Dicentra cucullaria

[ronm]

I have many many Dicentra cucullaria growing around the woodland area, the semi shade beds, and in pots, but they never flower. They produce plenty of 'rice grains' which I'm thinking may mean somethings not right? The foliage is very healthy and there is no sign of pest or disease in any of the populations. The original plants have been picked up from various suppliers over the years so must (?) be distict genetically,  .
Can anyone offer any advice please to help promote flowering? Thanks,

[mark smyth]

Mine are the same

[brianw]

I have grown these for some years in pots, and I only get flowers when I remember to feed them a bit to get reasonable sized bulbs. I suspect they are so easy, and early, we forget that they want something to fatten up on.

[Martinr]

Don't plant them deeply. In pots I find they are happy just under the surface. Don't let them get too dry in summer. They don't flower very freely but it can be done. See

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=8906.0

[Rick R.]

Martin's advice seems to be spot on.  Just this past spring in the wild here in Minnesota (USA), we have had the best showing of flowers I have ever seen.  Last year's rainfall was perfectly timed right up through August.   And though not usual, it is not uncommon to see the corms at the surface.

          

[ronm]

Thanks for all your observations / advice so far everyone. 
Planting depth is very much near the surface in my garden, but I dont feed the garden colonies. I do however feed the potted ones, and they perform as badly flower-wise
I'm wondering now about the summer moisture,
"Last year's rainfall was perfectly timed right up through August."  - Thanks Rick  and Martin 
Normally our summer rainfall is low, and I know the pots are kept on the dry side.  What would be your rainfall figures (or perhaps we should now ask for evaporation rate,  ) for summer please Rick? ( especially last summer ).

[Martinr]

Ron, I'm in the East Midlands so rainfall in summer is variable but not high. Pots are kept in an open sand plunge frame with little/no direct sun. Pots in plunge are watered overhead once or twice a week if it's warm and hasn't rained recently.

[Rick R.]

I'm wondering now about the summer moisture,
"Last year's rainfall was perfectly timed right up through August."  - Thanks Rick  and Martin 
Normally our summer rainfall is low, and I know the pots are kept on the dry side.  What would be your rainfall figures (or perhaps we should now ask for evaporation rate,  ) for summer please Rick? ( especially last summer ).

It was quite unusual last season  in that we had no summer drought period until September, when very little precipitation fell from then until the end of this past April.  I don't know of any evaporation rate tables, but I would think it would be more than England's and certainly more the eastern third of the USA. 

This is the monthly rainfall received in the area of native woods I speak of:

            Jan   Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul    Aug  Sep  Oct   Nov  Dec   Total
2011  1.00 1.12 2.06 2.80 4.04 5.28 5.23 3.03 0.36 0.70 0.30 0.99  26.91

In addition, we had 2-3 inches of rainfall above "normal" that year and even more of that fell in spring/summer to compensate for the drought data from September to December.

For what it is worth, Dicentra cucullaria in the Minnesota wild grows almost exclusively at the bases of trees or perched on small rocky "cliffs", or in a place that somehow resists leaf mulch build-up that would appear to smother the plants.

          

[ronm]

Thanks for the regime details Martin. . Do they flower each year for you? Seeing your plant in the show thread you posted, it certainly seems to work for your plants.

Fantastic information Rick. . Thank you. I suspected that they may grow in nooks and crannies so they didn't get overpowered. But in these situations where does the food overload come from that they seem to need in cultivation in order to flower? Or is it that they are in 'run offs' and can therefore pick up dissolved goodness as it runs through at times of rain? A shy flowerer naturally? 

Can anyone advise please if the production of large amounts of the 'rice grains' is indicative of good or poor health of the parent plant ?

[Martinr]

Ron, it does flower every year but sometimes only 1 or 2 stems. Lots of 'rice' as you call it is good, means the plant is storing food but it's not like a bulb, the lumps are all connected. Don't separate them.

[ronm]

Noted, thanks Martin.

[Rick R.]

... I suspected that they may grow in nooks and crannies so they didn't get overpowered. But in these situations where does the food overload come from that they seem to need in cultivation in order to flower? Or is it that they are in 'run offs' and can therefore pick up dissolved goodness as it runs through at times of rain? A shy flowerer naturally? 

In some areas where the climate is very favorable for a lot of ephemerals, Dutchman's Breeches grow right along with other plants:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=1019.0
In other areas, where things are more sparse, NOTHING grows with Dicentra cucullaria.  This pic shows a southern Minnesota maple/basswood/oak forest that is pretty much devoid of year-long undergrowth.  Where the sun can peak through (where a tree had fallen, for instance) one will find a flurry of growth.  Otherwise, where the caopy closes and tree root competition dominates, very little growth continues past tree leaf out.  The green you see is Cardamine laciniata.  Dicentra cucullaria might be located at the base of large trees with very significant root flares, where the soil level has been lifted slightly by the tree root growth, and thus leaf duff tends not to collect.

               

Could there be a relationship between excess water seeping down the tree trunks (and nutrients it might bring with) into the soil there and Dicentra cucullaria's presence?  I don't know.

[ronm]

I have grown these for some years in pots, and I only get flowers when I remember to feed them a bit to get reasonable sized bulbs. I suspect they are so easy, and early, we forget that they want something to fatten up on.

Do you also water well through the summer Brian? What is your feeding regime please?

[ronm]

Thanks Rick for showing the environment these plants inhabit, and for the lead to the NARGS thread. All very informative. 

[brianw]

Do you also water well through the summer Brian? What is your feeding regime please?

My pots exist amongst other plants so inevitably get some summer water, natural and otherwise, and just get an occasional feed as and when I remember. Slugs stripped them a few weeks ago so nothing left now. Maybe if they had leaves longer they would do better.