Hepatica

[mark smyth]

These images come courtesy of Niclas who owns the web site shown above http://www.hepatica.se/undermenyer/index_englisch.htm

[Paul T]

Mark,

Oh Wow!!!!!!!  That last one in particular!!  Beautiful.

[Joakim B]

Hi Anne
Thanks for the wellcome
I hope to have something more to say about hepaticas later and then with pictures.
Now I can only admire pictures.
Yes I am also looking forward to see what they have in the botanical garden in Lund.
Maybe it is something special since Severin Schlyter is from Lund. I know nothing and just discovered the hepticas recently and do not know if they are recient or not.

Lovely pictures that really make me want to get hold of some doubles.

Kind regards
Joakim B
Lund Sweden / Coimbra Portugal

[Joakim B]

Dear all
I hope I did the right thing by starting a new thread and not continue on the other "old" hepatica thread, if not I am sorry and hope the admin can fix it.You are most welcome to make a new thread, Joakim! M

I have had hepaticas in Sweden for a long time and am now thinking oftaking some from the garden to Portugal with summer temps on 30C up to almost 40 C with very litle change in the night, and with some winters with a maximum cold of plus 10C.
Are the summers too warm and the winters too warm also? We can have it under hydrogenia (hortensia) with a good shade to get it out of the sun. The winters are free from frost so they would be good for the asiatic more delicate (and expensive) sorts I belive so if the summers are too hot then .

Another question, if I may, is regarding if the pink in hepaticas is receive and when pollinated with a blue they always come out blue?
The reason I ask is that we have an old 30-40 years old hepatica in the garden that is pink and it blooms slightly before the blue ones but also blooms at the same time as the blue That have not resulted in any pink seedlings. The pink later turns to white and is quite nice if I may say so myself. I hope to post pictures of them later when they bloom. We have not tried to pollinate it but there are blue hepaticas around and there are some seedlings being spread along the ant path. Can the pink form be sterile?
Can we try to self pollinate the pink with it self and expect seed or is a different plant needed? We can use different flowers but it is the same plant.

I hope there is an answer since I would like to have more pink ones and also take some to Portugal eventually.

Kind regards

Joakim

[hadacekf]

Hi Joakiin,
I do not think the summers are too warm in Portugal. I live in the east of Austria and we have temperatures to 37° C in the summer, and the Hepatica nobilis grows marvellously in our forests near Vienna. However you must cultivate the plants in full shade. No frost in the winter is an advantage, since frost destroys the leaves.

[Joakim B]

Thank You Franz
I saw on Your very nice webpage that You have hepaticas in Austria, but was not sure if they also grew at lower altitudes or if they only grew in the Alps.

Now I only need to find out more about the pink hepatica.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Joakim B]

Does anyone know if pink is rececive in hepaticas so that there is a need for two pinks to give a pink flower and a pink and blue will always only give blue flowers?
Is it possible to polinate a flower with itself or do they have any protection so that an other plant is needed?

Also I would be interseted to know if it is comon with sterile plants amongst old cultivars (Swedish) of pink hepaticas?

Hopefull for response

Joakim

[razvan chisu]

Hi
Also in Cluj, Romania at about 500-600 m in altitude, Hepatica nobilis [both blue and pink] is growing quite hapilly in forests and gardens. Summer highs over 30C and average annual rains of about 600mm.
Razvan

[Maggi Young]

Welcome to the new forum, Razvan, good to have you here!

[Joakim B]

Thanks for that info Razvan
Do You know if the same goes for hepatica transylvanica?
I must admit I do not where in Romania Cluj is, but hope it is in the hepatica transylvanica belt
Congratulations in seeing nice hepaticas close by.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Norman Rigby]

I started growing Hepaticas last year and my new stock are just beginning to show signs of new life I am awaiting the possible emergence of new plants from the seed I have sown last year. I thought now would be a good time to rejoin the Hepatica forum and learn more about the cultivation 

[Maggi Young]

Hello, Norman, welcome to the forum.  You should be able to discover quite a lot about growing hepaticas here and in the pages of the old forum (see links at the beginning of this page).
There is some reference to them in Ian Young's Bulb Log too, which may be useful.
We are still waiting for them to wake up from winter, here in Aberdeen.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Even if this year's Hepatica thread is only half as good as last year's, it will still be fabulous.  I count the days...

[Diane Whitehead]

I grow my hepaticas in an East-facing bed, shaded by bamboo,
but getting a bit of sun, occasionally even in winter on rare days.
 I grow plants that need summer water here, like Arisaemas
and other East Asian and Eastern U.S. woodlanders, as it is
right beside the front door, so a very handy spot to empty cold tea
and the pan of dish-rinsing water. 

I keep a cloche over my single Japanese double during the winter.

Growing any of these in our very dry woodland would not work.

[Diane Whitehead]

Usually I don't order hepatica seeds from seed exchanges since I almost
never get germination. However, this year I decided to order from NARGS.
I figure there is always the chance that some just-ripened seeds have
been airmailed from New Zealand. 
They have just arrived, and I am surprised at the differences among the
seeds. The maxima seeds look fresh - half white and half green, and much
larger than the other two species.  None from New Zealand, though.  Maxima
is from Poland and/or two people in the U.S. who perhaps have Polish names,
one of whom also sent the insularis, nobilis is from Lund (Sweden), and Manchester.

I put them to soak, and then decided to photograph them.  I couldn't find
any centimetre paper, so here they are on quarter inch graph paper.  On my
monitor, they are life-sized, but I don't know whether that will be the same here.