Yellow hellebore, corydalis ambigua, gentian

[corydalisambigua]

Hello!

I'm looking to buy yellow hellebore seeds (preferably bright doubles like Harvington or Ashwoods -- see examples here:
https://www.twelvenunns.co.uk/nursery/product/harvington-hellebores/helleborus-hybridus-harvington-double-yellow/ and
https://www.richardjacksonsgarden.co.uk/five-great-hellebores/)

I'm also looking for sky blue corydalis ambigua/remota and sky blue gentian sino-ornata or similar (ternifolia, or ?) (I have tried all the Czech plant guys, they are out.)

I'm happy to pay for seeds and postage and hassle. I'm in Canada. Thank you very much!

CA

[Jeffnz]

Hi
I grow double hellebores in New Zealand so our seasons are reversed. I have some good yellow doubles but I am still trying to develop yellow doubles that are the colour of daffodils. Seed here does not ripen until Sept/Nov. If you contact me June/July I will see if I can arrange to HP  some yellow doubles. Many yellow doubles can have a green shade. However using the single yellows from Ashwoods that do not have green nectaries as the female flower to cross with double yellows or whites for that matter can give yellow anemones and double that have a more bright yellow colour similar to a daff yellow. Unfortunately the 2 singles yellows that I have wiht orange coloured nectaries are both infertile.
If you want to shorten the time to flowering you could get a guaranteed outcome by purchasing the double yellows that are distributed  from North West Garden Nursery, these are available within Canada from nurseries.
Regards
Jeff

[Jeffnz]

In addition to my last email.
https://northwestgardennursery.com/
Golden Lotus doubles.
Regards
Jeff

[Diane Whitehead]

Hello CA,

I sent you a  PM (private message) but they don't seem to be working lately, so I'll post here instead.

Where in Canada do you live?   Northwest Garden Nursery hellebores are available from Thimble Farm near me.

Diane

[corydalisambigua]

Hello! Thank you very much for your replies!

Diane -- I'm in Vancouver. I would love to buy from Thimble Farm but I don't have a car and they currently aren't doing mail order. Phoenix Perennials had 'California Dreaming' but they sold out very quickly. I can try to pre-order from them next fall... but the hellebores I got from them in the past developed black death quite quickly and I saw black death on some of their hellebores when I was there a few weeks ago so I am hesitant. A lot of the hellebores in nurseries here seem to have black death, and I can't afford to keep throwing out expensive plants. I cautiously bought a Glenda's Gloss that had no signs of black death when I bought it and it now has a telltale blotch on the stem... argh, there goes $35+tax!

Jeffnz -- thank you, that is very kind, I will try you in June!

[Jeffnz]

It distresses me that hellebore plants with Black death virus are still circulating in the nursery industry.

To the best of my knowledge the virus is not present in NWGN hellebore seedlings that leave the O'Byrne's site but beyond that there is no control; especially if the seedlings are subsequently on grown at another site.
Have you advised the nursery from whack you purchased the plants that they had black death? I think this is a must do to address the situation.

To date there has been no reports of black death virus transmission via seed. But to be safe I don't purchase plants from a source, unless I know their history.

Aphids are the virus vector, so aphid control is necessary to try to prevent cross contamination. This is never an easy challenge to meet even with isolation of all new plants for a couple of seasons. Black death is a trickster, it can remain dormant until the infected plant is subject to stress which then triggers the virus. I think that you may have dug up and disposed of infected plants, preferably by burning. This is extreme, and depressing but is the only way to stop the virus in its tracks, on going checks will be required each season to see if other plants display virus symptoms.

[corydalisambigua]

Hi there --

I told the staff at one of the nurseries where the hellebores had black death (David Hunter in Vancouver) but the woman was just cutting off the leaves with visible damage and putting the plants back out for sale. I doubt they are going to stop selling them.

Thanks for all the information. Should I also throw out the soil the plants were planted in? Is the virus in the soil, or just in the plant tissues?

CA

[Jeffnz]

While I can see why the nursery would undertake removal of infected leaves as the way to disguising the infection, this is immoral. If they know that they have infected
the these should be returned to source or destroyed. The virus will also be visible in the flowers so I assume they are selling non flowering plants.
To the best of my understanding the virus is not transmitted to the growing medium, soil or potting mixes. Infected plants should be removed and burnt and remaining plants that do not show the virus symptoms monitored for a few years to be sure that the virus has disappeared.
Check with neighbouring gardeners to establish if they also are growing hellebores as aphids are boundary hoppers.