Belle of the ball – Calycanthus
I am known to be on the lookout for promising ballerinas (see Arisaema and Primula –rina)… This year my eyes were drawn by the Carolina allspice seedlings. Surely there is great promise; I just don’t know if in the ballet because after the first stage the twirled cotyledons have rapidly put on some weight ;) but there are other genres to try out…
The belle of the ball in the germinatrix: Calycanthus floridus seedlings with convoluted cotyledons (which are rarely seen in other species):
Calycanthus floridus convoluted cotyledons
Calycanthus floridus seedlings with the first true leaves
This is an excerpt from the shop about Carolina allspice and I have nothing else to add:
“Calycanthus floridus is a deciduous shrub with glossy, aromatic foliage that can grow to about 3-4 m high, and the same or more in width. Remarkable when in flower; it has fragrant, red-wine coloured, and many petaled flowers that look a bit like Magnolia flowers; very attractive for pollinators too.
It is a very adaptable shrub that can grow from sun to shade, in almost any type of soil, and is very resistant to pests. A really trouble-free shrub for any garden; on my list of ‘to do it for myself”…
Done!
Calycanthus floridus seeds – nicked and soaked prior to sowing
I love this shrub, the scent is wonderful. In a very cold winter it dies back in my Guelph garden, and the I get no flowers, but it is worth waiting for
I love it too. Now that I have more garden space there is a ‘small’ list of must have native shrubs. Maybe I can speed up the collection after the Master Gardeners and the Arboretum sales this year.