Spring flowers – Botanically Inclined

Greens and golds

We are all tired of the extreme cold and cleaning snow by now and dreaming of greens and other colors. When selecting a few spring pictures for a short garden walk to enjoy bright, warm colors I stumbled upon the cheerful flowers of Chrysogonum virginianum Norman Singer’s form.

Chrysogonum virginianum Norman Singer form

It is a good occasion to spread the joy about Chrysogonum virginianum (green and gold, goldenstar), particularly about the Norman Singer form, which was named after a North American Rock Garden Society founding member (nowadays remarketed as Chrysogonum virginianum ‘Superstar’).
You can read an excellent plant portrait on the Ontario Rock Garden Society website, by Robert Pavlis, from whom I also received a division few years ago:
https://onrockgarden.com/index.php/plant-of-the-month?view=article&id=88:chrysogonum-virginianum-norman-singer&catid=22

I have nothing much to add to the plant portrait, except for the fact of being indeed an excellent low-growing, mat forming plant that every garden should have! You won’t know until you try it.

Almost evergreen, with large, bright yellow flowers (reblooming sometimes), Chrysogonum virginianum Norman Singer form is one of the best edging/groundcovering species for a sunny to part-shade location. Mat forming doesn’t have a bad connotation in this case, because the rhizomes are short and it grows very compact. I even had a division growing in a full shade location for a while, just that it didn’t flower so well.
Join the ORG&HP Society and participate in the Spring plant sale, maybe you’ll get lucky and find a division for yourself!

Degenia velebitica

A question on everyone’s mind is how will some of our plants fare through this low temperatures period? Most will be OK, it is not the first time it’s been so cold in this region (after all we are zone 5).

More damaging than the cold are the winter rain periods of which we got quite a few in December; so I worry more about some of the rockery plants, like the young Degenia velebitica shown here, which require excellent drainage and ideally would spend the whole winter under snow. We’ll have to wait for spring to see the results.

Until then, a few green and golds and other spring warm colors.

Primula macrocalyx

Primula sibthorpii

Hepatica americana pink form

Lathyrus vernus pink

Odontarrhena obtusifolia (syn. Allysum borzaeanum)

Pulsatilla ex. styriaca pink, April

Uvularia grandiflora

Paeonia peregrina

Linum capitatum, June 2022

Incarvillea delavayi

Fritillaria collina

Dianthus deltoides ‘Deep Confetti Red’

January 19, 2024

Short garden walk

Propagation

Just a few pictures for today. The collection of Corydalis seeds is on-going ;) and with the current heat wave it will be finished fast.
For the same reason, Paeonia japonica and Paeonia mascula are suddenly in flower and I’ll hand pollinate them to ensure the best outcome from seeds.

Various species are in flower now and it would be hard to name or show them all. Native and non-native, in harmonious combinations: Lathryus vernus in pink and violet which were shown many times, various Primula and Viola, Dicentra, Epimediums, Glaucidium…Trillium grandiflorum and Uvularia grandiflora.

A few, like Callianthemum coriandrifolium, Fritillaria collina and some Primula x polyantha of Violet Victorians strain are in flower for the first time; others are well known garden inhabitants. Helleborus purpurascens foliage has developed overnight (a very companion for ephemeral Corydalis) and Pulsatilla ex. styriaca pink is reflowering (only the seeds from the first wave will be collected).

Enjoy the spring colors!

Callianthemum coriandrifolium

Primula x polyantha ‘Violet Victorians’

Fritillaria collina

Helleborus purpurascens new foliage

Odontarrhena obtusifolia (syn. Allysum borzaeanum)

Pulsatilla ex. styriaca pink

Viola labradorica

Epimedium hybrid

Aristolochia steupii

Trillium grandiflorum

Primula veris ‘Sunset Shades’

Corydalis nobilis

May 12, 2023

In charge – Corydalis nobilis

Gardens, Plant portraits, Propagation

In preparation of going away for a little while, I looked around today to see who would remain in charge of the garden and the seedlings…The first ones asked found excuses of being busy flowering, setting seeds, or putting up new growth.

So, I had to appoint by force the lord of the garden – Corydalis nobilis. You will hardly find a more reliable, resilient and fair garden fellow. From its corner location it can easily survey the whole garden, including the youngster Cory (from seed) which is flowering for the first time.

Corydalis nobilis

I read somewhere (most probably in an AGS Journal) about an old, neglected garden where C. nobilis had taken hold of and was growing everywhere like a weed. It can happen in time; say 30 years from now on.
Sounds like a good plan…

And a few May pictures: new and older plants establishing together, Aquilegia canadensis- short form in the sun-rockery (in the making), and… lots of seedlings :) On the seed adventures at full steam!

Iris ‘Concertina’

Paris quadrifolia

Stylophorum diphyllum

Dicentra ‘King of Hearts’

Aquilegia canadensis – short form

Seedlings

May 13, 2016

Wildlife Wednesday – Ode to the bumblebee

Gardens, Plant portraits

Finally some warm weather (then cold again…warm). However, spring is here and in the past couple of weeks Corydalis and Dicentra cucullaria, some of the first here, have not only flowered but started to set seeds! Watching the Corydalis solida and Dicentra cucullaria flowering and the bumblebee hungrily foraging them, I realized that I was awaiting its apparition as much as that of the first spring flowers.

I won’t get into details on the bumblebees since I am sure they are well known; this is for sure the mother queen which is busy building the future colony. Of course, Corydalis grown from seeds will always come in various colours :)

Note: The wiki stub on Bumblebees is excellent if someone needs an extra read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee.

And a few more images, since last month I had a very short post on Robbie, which seems to get into a territorial dispute with the cardinals lately.

A lady bug sleeping(?) on Narcissus flower

Few other images taken in the wild recently: a solitary bee on Cardamine, woodland hawks (maybe Cooper’s Hawks) and an unknown insect (for now) on the spring beauty flower (Claytonia caroliniana).