New growths, new beginnings – All equally exciting!
Caulophyllum thalictroides first germinated seeds:
Caulophyllum thalictroides germination startup
The beginning of a ‘direct woodland sowing’ project (native species, of course)– more about this will be detailed soon.
The spotting of a few happy pollinators (alas not in my garden):
The first day out at ‘fresh air’ for the young seedlings:
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
Update: GA3 treatment makes no difference for Caulophyllum or other species like it which have immature embryos; they 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.
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!
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.
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.)
Paeonia mlokosewitschii seedlings
After wasting time with the ceremony, I was punished to do my homework on the weekend – there are still seeds to be added in the catalogue…
I didn’t think at Syneilesis until someone who participated in the Helleborus seeds trade, asked if by any chance I have a few Syneilesis aconitifolia good seeds…There it was the warning! Indeed, if you read on various gardening forums, it will be confirmed; ‘seeds’ are set copiously but only a small amount are viable. Such a pity, considering it is a warm, easy germinator. Luckily, I was gifted, again :), a whole bunch of dry inflorescences and after sorting through all of them with patience, I was left with a few good ‘seeds’ (and a REALLY big pile of ‘fluff’).
Syneilesis aconitifolia, the shredded umbrella plant, is a great foliage plant usually grown in part-shade, but who also tolerates full sun. When grown in a rich, moist substrate it will spread to form a healthy clump, but don’t worry, there will always be someone wanting a small division of your plant. Personally, I like it most in the spring when new shoots are emerging from the ground, with the leaves covered in silky hairs – the equivalent of a fuzzy mayapple!
Syneilesis aconitifolia emergng in early spring
They maintain the fuzziness for a little while; then after expanding, the large, ‘shredded’ leaves will make you believe they belong to another plant! The name aconitifolia, actually suggests the resemblance with an Aconitum leaf (the deeply lobed kind). Tall flowering stems erupt in the summer bearing rather insignificant flowers.
There are also mentions of Syneilesis aconitifolia being used as a medicinal plant.
Vermiculite from Latin ‘vermiculus’ = wormlet
The recently emerged rootlet of bloodroot seed has attached on this vermiculite particle with the same desperation a climber clings onto a rock. A place to grow on, salvation…
Sanguinaria canadensis seedling germinated in a bag with vermiculite, growing attached on a vermiculite particle
For us, it remains just an exfoliated fragment of a hydrated silicate mineral; worm-like shaped, lightweight, incombustible, compressible, sterile, with a high cation-exchange capacity…
Only very few Sanguinaria canadensis seeds have started to germinate in moist storage; this one was particularly well developed – good genes probably… The very young rhizome already shows signs of the future red coloration characteristic to Sanguinaria rhizomes.
Is this a catchy name, or what?
I got into a routine to check the moist packed seeds at mid and end of the month. Remember the germinated Trilliums? Well, some got planted in pots and some remained in moist vermiculite, which is also a proper medium to easily check on them and take a few more pictures.
You can still read in many places that Trillium has a double dormancy but that was really old school thought. Here’s a LINK for something more up to date on what’s been called skotomorphogenetic growth (found in other species too). This concept defines germination as the point when the radicle/rhizome emerges from the seed and all the growth that follows represents the development of the seedling in the dark (from ‘skoto’ – dark in Greek).
It makes sense. The term double dormancy puts quite a few people off from growing such species from seeds because it implies that they really take a lot of time to germinate. Furthermore, it suggests that the seeds are lying underground and nothing happens, which is not only completely false but also dangerous as you may miss providing the care that they need.
So, skotomorphogenetical it is; I just wish they would have found another name…All the other moist packed seeds are fine; in the featured image – plump, moist seeds of Paris quadrifolia (a Trillium relative, that is also called ‘double dormant’).
Note: one Trillium fruit can have both, seeds with dormant embryos and without – these will start germinating by fall if sown or moist storage provided.
After an early winter arrival I am in the rush now to tuck in safely my sleeping beauties. The garage serves as a ‘winter storage/garden’. In what I call sleeping beauties I include various species done from seeds that have one thing in common: that they are ‘sleeping’ in their first season, totally or partially. Sleeping is not quite a proper term because they are actually growing but mostly underground. However, for a long period of time you are staring and caring for what, some may call, empty pots.
They are mainly hypogeal germinators that in their first season will only emerge the radicle and grow a young tuber/rhizome: Paeonia species, Trilliums, some Lilium species… Paeonia mlokosewitschii seedlings resemble little creatures hungrily sucking water and nutrients from the soil mix ;)
Others like Glaucidium palmatum, will germinate totally underground or above, but remain arrested at the cotyledons stage and spend the season fattening up a growing point underground. The whole process can be sped up a bit if you can sow right away in late summer and/or treat with GA3.
I know that many don’t care to start from seeds species Paeonies because it will take at least 3-4 years until they start flowering but their spring foliage is equally mesmerizing. For the same reason it is not very easy to find to buy them and when available are quite expensive. Better start them from seed – in a blink of an eye they will grow, prosper and flower! I do not have such seeds to offer yet, but most often you will be able to get hold of a few Paeonia species through Seed Exchanges.
