Friday’s Seeds – more Caryophyllaceae

,

A few images recently added to the Caryophyllaceae page on the Seeds Library – all species collected this summer in the Carpathian Mts. and Dobrogea region, Romania.
In general, species from Caryophyllaceae family are easy to grow from seeds and some (for example,  think Dianthus, Silene) may even flower in the first year.

Pictures with various Caryophyllaceae showing the habitats they grow in, will follow this weekend. Stay tuned, I’ve prepared many pictures – the time for winter getaways has come!

 

Cerastium alpinum ssp. lanatum- alpine mouse-ear

Gypsophila petraea

 

Silene compacta

 

 

Easy species to grow from seeds – Edraianthus graminifolius

,

I’ve started to put together a list with species easy to grow from seeds as a way to provide info and encouragement to those who are at the beginning of their seeds adventures. The list will see additions as we go.

First, a short plant portrait fro Edraianthus graminifolius.

Edraianthus graminifolius, Grassy bells, belongs to the Campanula family and like its name suggests, has linear, grassy-looking leaves and large,

Edraianthus graminifolius

blue flowers, in terminal clusters in May-June. The foliage remains tight and low at about 15 cm but the flowering stems are spreading/trailing so it needs its space ;) A delightful, easy going plant, as long as grown in full sun/well drained locations. You don’t really need a rock garden for it; just keep in mind its growth habit and place it in a suitable spot.

Growing for the first time from seeds, or just want to try something easy? Try something from the list below.
‘Easy to grow from seeds’ means:
– easy to germinate & in large percentage
– seedlings that aren’t fussy to grow
– also, easy going plants in the garden, as long as provided with the required conditions.

I will avoid the so called two-stage germinators (although all you have to do is wait, for ex. Helleborus) or others that I never germinate/grown myself, also species with naturally low germination rates, those where the seedlings need special care and plants I’m not quite sure about. For sure there could be more species added to this list.

Easy species to grow from seeds
(they will germinate at room temperature or after being sown outdoors in the spring; aka. warm germinators)

Acinos alpinus
Allium thunbergii and few other Allium
Aquilegia canadensis and most other Aquilegia
Amphicarpaea

Arenaria (most species)
Arabis species
Anthemis carpatica and other Anthemis species (first, check very well the seeds!)
Arisaema triphyllum
Arisaema flavum and other Arisaema
Astragalus (with HWT)
Asphodeline lutea
Asphodeline taurica
Aurinia saxatilis
Alyssum
Baptisia australis (using the HWT)
Berkheya purpurea
Bukiniczia cabulica

Campanula, many species
Capnoides sempervirens
Caragana (HWT)
Carlina acaulis
Calycanthus floridus (after nicking the seeds)
Centaurea triumfettii, Centaurea orientalis, and other Centaurea species
Cerastium alpinum ssp. lanatum
Cercis canadensis
Cirsium spp. (some species, C. canuum)

Draba species
Delphinium grandiflorum and other species
Dianthus ssp.

Echinops crispus and other Echinops
Edraianthus graminifolius and other Edraianthus (not all species though)
Erinus alpinus
Erythranthe guttata

Gentiana cruciata, G. dahurica
other Gentiana spp. from Cruciata section
Gypsophila species

Hedysarum (using the HWT)
Hieracium lanatum

Ipomopsis rubra
Iris dichotoma
Iris domestica
Kalmia
Kernera saxatilis
Lathyrus vernus (light scarification)
Lilium formosanum var.pricei
Linaria spp.
Lychnis ssp.

Erythranthe guttata
Minuartia, some species
Mitella diphylla
Monarda
Mimulus lewisii
Oxytropis with HWT (or scarification)
Papaver species
Paronychia cephalotes
Phyteuma scheuchzeri and other Phyteuma
Platycodon

Primula japonica and other Primula spp. (some exceptions)
Pulsatilla vulgaris, other species, hybrids,
Physochlaina orientalis
Rhodiola
Most Rhododendron species
Roscoea species

Sedum ssp., Sempervivums
most Silene species
Scabiosa caucasica, other Scabiosa spp.
Scutellaria pontica and other ssp.
Stylophorum diphyllum (fresh or moist kept seeds)

Thermopsis (using HWT)
Thalictrum cf. foetidum
Thalictrum rochebruneanum and few other Thalictrum
Thymus species
Viola – some species

HWT – it means applying the hot water treatment before sowing; it can be replaced by light scarification.

