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Wildflowers Tuesday – Limestone calamint

Observing plants growing in the wild has always been my greatest source of inspiration when it comes to growing species in the rock garden or other more specific situations (like a scree garden). Growing along the shores of lakes Michigan and Huron on rocky, calcareous substrate/alvars in full sun, there is this little mint scented plant, which seems perfect for the edge of the rockery, or as a groundcover along a patio or walkway. It will bring a much needed splash of colour in mid-summer, not to mention the refreshing spicy mint scent!

: Clinopodium arkansanum (limestone calamint)

Green-purple delicate stems with linear leaves and large, lavender flowers at peak flowering usually sometimes in July.

Another one that got into the ‘seeds to be collected’ list, which keeps getting longer and longer.

July 21, 2015

Wildflowers Monday – the Partridge berry

Plant portraits, Wildflowers of North America

Mitchella repens – Partridge berry, twinberry, squaw vine

This is also in praise of little plants because Partridge berry is a ‘ground hugger’, forming an excellent, evergreen carpet of small, rounded, shiny leaves with a whitish main vein. I can imagine it flowing over a big shaded boulder, mossy woodland humps or over a stony wall. But, sadly I have never seen it cultivated – little plants have sometimes difficulties to getting noticed…

Mitchella repens – Partridge berry, Squaw vine, in habitat

Well-known and used traditionally by the Indigenous People as a women’s herb (as an aid in menstrual complaints and childbirth, hence the name squaw vine), it was tested and still recommended by the modern herbal medicine. The ‘berries’ were also used occasionally as food.

Mitchella repens flowers – pink buds opening to white, tubular, fragrant flowers with fuzzy petals (you have to lay down to notice this); they are followed by large scarlet ‘berries’ (actually drupes) which are consumed by a variety of birds and mammals in late fall.

Note: The name Mitchella was chosen by C. Linnaeus to honor his friend John Mitchell. A physician, keen naturalist and cartographer; he set up practice in America and over the years provided Linnaeus with information about many North American species, partridge berry included.

Thanks to someone’s comment regarding Mitchella cultivation, I realized I should mention that it is often found growing close to Gaultheria procumbens or on top of moss mounds, which indicates its inclination for a slightly acidic substrate, besides moist locations. Give it a try! – not necessarily from seeds; the stems are easily rooting at the nodes and a small portion can be used same as a cutting (already rooted ;).

Mitchella and companions (Gaultheria in the left-top corner)

June 29, 2015

Test, test – Eriogonum umbellatum var. porteri

Alpine plants, Plant portraits, Wildflowers of North America

Little plants series – the chameleon

It seems that my subscription form doesn’t always works, so I am testing with a little plant; actually from a category that should be better called ‘flat to the ground’ (or prostrate plants, botanically speaking ;) Eriogonum umbellatum (sulfur buckwheat), is well-known to the rock garden aficionados and mountain enthusiasts, and it has quite a few, hard to ID varieties.

E. umbellatum var. porteri (Porter’s sulphur flower) is the smallest of them all – a real golden nugget I acquired from Wrightman Alpines. In the wild it grows on rocky slopes and ridges at high-elevations in a few locations in Colorado, Nevada and Utah.

: Eriogonum umbellatum var. porteri – Bear in mind that this is a young plant and it needs a few more years to start glowing in its full splendour

Flat to the ground, or better said container, it is an all season interest plant: evergreen foliage with small leaves in tight rosettes, yellow bright flowers which turn red when fading (like in the featured image); the foliage will also acquire red and orange tones. Needless to say – pollinator friendly and a reliable, good companion for other little plants.

To make my point, two more images:

E. umbellatum var. aureum in full bloom in Wasatch Mts. (Utah), which is very similar with var. porteri; the later replacing var. aureum at higher elevations.

Eriogonum umbellatum var. aureum (Wasatch Mts., Utah)

And an incredible old exemplar of E. umbellatum var. porteri which has turned red after pollination – growing at the Montreal Botanical Garden (which is renown, by the way, for its Alpine Garden).

