Getting ready for Hepatica

We are getting very close to having all Hepatica seeds collected; only a few bags placed in the woods for H. americana have yet to be retrieved. In fact, it was an easier job this year because of the low seeds setting due to the very cold early spring, both in the garden and in  the wild.

Even plants that flowered very well, like Hepatica nobilis multipetal have been ‘shy’ to producing seeds: it is known that very low temperatures are not favorable for the pollen transfer to happen.

We should be happy with what we have, seeds wise. Who knows what’s going to be next year?!
On this line of thought, I will tell a short story about H. americana ‘Spring Dawn’, a multipetal form with large flowers I found in the wild in 2019; seeds were shared for 2-3 years.
A regular client of BotanyCa was very kind to send me in early spring a photo with his first flowering seedling obtained from those seeds.

This very nice form of Hepatica americana doesn’t exist in the wild anymore. It is possible that at the same location, some young seedlings will flower similar at some point, but there’s no guarantee.

The 3 original plants were growing on a very steep slope, supported by tree roots and a few rocks. During a heavy rain period 3 years ago, they were dislocated by the floods and all I could find one spring was a piece of a plant hanging to its life with the roots exposed and partially desiccated. Of course, it was rescued, and it is now growing in a pot, still not recovered entirely.
Plants like Hepatica, which do not form buds at the root level, are very hard to revive in case the root system is partially destroyed.

Later in the season, I also had the occasion to admire on FB another plant grown from H. americana ‘Spring Dawn’ seeds by a friend.

So, I rest assured that this beautiful form has been saved and it will be preserved in our gardens, at least for a while.

Hepatica americana ‘Spring Dawn’ shown growing in the wild and a plant resulted from its seeds

The morale is that if/when you have to occasion to collect seeds of a special form of a given species you should do it! Even without various ‘accidents’, all plants have a given life span, and sooner or later they will vanish. The best advice is to practice “conservation through propagation”.

Special seedlings can appear in any given wild population as far as I noticed, or from unexpected crosses of garden grown plants.
You never know when a seedling will flower to be a new Hepatica americana ‘Spring Dawn’ or a Hepatica nobilis ‘Walter’. After all, that’s how it goes. 😊

In the featured image, a vivid magenta flower Hepatica nobilis obtained random from seeds. I collected the few seeds which will be gifted to the first person ordering Hepatica; a specimen with leathery foliage and drought resistant.

To conclude, the Hepatica list will be updated as soon as the last seeds are retrieved, tomorrow or on Saturday. The start of the sale will be announced.