Friday’s seed and plant portrait – Hypericum kalmianum

,

Having too many seeds makes it hard to choose which one to show/write about.
I am going the easy way with the last species uploaded to the shop – the Kalm’s St. John’s wort, a (sub)shrub native of the Great Lakes region in Canada and US.

Hypericum kalmianum seeds – Kalm’s St. John’s wort (Fam. Hypericaceae)

Cultivated to some extent, this Hypericum has narrow bluish-green leaves and cheerful, large golden flowers with extruded stamens in late summer; the capsules mature very late.
It is a showy, adaptable plant; evergreen (or partly) and as one can guess after its wild habitat, with excellent cold hardiness. Another attractive feature is the brown/reddish bark which peels off.

Lots of qualities!

Hypericum kalmianum flowers

Hypericum kalmianum1

Hypericum kalmianum bark

Lobelia kalmii

The specific epithet honors Pehr Kalm, one of Linnaeus’ disciples ; an explorer, botanist and naturalist, he traveled to and lived for a while in North America in mid-17th , discovering and writing about plants, animals, insects, Niagara Falls, and in general about the life of American colonies at the time.

Another species that can be found with H. kalmianum, bearing the same name is Lobelia kalmii  shown in the gallery.
Days are short now so you can start to read more about Pehr in the wiki stub and then follow other links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pehr_Kalm

Friday’s seeds – Echinops crispus

,

Besides the seeds, a sunny image with Echinops crispus (curly Echinops) on this bitterly cold day; the red flowers of Anthyllis might warm us up.

Echinops crispus and Anthyllis vulneraria var. coccinea in the background, early June 2017

I secretly watched this globe thistle evolve from a small seedling into a beautiful clump this year; too bad I was away just when at its most glorious time. The underside of leaves and the stems are covered with a thick pubescence (shown in the featured image), a perfect adaptation for the drought; grown from seeds collected in the southern Ural Mts. (Chelyabinsk region).

Echinops crispus, July 2017

 Like in many other species from Fam. Asteraceae, some of the fruits (achenes) are empty, thus careful selecting of the seeds is necessary.

Echinops crispus fruits and seeds

Echinops name from the Greek words ‘ekhinos’ = hedgehog, sea urchin and
‘ops’ = face, head (referring to the appearance of the inflorescences)

Friday’s Seeds and plant portrait – Amsonia hubrichtii

, ,

Honestly, I had no intention to write another post so soon, but plants need to be shown at their best moments. And, Amsonia hubrichtii, the Arkansas bluestar is absolutely radiant right now.

Amsonia hubrichtii in late fall

Depending how much sun receives it may also take a russet hue (notice the capsules).

I won’t wonder again about why is not cultivated more; the images speak for themselves. It is a foliage plant by definition, the thread- like leaves will combine beautifully with almost anything else; those who want more flowery display should plant other perennials close to it and let them complement/weave through the delicate foliage.

The flowers are pale blue, not very noticeable but a nice addition.

With Delphinium likiangense; probably larkspurs (Consolida regalis) would make for a nice combination as well.

Without thinking much, one year I planted Dahlia coccinea behind it; now it has become the rule.

The seeds are quite particular, like of other Amsonias (Fam. Apocynaceae); the fruits (capsules) can be spotted in one image above.

Amsonia hubrichtii seeds

PS. It is a bit late to emerge in the spring; planting a bunch of small spring bulbs & daffodils close to the clump will do the trick ;)

 

Thursday Seedex with Asteraceae

I’m late with preparing the seedex donations; just sent a small one to the SCRG and since the local mail doesn’t take long, I’ll pack a few more for ORG & HP Society this weekend.

It’s not easy to decide what to give; I always start to think what would be more attractive from what I have surplus, then some need more cleaning than others, and so on…Speaking of cleaning, nothing is more disappointing than receiving the wonderful little packets only to find inside ‘not so good seeds’, or just parts of them (it happened a few times).

Special attention is needed to all species in Fam. Asteraceae because by as a rule some of the seeds are always empty and it is not always easy to see which ones with the naked eye; a strong hand lens is necessary.

