Seeds and Seed Pods-1

It is time of seeds and seed pods. I will show some just ripening seed pods and also seeds – alas not all from our plants – and tell my experiences with seed sowing of some of those plants.

The seed pods are put here in the sequence of ripening.

  Hepatica nobilis

The "seed" which is in fact a seed pod must be sown right after ripening and will germinate next spring. In the first year there are only cotyledons which can look quite ugly during their first winter. Then in the second spring come out the thrue leaves. 

I sowed Hepatica nobilis ssp. americana seeds in August. The seeds came from Canada, from Kristl Walek and were stored in moist vermiculite. I sprinkled all the content of the little bag on the surface of the compost and put some grit on it. After 6 months (next february) the seeds germinated like mad.

 picture: 28th April

  Primula rosea

It has rather large seeds as compared to some other Primula species. I've not tried to sow yet.

 picture: 7th May

  Cyclamen coum

The seeds ripen at me in middle June. Las year I sowed the seeds in October and began to germinate after 7 weeks.

Before storing I used to wash the seeds to get rid of that soggy substance which is good only for ants.

picture: 1st June

  Aquilegia coerulea

The seeds sown in January germinated in spring. The seed pod and the stem is covered with sticky glandular hairs, so it is uneasy to handle.

picture: 15th June

  Nectaroscordum siculum

A nice but bad smelling onion. I never tried to sow its seeds. The Picture was made in the Buda Arboretum of the Corvinus Horticultural University of Budapest.

picture: 9th July

  Asarina procumbens

It flowers and sets plenty of seed all summer and also sows itself like a weed. But survives winter only protected from moisture. The seed pod is sticky.

picture: 17th July

  Dodecatheon sp. (a hybrid)

I sowed the seeds in middle October and in april (after 5.5 months) germinated very well.

picture: 21st July

 picture: 23rd July

 

  Lilium martagon

I collected some half ripened seed pods with stem in the Alps in September. The seeds have been ripened on a sunny windowsill, the stems put in water. Sown on 25th January, on the surface of the compost, covered with an 1 cm layer of grit, and kept on about 16°C,  germinated after 5 weeks.

This picture is not of the plant whose seeds were collected. This was made on the Rax, near Wien in October:

 picture: 14th October

And finally:

  Rhodothamnus chamaecistus

I made this picture this June in the Dolomites. These are last year's seed pods:

Here is the flower from close:

Primulaceae and Others

Some members of the Primulaceae family are just flowering. Here are together:

Primula marginata, Primula rosea, Primula elatior

And in the center the three large buds of the Gentiana clusii are waiting for more warmth to open. Alas the Primula flowers will not wait for them.

And another member of the Primulaceae:

Androsace vitaliana (the newest name as I know)

We have this plant for about 5 years. It wanted very much to die at the beginning. Then last summer it decided to live and made nice foliage and also some flowers. Now it has many buds and is fighting for living place with a Dryas octopetala. I think I will help the Androsace :-)

Not Primulaceae, but Ranunculaceae:

Ranunculus alpestris

I sowed the seeds collected somewhere around the Austrian Totesgebirge in the autumn 2008. They germinated in spring 2009, but only 3 seedlings are alive. These are thriving in a trough placed in the garden and survived the winter without covering. I hope for more flowers next spring. Yes, they have to survive another winter, and a Budapestean SUMMER until then...

Spring Program Continues

Now, at Easter time we have had a cooling (7-10°C at midday), and also some rain, though not too much, I think the plants can benefit rather poorly by it. Despite of cold the growth can be seen obviously on every plant.

This year the Pulsatillas are showing themselves a little later as usual. The Pulsatilla vernalis seedlings are just awaking:

It's true that their leaves appear after the flowers fade, so maybe these are so "late" because they did not flower yet.

Here is the Chionodoxa shown in an earlier post. Its flowers are somehow distorted...

I see that the last winter has killed many bulbs also in Great Britain. Many gardeners complain of the same symptoms as me: some bulbs have died completely, some have distorted flowers. They say it was because of the many successive freezing/melting of the soil.

The Chionodoxa flowers from close:

In the background can be seen the foliage of the white Campanula portenschlagiana which was cut back completely in February and now has a large mat again.

The alpines have not been damaged by this winter at all. The Androsace pubescens sown last year has one single leaf rosette but with three buds already.

In one of the troughs has died an old Pulsatilla vulgaris, maybe not because of its age but of the too much moisture. However, it made some place for two stones and three seedlings. From left to right:

Saxifraga x apiculata (rooted cuttings) – Saxifraga paniculata (ditto) – Draba parnassica (sown in autumn 2009)

We bought a nice Primula rosea in a nursery. I put it in a larger trough where live also other Primulas, a Pinus mugo and a Gentiana clusii from Prague. The planting was not easy, because the Primula was grown – as usual in Hungary – in peat, and the roots woven together with the peat seemed like some durance. I told myself times beyond number not to buy a plant grown this way (they usually cannot be kept alive). But I usually cannot surmount the temptation. Here it is, planted, now a little drooped in the sunshine:

Primula rosea

Behind it is the Primula elatior (seeds from de Raxalpe), which is flowering now the first time, having 7 flowers with very short pedicels. In the foreground there are the buds of the Gentiana clusii and the leaves of the Primula marginata. Those grass-like things are the leaves of Allium oreophillum. In this trough there is also a Viola biflora, which is now emerging. 

I have learned that the deciduous Lewisias begin to grow in the autumn, flower in spring and then go dormant in summer, the foliage yellowing. My  Lewisia pygmaea (also from seed, I'm not shure of its identification) had worked according to another program until now. In spring appear the leaves, then the flowers, the foliage lasts all summer, the plant going dormant in the autumn...

Lewisia pygmaea (maybe)

I have also some one year old Lewisia rediviva seedlings, they have had no flowers as yet.