My Bit of Heaven - by Kristl Walek

[Kristl Walek]

The Elms (Ulmus species) all have very short-lived seed, almost rivaling Salix (the Willows) in terms of short viability.

They also bloom extremely early, and are the first woody seeds to be collected in this area
(U. americana normally harvested the last week of May). U. thomasii a couple of weeks later.

Ulmus americana, rubra and the very picturesque Ulmus thomasii are all native here. Extant old specimens of the American Elm can still be found; whether they have resistance to Dutch Elm Disease, or whether it has not touched them in the areas where they grow is uncertain.

U. thomasii, rock elm--because of its extremely hard wood--is often also called cork elm because of the very picturesque, irregular thick corky wings which develop on older branches. It is rare in this area, but when found, it usually grows on dry upland sites, especially rocky ridges and limestone bluffs.

Elm seed is rarely offered in the trade partially because of the difficulty in catching the early seed drop on time and also because of the short viability issue. This year I was able to collect seed of all three species; clean them immediately and then stored them dry in the freezer to experiment with the possibility that they might remain viable if frozen. Seed has been tested at roughly 4-6 month intervals since collection---and the latest results---from today are posted in picture form below. In two months the fresh 2009 seed will be ready; so it is possible to keep these species "on ice" from season to season and I suspect this would be true across the genus.

[Kristl Walek]

It's that time of the year in the Canadian north when the seasons do their most obvious battling---it's something I love, watching that fierce, lovely struggle between winter and spring.

Only a few days ago, the view from my kitchen window was still white. Today, Easter Sunday is cold, but sunny, with warmer weather coming, although the nights are still below freezing. This morning the duck couple arrived to the big pond---they are here each year as soon as the water unthaws; and when I spot them, I know that spring is here, notwithstanding what the next month and a half may still bring.

While there is not a single native species flowering yet, the Hepatica nobilis, Corydalis solida, Hellebores, Crocus, Galanthus, Draba and many Saxifrages are all in bloom, with many other non-native species coming on.

A few more germination notes to continue my ongoing post on that subject:

One cold treatment of three months:
Maianthemum canadense
Gentianopsis crinita
Eriophorum virginicum

Streptopus roseus--this had just emerged the last time I posted the results. Seedlings are now large and vigorous. Seed had been kept moist packed after harvest and then given one cold treatment.


And two cold treatments:
Ilex verticillata
Nemopanthus mucronatus
Cornus canadensis
Drosera rotundifolia
Fraxinus nigra

[Rodger Whitlock]

. . . GA-3 is NOT a panacea for germination . . .

Even though I love how the internet has brought people, plants, information, and purchases right to my inner sanctum; there is barely a day I don't cringe when I see the ease with which erroneous information also gets spread. . .  Wait for one source to publish something on the net (correct or incorrect) and everyone follows. The information then gets linked to the various germination databases and then appears to be law.

The easy proliferation of mis-information is nothing new, Kristl. A good 30 years ago, I had a friend who was into growing hybrid tea roses from seed. To speed up the process and get the critical first flower sooner, he used gibberellin per a recommendation in the rose growing literature, but at first had extremely poor results. (Rose breeders have learned that the first flower from a seedling is generally indicative of its commercial potential, so they exert considerable efforts to getting an early flower. The sooner they reach it, the sooner they can destroy the huge majority of seedlings which have no particular merit.)

Being of an investigative frame of mind, he started backtracking from his reference and ultimately arrived at the original publication of the recommendation. Turned out that at one stage, someone had slipped a decimal point and the recommended concentration was suddenly inflated by one or more orders of magnitude. (I don't remember at this late date if it was a ten-, hundred-, or thousand-fold error.)

Once he corrected his concentration to the originally recommended lower level, success was his, even though he germinated his seed in a coat closet under fluorescent fixtures.

The error had occurred with the first re-printing of the methodology, and no one had bothered to check back to the ur-publication of it. Why no one else had figured out that Something Was Wrong, he did not know.

All the internet has done is speed up the spread of errors!

[I'm hoping that by tying two topics together, I'm reinforcing the lesson that where gibberellins are concerned, more is most definitely NOT better. If anything, less is better!]

[Kristl Walek]

As I've become obessed with potting plants for my move, I almost missed the flowering of the first plant of Hepatica americana, the earliest native species to bloom in this area.

