Gentiana for a rainy day

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What else better for a grey November day than a Gentiana?

The Gentiana and allies category has been updated. Few species are out this year and one notable species has just been added. No gentiana lover would wanGentiana for a rainy dayt to miss Gentiana uniflora, the Far Eastern counterpart of Gentiana verna (in the top featured image).

But all other Gentiana species are worth growing: Gentiana dahurica, G. septemfida collected in the garden or Gentiana asclepiadea, Gentiana lutea and G. punctata collected in the Alps this year, thank you!, not to mention their relative Swertia perennis. There are never enough Gentiana!

Gentiana dahurica

Gentiana septemfida var. lagodechiana

Gentiana lutea

Gentiana asclepiadea

Gentiana punctata

 

Magenta Thursday

For today: magenta with a red eye from Primula pulverulenta hybrid.  It was grown from seeds labeled P. pulverulenta but obviously a hybrid with P. japonica; it is meant to happen when the two are grown together. 

Primula pulverulenta hybrid with Athyrium ‘Ghost’ in the background

There is now a new category including all species from Fam. Primulaceae: Primula & allies
Small groupings of related species will make the search easier and will also speed up the inventory management.

Don’t miss the chance to grow Soldanella hungarica, Primula algida and P. auriculata – all wild collected seeds!
Androsace albana it is also not an easy to find species elsewhere.

Androsace albana

Soldanella hungarica

Primula mistassinica

Primula sieboldii pink

Primula amoena

Trientalis borealis

The heart

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While preparing orders last couple of days, I stumbled upon a perfectly heart shaped seed among Fritillaria atropurpurea stock.
I took it as a sign that I must also sow few seeds and put aside a tiny package for myself, heart included :)

Fritillaria atropurpurea seeds

 

There is one last pck. left for Fritillaria atropurpurea. All other Frits sold out at the moment, thank you – merci

 

Reminder: this is the best time to start sowing species that require cold/moist stratification!!!

Surprise, surprise! Roscoea schneideriana

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Plus, growing Roscoea from seeds

October ended with a nice surprise. Roscoea schneideriana has flowered beautifully this year and in all honesty I didn’t expect any seeds; it was enough to see it thriving in the garden. Then, one day I noticed that one capsule had burst open and the seeds spilled on the ground.

Roscoea schneideriana with split capsule and seeds in late October

It is always very rewarding when a plant started from seeds reaches the point of flowering well and produces seeds! And Roscoea schneideriana is a special one, with characters a bit unique in its genus (to mention just the leaves arrangement, the length of the staminodes and the round anther appendages). It grows wild in Western China (Sichuan and Yunnan), in mixed forests, open limestone slopes, among rocks and ledges of mountains between 2600-3350 m alt. (from The Genus Roscoea, Jill Cowley).

Roscoea schneideriana flowering in early September; notice the round anther appendages, a good ID character for this species

I know that most people in our climate avoid growing hardy gingers, but in fact they are not difficult to start from seeds and many species are cold hardy.

Most species are warm germinators, or will germinate after a short period of cold/moist stratification (1 month). So, you can sow and start them under lights indoors in February/March, or directly outdoors in April/May (depending on the region).

In the first year after sowing, the seedlings will grow only for a few months and then become dormant! For this reason, try to grow them well watering and applying a light fertilizer once in a while. Do not prick out the seedlings! If necessary you will transplant them in a larger pot after they become dormant.

When the leaves start yellowing, reduce the watering and try to not overwater the pots when they are complet dormant; only keep them slightly moist.
The seedlings should be grown in the same pot (the sowing pot) for 2(3) years at least until the little tubers can be handled more easily. 

As noticed, the seedlings form fleshy, elongated tubers (various forms depending on the species). They need a bit of extra attention for a couple of years (in most cases I overwinter them in pots in the garage). Again, transplanting of the tubers in bigger pots should be done only when dormant, in very late fall or better in early summer (Roscoea always they start growing very late in the season).
After approx. 3 years you can plant them in the garden (in a part-shaded, well drained location – this is very important) and you’re done!

Roscoea schneideriana seeds (2)

Roscoea scheideriana seedlings

Roscoea schneideriana tuber

Roscoea tibetica young tubers

Growing from seeds you always get to play with a few seedlings not just one plant. The advantage is that we can experiment with planting young plants in various locations in the hope to finding the best one.

Roscoea are much easier to establish in the garden when planting young (3 years old) tubers in the summer just before they start growing. During the season the tubers can lower themselves to the soil depth of their liking (which can be quite low) and thus survive better our harsh winters.

One more thing: don’t wait for them to emerge at spring time. They sit underground chit chatting with various Arisaemas and both forget it is time to show up. And then they all do it in a big hurry in mid-summer!

You can also read about R. auriculata below (Earth octopus). 

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!

 

Not one garden without an Arisaema

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If for some reason there is someone who doesn’t have at least one Arisaema in the garden, then there is Arisaema ciliatum var. liubaense to consider.

Arisaema ciliatum var. liubaense is my longest lived Arisaema in the ground, and I’m in love with it. I was a bit in doubt if liubaense until I had to move it and sow the stoloniferous tubers (one difference from A. ciliatum).

It shows up late, somewhere in mid-June and then, in a blink of an eye, purple flowers will peak curiously at you from underneath the umbrella-like leaf. Commonly they are called Cobra lilies but don’t be afraid they are super friendly.

Arisaema ciliatum var. liubaense 2019

A nice surprise this year, they showed up in pair and now we have babies :)
It is amazing how fast the fruit matured from green to red in about one week.