PS. NOT recommended to scratch the pots, or remove the seedlings, like I did; be patient until spring. In my excuse, I needed pictures so I can share the experience.
(DOD meaning: Dead on delivery)
I don’t know precisely if the DOD term was coined by the renowned Prof. Norman Deno but surely he reminded me of it while reading a delightful Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society from 1991. DOD refers to the fact that seeds that require to be kept moist after collecting, when stored and/or delivered otherwise (by Seed companies or in Seed exchanges), are actually dead and there is little to expect of them in terms of germination. In his article named – Fatal Treatments of Seed he elaborates on how to kill seeds of 12 species by practicing wrong techniques of storing and/or germinating. For Trillium albidum, Fatal means: dry storage.
Same goes for many other Trillium species, and among them, Trillium grandiflorum. After collecting (see how the fruit looks when it’s ready), such seeds should be either sown right away or stored moist. When kept at room temperature, some seeds will emerge radicles by fall. The others, like in other hypogeal germinators, will grow a radicle/baby rhizome or tuber in the coming season, and then send up the first leaf only after another cold cycle (that means in their second year).
These are a few Trillium grandiflorum seeds with emerged radicles that I found last week, during my routine check of the moist stored seeds. A few more pots were added to my collection and I am looking forward to see these little Trilliums sending up their first leaf next year! The other seeds are still in moist storage, awaiting…
(If someone knows of other species that would benefit from moist storage please let me know – Contact)
And here’s the link for the ARGS Bulletin -1991 (open as a pdf). It contains great articles like: Saga of a Woodland Garden by Harold Epstein and Hepaticas and Anemonellas by Jeanie Vesall to mention just a few…
Beauty is found in almost any maple tree, even if we are to consider only their colourful fall display. The Beast shows its ugly head especially in the case of trifoliate maples and is called parthenocarpy. As a remainder, this means production of seedless fruits (without the fertilization of ovules).
A really undesirable trait, especially for species with indehiscent fruits (samaras, nuts, achene), either if we want their seeds for consumption or to use them for propagation! This is also the explanation for the rarity of some magnificent tree species in our landscapes. Acer griseum, the best known of the trifoliate maples presents parthenocarpy to some extent but not as much as the beauty called Acer triflorum.
I did a little experiment with about the 60 seeds I had and a pruning shear. By nicking the end of the extremely hard samara and then cracking it longitudinally you can extract the seeds, if any. I found 3 viable seeds and 3 aborted (stenospermocarpy) – about 5% viable seeds!
PS. One easy method to separate seedless fruits is to check if they float; the ones with seeds will go to the bottom. This is recommended for many species but actually not necessary; it is useful though for fruits (like samaras and nuts) when it is hard to say if there are any seeds inside.
The fruit wall is so hard in Acer triflorum that it needs lots of stratification just to wear it down, so I preferred to extract the seeds (I didn’t expect to find any, but perseverance paid off :)
All Aconitum species are wearing cool hats but this one in particular with the hood on one side looks very chic. Growing Aconitum from seeds that are not properly identified is quite a pain, but worth the trouble.
All monkshoods are equally beautiful and deadly, with spikes of violet, dark blue, yellow or white hood-shaped, complicated flowers that one needs to know the terminology in order to ‘read’ their characters. Species are usually described on the basis of root and flower morphology.
After lots of searches, pictures, dissections… this one was narrowed down to Aconitum variegatum subsp. paniculatum (syn. Aconitum degenii) or A. variegatum subsp. variegatum. We’ll know for sure in late fall after I’ll dig it up and see the tuber shape; and maybe I’ll have a seed or two but glad to hear other opinions…
Before being praised as a garden plant, Aconitum was considered (and still is) “the king of the poisons” (Europe) or “the king of medicines” (Tibet and China), depending on where it grew, but this is a good subject for wintertime storytelling…
It is a good idea to wear gloves when doing anything that involves touching an Aconitum. It contains highly active and toxic alkaloids.
Update: since I wrote this post in 2014! we now have the plants grown from wild collected seeds in the Carpathian Mts. (2 different accessions) flowering well and rewarding us with seeds. Nothing is more satisfying than to see plants grown from few 
seeds found by chance growing well in the garden. This species is increasingly rare in the wild; growing it in the garden it is also a matter of conservation at this point. The greenish-slate gray with back dusted purple flowers are exquisite! not to mention the foliage.
“I am not young enough to know everything” – Oscar Wilde
A quick post because I just ‘discovered’ that Helleborus purpurascens seeds are best sown fresh in the summer. They need to go through a warm-moist period followed by cold-moist in order to germinate best. Older seeds will still germinate but in a lower percentage. Helleborus is one thing I have never done from seed (members of Ranunculaceae are notoriously difficult germinators). This is a rare Helleborus species distributed only along the Carpathian Mountains range, up to central and northern Hungary. Interestingly, it can be found growing in full sun, in open alpine meadows and also under dappled shade in beech woods.
