At Kerrachar we successfully grew a number of Aciphylla species in beds above retaining walls near the north end of the house. Along with Celmisias, small Hebes and Myosotidium, they gave a year-round display of colour and interest. We would like to try to grow some of these species in Sheffield and, as many that were available from nurseries 15 or 20 years ago seem no longer to be offered, we aim to grow from seed and have just placed a big order with Jelitto.
Advice seems to be that they need perhaps 30 days of cold moist conditions to break dormancy. Have other forumists germinated seeds from this genus successfully ? If so it would be very interesting to know what worked for you.
Our Kerrachar bed was well drained (and, being at the north end of the house, got very little sunshine for much of the year. None at all from early November to early February which was true for the whole garden) but nothing special was done to the soil though it was free-draining enough. Some authors suggest a sandy medium would be best and recommend an open site. What conditions have others found successful ?
