May 2019 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Gabriela]

Beautiful image Gabriela - I was just looking up Claytonia, have you ever tried eating it?
https://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/spring_beauty_tasty_tubers

I only tasted the leaves Gail. I know they are in demand by the edibles growers, I never have enough seeds
It is an ephemeral in the true sense, one day will decide to go dormant and the next day is gone. The flowers open gradually so the seeds also mature in waves, it is a nightmare to collect them.

[Gabriela]

Gabriela, I'm glad to see spring is also over there in spite of rain. I think many colours, especially in red Corydalis, are brighter in cool weather, hot temperatures seem to make their colours bleach out.
Hmm, my C.cava 'Alba' has distinctly yellowish flowers, not as white as in your picture..

Many years ago I sowed Claytonia virginica from Gardens North seeds. The original plants have died but they survive from self sown seedlings, not many but every year there are some flowering. Here it has sown itself among Polygonatum multiflorum and Geranium phaeum. My plant seems to have white flower than the ones in your picture, or the whiteness is a result of our warmer weather this year (not right now though, it is now +3C and cloudy)

The buds are creamy like you say Leena but then when opened they are like in the picture; not pure white but definitely not cream. It may be the cool weather?

Claytonia can have white or pink flowers and they are variable in size as well. I took the picture in a particularly beautiful, vigorous population.

I hope your seeds will germinate, i guess my winter is too warm to break dormancy

Claytonia germinates easily Yann after a warm/cold cycle and actually it doesn't needs a lot of cold. I once kept leftover seeds moist in the fridge and they started to germinate somewhere in January!

[Gabriela]

From yesterday as well, a Helleborus grown from seeds that I like (with torquatus genes), I must take an overall picture.


And first time flowering Pachyphragma macrophyllum., cheerful flowers but mostly I was amazed how nice the leaves remained late into the winter, especially that we had quite a few snow less periods.

[Rick R.]

Really wonderful photos everyone, and I appreciate the informative dialog that goes with them.

Years ago I had asked Ian Young how does he manage to get so much ground cover . His reply to me was I was to tidy so from that day on I stopped weeding till the first day of May and it’s working. Still have a long way to go to get the effect that Maggi and Ian have but I am getting so many plants seeding themselves around now  . Don’t have to buy so many plants now and don’t have to weed as much

Another devotee, here, although I discovered the "method" on my own.  Because my gardens are relatively dry, I can use a couple species of Himalayan impatiens as my "cover weed" until I weed in June.  They are so easy to pull, and then I find my various seedlings and put a new shallow layer of shredded leaves over the garden.

I have grown and tasted Claytonia sibirica, but couldn't keep the species going for more than a few years.  Why I never though about eating our native C. virginica, I don't know!  Went out and tried some leaves from my patch just now.... good texture, although not quite as crisp as leaf lettuce.  Not bitter at all, actually very little taste, but very pleasant.  Gosh, a 2 inch diameter tuber would be simply gigantic here.  Perhaps because I am at its most north and west natural range, the largest I've ever seen is 3/4 inch.

These are Claytonia sibirica

[Rick R.]

And here is Claytonia virginica

[Leena]

And first time flowering Pachyphragma macrophyllum., cheerful flowers but mostly I was amazed how nice the leaves remained late into the winter, especially that we had quite a few snow less periods.

It is really nice and early! I guess it only germinates from fresh seeds, because I have tried it twice from seed ex dry seeds with no germination.

I have grown and tasted Claytonia sibirica, but couldn't keep the species going for more than a few years. 

And in my garden (woodland beds, not in sun) it is a weed which I try to get rid of, but it comes back from seeds all the time.
It IS pretty and with bigger plants like Rodgersia or such it can be a good ground cover because it grows all season - maybe in warmer countries all year around -  and prevents other weeds before Rodgersias come up (and it flowers prettily). But if I have in one place it will be all over.
Claytonia virginica is much better behaved plant, and I wish it would spread more.

[t00lie]

And in my garden (woodland beds, not in sun) it is a weed which I try to get rid of, but it comes back from seeds all the time.
It IS pretty and with bigger plants like Rodgersia or such it can be a good ground cover because it grows all season - maybe in warmer countries all year around -  and prevents other weeds before Rodgersias come up (and it flowers prettily). But if I have in one place it will be all over.

Claytonia sibirica is also a weed here in one area in our woodland garden Leena.I originally allowed it to seed to be harvested as a food source for aviary birds however it has now started to encroach into the surrounding native bush so I've started pulling it out.   

[ian mcdonald]

Montia/claytonia sibirica used to grow on a small island next to the bridge in Killin, Perthshire.

[Yann]

Gabriela: so i failed to germinate the seeds

[Gabriela]

Nice pictures with the spring beauty Rick. Such a cute ephemeral. I didn't even open the link - does it say 2 inches bulb?
That's quite an exaggeration or a typo. I should ask one of my clients who grows it as edible but I really don't see it going to that size.

With the edimentals fashion I notice there is the tendency to 'romanticize' a bit the realiy. Same goes wit Amphicarpaea, people have expectations for big 'groundnuts'

Gabriela: so i failed to germinate the seeds

The seeds need to be sown relatively fresh or kept moist Yann.
If I manage to collect more this year, there will be no problem for you to try again.

[Gabriela]

It is really nice and early! I guess it only germinates from fresh seeds, because I have tried it twice from seed ex dry seeds with no germination.

It may be true Leena. I only received few seeds years ago and only one germinated. I planted it in the garden fairly small and didn't expect it to survive. It is in a dry shade spot so one more quality.
If it sets seeds we can look into the problem Just that with so much rain and old weather there aren't too many bees and bumblebees around. I have a feeling there won't be much pollination for Corydalis either.

[jomowi]

Gentiana angustifolia 'Pirin'
Maureen

[Maggi Young]

So  beautiful - you cannot  beat  a gentian for a  fabulous  "blue", can you?

[Rick R.]

Exquisite saturation of color, Maureen!  The clematis is pretty, too.

Gabriela, yes, the link about Claytonia virginica said: tubers half inch to 2 inches in diameter!
  When I was a kid, I gathered Amphicarpaea bracteata "nuts", and it took forever to get a half cupful.  (I spent a lot of time in the woods around my house.)  But as I grew older and explored other areas, I did find the species grew more robustly elsewhere.  But "nuts" were hardly any bigger, just more plentiful.  Tastes very sweet with just a hint of nuttiness.

I can verify that Claytonia virginica seed is difficult to harvest.  I've been putzing with methods, and the last thing I tried is to just gather some ripe podded stems, put them in a bowl and wait a day or so for the seed to eject.  They do explode, so you need a loose cover so the seeds don't fly all over the table. LOL  I am guessing that any seed that ejects after three days likely won't be viable.  What do you think, Gabriela?

Perhaps my garden is too dry for sibirica's liking.  But sometime, I will try again.  My original seed came from Todd Boland in New Foundland, Canada.  He says the seed isn't recalcitrant. I "winter sowed" dry seed at the end of February, and it came up fine.

[illingworth]

Lots happening in the Northern Hemisphere !  Our winter in northwestern Ontario has been too long and the last snow  ( 8 inches plus ) was on Monday April 29th. Most of that has now gone and a few things are starting to move in the garden.  For us our best show so far is Erythronium caucasicum (photo) The seed originally came from a forumist in Moscow.   Following closely is  Erythronium sibiricum which is about a week behind  E. caucasicum.

-Rob