Linnaea borealis

[Roma]

Quote from: Tim Ingram on January 10, 2015, 12:35:19 PM

    Wouldn't it be lovely to establish Linnaea borealis in the garden? Probably not for us in the dry south-east! A little more research in order

by maggi :   I think quite a lot of us would be ecstatic to be able to have  the exquisite Linnaea borealis in our gardens.  The only people I know with that pleasure are those with gardens very close to, and so benefitting from, its natural habitat and I think that isthe secret.

 I would love to be proved wrong by tales of others growing it  well in cultivation.

Two thriving plants of Linnaea borealis
The first was in Evelyn Stevens' garden near Dunblane in 2008
The other two photos in the garden of Lena Thuresson near Varburg 75k south of Gothenburg

[Maggi Young]

Two thriving plants of Linnaea borealis
The first was in Evelyn Stevens' garden near Dunblane in 2008
The other two photos in the garden of Lena Thuresson near Varburg 75k south of Gothenburg

 Fantastic plants!   Bears out my theory, I think - Evelyn's garden is  high on an exposed moorland and I suspect much the same for Lena's?

[Roma]

Evelyn's garden has a lot more mature trees now than when I first saw it ?30 years ago so would be fairly sheltered.  Lena's garden is fairly new but is set in mature woodland surrounded by farmland.  I do not think it is very high.
There is ( or was) a large patch of Linnaea borealis at the Cruickshank Garden on well drained soil less than a mile from the sea.  I think I was told it is the American one which is easier to grow than the Scottish native but iit never flowered as well as Evelyn's plant.   

[Robert]

Very nice Maggi - thanks. Interesting to see a dark leaved variant like some of the nemorosa forms and the association with other plants such as Panax (some botanists put the Araliaceae and Apiaceae together in one family - they are very close but different enough to make it much more convenient to view them separately). Wouldn't it be lovely to establish Linnaea borealis in the garden? Probably not for us in the dry south-east! A little more research in order

Tim,

I'll try to get a photograph of Linnaea borealis this spring. It grows in some of the shaded canyons right here in summer hot and dry El Dorado County, California. This is about the southern limit of its range around here. I'm sure that you are aware that it is quite common here in the mountains of the western U.S.A., often in locations that are quite dry during the summer. Maybe ours are different from the varieties growing in Europe? I've grown it in the garden in the past. It seems to like excellent drainage and some irrigation in our garden, and has been easy to grow in our shaded woodland.

[Rick R.]

Linnaea borealis grows wild in the northern half of Minnesota, but never in thick mats like shown in gardens on this thread.  All parts of the plant, especially the flowers, seem more refined.  Flowers all face downward, too, rather than haphazard directions.  In Minnesota they usually grow in sparsely populated, bright, dry and open pine understories, in thin soils over basalt/granite outcrops, with a good layer of pine needle duff.  Acid soils, of course. Average precipitation - 24-27 inches per year, USDA zones 2-4.

[Leena]

Very nice 'Kentish Pink', Roma. I hope mine flowers this spring and is as pink.

Blue Anemone trifolia, I would love that. Anne, I hope you got seeds of it and will be able to grow it for sale some day.

We have also Linnea borealis growing here in the forests, but I haven't tried it in the garden. Maybe I should try it, it is a very beautiful plant. Like Rick wrote I haven't seen it forming such thick mats in the nature, it more mingles among other plants and flower stems come up here and there. It grows also here in pine forests, and I think more in places where Rhododendron tomentosum grows in moist ground but Linnea borealis grows in higher clumps (I don't know how to say this in English) so that it doesn't get it's feet wet.

Thank you to the link to Houstonia caerulea thread! There are so many wonderful plants around the world, Houstonia  is very very beautiful.  Is it or its seeds ever available in Europe?

[WimB]

I think quite a lot of us would be ecstatic to be able to have  the exquisite Linnaea borealis in our gardens.  The only people I know with that pleasure are those with gardens very close to, and so benefitting from, its natural habitat and I think that isthe secret.

 I would love to be proved wrong by tales of others growing it  well in cultivation.

I've seen it thrive in the garden of a well known Flemish Rock Gardener, not far from where I live (he's the only one I know of who grows this small treasure)...forgot to take a picture...this year, when I go back, I'll make a picture and ask for some growing advice (and for a small piece   )

[Diane Whitehead]

The loveliest patch of Linnaea I saw filled the centre of a huge hollow stump which
held the scent.  It would be wonderful to duplicate the scene.

It is offered for sale here at Thimble Farms.

[Hoy]

Linnea is quite common around our mountain cabin but not here at the seaside. I am so used to it when I am up there that I never have thought of it as a garden plant. But now I have gotten the idea to try and grow it down her in the garden!

Here are a few old pictures;

[Tony Willis]

picture from Mt Rainier Washington State,there was yards of it along every path in the woods

[Hoy]

Thank you to the link to Houstonia caerulea thread! There are so many wonderful plants around the world, Houstonia  is very very beautiful.  Is it or its seeds ever available in Europe?

Leena, I have a few patches of it in my garden. If they survive the winter I can send you some cuttings in the spring or look for seeds later.

[Hoy]

picture from Mt Rainier Washington State,there was yards of it along every path in the woods

Tony,

your plant looks a bit different!

[Maggi Young]

Subtle differences between the European  and N.  American plants. All quite lovely.

I've given this plant a thread of its  own away from the Anemone thread where it arose. 

[Robert]

Linnaea borealis is also found on the hot, dry east side of the Cascade Mountains. It seems common in the Blue Mountains of eastern Washington and Oregon (at least I always came across it), and south into California. I have also seen it growing in the Wallowa Mountains. It certainly has gotten around. 

[johnw]

And here it is growing in the very middle of my roadway.  Actually it's in the mossy topping over highly compacted soil, like its companion Chiogenes hispidula they barely root down into the moss but scramble along and in the south frequently running up rotting or mossy trees.

Tony  - I like those glossy leaves on the western form.

johnw 0c