Gentiana paradoxa

Description

One of the most beautiful late summer/fall Gentian, with large, blue fringed single flowers and fine, linear to narrow lanceolate leaves in whorls along the stems. After the flowers fade, it still remains beautiful while developing the capsules. In late fall the foliage turns yellow/reddish.

The specific epithet “paradoxa” means is – “contrary to expectation, paradoxical, marvelous”. The seedlings will be true to the mother-plant (which was grown from wild collected seeds), because the divisions of a Gentiana septemfida nearby clump, are still recuperating and not flowering.
Marvelous Gentiana.

Germination: sow the seeds in late fall/early winter and provide cold/moist stratification outdoors. GA3 treatment can also be tried for starting the germination indoors but beware the elongation of the seedlings if the concentration is too high. Natural cold/moist stratification sometimes works best. The seedlings may be too tiny to be transplanted in the first season. The first flower may appear on 3 years old plants!