Houstonia canadensis

I should have had Houstonia canadensis seeds announced ‘officially’ together with Lobelia kalmii; only that it takes more time to process some fruits to see how many seeds will be available.
In the Friday’s Seeds topic idea, we also have a picture with Houstonia fruits and seeds. The fruits are small, hard, dehiscent capsules which contain tiny, black seeds.

Similar in look when in flower to the previously offered H. longifolia, in Houstonia canadensis the basal, rosette leaves are usually pubescent above and with ciliate margins (Flora of Michigan); in fact the species is reported as being variable in the shape of the leaves and in the amount of pubescence. In H. longifolia the leaves are glabrous. If not for taking the close up picture when attracted by the beautiful foliage changing color, it would have been impossible to identify it. It is always good to take the time for close-up pictures.

You can grow the Canada Summer bluet together with few of its wild companions, like: Lobelia kalmii, Campanula rotundifolia, Solidago simplex var. ontarioense, Primula mistassinica, Prunus pumila and Clinopodium arkansanum.

Even if some of these species grow in alvars, they adapt well to garden growing conditions, on any limestone/calcareous substrate. So far, I would say that only an acidic substrate will pose a problem when growing these species. I grow them all, in various garden locations and instead of Canada Summer Bluet I have H. longifolia.

They all enjoy a full to part-sun, moist towards dry location, which is moist at least seasonally.
You can use the edge of a border/rockery that gets more moisture after snowmelt, when it rains heavily, or where the water gathers naturally due to the ground gradient.

And, because many of these species have fine seeds which require superficial sowing, a picture with Primula mistassinica seedlings with explanations.

The seeds were sown on top of the substrate in late fall (2022) in a larger pot (together with few other species with fine seeds that require superficial sowing) and covered with very fine gravel to prevent washing out. The pot has stayed outdoors over the winter; in early spring a thick layer of ice had formed on top of it and during melting moved around some of the seeds (lesson learned – remove part of the snow in late winter/early spring).

Lobelia kalmii, Campanula rotundifolia which are now planted in the garden were obtained in the same way. You can use the same method and sow a few similar species with fine seeds together in a larger container and then gradually transplant the seedlings when they grow up. Or, keep the sowing container as it is!

You can find all these species in the SEEDs List.