How to germinate Ficaria verna/ Ranunculus-supervised germination!

[Véronique Macrelle]

A few years ago, a friend sent me some unnamed ficaria fantasias. (I had lost most of my named ones in a severe frost, as they were in pots).

It's always a great pleasure to see them arrive every winter and spring.
 Yellow, pale yellow, cream... black or green foliage...
 The mix is very pleasing to the eye. Although I would love to see some orange flowers among them.
Every year brings its share of volunteer seedlings. Sometimes really interesting.

But I'd also like to make my own crosses.
 Hence my question: how do you make a ‘supervised’ semi-sowing of Ficaria?
 
- Do the seeds germinate as soon as they fall or the following year?
- Do they store in a damp or dry bag?
- When is the best time to sow?

[Palustris]

I have gown them from seed, or at least tried to. As with many Ranunculas the seeds is best sown fresh and even a little before it is really ripe, ie green seed.

[Vinny 123]

Agreed - seed taken from the seed-head just before it actually falls and sown immediately can often germinate like cress.

Otherwise, just sow as any hardy plant - cover with fine grit and leave outdoors over-winter(s).

[Véronique Macrelle]

thank you both.
 so they germinate in spring with their cotyledons fused together?
 then only form real leaves the following year?
can we get them to make a few real leaves in the first year?
to finally see the colour of a new lesser celandine, it sometimes takes me 3 years: the seedlings sometimes have a strange spot that gradually evolves into something much more present. like this variegated form; the first leaf only had a small yellow corner and a lot of green.

[Véronique Macrelle]

Currently, I use my phone to photograph the new seedlings so that I can observe them on the computer (enlarged), and then I keep an eye on what comes back the following year in strategic places.

but i'd like to try more precise crosses and therefore sow in pots. i'd also have to find orange parents and other semi-double or double fertile parents: it's becoming a game!

[Vinny 123]

I really like patterned foliage too, including in F. v.,but I always have to smile when it is a species such as lesser celandine.
In the normal form it is regarded as a dreadful weed, LLLOL.

[Véronique Macrelle]

Weed’ is a point of view.
Wouldn't weeds be more like native plants trying to reclaim space; in short, to do their job!
What's more, lesser celandines take up space when there's not much else, they're always cute and still take 3 to 4 years to flower from seed.
the term ‘weeds’ applies to gardens where ‘nothing should stick out’. as soon as you accept that the garden is ‘a little disturbed’, there aren't many of them left.
2 species, however, that I would advise anyone NEVER to plant or allow to grow: Houttuynia cordata and Galeobdolon luteum.


otherwise, i love getting a native herb in a horticultural version: it's my pleasure...

[Palustris]

I like them too, Sad thing is that the national collection of the forms seems to be no longer active.
So long since I grew them from seed that I cannot remember what they looked like when they germinated. I cannot say that I remember having to wait for the following season to see the leaves though.

[Vinny 123]

A weed is a plant in the wrong place.

Lesser celandine will multiply rapidly, especially if disturbed, as it is all but impossoble to find every tiny tuber. It is also reasonably unfussy where it will grow, given the opportunity. The fact that it is poisonous just makes it even less desirable.

Go back maybe 10 years and more in the UK and every nursery had at least a couple of cultivars, and frequently more - Brazen Hussy was "everywhere", but I can't recall the last time that I saw any form at all.

[Véronique Macrelle]

Last year, I tried to recover and pot up a few interesting volunteer seedlings, including the small yellow variegated Ficaria verna (pictured above).
 The tuber was minimalist, and I had to transplant it as a leaf to recognise it. The results were mixed: I found it difficult to grow back.
On the other hand, in a pot in the greenhouse, I can see that the leaf comes out all green, then becomes variegated later on.

[Véronique Macrelle]

last year, this one was a single, tiny leaf of acid greenish yellow.
It seems to be faithful to this colour (which is very difficult to photograph) this year.

I have noticed, however, that the colour of foliage can change as the plant ages. It's best to wait at least 3 years for the colour to become stable.
I'd like it to remain spotless.

[Vinny 123]

It is strange and infuriating that some foliage patterns are unstable. Presumably the virus responsible is either itself unstable, or is eliminated by the plant.

Several years ago, I found a 10cm high Buddlleija davidii seedling growing in gravel at work that had variegated leaves of a deep, rich yellow and the usual green - very different to the one in trade (Harlequin?), which is cream and green. That reverted over 4-5 years.
It is a terrible pest of a plant in the wrong place, but I like it because the insects like the flowers so much; it would have made a spectacular full-sized shrub.

There is also a very nice variegated form of Zantedeschia aethiopica that seems to be very unstable.