The Lord of the Corydalis

I someone would ask me, I would say that no garden is complete without at least one member of the ephemeral genus of Corydalis. The more common is the delightful Corydalis solida, plus other bulbous species but wait until you meet the lord of the genus: Corydalis nobilis. If lucky to be able to drive you can see it in flower at Lost Horizons Nursery  (not applying anymore, the nursery has closed down). It does not look quite like a Corydalis and it is hard to believe that it will  become dormant in early summer.

Sometimes called Siberian Corydalis, Corydalis nobilis (Fam. Fumariaceae) was introduced in cultivation in Sweden in 1765 due to a fortunate mistake. The  seeds received by Linnaeus were collected from Siberia (Altai mountain range) and believed to be of Lamprocapnos spectabilis. This wonderful Corydalis is said to still grow happily in Carl Linnaeus’ gardens at Upsalla and at Hammarby. Unfortunately, the prediction of  “a great horticultural future” for this species has not become true yet. Not being very easy to propagate might have something to do with this; in fact it is not difficult to grow from seeds as long as they are fresh. It is available only from a few specialty nurseries in Europe and North America, and of course some years at Lost Horizons.

Corydalis nobilis is very cold hardy and will start growing quite fast in the spring achieving a 30-50+ cm tall clump with juicy stems and green-blue ferny leaves. It produces lots of dense inflorescences, with 20-35 flowers, golden yellow with the inner petals dark violet at the top and they are spicy fragrant. Flowering lasts for about three weeks in April-May. It sets seeds, then becomes dormant somewhere in June.

Origin: NW. Siberia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, N. Xinjiang (China). Propagated by seed (sown immediately when ripe, otherwise the ants will run away with them to feed on the elaiosomes) or by division in the fall. Corydalis nobilis has an irregularly branched, fragile rootstock, not easy to divide; it is best grown from fresh seeds. It can grow in full sun or shade, but will thrive best in a place reasonable dry during the summer.
A focal point in the spring garden, the Lord of the genus Corydalis never fails to attract attention and questions from the visitors.