – seedlings removed from the pot; Hepatica japonica transplanted, flowering seedling, H. acutiloba pastel mix seedlings showing the roots; compact-tray with H. nobilis and H. acutiloba seedlings

Location: same like for adult plants, keep the pots/trays in a location with plenty of sun in the spring and shade starting summer. If necessary cover them with a plastic mesh. Water when necessarily (deep watering and let dry between) if the pots are not exposed to rain; a light fertilizer during the spring growth is beneficial.

Planting in the ground:
Usually in the third year the seedlings  can be planted in the ground.
To continue growing in pots transplant again to a larger size pot/container. Hepatica species are fitted for container growing if you have a small garden, or unsuitable soil conditions. You can easily provide sun in the spring and shade starting summer by moving the container in different spots.

Most often also the first flowers will appear in the third year to reward your efforts!

Various forms of Hepatica japonica 3 years-old plants

*I referred in general to Hepatica because in the end there is no difference between various species when it comes to germinating the seeds and transplanting (H. americana, H. acutiloba, H. nobilis, H. japonica and H. henryi).

I am not among the people who say that we should grow only native species in our gardens. I think it is extreme and unrealistic. Not all native species are easy to grow and adaptable to garden cultivation. You have to study them first in their wild habitats, understand their needs and determine if these needs can be met in a garden situation. There are many factors involved.

But it is true that everyone can accommodate quite a few of them, and not just because they are hardy and good for pollinators (so are many others), but mainly because they adapt wonderfully in so called ‘difficult locations’ which resemble their native habitat.

To cut a long story short, I was facing a steep slope underneath an old spruce; the soil, or what was left of it, wouldn’t allow digging decent planting holes. The area gets sun in the spring and it becomes more shaded in the summer.
Trying to establish native species on it made sense; entirely. And starting with young plants grown from seeds also made sense: they establish much easier.

This is one part of the area right now: Asarum canadense and Maianthemum stellatum are 3 years old. There are various few smaller seedlings which don’t show and few young Trilliums.  With the backbones in place, I will also directly sow other seeds in late fall; particularly Thalictrum dioicum for its fine texture.

Asarum canadense and Maianthemum stellatum

Lower down, a small patch with Anemone quinquefolia, Hepatica americana – more to be added.

Anemone quinquefolia and Hepatica americana

On the reverse side, there is another small area where water pools temporarily due to a terrain depression and clayish subsoil. I’ve tried a few things which never performed well. Then I switched to Primula mistassinica, Viola nephrophyla, Sisyrinchium montanum, Parnassia, and all is well (the area still ‘under construction’, Viola nephrophylla in the featured image).

It all makes sense.

 

 

It is that time of year when Hepaticas are flowering in the woods (and in the garden). Scouting in areas with large populations always leads to finding interesting forms!
The Hepatica acutiloba specimens shown below are isolated clumps and there is a good chance that a good proportion of the seedlings to come true to the mother-plants.

Hepatica acutiloba 1 – 2017

Hepatica acutiloba 2 – 2017

As well, this is the first find of a Hepatica americana with true pink flowers

Hepatica americana pink – 2017

Semi-double forms are not that rare as the pink flowered, but still a nice find.

Hepatica americana sd- 2017

The Hepatica shop section will be updated as soon as we’ll be able to tell how the seed forming is going on.

Also Claytonia virginica is in flower and soon Sanguinaria canadensis….a kind reminder that the Pre-orders page is up and running!
Usually there are plenty of Sanguinaria seeds and they keep well in moist storage, but asking for seeds of Claytonia, Erythronium and some of the special forms of Hepatica late in the fall, can only lead to disappointment…

Last weekend we went back in the woods; late fall is strangely similar with the month of April. If you ignore a few remnant fruits, all that is green on the woodland floor is represented by Hepaticas and mosses. Having had a very wet fall, there were quite a few of them, like green pets erupting from underneath the leaf carpet, asking to have their green fur stroked. Many others were on rocks, rotten logs…

Moss in the woods

Most Hepaticas grown underneath deciduous trees (ie. that get a fair amount of sun in early spring and fall), develop an interesting marbled foliage by late fall. In areas with large populations it is easy to observe variations not only in the flowers but also in foliage colouration. Like last year, we went scouting for interesting forms and the same plants I had admired for their marbled foliage last year, presented now the exact colouration pattern.
So, I maintain my opinion that a genetic component might be involved in the foliage colouration, which may be also true about the amount of leaf hairiness (actually Hepatica leaves are described as villous = with soft, long hairs).

Hepatica americana fall-winter foliage

Hepatica americana fall-winter foliage

Hepatica americana fall-winter foliage1

Hepatica americana fall-winter foliage2

In the featured image – backlit leaves of a Hepatica acutiloba in the garden. This is one of the most villous (long, soft hairs) H. acutiloba I have ever seen, with a delightful foliage from early spring to fall! Usually it’s not that shaggy looking, but it’s been through rough times over the last couple of years.