Eritrichium howardii

[Kelaidis]

Somehow it seems wrong that no one has posted on this rather important little genus...

I don't have pictures of Eritrichium pauciflorum on this computer...I will post on that some time. It was the universal forget me not of the Mongolian mountains that grew by the thousands in all manner of turf and meadows, screes and tundra..I did get quite a bit of seed of it and shared it with some alpine nurseries. I have a fantasy it will be an easy alpine.

But for us in Denver, Eritrichium howardii is the one of choice: up by Choteau and here and there on the Great Plains of Montana (in a climate very similar to Denver) this grows thickly in the sparse grasses. Roy Davidson wrote of one locality where it was virtually the only thing growing for miles where cattle were browsing: he wondered if it was their fodder?

This clump has graced this trough for almost ten years, petering out a bit one year, and coming back the next. It has produced a finer display of bloom, but this is all I have on hand right now...so you must settle for it!

[Peter George]

I grew two plants from seed a few years ago, and after I planted them out, they overwintered and flowered the next year, and then came 19 days of rain. They didn't survive. The next year I placed seed directly in the open garden, and this year, three years later, I have 3 rather nice little plants which have bulked up considerably but which don't show any indications of flowering yet. Having survived two winters, I'm optimistic that I'll get some flowers next summer. It's a beautiful plant and flower, and one we don't see very often here in New England.

[Kelaidis]

If it's made it three years for you, it's a keeper. This is usually a Great Plains species that has to put up with great extremes (including periods of wetness). The plant in the picture has persisted over ten years for me...this is the Eritrichium for gardens: I've collected seed in the wild but never seen it in full glory. A friend in Montana just sent me pictures (it's blooming there now)...wouldn't that be fun!

[Todd Boland]

I grew these from NARGS seed this year...ended up with Lindelofia longifolia!  Oh well, at least its in the same family...but really, how could a person mistake one for the other?!

[Lori S.]

I dunno, Todd... the darnedest things can happen in seed exchanges and trades! 
I bought a little locally grown E. howardii at last year's alpine plant sale and it bloomed modestly in a trough this spring.

[Lori S.]

Since Panayoti mentioned it in his initial message, perhaps it's apropos to show some seedlings of Eritrichium pauciflorum ssp. sajanense, grown this spring?

The seeds were from Pavelka, and the provenance and plants described as follows:  "2000m, Sajan Mts., Russia; dwarf compact cushions, silvery-grey leaves, big blue flowers on scapes 4-10cm, stoney slopes, 2007 seed".  Germination was delayed in room temp conditions, so I chucked them in the cold room for a month, after which there was good germination.  Here are a couple of them snuggled into the new tufa bed.

[Kelaidis]

Very interesting, Lori: just realized I collected a ton of seed and shared it with several growers and need to check up on my own seedpots...

[Bundraba!]

Photo taken at end of June 2012 in my garden. The seed of this Eritrichium was collected just south and east of Ima Mine, above Patterson Creek, Idaho, on cold alpine tundra in 2009. The leaf blade appears to be narrow as in E. howardii, but, from my general observation, unlike the broader blade of E. aretioides as it is found on other mountain ranges (Bighorn;Wallowa). The cushion in nature is extremely congested. There appear to be flower buds: This plant already seems preparded for winter which won't come here for another five months! The second photo of the same plant was taken earlier in the season.

         

[Lori S.]

Here's Eritrichium howardii, bought from Beaver Creek this spring and (seemingly) happily ensconced in the tufa garden... so far, so good.   

[McDonough]

Fine looking small cushion there, with howardii-esque looking narrow silver foliage.  I bet (and hope) you'll be showing us photos of this plant in flower next year.

[Lori S.]

I hope so too.  The one I mentioned earlier that I had in a trough has since expired... 

[Bundraba!]

Here's my best E. howardii right now. Now to tune in to precise flowering conditions; collect tons of seed and start a strain that is resistant to pestilence and is easy to grow.


I pictured this one a few weeks back. I'm surprised how well it is handling our climate. It was snowing in August when I collected the seed (Lemhi Mountains)! Any flowers that were forming aborted.


This one was grown from seed collected in the Wallowa Mountains in 2009. The Wallowa population produces lovely proportioned and large cushions, for the genus. It's a very pretty plant. It shares a wide leaf blade and hairiness with the next. The second photo was taken in April.
 

This one was collected in the Bighorn Mountains in 2009. This eastern form is the hairyest I know of. The rosettes are large but the tufts are small and parched looking even in habitat. It grows on west/southwest facing shale slopes that likely don't collect a lot of snow. The second photo was taken in April.
 

I hope to post all of these in glorious flower next year!

[cohan]

Great bunch, Michael- very nice to see the variations!

[Bundraba!]

Here's a mid December 2012 update on the Eritrichiums in the garden I posted previously; Eritrichium howardii (same age as others -2009 seed); E. ex Lemhi Mountains; E. ex Wallowa Mountains; and E. ex Bighorn Mountains.

     

Michael Peden, Dec. 6, 2012

[McDonough]

Michael, wonderful photos (and plants), in both seasons shown, but I am drawn to the fall/winter forms of plants as they prepare themselves for hibernation. Congrats on your success growing these treasures.