Eranthis 2014

[YT]

Thanks, Brian and Kris That plant is grown from wild collected seed. Last spring I went to an alpine nursery and chose several seedlings with deep purple anthers from several hundreds pots

Fred, your pinnatifida plants look at home. Well grown

Here is Eranthis pinnatifida, from Yoshida, Chichibu-shi, Saitama.

[Maggi Young]

That plant is grown from wild collected seed. Last spring I went to an alpine nursery and chose several seedlings with deep purple anthers from several hundreds pots

Oh my word! The excitement would have been too much for me   

I would also now be bankrupt! 

[YT]

Oh my word! The excitement would have been too much for me   
I would also now be bankrupt! 

No, you would never be bankrupt, Maggi The eranthis seedling pots are JPY800- each at the nursery.
If you got 10 bulbs and  each bulbs put 4 flowers and set 20 seeds in capsules... you got 10 x 4 x 20 = 800 seeds!
Then, you only have to wait 3 or 4 years to see hundreds flowers at your home

In any way, I was very lucky that got an oppotunity to select good flowers from a range of seedlings.

[mark smyth]

someone should start importing dormant tubers of Eranthis pinnatifida. I would would definitely buy them

[astragalus]

I hope you mean an Eranthophile instead of an Eranthiphobe  No "specials" amongst your naturalized groups?

Of course I meant "phile" and not "phobe".
The photo is of Eranthis hyemalis whose spread is now measured in yards, not feet.

[Maggi Young]

When Eranthis naturalise  they seem to do so in a particularly neat fashion - making clumps but not in an overcrowded fashion - still allowing each blossom to be seen to advantage. With Iris reticulata, for instance, they tend to clump into dense groups that squash individual flowers  so it is hard to appreciate the real glory of the flowers. Eranthis seem not to do that, even when one sees huge drifts that have naturalised over a large area and a long time.
A real "plus ponit" in my book

[astragalus]

Maggi, you're so right about the Iris reticulata.  It has driven me to divide some of them because they became a forest of leaves and it was difficult to see the flowers.  I've divided them while in flower and it seemed to work fine.  It always seems that at that time things are programmed to grow no matter what you do to them.  At least the plants I've tried this with have been very forgiving.

[Hans J]

Hi Wim ,

first my congratulations to your wonderful article 

You ask : "No "specials" amongst your naturalized groups?"

Yes ...I do have  some specials 
One is a light yellow ( I called it "Barbara" after my wife - because she found it ) -sorry until no pic
The other is a semi plena form ( until unnamed ) - here are pics from last year :

Hans

[mark smyth]

Wim my plants hyemalis and cilicicus both set seeds that were self sown and also spread by me. I say seedlings come up but after the first true leaf they disappeared.

[Mavers]

I really enjoyed your article Wim.

Thank you for pointing us in the right direction Maggi.

I'm going to be terribly hook on these little beauties if I'm not careful.....

[WimB]

I definitely enjoyed Mr. Boens edifying and interesting article in the January IRG.

I do have one question. Has anyone had success germinating Eranthis seed that has been stored at "room-temperature" for more than a few weeks? If so, how?

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but it would be useful for me if I could get germination from older Eranthis seed.

Hi Robert,

like almost all Ranunculaceae the seeds are ephemeral, you need to sow them as early as possible. If you get old/dry seeds you should soak them for 24h in lukewarm water and sow them then. You'll get some germination in the following couple of years.

[WimB]

Tatsuo, beautiful.

E. pinnatifida in the open garden yesterday. Despite the very mild temperatures (Where's Winter ?) is pinnatifida more than three week later than last year ! It's like Ian Young says in his Bulb Log: it isn't just the temperature alone that let the plants awake !

Wonderful Freddy. Here they are just showing themselves, also quite a bit later than last year.

[WimB]

One is a light yellow ( I called it "Barbara" after my wife - because she found it ) -sorry until no pic
The other is a semi plena form ( until unnamed ) - here are pics from last year :

Hans

Very beautiful semi-plena, Hans. Very nice shape. Curious for a pic of 'Barbara' (the plant, not your wife  )

[WimB]

Wim my plants hyemalis and cilicicus both set seeds that were self sown and also spread by me. I say seedlings come up but after the first true leaf they disappeared.

That's strange, never seen that happen before...not even in places where they get really dry during summer. Maybe a disease...fungal infection 

[Hans J]

Very beautiful semi-plena, Hans. Very nice shape. Curious for a pic of 'Barbara' (the plant, not your wife  )

Thank you Wim 

here are a pictures of a Eranthis ex Italy ( Pollino mts.- Calabria regione )
I have received a piece of the original plant ( same clone ) from a very nice person 
This plant is now in my greenhouse  ...I have it selfed today and so I hope I can get some seeds ( there no other Eranthis in my greenhouse)

We (Wim and I ) have the feeling that those plants from italy are a little earlier than other E.hyemalis ( p.e.Winterzauber )
I have also a other Eranthis from italian orgin ( but from Veneto regione )...it looks very similar like Winterzauber

Hans