Pulsatilla 2013

[Maggi Young]

Ken, we have recently had a change to the file size permitted for forum attachments-  they must now be 200Kb or less- but the same types are still accepted : doc, gif, jpg, pdf, png, txt

If you would like to send the photo to me by email I will try to get it posted for you..   


Edit: Okay : look back at Ken's post again to see his photos added .....

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=9988.msg264382#msg264382

[Susann]

Thank you all for so much information! Today my brain is not working correctly so I will have to re-read everything tomorrow to make sure I have understood correctly what you have written.
But, I do think P jarmilae is not a correct name, I think it is the same species meant as P kostyczewii? I have never got hold of it, wish I could though. But, I have heard from two succesful growers that the trick is to let it grow in the sand where the pots are plung? I have wondered why kostyczewii is placed in Pulsatilla but thought perhaps it is because of genetic studies, and it does have involucrate leaves as the Pulsatillaīs. But the rest is very much Anemone?
Regarding P alpina ssp apiifolia I am having the same problems as many has mentioned above. It germinates perfectly well, and survives the first and second winter in pots, but as soon as I try to sneak them out to the beds they say "thank you and goodbye". I only have three in the garden, but in different circumstances, so once the decide to survive the moving, they seem to agree with anything. I have seen beautiful huge specimens grown in peatblocks. I havenīt place any that way. Perhaps it is the trick? ( But tthe species is very Anemone-like so "hard".)
 
Tim, you wrote that Pulsatilla occidentalis was placed back into Anemone. I did not know that. But I have to reread what Diane wrote about it, I did not really understand.

And yes Leslie, I have the same experience with P vernalis. As I wrote earlier, I had some P vernalis in the vegetable land, they came out so ugly with long long flower stems. I really prefer the ones in the rockeries that has its flowers tight to the ground. I moved a long-stemed plant to one of the rockeries and it got very happy and behavied as its friends the next year with super-short stems.

Olga, regarding to what you told us about the patens x vernalis hybrids, it seems as Dr Ikonens picture is of a white patens then as we suggested?

 Have anyone seen a P x hackelii? Itīs a hybrid between P patens x pratensis? I have red about it but newer seen any pictures. I have a plant that was given to me as P x hackelii, itīs origin is Gothenburg Botanical Garden. But it is not always the BG:s are correct? Has someone seen it/ grown it?
I add three pictures of it




Finally here is a nice little darling. I think I wrote before that Pulsatillas hybridize so easily in the garden? Look at this one, it is like a perfect Pulsatilla pratensis that just happened to get red flowers instead of dark violet. But if I showed you a picture from distance you would spot the father of the plant, it is a P vulgaris Rote Glocken that was placed about 50 m away. Still, the "baby" is very very beautiful, isnīt it?

[Lesley Cox]

My seedling of alpina ssp. apiifolia flowered while still in its seed pot, two years old, from seed sent yo me by Forumist Cliff Booker, just the one germinated though. But I liked it very much indeed (apart from the insect holes). It was just as I'd expected, quite large, about 5cms across, wide open and a nice clear but soft yellow. I have seedlings about the same size, from another source, potted on and they too are doing all right so far.

[Susann]

Oh, sorry, Ken C, I forgot to thank you for the very nice pictures and information about P kostyczewii!

[Lesley Cox]

I have a feeling there might be a lot more pulsatillas being grown as a result of this thread!

I'm sure you're right Tim. I'll certainly be looking more carefully at Pulsatilla in all the seedlists Happily, there are many listed on our Biosecurity Index (permitted list) including the gorgeous flavescens, so I'll be able to try a few I'd overlooked before.

[Armin]

Opposite to the white P. alpina subsp. alpina the yellow flowering subsp. apiifolia to my knowledge does not grow well on calciferous soil.
This might be the reason some forumist have success and others fail with it.
In my garden it failed (too calciferous). Maybe it is worth next time to try it with a peat block.

Susann,
I've no experieince with P x hackelii (patens x pratensis). Your image does not look very different to me what I grow as P. pratensis ssp. nigricans
The tiny red flowered hybrid is lovely and the combination with primula is ideal in my eyes.

[Great Moravian]

Susann,
Don't take DNA taxonomists and their lists too seriously.

I have wondered why kostyczewii is placed in Pulsatilla but thought perhaps it is because of genetic studies, and it does have involucrate leaves as the Pulsatillaīs. But the rest is very much Anemone?

It has seeds as Pulsatilla has.

