Jupiter's Beard in unusual colours

[Brian Ellis]

I have nipped out and had a sniff of mine in the garden - nothing, I was wondering if it had the same pungent scent as Astrantia which I think is absolutely foul.

[emma T]

I have asked my mum to sniff the cut flowers in my house. On the second sniff she said it smelt of cat pee.

The smell is only noticeable if you stick your nose in it, it has not filled the house.

I still dont think it smells awful enough to not have it in the house.

Choisya on the other hand  i just cannot stand the smell of the leaves 

[Alan_b]

Past experience lead me to take only a single flower stem inside the house.  Initially the scent was mild with  a slight "cat pee" overtone.  But after about four hours the "cat pee" smell had become much stronger and dominated anything else.  I still had to put my nose quite close to the flower for this to be obvious but I wouldn't want to risk a bunch in an unventilated room. 

Brian, try taking one indoors if you dare and see if it is still unscented the following day.

[Alan_b]

Back to the original thrust of this thread, I have tracked down information on some other cultivars listed in the RHS Plant Finder (but not actually manged to get hold of any of them).

"Nettleton" is a very pale pink form supplied by nursery called "Natural Selection" but not currently on sale.
"Clair", from the same nursery, was a similar colour with variegated leaves but the original has been lost and I'm not sure if it was ever actually sold.

[David Nicholson]

Just a hunch Alan, I wonder if Rob Potterton might be able to throw any light on the one called "Nettleton". Quite a few plants bear the "Nettleton" name from the days of Rob's Dad's nursery-Potterton and Martin.

[loes]

I have had a few ,3, flowers inside for a couple of days and there is no obvious smell,not nice and not bad.I have to admit now smelling is not my best talent.

[Alan_b]

My current working hypothesis is that Centranthus ruber normally has a faint but somewhat unpleasant scent but that this gets amplified when the stems are cut and placed in tap water in my house.  This clearly doesn't happen in every locale, but the water is particularly hard in my area.

[emma T]

mmmm i have hard tap water too      I think i must just interpret the smell differently 

 Had to put the flowers out as the petals had fallen off, not because of the smell .

[Alan_b]

Just out of interest, does this plant (i.e. Centranthus ruber) actually grow in Scotland or are the winters too cold?  I don't think anyone north of Norwich has responded.

[Maggi Young]

I have seen in in other gardens, don't grow it myself.

[Alan_b]

I chanced across this topic the other day.  As there is more to this story I thought I would post an update.

Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers helpfully gives the name of the originator of the pale lilac form of Centranthus ruber, called 'First Blush,' on his web site.  I was able to track down the gentleman in question, wrote to him and he kindly sent me a large quantity of the plant.  Not all of this survived the journey but I was able to keep some going in a pot, where it was rather miserable, until a suitable spot in the garden appeared.  It is much happier growing in the ground.




You may think that it's not very far off-white, which is true.  But to a snowdrop aficionado like myself that is vividly coloured!

Although is supposed to come true from seed, I wanted to try cuttings to be sure of getting the same genetic material.  I'm by no means expert at cuttings but I manged about a 25% success rate in 2016 and 2017 so in 2018 I was able to send out three plants raised from cuttings to the Plant Heritage Plant Exchange.  The plant seems content to be in a really gritty free-draining compost if grown in a pot.

I'm still looking for a variegated form of Centranthus ruber, or yet another colour form.     

[katie Sanderson]

I'm searching for the centranthus in the pink form, but I can only find the red or white, unless I buy a mixed pack.
Please can anyone help me with this? Or is it a colour that doesn't breed true - an uncontrollable result of a cross between the red and white forms??

[Maggi Young]

Hello Katie,
I think www.jparkers.co.uk  and  www.sarahraven.com  have  had the pink form for sale.

[Alan_b]

As far as I am aware, all forms of Centranthus ruber come true from seed.  The pale lilac form that I eventually tracked down, 'First Blush,  has produced true plants from seed for me.  One popped-up in some gravel under the house eaves.  It is also possible to root cuttings taken in spring, although I have only managed a 25% success rate by this method (which could be my lack of skill with cuttings).

On a visit to Belford in Northumberland last year I observed another plant with similar pale lilac flowers to 'First Blush', which itself originated in South Wales.  The semi-public locale made me think that it must have grown from wind-propagated seed.  Do such unusual variations really pass unnoticed by virtually everybody other than myself?

       

[AnJo11]

Hi there,
I am a french entusiast of plantes, located in south of France, in a hilly area with mediterranean climate;
So, centranthus ruber is quite common in my land...since I introduced it some 30 years ago;
I selected only the "red" form (dark pink), and it is faithful to sowing at 99.9999 ...% for decades, and as the population is isolated from other forms, it remains stable.
But sometimes a white plant appears, by albinic mutation, I think.
If I let them feed, it would quickly give pink descendants.
I like the various colors, but I prefer my red population.

However, I observe with great interest the variations of colors elsewhere;
If the literature speaks only of the three classic colors, there are sometimes forms having various shades of pink, and with especially a slightly different inflorescence, more feathery I would say.
There is also a very special pink / mauve color selection, marketed by Filippi, in Mèze 34140;
and I was told about an even rarer form dark red burgundy, but I've never seen it, even in photo.

I can collect seeds of the pale pink form in season, there is two plants near my workshop (in an other village)

I hope my english correct enough for all members of the forum ...