For example, let’s look at Anthemis carpatica ssp. pyrethriformis I just prepared for ORGS & HP. This subspecies, endemic to Eastern Carpathian Mts., while bearing the same large flowers is smaller in size than the regular A. carpatica.
It is super easy to grow from seeds (warm germinator) and is a good plant for any rockery (attention when planting the grown seedlings in the garden – they need very good drainage). The seedlings shown are from a previous seed collection I did few years ago.

Anthemis carpatica ssp. pyrethriformis1

Anthemis carpatica ssp. pyrethriformis seeds

and the non viable ‘seeds’

Anthemis carpatica ssp. pyrethriformis – non-viable seeds; when shown already separated, it seems easy to distinguish them but actually I had to use a x 40 hand lens to do it!

Another Asteraceae donated to both SRGC and ORG & HP – Jurinea mollis seeds are shown in the featured image.

Two years in a row, instead of seeds I found in the seedex packets just the pappus of a dwarf Jurinea species (from AGS Seedex).
This is how Jurinea seeds look like, with variations depending on the species and the moment when the seeds were collected (the pappus can be reduced in size or it may have fallen out).

Jurinea mollis seeds

The cranberry

,

Another belated Friday’s seeds would have been unacceptable, so a plant portrait instead (seeds included ;) about the cranberry – Vaccinium macrocarpon, American cranberry.

The Cranberry is a North American symbol. Recently I’ve seen it growing in the wild and asked myself how many people actually know how the plant looks like?

Vaccinium macrocarpon fruit

It is very surprising to see that the large fruits are formed on a small trailing vine, which has thin, graceful branches. Is this indeed The cranberry?

Vaccinium macrocarpon

Yes, it is; after all ‘macrocarpon’ means ‘large fruit’.
Another species, Vaccinium oxycoccos, the small cranberry, is very similar and distinguishable by its pointed leaves (and few other details). The cranberries are specific wetlands species: they grow on swamps, fens, and occasionally on glacial deposits in kettle holes on shorelines (like shown in the picture). Usually will form mats on Sphagnum moss; leaves are shiny green/glaucous beneath and turn bright red in the fall.

Vaccinium macrocarpon habitat

Vaccinium macrocarpon

Vaccinium macrocarpon seeds

The American cranberry can be found from Manitoba to Newfoundland, and south into the mid-western and eastern U.S. Probably in some areas fruits are still collected in the wild but most came from commercial operations. It was one of the first medicinal plant crop to be grown commercially in the U.S.; maybe in Canada as well.

Traditionally, Native people have gathered and consumed the fresh fruits for their vitamin C content and also used them dried and mixed with fat/dried meat and fish.
To note only few of the modern utilizations: they are used mainly for juice and pie making, jams, dried fruits, and for naturopathic preparations (bladder and kidney infections).

Have a bog/wet, acidic area in the garden? – do not hesitate to grow this lovely North American shrub!

 

A well done job

Never enough gentians….

In my opinion the bumble bees did a great job with Gentiana andrewsii. There are enough seeds for Canada 150 Celebration sale, and also for the seeds exchanges! :)

Bumble bee pollinating Gentiana andrewsii

A well done job

 

 

Friday Seeds & germination requirements for Viburnum species

,

This fall I collected for the first time fruits of Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf Viburnum) and Viburnum rafinesquianum (downy arrow-wood Viburnum).

Surely, I was curious to see how the ‘seeds’ (endocarp + seed) are looking but how about their germination?
There are contradictory statements on the web; some say they first need a cold stratification, others say warm. It’s good to clarify this because I like to provide reliable info.

So, back to the books ;)

Viburnum acerifolium pits (endocarp+ seed)

Viburnum rafinesquianum pits

I like Baskin & Baskin: Seeds – Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination (2014) because besides giving results from their own experiments, there are citations of hundreds of other articles on germination (of course, in some cases things are not always clear).

And, the warm stratification is the winner!
These Viburnum spp. have deep simple epicotyl morphophysiological dormancy and the germination requirements are: warm/moist stratification period (during which roots emerge), followed by a cold/moist period (after which the shoots grow).
In translation, if sown in late summer they will show up the next spring; otherwise they will germinate complete in the second spring after sowing.