Eriogonum umbellatum var.porteri ( Montreal BG)

Sort of a chameleonic plant I would say…

June 11, 2015

Wildflowers Monday – Hydrophyllum virginianum

Plant portraits, Wildflowers of North America

It’s in the details

Conspicuously silver-marked, pinnate leaves which are among the first to appear early in the spring:

Hydrophyllum virginianum – early spring foliage

Curled flower buds with ciliate calyces which resemble an exquisite lace work; opening to reveal white or purple bell-shaped flowers with exerted stamens:

Hydrophyllum virginianum flowers

…recognized by pollination ecologists as very valuable because they attract large numbers of native bees. They must be delicious – often foraged by the bumblebees long after their prime:

Bumblebee on Hydrophyllum virginianum

Hydrophyllum virginianum grows very well in dry, shade conditions of hardwood forests, bottomlands and edges of the woods. Excellent as a groundcover in difficult shady areas and for naturalization projects. Although considered a bit weedy, I noticed that it is not capable to compete with the non-native invasive species, which are spreading in the remnants woodlots between newly developed residential areas.

Another Hydrophyllum that will save your time (and back) from weeding in the shady, moist areas of the garden, is the Broad-leaf waterleaf – Hydrophyllum canadense.

Hydrophyllum canadense

June 8, 2015

Wildflowers Monday – Jeffersonia diphylla

Wildflowers of North America

Jeffersonia diphylla – Twinleaf, Rheumatism root (Fam. Berberidaceae)

Twinleaf is quite an unusual North American native species. Not often cultivated and we still have to find it in the woods of Southwestern Ontario where it is probably quite rare. This gorgeous picture belongs to a cultivated plant. It is obviously thriving in a garden where many native species are mingling happily in a fine balance with more exotic species (many thanks for the opportunity to take the pictures).

Jeffersonia diphylla

It is easily distinguished by the bluish-green two-lobed leaves that gave both its Latin and common names. Think of them as green butterflies topped up in the spring by large white flowers resembling those of the bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). Awesome combination!

But the flowering is a short event like in many other cases; it is the foliage that makes it so special. In the spring, the newly emerged stems are purple coloured, reminding of another great perennial of Berberidaceae, the blue cohosh. A definitely show off for any garden! If we would be to say this is a rare Chinese species, would it become more desirable? Joke apart, the only other Jeffersonia species, equally special, J. dubia, grows wild in the Far East Russia, North Korea, and Manchuria.

Named in honour of US President Thomas Jefferson, which was a keen gardener himself, it has had medicinal uses in the traditional aboriginal medicine, mainly for dropsy, urinary problems and inflammations (hence the name rheumatism root).

Jeffersonia diphylla fruit

Propagation: not difficult from seeds if they are kept moist at all times and allowed a warm-cold cycle (just like its cousins Epimediums). It will germinate in the next warm cycle. Not fast growing but worthwhile the wait. It presents a peculiar capsule that opens from a slit below the top, similar with a lid (be careful to catch the arilate seeds!)

May 18, 2015

Wildflowers Monday – Pink and green Trillium

Photography, Wildflowers of North America

Wandering in the woods through masses of white trillium (T. grandiflorum) at peak flowering is a privilege.An even greater and exciting treat is finding its pink form – Trillium grandiflorum f. roseum and interesting green variants. The pink flower form can be usually found mixed in large populations of ‘normal’ white trilliums. Scouting for them has to be done early because later almost all of the “whites” will also turn slightly pink when fading.

Trillium grandiflorum f. roseum

The greening of the White Trillium flowers is believed to be caused by infection with a pathogen belonging to the genus Phytoplasma. Phytoplasmic infections are usually confined to phloem and often result in the transformation of floral parts to leafy green structures, potentially leading to sterility of the plant. But there is more research to be done until all will be clear regarding this subject.

Trillium grandiflorum – green variant No.1

Trillium grandiflorum – green variant No. 2; I think ‘Green Feather’ would be a good name for it…

Trillium grandiflorum – the No.3 green variant, arising from a carpet of wild-ginger leaves

I can only watch closely my variants to see how they evolve and if they’ll form fruits/seeds. There is something beautiful about their ‘infection’ ;) At least the No.3 looks very happy and thriving.

