Hepatica 2009

[Michael J Campbell]

A few Hepatica.
 For the closeup pics the flowers had to be removed from the plant to get a good pic ,did not want to remove the plants from the plunge.

Hepatica japonica Akane
Hepatica japonica Anjyu
Hepatica japonica haruno-awayuki x 2
Hepatica japonica shikouden x 2
Hepatica japonica Taeka
Hepatica japonica Toki
Hepatica Pubescens

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Very nice collection Michael - I think I like them all 

Here's two Hepatica nobilis - flowering in the garden - one of them opening up barely above the ground...

[EinMy]

You are very welcome to any information I can provide you with, annew 

Michael's photos are simply amazing. The red pistils on the pubescens..... I knew H. pubescens were nice, but this one was stunning indeed!

I otherwise have to report from the snowy north that, yes, my plants are still covered by half a foot of snow. Our time will come, though 

Best regards
Einar

[johngennard]

It is interesting to note that you are impressed by pubescens as in my experience it doesn't normally attract the same attention as nobilis or japonica and their hybrids.Perhaps because it bears a smaller flower with less petals and borne on a longer stem that tends to lay more horizontal and spread the flowers out more.I myself do like it and admire its more subtle qualities and grow it in quantity both in pots and recently outside.I planted 36 plants out this time last year beneath an established Pinus strobus(five needled pine)and I notice that they are just reappearing so the omens for growing this outside are looking good.I will keep you informed as to their further progress when the start to flower.

[EinMy]

I know German Marlene Ahlburg crossed H. pubescens with H. transsilvanica since both are triploid(2n=28) and created several fascinating hybrids during her experiments. The two-coloured white-red combination in H. pubescens is what enticed her to cross these two species, I think. Perhaps she also hoped the resulting seedlings would be fertile?

The single element that fascinates me most is not only the combined colours but also the oddity that the pistils of H. pubescens are red. What if a trait like that could be found in a European Hepatica? European Hepaticas are large-flowered compared to Japanese Hepaticas and are usually more compact as for growth. "Cremar" combined with H. pubescens. What a treat such a plant would be!

Best regards

[Gunilla]

Your pubescens is very sweet indeed, Michael.

I believe most double hepatica nobilis have once been found growing in the wild and then they have been propagated by division. Some are still very scarce and hard to come by.

Peter- I don't think 'Elison Spence' is a hybrid. I know it is a semi-double transsilvanica and that it was found in Ireland but that is about all I know.  It would be nice to know more about its history.
My hepaticas have not yet begun to flower but this is how my 'Elison Spence' looked like last spring.

[Peter Maguire]

Yes, having finally returned home from work and a subsequent local AGS group meeting (exellent talk by Peter Korn from Sweden), the first thing that I did was to look up Elison Spence, and it's apparently a form of H. transylvanica -oops! 

Here's another photo of it to show the lack of floral parts.

[ichristie]

Thank you all for such fantastic pictures, before I post my recent pictures, Dianne i thought the hepatica with the crinkly leaf from sweden was named H. Cremar? I hope to see you at Blackpool,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[maggiepie]

What a huge variety of colours and flower shapes there are, absolutely beautiful flowers.
Congratulations to all of you.

[Stephen Vella]

Nice Hepatica's Ian,

Do you treat all your Hepaticas the same culturally?

And nice H pyrenaica, what colour range does this sp come in?

Cheers

[ichristie]

Hi, all the Hepaticas I have posted are growing under cover, I use long tom plastic pots and the compost is John Inness soil based no 3 mixed with some leaf mould or composted bark and some perlite. The most important thing for me is never bury the growing noses all are above the soil level this allows you to wath and keep clear when watering. H. pyrenaica comes from an area in the Spanish pyrenees and is more variable now as we hand pollinate we have a few redish some blue and a good whie H. pyrenaica Snowstorm. but the bi-coloures are a favourite all have super marbled leaves whicch provide interest for several months in fact most customers buy them because they like the leaves, cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[Diane Clement]

Nice Hepatica's Ian,
Do you treat all your Hepaticas the same culturally?
And nice H pyrenaica, what colour range does this sp come in?  Cheers 

H pyrenaica seems to come in all forms that H nobilis comes in, but the most common is the very palest pink, sometimes referred to as "Apple Blossom".  I also have forms in white, pale blue, dark blue and dark pink.  I don't hand pollinate, but I assume it usually self pollinates easily, as it is tends to come fairly true from seed in colour, and always the marbled leaves.     
By the way, the Plant finder does not recognise H pyrenaica as a species, or even a subspecies.  H asiatica, H japonica, H pyrenaica and H rubra (oddly) are all listed as just varieties of H nobilis. 
   

Thank you all for such fantastic pictures, before I post my recent pictures, Dianne i thought the hepatica with the crinkly leaf from sweden was named H. Cremar? I hope to see you at Blackpool,  cheers Ian the Christie kind. 

Yes, Cremar refers to the crinkly leaf forms, but I don't think it can be a cultivar name, do you think it refers to all the crinkly leaf forms? - these come in different colours as well.  I saw a picture at one of John Massey's lectures of many of these forms that Schlyter had collected or selected.  Yes, Ian, look forward to seeing you at Blackpool, though too cold for your kilt  I think 

[EinMy]

Hepatica nobilis "Cremar" must be regarded as a true cultivar name, I think. It was created by Severin Schlyter in the late 1990ies. The parents were the cultivar "Crenatiloba", which is greenleafed and crinkly and "Marmorata", another cultivar with exceptional leaf colourations. There are several clones of "Cremar" which vary somewhat, all produced by Severin Schlyter in different series.

Best regards
Einar

[wolfgang vorig]

Thank you all for such fantastic pictures, before I post my recent pictures, Dianne i thought the hepatica with the crinkly leaf from sweden was named H. Cremar? I hope to see you at Blackpool,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.

Hello Ian,
Hepatica pyrenaica Blue Withe is a dream!!

Here my first Hepatica nobilis this year.    Wolfgang

[ichristie]

Hi again everyone. i am often cofnused why the RHS list some groups of plants in full and not others is this the lumpers and splitters again?. i do agree that these hepaticas are all variations od H. nobilis but it is helfull to clearly identify the different forms like H. cremar and H. pyrenaica as people who see pictures or plants at shows will look for these names in The Plant Finder etc,  cheers ian the Christie kind