On the same list are many other Viburnum species like: alnifolium, betulifolium, cassinoides, dentatum, dilatatum, lentago, opulus, parvifolium, prunifolium….Those who don’t have access to the book can read here a very short but conclusive summary regarding Viburnum acerifolium germination:
http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1674/0003-0031%282005%29153%5B0232%3AEDIVAC%5D2.0.CO%3B2

Also another summary here:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267996605_Overview_of_seed_dormancy_in_Viburnum_Caprifoliaceae

Viburnum acerifolium

Viburnum rafinesquianum fall

Here they go!

,

Trillium grandiflorum seeds are just beginning to germinate! As well is Paris quadrifolia; I noticed the first signs last Saturday (with my x40 lens).

I snapped a few pictures when I was packing some today; they are advanced enough to be noticeable even if the pictures are not great.

Trillium grandiflorum seeds starting to germinate

 

Paris quadrifolia seeds barely showing the radicle

No matter what someone else says or writes, this is happening every year.

For these species, moist stored seeds kept at warm (room temperature) will always start to germinate around this time (roots only).
From all T. grandiflorum seeds, 70-80% will germinate now (roots) and then show the first leaves in the spring after a period of cold stratification. The rest will need one more warm/cold cycle to go through the same cycle.

Paris quadrifolia seeds were also tested two years ago and at that time they all germinated by November (this year I only got few and were promised to someone).

On short, hurry up if you think about Trillium grandiflorum; right now I can select and send seeds that are just about to germinate (they are enlarged and lighter in colour – see the feature image).

 

 

Friday’s seeds – Mitchella repens

,

I recently collected more partridge berries, together with Lindera benzoin and Prosartes lanuginosa (already shown, click on names).

Mitchella repens presents an interesting fruit, therefore worth a closer look. The red, fleshy, ‘two-eyed’ fruit it is formed after the fusion of the flowers ovaries – the white, fragrant flowers are disposed in pairs.  So, each pair of flowers will form one fruit. Each fruit has a spongy inside (a bit like Gaultheria) and will contain up to 8 seeds.

Mitchella repens fruits and seeds – Partridge berry, twinberry, squaw vine (Fam. Rubiaceae)

Why this perfect, evergreen ground hugging plant is seldom seen cultivated in the gardens remains a mystery to me. It can be easily propagated by cuttings as well.

Mitchella repens flowers

Mitchella repens fruits

Belated Friday’s seeds – Chamaedaphne calyculata

,

Instead of writing about seeds, I was in collecting them ;) therefore a combined post about Chamaedaphne calyculata, the Leatherleaf or ground laurel.

The sole member of the genus Chamaedaphne (Ericaceae), leatherleaf is a low growing evergreen small shrub (up to 1.5 m tall). It is native to cool regions of the Northern Hemisphere, from North America, NE Europe to N. Japan, Mongolia and Siberia, where grows in all types of bogs, sedge fens, and open wetlands.
It is characteristic of mature and late stages of moss shrub communities, where it forms colonies, with rhizomes spreading in the sphagnum moss. It actually helps the installation of other species with whom is found growing, like Sarracenia, Drosera, Kalmia polifolia, Ledum groenlandica, various Vaccinium species.

The common name comes from the thick, leathery leaves, which are turning red-brown in the winter. It has a dense branching and the older stems turn gray with a fine exfoliating bark texture.
The white, bell shaped flowers on long inflorescences appear in April-July, depending on the region. Somewhat resembles Andromeda flowers, which is why Linnaeus first named it Andromeda calyculata.

Chamaedaphne calyculata, Leatherleaf

Fruits are capsules with split open and release the seeds shown below (wedged shaped, golden brown).

Chamaedaphne calyculata fruits and seeds

 It would make a great addition for small and large bog gardens. For those who have conditions and enjoy growing Ericaceous species – the seeds require cold/moist stratification and probably best to germinate them like in nature on a piece of sphagnum moss (in a pot/or ‘in situ’). I showed in a previous post how to easily germinate Gaultheria procumbens and Saxifraga cuneifolia in moss (Read here Sowing in moss).

Chamaedaphne calyculata seedlings germinated/growing on sphagnum moss (look around the Tamarack branch :)