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 :)

 

 

Satisfaction

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It is always a joyful moment to see various species grown from seeds flowering for the first time. No matter if they are common or ‘rare’ species, natives or not, they bring a different feeling than those acquired from a garden center.

Flowering first time from the shaded side of the garden:

Podophyllum hexandrum (syn. Sinopodophyllum)

Podophyllum hexandrum, Himalayan mayapple

Triosteum pinnatifidum, a species grown for its beautiful foliage and fruits; the flowers are not showy but without them we wouldn’t have fruits ;)

Triosteum pinnatifidum

Lathyrus vernus, grown from own wild collected seeds, which adds to the satisfaction!

Lathyrus vernus

Other species that flowered for the first time in early spring in the shade were: Helleborus purpurascens and Pachyphragma macrophyllum.

Helleborus purpurascens (from wild collected seeds, Carpathian Mts.)

Pachyphragma macrophyllum

More to come. And let’s not forget the sunny side!

Viola jooi

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A picture with Viola jooi from last week to keep us going through another cold & rainy day.
Viola joy!

Viola jooi, the Transilvanian violet: an acaulescent, limestone loving species, endemic of the Carpathian Mts. (Romania, Ukraine); a new population was also described from NE Serbia

Spring beauties I: Claytonia and Lindera

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Besides Hepatica, quite a few other spring beauties are in flower right now.

Claytonia virginica

The one which literally bears this common name: Claytonia virginica, is a short lived ephemeral. After enchanting us with its cheerful flowers it will retreat in the ground for the rest of the season.
It certainly needs a long beauty sleep!
Others though, will remain and provide beauty, shade, shelter and food for the wildlife until late fall.

Among the first native shrubs to flower in our woodlands is Lindera benzoin, the Northern spicebush.

If hiking in the woods at this time (in the wetter sides) and notice a yellow tinge among the otherwise bare trees branches, then it is Lindera (reason why another common name is forsythia of the wilds). It usually grows as an understory small tree/large shrub on bottomland woodlands and river edges.

Lindera benzoin it is one of the first native shrubs/small tree to flower in the spring; it can be grown in a partly shaded location as a large specimen (by planting few plants together) or in small groups for larger woodland gardens

The yellow flowers which appear in small ‘bunches’ (female/males plants) are a sign of the long awaited spring and very useful to the early pollinators!

Lindera puts its best show in early fall when the foliage turns yellow; wonderful background for the shiny red, abundant fruits (female and male plants need to grow together). They provide food for countless birds but are always in great abundance and some will be left to be admired.

Lindera benzoin, September

Lindera benzoin, fall

The fleshy part of the fruits was/it is chopped and utilized as an allspice (hence the name). The foliage is also aromatic and the leaves and twigs were used to prepare a tea. Not least important, the Spicebush is a favourite larval host for the beautiful Spicebush swallowtail and Promethea silkmoth!

About fruits, seeds and germination:

The seeds are hydrophilic and need to be sown right after collecting or kept moist. After a period of cold/moist stratification they will germinate promptly in the spring (see the post: A late arrival – Lindera benzoin seedlings).

Lindera benzoin fruits & seeds

Friday’s seedlings – Aquilegia

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Every year I sow a few Aquilegia species indoors to give them a bit of extra growth time. New species, some to repeat, there are always plenty of seeds to choose from. It is always good to go back to basics.

1. Aquilegia canadensis – short form: I need a new one; last year I put the spade through it by mistake.

2. Aquilegia fragrans: time to see how a fragrant Aquilegia actually smells (old seeds from a seedex).

3. Aquilegia chaplinei: young plants have been devoured last year by the columbine sawfly, twice! This is a lovely dwarf version of A. chrysantha, with delicate bluish-green foliage and yellow flowers with extremely long spurs. I love long spurred Aquilegias!

4. Aquilegia vitalii: from few remaining old seeds; I have a young plant outdoors but who knows after this harsh winter…..

There are also a few A. scopulorum seedlings; I never seem to have enough plants to be able to offer seeds and it’s a pity (Alien vs. Predators).
Last year I grew A. alpina again and A. olympica so there should be a lot of new blues this summer. Not that I can complain, Aquilegia nigricans does a fine job in this regard.

Note: keep your eyes open for the columbine sawfly (Pristiphora rufipes) in late spring.
Last year I had the unfortunate occasion to discover that the larvae, which look like green caterpillars, can consume the entire foliage of one plant in a blink of an eye!
They are hard to notice being green but not difficult to pick up by hand if noticed on time (spraying with insecticidal soap should also work if necessary).
Also, do not believe there is only one generation/year like they say; it depends on the climate.

Contractile roots – a journey to the center of the earth?

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The repotting of Chinese Podophyllums and Roscoea always brings to mind the contractile roots, and Jules Verne’s story ;) It is time to talk about them.

So, what’s with these contractile roots?
Many species from various families and growing in a whole range of habitats are equipped with such roots. By contracting they pull down the plant at the depth considered optimal by the species.

