Hepatica 2017

[Gabriela]

Kris,
your Hepaticas are looking very good, considering the weather!

Are there any double Hepatica americana or acutiloba in the wild in America?

I only found specimens of H. americana sort of semi-double until now, but who knows they may be hiding somewhere In any case, that's a big difference comparing with H.nobilis where doubling is more frequent.

[Maggi Young]

From Ashwood's Nursery -
Don't miss this years Hepatica seed crop & order without delay. They must be sown fresh for success.



 https://www.ashwoodnurseries.com/shop/plants/speciality-seed.html?cat=172

[Herman Mylemans]

Kris,
your Hepaticas are looking very good, considering the weather!

I only found specimens of H. americana sort of semi-double until now, but who knows they may be hiding somewhere In any case, that's a big difference comparing with H.nobilis where doubling is more frequent.

Gabriela, Hepatica americana is a varietal of nobilis (Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa) so I presume there must exist double forms.
From acutiloba, I have got this year from a friend a piece of Hepatica acutiloba 'Louise Koehler' (or 'Louise Köhler'), I don't know if there exist any other forms.

[annew]

DRYAD NURSERY'S fresh seed list (hepatica and some galanthus) will be ready within the next 2 weeks. If you are not already on my email list, and would like to receive it, please contact me.

[Gabriela]

I like Hepaticas for their foliage as much as for the flowers. Although rare, sometimes there are few flowers in late fall, the same time the foliage gets a marbled aspect.




H. acutiloba foliage markings are always angular (cannot find a better word) in look, different than H. americana.
This particular specimen was named H. acutiloba 'Rabbit's foot'.


H. americana

[Leena]

Interesting difference in the leaves, thanks for posting it Gabriela. 
I have planted outside pots of Hepatica which germinated last spring.
Couple of days ago I saw a foot print of a deer just centimeters away of those tiny plants, I was relieved to see them still ok and then I protected them with twigs so that if deer walked there again, they would not walk over the seedlings.
Deer had been eating leaves of my other Hepaticas which they normally don't eat.

[Herman Mylemans]

I like Hepaticas for their foliage as much as for the flowers. Although rare, sometimes there are few flowers in late fall, the same time the foliage gets a marbled aspect.
H. acutiloba foliage markings are always angular (cannot find a better word) in look, different than H. americana.

Nice pictures Gabriela!
Here is Hepatica nobilis and Hepatica nobilis 'Rubra'

[Leena]

What huge H.nobilis 'Rubra' clump!

[Herman Mylemans]

What huge H.nobilis 'Rubra' clump!

Leena, ants do there work and all the seedlings are pink.

[Gabriela]

What huge H.nobilis 'Rubra' clump!

Indeed, wonderful Herman, and the leaves have a nice wavy look.

[Gabriela]

Interesting difference in the leaves, thanks for posting it Gabriela. 
I have planted outside pots of Hepatica which germinated last spring.
Couple of days ago I saw a foot print of a deer just centimeters away of those tiny plants, I was relieved to see them still ok and then I protected them with twigs so that if deer walked there again, they would not walk over the seedlings.
Deer had been eating leaves of my other Hepaticas which they normally don't eat.

In the woods I've never found any Hepatica with eaten leaves Leena, and there are deers around.
On the other hand,  this spring in the garden a rabbit clipped entirely two Hepaticas, which they are also not supposed to eat! Maybe the wild animals change their behaviour/diet when browsing outside their wild habitat.
In any case, I hope he went to rabbits hell

About leaves again, I should mention that some Hepaticas get marbled and some not, even when they grow with the same exposure to the spring/late fall sun. Especially H. acutiloba not often gets couloured foliage.

[Herman Mylemans]

Leaves from Hepatica nobilis var. pyrenaica x japonica in our garden.

[Herman Mylemans]

Hepatica nobilis 'Rubra' on a place where it gets more sun, so the autumn leaves are much more intense

[Leena]

In the woods I've never found any Hepatica with eaten leaves Leena, and there are deers around.
On the other hand,  this spring in the garden a rabbit clipped entirely two Hepaticas, which they are also not supposed to eat! Maybe the wild animals change their behaviour/diet when browsing outside their wild habitat.

It could have been a rabbit, too, but I have seen deer hoof prints in the garden so it is either one. Perhaps plants taste better when they are grown in a garden bed and have more lush foliage than what they do in the wild.
Here H.nobilis loses it's leaves during winter anyway so I don't think it matters if they get eaten now, but they would have been nice now when there is so little else.
Here is a picture of H.nobilis with eaten leaves, only the stalks are left.
The other Hepatica they eat is H.transsylvanica, in the foreground.
I try to distract the animals by putting wild cherry twings (which smell bad) around plants they like to eat (or spruce branches in the winter), but I didn't think about Hepaticas until it was too late.

[Gabriela]

It could have been a rabbit, too, but I have seen deer hoof prints in the garden so it is either one. Perhaps plants taste better when they are grown in a garden bed and have more lush foliage than what they do in the wild.
Here H.nobilis loses it's leaves during winter anyway so I don't think it matters if they get eaten now, but they would have been nice now when there is so little else.
Here is a picture of H.nobilis with eaten leaves, only the stalks are left.
The other Hepatica they eat is H.transsylvanica, in the foreground.
I try to distract the animals by putting wild cherry twings (which smell bad) around plants they like to eat (or spruce branches in the winter), but I didn't think about Hepaticas until it was too late.

Yes, the leaves grow back, it's just like you say, nice to have them when little else.
I sometimes lay spruce branches, or twigs from an old Chaenomeles on 'problem' areas; even over the seedlings pots.