Woodland Corydalis

[cohan]

Nice one, Rick, the leaves really do look like ferns

[ErnieC123]

Corydalis cheilantifolia starting to bloom.  Now that I have finally gotten plants to stay alive in the garden, they seem to be "taking over"!  

You are right Rick, C.cheilanthifolia can spread heavy. And they can live nearly in every little cleavage. But it is such a beauty and can be pulled out very easy , so let i grow.

I have two Corydalis where i have lost the label. I try to send pictures tomorrow, maybe somebody can help !

[Lori S.]

I've found that they do seed around a bit but never to pest proportions in my yard.  Some years, I have to hunt around to find a few plants, and other years, there will be little accumulations of them.

[McDonough]

With prolonged cool weather, the various Corydalis can stay in flower for many weeks.  One that has been an exceptionally slow grower is C. marschalliana, a beautiful small upright soft yellow species.  It flowers reliably each year, looking bigger and better this year than in the past. But it has never set seed, so I risk losing it; it doesn't share the propensity of seedling around like C. solida and the white C. malkensis.

Corydalis marschalliana




About 5-6 years ago, I acquired a plant of C. malkensis.  It is now seeding around quite a bit, which I'm happy about.  In this photo, is my original plant, been looking this lovely for weeks.




Also about 5 years ago, I received seed of C. angustifolia.  I sowed the seed directly in the garden, and it germinated readily as do many Corydalis do.  It is a small species, with small unassuming white flowers with a hint of blue, this year finally producing enough flowers to actually be noticed.  Then I noticed that the plant is laden with seed pods this year, looking like red pea pods hanging from the decumbent stems, cool!

[RickR]

A corydalis with ornamental seedpods is a first for me!
  Very attractive, Mark, as are all your corydalis. 

Is C. malkensis a tuberous type?  And it looks like angustifolius is, too.

[Hoy]

Yes, you can certainly grow the angustifolia as an seedpod ornamental! I haven't tried it yet but I will!

[McDonough]

A corydalis with ornamental seedpods is a first for me!
  Very attractive, Mark, as are all your corydalis. 

Is C. malkensis a tuberous type?  And it looks like angustifolius is, too.

Yes, both are tuberous, they'll die down shortly after flowering just like C. solida.

[ErnieC123]

I have only two ugly pictures of the Corydalis




And one of my Corydalis lutea with some seedlings around it

[RickR]

Dicentra cucullaria, in the wild not far from my house.  I have "decided" this is another species that can sit "dormant" for multiple years without showing above ground.  I know this area quite well, and this spring I am seeing at least four times as many plants as I have ever seen there before.  Plants are larger than ever before, too, with flower scapes up to 6 inches(!)

Possible reasons:
--- the ridiculously warmer than normal winter
--- the exceptionally dry late summer through winter
--- perfectly timed rainfall last spring during the Dutchman's Breeches' growth cycle

It's weird that our dry spring has not seemed to affect the plants...

        

        

A pinkish form:

                

[Hoy]

Ernie, do you know what the "blue" one in the first picture is?

Rick, those Dicentras were excellent!
But if they have rested several years before flowering it isn't strange they look good
The dry spring do not affect this flowering but the next one - they relay on stored energy.

[ErnieC123]

Ernie, do you know what the "blue" one in the first picture is?

Rick, those Dicentras were excellent!
But if they have rested several years before flowering it isn't strange they look good
The dry spring do not affect this flowering but the next one - they relay on stored energy.

Hoy , i am sorry. I don't know what cultivars those 2 Corydalis are. I only know that they are Corydalis solida cultivars.
They both don't get bigger because my  two dogs dig them out last autumn.

To Rick and the others: I am sorry , because some plants i like , are very normal to you. Here in Germany Dic.cucullaria isn't found as often in nurseries as in your areas.

Maybe there are some plants that you are more interessted in , in my garden. Maybe some of the Polygonatum are new to you!
Do you have special interessts where i can help you?

[McDonough]

Rick, always good to see plants like Dicentra cuccularia growing in the wild, to observe the variability in both flower and leaves.  I'm noticing that the degree of leaf dissection can vary a lot; I'll post some photos in another topic showing my plants, which have what i call "extreme leaf dissection", with overlapping leaflets.

Ernie, I have long since given up trying to keep cultivar names on abundantly self-seeding plants like Corydalis solida.  Instead, I prefer to just allow them to self sow far and wide, and enjoy the rich range of color forms that appear, for me, they don't need names, I love them all.

With the cold to cool, dry, sunny weather, these spring ephemerals are hanging around in fine flower for an exceptionally long time. Here's a sampling of Corydalis solida color forms.

Left:   a good red color.  Once you have some good red ones, they'll seed around and give lots of strong red forms.
Right: a young plant, probably 2nd year from seed, a really bright coral red.




Left:   closeup of the 2-year coral red self-sown plant.
Right: another closeup of the 2-year coral red self-sown plant, having fun with my wife's new digital camera.




Left:   pink and purple
Right: my darkest purple form




Left:   received small bulbs from a European correspondant of selected blue colors of the Penza strain. I ended up getting a pure white, a purple, and this single light blue; I'm very happy to introduce white and blue into the C. solida color palette.  Photo in shade.
Right: same plant, photo taken in sun.




Left:   same red-flowered form seen in the first photo, but a broader garden view.
Right: a different red form, sort of a purplish crushed raspberry red color.  Delicious.

[Lori S.]

Great display, Mark!  I seem to have lost my single red one last year, though I have a couple of 'George Baker' (red) and 'Beth Evans' (pink), purchased last year, to look forward to.

[ErnieC123]

McDonough, your Corydalis have great colours and look very vital. I agree that its hard to get a clean labeled collection of Corydalis.
Please tell me how large your garden is. It seems to me that you have tons of plants in it. I feel a little jealous 

[RickR]

It seems to me that you [Mark M.] have tons of plants in it. I feel a little jealous 

I feel a LOT jealous. 

Ernie, I have lots of normal plants, too.  But what may seem common to some, are not common for others.  My comment on the other topic that "such little sprigs of growth brings joy" is a compliment!  We all experience these wonders of nature.

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I just realized I put Dicentra in the Corydalis thread!
I am going to repost the entry to the Miscellaneous Woodlanders thread, where it belongs.  Sorry about that.