Arisaema ciliatum var. liubaense fruit

Also to consider: Arisaema amurense, A. flavum and our lovely NA A. triphyllum. All super cold hardy and easy to grow.

Rock polypody

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Playing with Polypodium virginianum spores? Have a mossy boulder? maybe better to proceed to sowing :)

Polypodium virginianum spores

Notice: Glaucidium seeds

Few writings about Glaucidium palmatum germination that can be found in the related posts or by typing Glaucidium in the Search tab.

This is only a notice that fresh seeds are in stock! 

Glaucidium palmatum seedlings: the seeds will germinate in two successive years no matter the sowing treatment

Seeds from a most generous friend will be forwarded to you now in generous packets :)

Glaucidium palmatum 

Glaucidium palmatum ‘Album’

 

Something to consider

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A couple of days ago I stumbled upon Hepatica acutiloba happily growing in the rock fissure of a mossy boulder (with Polystichum lonchitis) and it took me a bit by surprise; we don’t often think about H. acutiloba as a species for crevice rock gardening, do we?
It is something good to consider by the look of it.

Hepatica acutiloba

Coincidence, today I packed seeds of H. acutiloba-pastel mix, and there are more available.
Something else good to consider ;)

Friday’s Seeds: Hylomecon seed please stand up

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I meant to write about this a while ago; it was never a good time for it.
The question of how to easily recognize Hylomecon from the Stylophorum species had been long clarified and I see no point to repeat it all.
If you want/need to know how to correctly identify Hylomecon , Stylophorum diphyllum and Stylophorum lasiocarpum, please read this well written post on Garden Myths blog:
https://www.gardenmyths.com/hylomecon-japonica-which-is-the-real-plant/

Now that we know how to distinguish the species, with good close-up pictures of the seeds we can avoid to mistake one for another in the seeds exchanges ;)

If we would have the chance to look at fresh seeds, it wouldn’t be hard to distinguish them because the seeds are equipped with particular elaiosomes, quite beautiful in the case of S. diphyllum. Unfortunately after the seeds dry out, or after they are placed in moist storage, these fatty structures fade rapidly.

Regrettably Hylomecon vernalis (syn. H. japonica) rarely, if ever, sets seeds in cultivation in our region (and elsewhere, I understand).
I suspect there is a self- incompatibility problem, the majority of plants belonging to the same clone, which was vegetatively propagated over a long period of time.

I have watched it closely in my garden in the last two years hoping that maybe the others are just missing the seeds (the capsules are explosive). But no, the capsules form and seem OK, only to disappoint upon opening. You can imagine the excitement when I received H. vernalis seeds in late summer! And moist packed no less! Because of this I postponed washing them out to take proper pictures.

Let’s see a comparison now; all seeds after moist storage since late summer and on 1 mm grid.

Hylomecon vernalis (forest poppy): notice the glabrous capsule, seeds more or less 2 mm in lenght.

 

Stylophorum lasiocarpum (Chinese celandine poppy): notice the hairy capsules and smaller size seeds, always less than 2 mm

Stylophorum diphyllum, the NA woodland poppy: larger, ovoidal capsule and the largest seeds by comparison (most often 2+ mm)

 

Species Peonies and hybrids

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A note I considered useful to write before adding the seeds of peony species to the Shop.
Most seasoned gardeners who grow peonies from seeds are well acquainted with the phenomenon of hybridization, a natural process occurring in many species, not just the peonies.

Very simple, it means that when there are other peonies present in the garden, the resulting seedlings may not entirely resemble the plant that produced the seeds (differences can be noted in foliage/flowers). Some species can also hybridize in the wild, when 2 different species grow together in the same area.
A few peony species are known to hybridize more than others (P. peregrina, P. daurica s.l.).

There is no guarantee how the seedlings will look like. The only guarantee is that the seeds were collected from specimens identified and named, as best as possible, based on their botanical characters.

Personally, I will continue to grow them from seeds of different accessions/species because in the end the goal is to obtain good, beautiful plants adapted to your garden conditions. I still have to see an ‘ugly’ peony grown from seeds. Have you?

This is a list with links to the current offerings; 2 pck./order max. please. Click on the names for links to each product page.

Paeonia japonica (as usual)
Paeonia obovata (new accession)
Paeonia wittmanniana hybrid1
Paeonia wittmanniana hybrid2
Paeonia peregrina
Paeonia tenuifolia
Paeonia officinalis
Paeonia officinalis hybrid, new
Paeonia mlokosewitchii (as usual)

Available somewhere next week:
Paeonia rockii
Paeonia delavayi
Paeonia anomala

Young Paeonia mlokosewitchii in my garden, it may flower to be a ‘true’ mlokosewitchii or not, I couldn’t care less…

Korean Fairy bells

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This fall we got lucky: not only Disporum uniflorum has set fruits but I also got to them before the squirrels did (I suppose one of them was guilty for breaking the stems last year).
A simply gorgeous plant all year long; if I would really have to choose only 3 plants for a part- shade location Disporum uniflorum would be on top of the list.

Few pictures are better than a thousand words…

Disporum uniflorum flowering in my old and new garden

It can also be combined with the American fairy bells, Uvularia grandiflora which flowers at the same time, Helleborus, Trilliums, various Primulas, woodland peonies ;)… to mention just a few.

Dark blue fruits are developing later (not too many, there is a little problem with self-pollination) but even the non-fertilized fruits get dark blue contrasting nicely with the yellowing foliage in mid-September.
Moist- packed seeds sown asap will germinate in late spring (in translation: the requirement for germination is a slightly warm period followed by cold); the seedlings are easy going.

Disporum uniflorum, fall color, fruits, fresh seeds and seedlings :)