May 11, 2015

Earth octopus

Propagation

Yesterday I spent quite some time into the darkness of the garage, doing archaeological plant-digging in containers. I was looking after various creatures that like to spend the winter dry and need to be unearthed by late April and be brought back to life (if possible).
A large earth octopus almost jumped out of a pot! Luckily it proved out to be a gentle one. I checked its legs one by one, all seemed to be fine; eyes wide open and smiling. It was carefully placed in fresh, rich potting mix as it likes it, free to swim and have fun.

The earth octopus (Roscoea auriculata)

I’ll wait with the water until it starts growing a bit (it’s an earth octopus with rhizomatous fleshy tentacles after all). Somewhere in mid-summer a strange phenomenon will happen: the earth octopus will bloom!

There were also a few baby octopuses (not completely developed, some have only 2-3 tentacles), all fine looking and ready to start earth swimming. Roscoeas are very pleasant plants to grow from seeds; it will take 3+ years for the first flowers to appear.

Roscoea auriculata it is a hardy ginger from Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, where it grows in grasslands at 2400-2700 m altitude. As the name suggests, it has consistently auriculate (eared) leaves on the pseudostem. The height can be variable 20-40 cm and the flowers are large, in various shades of purple to deep violet or even white. It can be mistaken with R. purpurea but it flowers a bit earlier and the flowers have usually white upper staminodes and a strongly down-facing labellum.

April 24, 2015

Warm lilies

Propagation, Wildflowers of North America

Lilium michiganense, Lilium canadense (plus few others) are the kind of lilies that require warmth for the first stage of germination (about 20˚C), and then a period of cold (0-5˚C for 2-3 months) for the true leaves to emerge. If you get these seeds in late fall or winter, this is the tried recipe to make sure that they’ll start growing leaves in the spring:

Place the seeds in a Ziploc bag with moist vermiculite and keep them during the winter months (Nov/Dec.-Feb/March) at room temperature. Check the moisture once in a while. After the tiny bulblets appear, place the Ziplocs in the fridge for the cold treatment (March-May). Pot them afterwards and place outside.

These bulblets had their photos taken and now are ready to switch places in the fridge with the seeds that are coming out for sowing. Some grow out of the seed and are visible, while some can remain more or less enclosed.

And bulblets of another woodland edge growing, tall Lilium (supposedly canadense); we didn’t catch it in flower last year, but it was an impressive exemplar. It has been placed on the ‘watch list’ for this year so we can properly identify it.

Although North American native species, these Liliums and also few others are almost never grown by commercial nurseries. Start growing your own, besides being ‘hot’ plants, they are pollinated by hummingbirds, sphinx moths and butterflies like the Monarch and Spicebush Swallowtail!

Lilium michiganense

March 10, 2015

Dreams

Wildflowers of North America

“Like the seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring” – Kahlil Gibran

One of the coldest February months in history is about to end but it shouldn’t keep us from dreaming our hearts wishes…A gallery of spring flower seeds, which all bear elaiosomes; some are still dreaming under the snow or in my fridge, some have started to germinate.

(Click to see large size images)

Stylophorum diphyllum fresh seeds

Erythronium americanum fresh seeds

Claytonia virginica fresh seeds

Uvularia grandiflora fresh seeds

Hepatica americana fresh seeds

Corydalis solida fresh seeds

Trillium grandiflorum fresh seeds

The variety of elaiosome shapes and structures is simply mesmerizing when seen up-close. From barely seen in Claytonia (Spring beauty) to the ‘Mohican-style crest’ in Stylophorum (Wood poppy) and snail body-like in Sanguinaria (Bloodroot) – this is nature’s imagination at its best!

February 28, 2015

Berberidaceae seeds and embryos

Medicinal plants, Propagation

Update: GA3 treatment makes no difference for Caulophyllum or other species like it which have immature embryos; they only need to be kept moist (or sown fresh) and allowed the required warm/cold cycles, multiple times in case of Caulophyllum (2-3 years).

Speaking about the inside winter gardening, this year I am trying to use GA3 to speed up the germination of Caulophyllum thalictroides (and a few others). There would be much to say about Caulophyllum seeds, from the fact that they develop outside the ovary and have a drupe-like look, they must be kept moist at all times after collecting, to the fact that they have a tiny immature embryo (it’s very hard to see it even with a hand-lens) but a gigantic corneous endosperm…
But I am only showing my new method of treating the seeds with a GA3 solution and then placing them back in vermiculite in the same small plastic bags, instead of using moist towel/Ziploc or sowing in pots. At this point, the embryos are most likely at the torpedo stage.