They particularly play a role in good plant anchorage. Also, for many bulbous/tuberous and rhizomatous species they adjust the depth of these organs in the ground where they will be protected from extreme temperatures/drought; another function is to protect the apical buds from being destroyed.

As soon as possible the Podophyllum shown below will be planted out; I felt sorry seeing the long contractile roots circled at the bottom of the container. I have to give it the freedom to go deep down in the ground.

Podophyllum delavayi (syn. Dysosma) grown in a large container – notice the contractile roots, most often they have a cord-like appearance and are unbranched. Imagine how much deeper they would have like to go if planted in the ground!

Roscoea cautleyoides – purple form

It is my opinion that these roots also have a practical implication in regards to planting.

Over the years I noticed that all the Arisaema sp. and Roscoea I planted in the ground in early summer did fine, even if some species are not considered truly hardy for the zone 5. I am sure this is because they had time to go deep down to their desired depth before the cold season started.

Planting too late means that the roots won’t have time to settle at the proper depth, with a possible negative outcome.
Many times we attribute the loss of plants to the fact that they are not hardy, or the drainage wasn’t good enough, and so on….

Conclusion: plant your Roscoea, Chinese Podophyllums and Arisaema species in the ground as soon as possible and no later than June I would say (in a cold, continental climate); if not possible, keep them in pots and wait until next year.
Also, do not grow them in pots longer than necessary, they like to go in exploration towards the center of the earth!

 

Another practical implication when growing these species from seeds: use taller pots, even the young seedlings like to have space for ‘deep’ exploration; it’s in their nature.

Few other Roscoea tubers pictures – the invasion of the Roscoea? :0

* All plants shown in the pictures have been grown from seeds.

You may also want to read – Hunker Down and Hold On: Contractile Roots Give Skunk Cabbage Another Special Trait.

Mea culpa – Paeonia brownii germination

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Before the FAQ on pre-ordering, mea culpa for providing wrong advice regarding Paeonia brownii germination.
Seeds arrived at a very busy time last fall (not that this should be an excuse), and after a quick search I wrongly assumed they require a warm cycle for root protruding followed by a cold one for shoot growing, like many other peony species.

I also followed this line of thought and kept my seeds in moist storage at room temperature starting mid-October. By January I felt something was not right and at the beginning of February I put the Ziploc bag containing the seeds in the fridge. One month later few of them already show cracked teguments!

Paeonia brownii seeds after 1 month of cold-moist stratification (fridge)

Good information IS available on the subject if one looks well enough and uses some critical thinking. I am sure that an AI would have come with the right advice in a split second.
Paeonia brownii seeds require 2-3 months of cold/moist stratification in order to germinate.

Those who received seeds last year please click to read the pdf below; better even, download it for your files. It contains a plant profile for Paeonia brownii with everything you need to know. It mentions that the young roots are sensitive, so as soon as I’ll notice the roots growing I will take one more picture, plant them in pots in a well-drained mix, and continue to provide the remaining cold period as such.

Paeonia brownii: distribution, ecology, propagation, cultivation

There is much talk about AI writing these days; I even answered recently a short questionnaire for someone working in AI development, looking to better understand the problems of products/content writing process encountered by on-line businesses.
No doubt, the time will come when they will do all the work for us: faster and competently.

Until then, I shall be excused for continuing to make humanly mistakes.
Who knows, maybe in the future this will remain a ‘signature’ of our writings.
They will inherently contain, somewhere, somehow, an error. 
A tiny mark of our beautifully flawed human nature.

About Ephedra and cutting seeds

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I don’t always get the chance to talk more about various species offered in the seeds shop which are not that well known/cultivated for ornamental purpose. This opportunity came unexpectedly for Ephedra distachya.

Ephedra species, commonly known as Mormon tea, joint-fir (and few others) are better known for their medicinal properties.
But not many are aware that Ephedra species are Gymnosperms, a singular genus in Fam. Ephedraceae, which in its turn is the sole Fam. in the Order Ephedrales.

Almost all species are dioecious and growing in dry, rocky/sandy habitats. Considering their evergreen aspect and colorful cones, they also make for interesting garden plants, a quality which should be exploited more.
It is extremely rare to see Ephedra in someone’s garden in our northern temperate climate. And yet, there are hardy species; we just need to be more open to growing new species.

Ephedra distachya is a low-growing shrub from Southern and Central Europe to Central Asia, which prefers rocky places in full sun location. The seeds were collected in 2017 from the Dobrogea region, close to the Black Sea in Romania.

Ephedra distachya, sea grape – female plant with ripe cones

Because not too much info regarding the seeds/germination/viability was available, I recently took it out of the inventory in order to test the seeds. I do this regularly with seeds in their 2-3+ year of storage, but with Ephedra I had one more reason for testing: the seeds I sowed in early fall 2017 soon after collecting, did not germinate by fall 2018.