As this species is considered "very local and rare in Nova Scotia" I will soon have to select clones of particularly good forms to take along.

I will try to get out to my Hepatica spots in the wild this week to show you woods, near full of this wonderful plant.

[Paul T]

Beautifully delicate colour, Kristl.  The only americana I grow are apparently from white parents.... but still waiting for most of them to flower to find out whether there were any colours slipped in there in the genes. 

[Kristl Walek]

The "muddy" color of my clone is a fairly widespread occurence here---it's harder to find the pure whites or pinks. Lavender is common, blue is uncommon here (although I know one site...) and I have found some beautiful deep pure pinks.

Doubles/Semi-Doubles are not rare and sometimes I have seen leaf shape variation. However, what I have rarely, to never found here after years of looking is really distinctive leaf mottling or variegation.

[Paul T]

Kristl,

Well it certainly doesn't look muddy to me.    I have to correct my earlier posting too... the Hepatica americana are from a blue parent, not a white parent.  The H. acutiloba were from the white parent.  I think your pink is lovely, and love the idea of the deep pure pinks.  Fascinating that the doubles/semi-doubles aren't rare.  I don't think I've seen double americanas mentioned before.  I hope to one day grow doubles of some sort or another. 

Thanks again for all your wonderful pictures, Kristl.

[Kristl Walek]

Paul,
Compare the number of sepals of this typical H. americana with the one I posted earlier.

Of course "muddy" is not the correct word---what is it?

Let me try again: the primary color scheme of the species here is white underlayed with pink, lavender/bluish tones, although pure colors exist.

[Paul T]

I still like "delicate" when referring to the colour.  Muddy sounds so negative.    They're beautiful, whatever colour they are.  So in the americana the term double refers to just more petals in the single layer then, rather than the japanese double nobilis etc?

[Katherine J]

Hepatica americana seeds from Kristl, germinating like mad. 
Thank you Kristl!!!

[Maggi Young]

Lots of healthy babies there, Kata ...no wonder you are pleased!

[Kristl Walek]

Hepatica americana seeds from Kristl, germinating like mad. 
Thank you Kristl!!!

That makes me so happy. Thank you for showing them!!!!

[Kristl Walek]

Since the good weather has arrived, I have had to spend most of my days
putting plants into pots for my move, instead of enjoying them in the garden
or in the wild.

But today my yearning to get out into the woods was impossible to resist---so I
dropped shovel and trowel and ran away to a few local haunts to see if
anything was poking out of the ground yet.

I would also like to take this time before I leave Ontario to concentrate on particular species that I did not show you last year.

It's lovely to be in the rich woodlands at this time of year; before the
leaves of the maples have emerged and prior to the arrival of the biting creatures.
There is plenty of light without the leafy canopy; and one crunches along on dry maple leaves wondering what lies beneath.

Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum) is one of the earliest species to emerge in the woods. Because it is considered quite a delicacy (leaves and bulbs are edible), it is rapidly decreasing in the wild and in some parts of our country (Quebec) has become illegal to collect. I sell out of this seed each year, no matter how large my initial seed stock is.

The species has quite an unusual growth pattern. The lovely, wide foliage emerges in the spring and goes entirely dormant by summer. At this point it sends up a single smooth stem holding white flowers from bare earth---which turn into shiny, round seeds in the fall.

Caulophyllum thalictroides is one of my favorite native plants. And while I love it all season long, it's spring emergence is wonderful---rich, dark purple-black.

[Kristl Walek]

It was still too early for most of the spring woodland plants:

The mottled foliage of Erythronium americanum could be seen everywhere poking through the maple leaves although I did find one or two plants in bloom at the very sunny edges of the forest.

Trillium grandiflorum had mostly not yet emerged from the ground, although a few scattered plants growing high and dry in limestone boulders were out and in bud. 

One Trillium erectum with it's red bloomers showing.

And while most of the beautiful Dicentra cucullaria were just at the cute, ferny leaf stage, a small scattering of flowers could be found in the hotter, drier areas.

It is, of course, peak flowering time for Hepatica americana. Unfortunately I was not able to take the time to drive to my special Hepatica site today (hopefully I will not be too late next week to see the display).

A few scattered plants were at my local woods today, including a nice pure white.

[Kristl Walek]

Sanguinaria canadensis is also at it's prime moment---and I saw plants in almost totally exposed, open areas near the sides of the road in heavy, weedy competition that had fantastically huge flowers.