Caulophyllum thalictroides - GA3 treatments

Caulophyllum thalictroides seeds - vermiculite storage

I think it is a great method for medium to large size seeds and a super space saver (which is of my high interest right now). It is easy to see if/when something germinates, and I had proof that the roots can grow quite a bit on the support they get from vermiculite (in contrast to keeping the seeds in moist towels, where the new roots get entangled and are easily damaged).

If someone is curious to browse the gallery (hover for caption): sectioned seeds/embryos of Caulophyllum, Podophyllum peltatum and of Ranzania japonica, a most intriguing species from the same family as Caulophyllum (Berberidaceae). Many members of this family, which simply fascinates me, are difficult to grow from seeds: think Epimedium, Podophyllum, Jeffersonia, Vancouveria…I will be most happy to grow Ranzania – it looks like a cool hybrid plant between Glaucidium and Anemonopsis!
A few Epimedium and Jeffersonia diphylla were sown early summer last year. We’ll see about that… Update 2017 – the first seedling flowered this year!

February 8, 2015

Spring beauty awakening

Gardens, Plant portraits, Wildflowers of North America

One more garage check-up before sinking into another round of low night-time temperatures. The spring beauty seeds are sprouting! – maybe they know something that we don’t? ;)

Claytonia virginica is a true ephemeral beauty, a cheer for the soul in springtime!

: Claytonia virginica

Virginia spring beauty is common in southern and south-central Ontario and it flowers before the trees are leafing out. The pink (rarely white) flowers that are glistening in the spring sun are a treat after the long winter months! After setting seeds, it retreats in the soil for the rest of the season.

As a trial out, I sown a few seeds immediately after collecting, and I kept the rest in moist vermiculite (warm then cold). The seeds in moist storage have germinated in late December; the ones sown in the spring are germinating now. Note taken: the seeds can be safely offered for sale until beginning of December.

On a top list of ‘hardest seeds to collect’, Claytonia comes first. I have expected Corydalis to win the prize but it didn’t. Like everything beautiful, Claytonia has proven very difficult to handle because it flowers in succession and the fruit maturation follows the same pattern, plus the fruits are dehiscent; a nightmare! And, do I need to mention the small seeds? No wonder is not on many seeds shops lists! But, a few people were happy to find these seeds available, so my effort did pay off. Plus, now I have a few seedlings for myself. Double hit!

Claytonia virginica seedlings

January 25, 2015

Helleborus journeying

Alpine plants, Mountains, Propagation

A short break from the deep freeze allowed me to unwrap and check the plant trays stored in the garage today. Anxiety was running high because I had noticed that a few species had started to germinate more than a week ago. Luckily, from under two sheets of fleece and plastic, the Helleborus seedlings showed their happy faces :)

While I had never thought of growing Helleborus from seeds until last year, this has proven to be a very fruitful and satisfying journey so far. The seeds have germinated promptly after being sown fresh during late summer; also the storage in moist vermiculite turned out to be a very good option for extending the fresh seeds offering period.

Helleborus hybrid - double flower)

These Helleborus seedlings are descendants of mountaineer mother-plants:

Helleborus purpurascens – a native of alpine meadows and forests in the Carpathian Mts. (Romania to Hungary)

The hybrid double Helleborus seedlings have ‘blood’ of Helleborus torquatus – a species confined to mountain regions of the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia, Hertegovina and Serbia – where natural double forms can be found). The most desirable forms have deep violet purple flowers (H. torquatus is one of the parents of the first dark flowered Helleborus hybrids).

Double Helleborus torquatus

Just starting to germinate is also Helleborus foetidus, a native of mountain regions from Central and S. Europe. In many cases, Helleborus seedlings will start to flower in the second year, which is another reason to happily continue the journey. Even if not all of them will be garden worthy, there are endless chances to obtain new forms with different flower colours or traits. It will be a long time until the melting snow will allow us to enjoy the Helleborus flowering on this frozen land; until then we can rejoice in growing seedlings!

And to keep them company under the lights there is another mountain plant, this time a peony – Paeonia mlokosewitschii (a native of the Caucasus Mts.)