What’s next?

With most of the Hepatica seeds ‘out of the way’ (thank you!), we are preparing for the next wave of seeds that are best sown during the summer to ensure proper germination.

These are the Helleborus, maybe a new species this year -Pachyphragma macrophyllum, plus various native species like Sanguinaria canadensis, Asarum canadense, Erythronium grandiflorum and Jeffersonia diphylla.
All these species mature their seeds in mid to late June, and will be offered right away. I should also add to this group Pulsatilla styriaca, which in my experience also germinates best when sown fresh.

A short garden survey revealed seed pods on Helleborus ‘Cherry Blossoms’, Helleborus caucasicus, Helleborus purpurascens, Helleborus foetidus and few others H. x hybridus. Helleborus are easy to grow from seeds and start flowering in 3-4 years, your only worry will be having too many seedlings (not to mention the price of a potted plant at the garden centers nowadays!).

Stay tuned…

From the flowering front, two nice surprises: Castilleja coccinea (Indian paintbrush) is flowering for first time in the garden (seeds were sown ‘in situ’), in sync with those in the wild. Sisyrinchium mucronatum (Needle tip blue eyed grass) is no surprise, but it has a nice flowering this year, and makes a nice pair with Castilleja just like in nature.

The second flowering surprise is Delphinium nudicaule, the orange or canyon larkspur, hailing from the foothills and canyons of Sierra Nevada! Yes, it is possible. The seeds were offered in 2019, I probably sowed them in 2020/21, and here it is, flowering to the delight of the resident hummingbird and not only.
We only need to dare to grow plants from seeds!