An easy and fast way to assess the seeds is the ‘cut method’:  slice transversally through the seeds and visually (magnifying glass) inspect the ‘insides’, which should be whitish/yellowish in color. This will show that the seeds are not empty (which happens sometimes) and the endosperm/embryo are viable (unless using a microscope is hard to say most of the time if you’ve cut through the endosperm or the embryo).
After this first phase, one can follow with further germination tests, if desired/necessary.
In the case of seeds with a very hard seed coat or slippery, it is easier to cut the soaked seeds. I will elaborate about this method some other time.

Long story short – the seeds soaking started on Jan.3; water was changed daily. Yesterday (Jan. 7) this was the situation: after 5 days of soaking at room temperature, the seeds are starting to germinate! No need for cutting, proceed to sowing :)

Ephedra distachya seeds starting to germinate (radicles emerging)

 So, why these seeds have not germinated in the pot?
One explanation would be that I missed the watering of the little pot at some point, which is possible.
It is very easy to leave the pots too dry during the critical point when the germination starts when you don’t actually see the above ground signs of the seedlings.
It wouldn’t be the first time when I missed to properly water pots with seedlings. A good reminder to keep a better eye on the sowings!

Now, who wants to grow something different for their garden?
Ephedra distachya seeds are back in stock and other rarely cultivated species suitable to grow in similar location are still available (like Hedysarum grandiflorum, Astragalus vesicarius,…).

A ‘weedy’ Roscoea?!!

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Yes, that’s how I labeled the Roscoea species from these photo for a while.

Roscoea cf. scillifolia purple; photo taken last week (Oct. 17, 2018)

It was grown from seeds which came labeled as ‘R. tibetica narrow leaves’ (seedex).
Given the arrangement of leaves it become clear it was not R. tibetica even before flowering.The flowers resemble on a superficial look but then the way the capsules are formed also differ. So, it got the label Roscoea ‘non-tibetica’.

It proved to be the fastest growing Roscoea I’ve seen and flowered in the second year; also producing seeds. It was a bit hard to believe and the label was changed from Roscoea ‘non-tibetica’ to Roscoea ‘weedy’ :-)

I planted it in the garden two years ago curious to see if it will survive. Not only it did but as seen in the picture it thrives. Last year I didn’t collect any seeds and new seedlings are now added to the initial little clump.

All floral parts were photographed and measured; using the Roscoea Monograph of Jill Cowley it was found to fit into the highly variable Roscoea scillifolia species. Until someone does more work in Roscoea taxonomy, seeds will be offered as such in the shop; cf. because there is not enough data to be 100% sure, purple – to differentiate it from the usual pink and dark- flowered forms of R. scillifolia in culture.

And because it is Friday, here are the seeds:

Roscoea cf. scillifolia purple seeds: “elliptic to triangular, shallowly lacerate”

 

Why not give a try to this ‘weedy’ Roscoea?
Admittedly it is not one of the showiest of the species, but it is hardy, easy to grow and it flowers fast. Plus, let’s not forget that “propagation means conservation” (Prof. Norman Deno)


*R. scillifolia sensu latu, it is supposed to be extinct in the wild at the present.

**Although usually considered more fancy plants, Roscoea species are not hard to germinate and grow, but it takes few years to have them flowering. Also, it is difficult to keep them alive for many years in open ground (the fleshy roots are prone to rot in wet/cold conditions).

 

 

 

Next please – Bukiniczia cabulica

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Yesterday I had the very good intention to sort out the Bukiniczia cabulica seeds.
It proved out to be not that simple. Just like in the case of various Armeria species (same Plumbaginaceae family), many of the calyces are empty making it very time consuming to go through a large quantity of ‘fruits’.

I said – next please, there are other species waiting in line at this time. Bukiniczia will have to wait; after all it is a warm germinator. But for those interested to know: there will be seeds :)

Bukiniczia cabulica, cute biennial for the rockery; easy to grow from seeds

Moving on to Lilium philadelphicum…

WTA!

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What the Arisaema! :-)

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon an Arisaema triphyllum population with huge leaves; among them, even a specimen with 3 leaves and two fruits.

Arisaema triphyllum – large form; the seeds are in the shop.

I didn’t carry a measuring tape but the length of the leaflets was much more than 1 ft. (30 cm). I also don’t know the colour of the spathe, anyway I failed to collect the fruits that time.

WTA!

I’ve seen other Arisaema triphyllum with leaves this large but the majority of seeds I collect are from more ‘normal’ (smaller) plants. So, I returned this fall and collected some of the fruits already lying on the woodland floor.

Arisaema triphyllum plants are cross pollinated, so it’s only a matter of luck to obtain an interesting form when growing from seeds.

There is great potential here!

 

A note regarding the germination: all A. triphyllum seeds collections from our region proved to be warm germinators; even older seeds. It will be interesting to see about these ones.

Link for the shop