Hepatica variation in a German forrest

[partisangardener]

Usually we have here just blue Heps.
Last year I discovered a place some  10000 square meters big where there were nearly no two plants alike.
Many shades of light blue and pink. Many splish/splash, one pure albino form, some nearly white, some dark blue different petals and so on. No doubles jet, but it was so difficult to explore this place, because the plants were so crowded.
There are many places with heps in this area but without variation. Just a medium blue.
My camera does not work well with the pink ones. It comes out very light pink. The light colours also are too light.
I checked my only pictures from this place and there was only one very light pink one acceptable in a picture with different ones.
One dark pink was awfully blurred much more than my favourite one the star which I included.
I hope I will have the chance this year again. A friend of mine bought this piece of forrest for little money.

[Sandy Leven]

Hi Axel
Thank you for the pictures of different Hepaticas.
when do the Hepaticas flower in your part of Germany?
When we visited Henrick near Gothenburg he took us to woods where there were many Hepaticas in flower in April.They were difficult to photograph because of the wind. Like you I had difficulty getting pink ones to show their true colour. It was fascinating for us from Scotland because they don't grow wild here. I would love to see them in Germany. I remember seeing leaves and a very few flowers, in early July, many years ago,  in the French Alps [I think]
Sandy

[partisangardener]

I took this pictures at the 30. of March 2011. They are sometimes more early. The season depends on the temperature. Which rises somtetimes too fast too high in April. Then it is over in one or two weeks.
This special place is a woody hill facing north, which is good for long lasting flowering.

[cohan]

Very cool- and great your friend was able to buy the land! Is he intending to just preserve the land the way it is, or some other plans?
I know what you mean about seed collecting difficulties-timing can be difficult and worse when it is away from home...

[partisangardener]

It is a pity he is no gardener, but I hope he will listen to my arguments. At the moment it is still forrest near his fishponds.
But I will hear when something is going on there.
Here some more samples  just one plant two flowers.

[partisangardener]

Two other plants.
I fear these mottled colours are caused by virus?
More than half of them were mottled, but looked healthy. No mottles on the leafs.

[Olga Bondareva]

Axel, thanks for sharing images and Hepatica observations!
As for mottled ones and other unusual kinds you have to watch them for a couple of years. They can change color to more typical.

And about seed collecting.  I collect seeds when they are nearly ripen. When i touch seedhead and at least one seed fall off i cut all stems with seedheads and put them into zip-lock polyethylene pouch.
Sow seeds immediately! Or store in humid vermiculite. They should not be dried. 

[partisangardener]

Good instructions, thank you very much. 

[Natalia]

Alex, very interesting finds - too from personal experience - track the white form - albinos Hepatica nobilis from the nature, difficult most at adaptation.

[partisangardener]

I have not touched it, but will try to take seeds this year. Within two generations  there should be some albinos. The plant looks quite healthy.
I will give some seeds back then.

Has anybody information about this somewhat blotchy colouring, is it virus?

[Afloden]

Hepatica acutiloba and H. americana are usually observed with faint mottling on the petals. When the flower is young it is not obvious but as the petal matures and grows the color gets less vivid and the mottling shows up. I don't think it is virus that is causing this, or at least not a harmful one. I see it more as a factor of the age of the individual flower before the petals drop.

 Aaron

[Olga Bondareva]

Axel, there are a lot of Hepatica kinds with mottled petals. Here is H. nobilis from Czech forest. It's found by Vojtech Holubec. He is professional botanist and can't bring virused plant to his garden.



As for white flowered plants they are as vigorous as blue ones in my garden. If you grow color forms separately their children generally have the same flower color.

[partisangardener]

What a beauty, almost unreal, a good picture too.
Thank you very much. It calms my virus-fear, to have this information from two sources. 

[Natalia]

Axel, there is not only a virus. There is suspicion, that on  Hepatica there is микоплазма, in this case at a weak infection spots can show up on the petals of colors.

White with the painted stamens very simple, and white with complete absence of another color  - as all complete albinos - more tender and choosy.

[partisangardener]

That's bad news I found a translation for your Russian word Mycoplasma this is a bacteria without cell-walls. Most antibiotic don't work on these. Do you know any cure? Or should I burn down all the hepatica there?