Saruma henryi seeds

Aconitum and Saruma

The last two remaining species that will be available soon, as moist packed seeds, are Saruma henryi and Aconitum moldavicum.

Saruma henryi, the upright wild ginger is a nice, foliage-wise perennial species complemented by yellow flowers in early summer. It goes well with various Arisaema, Aconitums, Podophyllum, Glaucidium, Deinanthe…to mention just a few.
A tough plant, perfect in a part-shaded location; with too much shade it becomes leggy (it can be sheared). It will self-seed in a proper location, just like Stylophorum and I recommend to always keep 1-2 seedlings as a reserve.

Aconitum moldavicum

Aconitum is the main subject of this post though.
Only seeds of Aconitum moldavicum A. lycoctonum ssp. moldavicum) will be available. But regular readers of the blog may remember that few years ago I embarked in a journey regarding Aconitum germination. Just few years later, I ended up with too many young plants that I could deal it!

See the link: Aconitum germination revised.

The conclusion remains: Aconitum species have very good germination when fresh or moist packed seeds are sown.
Most species will germinate to some extent from dry seeds (kept for 6-12 months), but in low percentage. Some may not germinate at all.

All this being studied and repeatedly mentioned, it is a surprise that not many people take advantage when fresh and /or moist packed seeds are offered. I consider most Aconitum species wonderful garden plants (wolf’s banes by general common name): they come in a wide variety as flowering time, growth habit, and flower color. Yes, they are toxic/also medicinal when used properly, but animals know to stay away from such plants. Only having very young children around the garden might pose a problem.

Aconitum moldavicum (syn. A. lycoctonum ssp. moldavicum) is a beautiful species native of the Carpathian Mts. with purplish, long hooded flowers on tall flowering stems. Usually found growing on siliceous substrates but it adapts well in cultivation. Habit and flowers wise it is similar with the widely cultivated A. lycoctonum. On a superficial look can also be mistaken with Aconitum vulparia (open the gallery to see pictures from the wild and also from cultivation).

Aconitum moldavicum, garden

Aconitum moldavicum, Fagaras Mts.

Aconitum vulparia maybe, cultivated

Aconitum vulparia, Carpathian Mts.

Aconitum lyctotonum, garden

Aconitum 2 years-old plants

It is always a good idea to double check your Aconitum at flowering/fruiting time, especially if grown from seeds; proper identification is not an easy task, to say the least.

March 11, 2022

First Fridays Seeds 2019

Friday's Seed(s), Propagation

Best wishes to all readers for successful plant growing and beautiful gardens in 2019!

For today, a germinating seed of Paeonia wendelboi – a bridge between the past year and the present one.

Paeonia wendelboi germinating seed (at warm); the root appeared in winter 2018 (it was very tiny but nothing escapes my magnifying glass, or so I like to think). The shoot will start to grow only after a cold period, the way it goes with most peonies.

And a message, seeds speaking generally:

Do not forget that this is the perfect time for sowing species which require cold/moist stratification!
If done too late, especially in the case of a mild winter, the cold period won’t suffice and the seeds will need one more cold cycle to germinate.

I would like to draw your attention especially to a few moist packed seeds.
Beside the fact that for a very good price you can get seeds which will most likely germinate, by comparison with sowing them dry, some, like Aconitum spp. , may be an one time offer. Others, like Thalictrum thalictroides, which require more driving to the collection site, will be offered only on alternate years.

Even with the garden collected seeds, it can happen to miss the seeds of species like Saruma henryi.
Thus, it is always best to get these kind of seeds when available.

You can easily find them all by browsing the Moist packed Seeds and Corydalis Seeds categories.

January 4, 2019

Spring and fall

Propagation, Wildflowers of North America

Quite a few species that flowered in the spring are opening (or will do it shortly) their fruits to release the seeds.
The fall blooming Crocus species does the same thing. Interesting, isn’t it?

Many of these species are in the category I once called ‘notorious seeds defectors’ :-)
Hepatica, Corydalis & Pseudofumaria spp., Stylophorum spp., Helleborus, Asarum spp. (gingers), Saruma, Viola ssp., Epimediums, the recently added Dirca palustris and so on… (hover over pictures for the names)