Tim, you wrote that Pulsatilla occidentalis was placed back into Anemone. I did not know that. But I have to reread what Diane wrote about it, I did not really understand.

Pulsatilla occidentalis is the closest ally of Pulsatilla alpina. It is stupid to say that Pulsatilla occidentalis was placed back into Anemone. In reality, certain super-important taxonomist thinks that the genus Pulsatilla should be included as a whole in the genus Anemone. As a result, The Plant List contains the following comical and misleading information.
Pulsatilla grandis http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/tro-27102582 accepted
Pulsatilla turczaninovii http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/tro-27100131 accepted
Pulsatilla vulgaris http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2544139 synonym of Anemone pulsatilla
Not you, but the authors of The Plant List have problems with precise thinking.
I repeat for the thousandth that there don't exist accepted and non-accepted names in botany.
There merely exist names accepted in one particular botanical work, and names accepted in different works
are naturally different. And The Plant List is a stupid project.

[Great Moravian]

A gold-haired Pulsatilla vulgaris bud. I do not know the origin of the seeds but would really like to know if the white-haired and golden-haired appear in the same populations or if it is a geographical difference? Is there anyone who knows?

In the large population of Pulsatilla grandis at Brno gold-haired and silver-haired plants occur together,
greyish-blue flowered and dark violet-flowered, large-flowered and small-flowered.
You can come in the end of March, it is really a beauty.

[Great Moravian]

A perfect image of Pulsatilla kostyczewii in its natural habitat by nurdjen can be found
in Wikipedia. It is in public domain, nevertheless its url is certainly sufficient. Observe the substrate.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Pulsatilla_kostyczewii.JPG/1280px-Pulsatilla_kostyczewii.JPG

[Olga Bondareva]

Ken thank you very much for sharing photo of P. kostyczewii! The clump is outstanding! I'd like to have this weed in my garden. 

Susann like Armin I do not see any difference from P. pratensis ssp. nigricans. If the plant is got from hybrid seed it could split back to parents species.

Information on yellow flowering subsp. apiifolia is very interesting. I heard it likes acid soils as well as caucasian P. sulphurea (is there any difference?).

[Olga Bondareva]

Why do we still ignore Pulsatilla vulgaris?  The most widespread, the most vigorous, the most variable.

Susann, could you please show natural habit images?

Rote Glocke


Alba


Perlen Glocke


And different colors of Papageno

[Tim Ingram]

Yes, vulgaris is such a good plant in the garden. I had a beautiful dwarf form grown from seed from Richard Bird, subsp. gotlandica, with deepest inky-violet flowers - one of my all time favourite plants and very like the small native version in the UK.

So while we are discussing these plants, how distinctive is P. rubra from vulgaris? You see this in seedlists quite often and for a long time I assumed it was a form of vulgaris like 'Rote Glocke'. I think gardeners and field botanists will often be aware of a lot more variation in these plants than taxonomists studying them in herbaria, and it must be difficult sometimes to reconcile this with Linnaean nomenclature. The ideal would be to look at populations over time, but no so easy!

[ichristie]

Hello all from a very wintery Kirriemuir we have had around 15cm snow today and more falling now this has given me a chance to look out some pictures from my garden to add to the most stunning pu;satilla pictures just made my day so thanks to all. I can only give names as I know them but do agree whatever they are supposedly now all Anemone, cheers Ian the Christie kind   no 1 Pusatilla alba  no 2 Pusatilla papagino  no 3 Puls halleri alba no 4 Puls halleri no 5 Puls halleri var styriaca

[ichristie]

Another few, Ian. Puls Budapest seedling  Puls albana Puls albana yellow

[olegKon]

Strange how folks have trouble with P. alpina ssp apifolia. It is one of the longest lived pulsatillas here, plants surviving 30 years or more, since it was called P. sulphurea Eventually reaching a huge size and flowering reliably on mum's open day every year. Perhaps they like our cool summer.
Last year I saved some seed but left it lying around until the spring and then I got round to sowing it and all came up and were transplanted into plugs. They don't make very good selling plants as in the first year they only put up one large true leaf.
One plant was once dug from the garden (probabally close to flowering) and transfered into a washing up basin to be used in a display, it lasted in that bowl for 3-4 years before getting too tried to be used anymore and was given away. Lots of the roots left in the ground produced young plants and were then transfered no problem.
Oleg if you are over here again remind me and I will look for some plug plants 
Susan

thanks , Susan. Hope to be in Perth again. The seedlings I lost were from your seed. Thank you again for your offer