To finish about spring Corydalis

Before the year’s end, here’s a bit more about Corydalis solida and the likes (other tuberous species).
This is probably a repeat of what I have previously mentioned, but it is good to recap.

Corydalis solida and the likes (C. caucasica, C. cava, C. malkensis…) are promiscuous species, cross-pollinating freely, which means that growing them from seeds, there is no guarantee you will obtain the same form as the mother plant. But precisely in this ‘flaw’ I find their beauty because interesting forms can appear naturally; all one has to do is pay attention and select them.

A beautiful form of Corydalis caucasica ex. ‘Alba’.

Two other C. solida seedlings I am ‘watching’: a deep red one and a red with pink lips (most likely a cross from ‘Beth Evans’).

Nothing is easier than growing this type of Corydalis from seeds. The seeds are ready toward the end of May, and if you want to actively increase your stock, it is best to collect them; otherwise, the ants will carry them maybe in places where not all the seeds can germinate.

Fresh sown seeds will promptly germinate in the following spring (after a warm/cold cycle), grow for few months and then go dormant. My method is now to grow them in the same pot for 2 years and at the end of the second cycle to plant the small tubers in the ground (June/July).
In most cases, the first flowers will appear in the third year.

Older tubers can be dug up and moved in the summer after the plants have gone dormant; part-shaded locations which do not dry completely in the summer are best.

Happy Corydalis growing!