Helleborus purpurascens growing in full sun in native habitat – Carpathian Mts.
Graham Rice, the authority in all Helleborus matters, has an extensive article on H. purpurascens on his website, you can read it HERE. In a bit of a hurry, I will quote him so no one can say I am biased because of its origins:
It is “one of the most captivating species for its engaging habit of flowering so enthusiastically, for its subtle metallic tints… The foliage too is unlike that of other hellebores, in that it radiates from the tip of the petiole in a neat circle.”
As for the flowers, a few forms that are known from Botanical Gardens: “are purple in colour with dark veins, slightly pinkish towards the base and netted towards the edge; some flowers have an overall green haze…In a second form which reaches 15 in in height the flowers are smoky blue-purple in colour, darker outside than in, with slightly reddish veins inside and green nectaries. Other forms may be slate purple or deep purple outside, shining pinkish shades….”
Helleborus purpurascens – from what’s left it seems matching the description!
A truly collector’s plant, so this is a call for a seeds trade – if someone wishes a few fresh Helleborus purpurascens seeds to sow them right away, please get in touch with me here, on my email or at infoATbotanicallyinclined.org (of course replace AT with @
It would be a pity not to have them all germinating well – still enough summertime left!
Helleborus purpurascens seeds
I think some are imagining that trying to open a business of selling wild collected seeds is a breeze – happily wandering in fields and mountains and grabbing here and there whatever comes under your eyes. Well, very far away from the truth. For example, who would think about stumbling into a massasauga rattlesnake (the only venomous snake in Ontario), while collecting Polygala paucifolia seeds!
The timing to collect Polygala is almost impossible; the fruiting/seed setting is usually low and then the seeds are equipped with elaiosomes that ants will carry away very fast. So, there is no wonder that seeds are almost never offered and, although desirable, neither are the plants! Looking at the flowers, you understand why all this is worthwhile!
My germination trials with Polygala seeds showed that dry stored seeds in the fridge, sown in the spring germinate very well, and also the seedlings are developing very well. Seeds stored moist-cold, germinate later and in a lower percentage.
PS. Keep your eyes wide open when hiking in the rattlesnake habitat! When moving, it makes a low rattle noise to make you aware, but when standing still it is very well camouflaged and it doesn’t rattle. They give birth to live baby-snakes, finger-size but already venomous! It is designated a species at risk in Ontario – more about it on Reptiles and Amphibians of Ontario website.
People in Europe call this member of the bellflower family (Campanulaceae) after many names: devil’s claws (Germany), Oxford Rampion (England), Raponzolo (Italy), and so on. We could definitely give it many other common names; I like to think of it as Rapunzel’s flower.
Phyteuma is strictly a European genus with quite a few species, not very often seen in the gardens. Phyteuma scheuchzeri, flowering now in one of my rock-containers is the most common in cultivation (I was aiming for P. sieberi, maybe next time…).
It doesn’t look like a bellflower, that’s for sure – it looks much cooler! In Phyteuma species the flowers are grouped in spiked, ball-like inflorescences (aka. floral sea creatures :-) which at full bloom ‘explode’ becoming fluffy. They can be found growing in a variety of habitats, with P. sieberi being the most alpine.
Another mountain growing Rapunzel’s flower is Phyteuma orbiculare, photographed here in a rich sub-alpine meadow in the Carpathian Mountains:
Propagation: easy enough from seed (very small, fine seeds just like Campanula, sow superficial); most are warm germinators.
And just because I like word rhymes: Did you know that Phyteuma has a sister named Asyneuma? Another great but very little cultivated member of the bellflower family.
True that if we would grow only ‘reasonable’ plants, our gardens would lack all spontaneity and wonder. But because I can now easily enjoy them in containers, and not worry about their relocation, I think a bit of praise is warranted.
The Ballerina – Primula frondosa (a bit elongated in a container in early spring)
Last time when I had visions of dancing plants it was two years ago because of a twirling Arisaema – it is not that often to discover a first class ballerina!.
Primula frondosa is a dwarf, farinose primula endemic from Bulgaria where it grows on cliffs at 900-2000 m altitude, in partly shaded, moist crevices. It is very hardy and will show up from under the snow, with a tight silvery rosette (you may wish that it remains like that), but then the leaves expand and remain powdery only beneath (but the flowering stem and flower pedicels still covered in silvery hairs). A very floriferous primula: umbels with up to 30 pink, delicate flowers with a yellow eye in early spring.
Primula frondosa in full bloom right now ( 2-3 seedlings were planted together in the fall)
Sometimes mistaken for P. farinosa (and vice-versa, but P. farinosa has white-farina on both side of the leaves, and it flowers much later). Both are commonly called Bird’s eye Primulas.
Propagation: very easy to grow from seeds (like other Primula spp.), and it will start flowering in the second year – soooo gratifying!
