Hepatica 2022

[Leena]

Very nice to see lovely Hepaticas everyone! I especially liked the white ones and multipetals ones.

Here Hepaticas in early places are flowering, in shady places not yet.
First our native H.nobilis.
Two nice multipetal Hepaticas, third is the darkest colour I have,
and fourth nice lighter blue, notice how deer had eaten the leaves last autumn so that only stems are left.
Fifth strong pink.

[Leena]

Some more native ones.
Light pink which fade to almost white during flowering.
Third is 'Selma', fourth H.nobilis var pyrenaica 'Alba, grown from Dryad seeds.
Last picture is H.nobilis 'Rubra Plena'

[Leena]

Two H.americana plants grown from Gabriela's seed. The other one is very pale blue, almost white.

[Leena]

Most of my H.pubescens were lost last winter, and the ones left are not flowering.
H.japonica plants survived much better, and are slowly starting to flower.
The first to flower was H.japonica which I planted last spring, it is really nice blueish colour with darker stamens. I love it!
First picture is of it a week ago and then pictures from yesterday.
'Shirayuki' has increased well and is starting to flower.

[Gabriela]

The Hepatica show is in full steam in your garden Leena!
I know how enjoyable that is The H. japonica with dark stamens is very pretty, always nice to have contrast with the flower color.

[Carsten]

Most of my H.pubescens were lost last winter, and the ones left are not flowering.
H.japonica plants survived much better, and are slowly starting to flower.
The first to flower was H.japonica which I planted last spring, it is really nice blueish colour with darker stamens. I love it!
First picture is of it a week ago and then pictures from yesterday.
'Shirayuki' has increased well and is starting to flower.

Very nice flowers, Leena!
My H. pubescens are also quite weak this spring and not all survived.
I have big problems with deer, too. They seem to like the fresh leaves 

[Herman Mylemans]

Great Hepatica’s Leena! Here the seeds are starting  to get ready.
It is nice to see that the hepatica season is now starting in other countries. So we can still enjoy the flowers

[kris]

I appreciated all the Hepaticas that were posted here. So many beautiful forms and colours.
Leena your Hepatica japonica pale blue with dark anthers is great. In our climate japonicas don't survive . I tried some  and none of them came back after the winter.
Here are some of the Hepaticas blooming in the garden. Still more to bloom.

[kris]

more hepaticas

[kris]

few more

[kris]

2 more

[MarcR]

Quite a bargain Guff. I like the while flowered Hepatica , although I noticed many people are partial to the blue ones.


Lowes Is a building contractor supply house similar to Home Depot.

They offer rootstock of many plants in sealed plastic bags.  Toward the end of Spring they need to get rid of the bagged rootstocks or take a loss on the unsold ones. By end of spting they are very stressed from not being in the ground and most die off.

[Herman Mylemans]

Kris, great Hepatica show in your garden!

[Maggi Young]

Super post from Kristl Walek ( who used to be a very regular poster here) o Facebook :

Contrary To What You Thought: Hepatica Is A Cheater

Myrmecochory (/mɜːrmᵻˈkɒkɔːri/ (sometimes myrmechory); from Ancient Greek: μύρμηξ mýrmēks and χορεία khoreíā "circular dance") is seed dispersal by ants, an ecologically significant ant-plant interaction with worldwide distribution is exhibited by more than 3,000 plant species worldwide, and is present in every major biome on all continents except Antarctica.

In nature, when there is success, there is often a cheater. Hepatica, a beautiful purple or white spring ephemeral flower that emerges before its leaves, is an unassuming swindler. Instead of providing a detachable treat for the ant, hepatica just covers its seed in a non-removable elaiosome with the same chemical cues as its neighbors’ true elaiosomes.

When ants take hepatica’s seeds back to the nest, the elaiosome can’t be eaten, and the chemical cues stay intact. Instead of being stripped of its packet of fatty goodness and thrown in the trash heap, the hepatica seed stimulates each ant that passes by to pick it up by the permanent, fatty handle and carry it somewhere else. Hepatica saves energy by not making a large elaiosome, and it benefits when its seeds are distributed more widely. In return for their dispersal services, the ants get nothing. Hepatica is a parasite!

If cheaters win, though, then pretty soon everyone starts cheating. For a mutualism (a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit) to continue, it must provide appropriate rewards. Scientists have found that seeds with true, tasty, edible elaiosomes are transported by ants much more often than the cheater seeds of Hepatica and others like it. “In this situation, cheating … establishes a background against which better mutualists can display competitive superiority, thus leading…to the reinforcement of the mutualism (Pfeiffer et al, 2009).”

[Carsten]

Kris, excellent plants! Thank you for sharing