Pulsatilla 2013

[Susann]

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Oops, I've just realised we have mentioned  P. magadensis several times in the forum - when the name should be Pulsatilla magadanensis

Sorry Maggi, and thank you. My mistake, of course it is magadanensis, as it is from Magadan in Far east.

[Tim Ingram]

The great thing about pulsatillas must be that you need to see them in nature to really understand them (a little bit). So of these in my garden I am now only sure about two - P. vulgaris and vernalis! P. ambigua came from Julian Sutton (Desirable Plants nursery in Devon), so that's my provenance of it (it's a nice plant anyway), and P. halleri, I think was seed grown from a plant in Richard Bird's garden. So now I am back to being a complete neophyte about these plants - but that P. rubra has to be the most stunning colour I've ever seen!

[Armin]

Phantastic images from everyone.

I was off 1 week business trip and missed the flowering of my P. halleri ssp. rhodopaea  
Buds were visible since 2 months but it was too cold to open.
During my absence day temperatures went up to +27°C. Too fast and over...

2 other Pulsatilla images for now...

[Maggi Young]

Armin,  the prospect of 27 degrees C  seems very distant here - right now it is just 7 degrees .
I can quite understand why your flowers came and went so fast in such temperatures.

[Jozef Lemmens]

This is a J. Halda collection from N-Tadjikistan ( JH-244/06 ). Don't kill me if the name is wrong 

Pulsatilla amoena

   

[Darren]

That is a wonderful colour Jozef!

[Susann]

Josef, beautiful pictures, but... it does not look like what would be a "P amoena" ( if it was a valid name) P amoena is just a description for a
 P vulgaris hybrid, sometimes refeered to as P vulgaris ssp germanica. Neither of the names are accepted by Flora Europea. It is a very beautiful plant that you have got. To me it looks a lot like P campanella.
Today is the big packing day, as I am leaving tomorrow. But I will of course have a look if something has happened to the P magadanensis both today and tomorrow morning.
See some of you soon, and for the rest of you; we really wish you would have been able to join us in Tábor and we will miss you!

[TheOnionMan]

Thank you Armin for sharing seed back in 2010 of Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Rote Gloche' (Red Bell?).  I marked a spot in the garden, and sowed the seed directly.  Last year during the summer rabbits ate the plants down to mere stubs, but obviously they have recovered.  This year they flowered for the first time, such large flowers of a lovely red color.  The two photos taken 2 days apart, a week ago, the plants still looking good.

[Jozef Lemmens]

Another Halda collection (Mt. Suukanskaya/Caucasus - JH-118/'97).
This is a garden seedling. The original plant is smaller (more compact), but isn’t flowering yet.

Pulsatilla georgica

   

[Armin]

Armin,  the prospect of 27 degrees C  seems very distant here - right now it is just 7 degrees .
I can quite understand why your flowers came and went so fast in such temperatures.

It is a pity for the flowers but it was amazing to see how quick nature changed from brown/grey when I left to green when I arrived home
I'm sure your 7°C will be only an interim appearance

[Armin]

Thank you Armin for sharing seed back in 2010 of Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Rote Gloche' (Red Bell?).  I marked a spot in the garden, and sowed the seed directly.  Last year during the summer rabbits ate the plants down to mere stubs, but obviously they have recovered.  This year they flowered for the first time, such large flowers of a lovely red color.  The two photos taken 2 days apart, a week ago, the plants still looking good.

Wow! Congratulations!
May I ask for some seed, please? I lost mine...

[TheOnionMan]

Seriously Armin, you lost yours, oh that's a shame.

I will most certainly collect the seed and happy to share.  The only thing I have to watch out for is that dang phantom bunny in my yard, I never see it, only the damage done.  I read a tip, about using a pump spray bottle, and mixing hot tabasco sauce (1 tablespoon per gallon of water), then nightly spraying on plants favored by rabbits; I may have to do that, as they certainly demonstrated their munching love for this plant last year.

[Maggi Young]

The mental picture of a stealthy rabbit  sneaking into Mark's garden  to munch his favourite plants is not a happy one ....but it brings to mind something that I have often wondered about in the past -  how on earth do critters find such furry plants palatable? 
To eat those plants that have very hairy, furry or wooly foliage would seem to me to be akin to me chomping on cotton wool - that is to say, both unpleasant and downright tricky to chew, let alone swallow!
How do these critters manage it? 

[TheOnionMan]

The mental picture of a stealthy rabbit  sneaking into Mark's garden  to munch his favourite plants is not a happy one ....but it brings to mind something that I have often wondered about in the past -  how on earth do critters find such furry plants palatable? 
To eat those plants that have very hairy, furry or wooly foliage would seem to me to be akin to me chomping on cotton wool - that is to say, both unpleasant and downright tricky to chew, let alone swallow!
How do these critters manage it? 

Easy to comprehend, it's like eating cotton candy, or as they say in the UK, like eating Candy Floss, pure confection. 

[Tim Ingram]

One of the most extraordinary plants that rabbits love is berberis! (mind you the soft young shoots). And, as I expect Mark has also found, they like epimediums too - plus the rather rough leaves of brunnera, the nice new leaves of Anemone nemorosa, a touch of crocus flower... they are gourmets when it comes to plants, much as we are!