Miscellaneous Woodlanders

[Hoy]

Mark, glad the damage weren't unbearable! Nice to see the Kirengeshoma. My plants have started to dwindle - don't know why
I like Deinanthe and have a couple I think, but they grow in dense shade and are seldom seen

[Tim Ingram]

Mark - I can't imagine a Kirengeshoma 8ft across until you showed your pictures. What a special plant! the best I have ever seen was next to a mill stream in a garden in Suffolk. I expect it is the sort of plant they grow superbly at Crug Farm in North Wales, along with giant polygonatums and arisaemas. Summer growing woodlanders in our garden rarely do well, although this year's cool wet summer has helped.

[McDonough]

You all might be wondering why I'm posting about a Coreopsis species in "Miscellaneous Woodlanders", but in fact, Coreopsis pulchra is a rather rare southeastern USA species, known as "woodland tickseed", from a very small distribution in Alabama and Georgia.

I got my plant from a NARGS Chapter plant auction earlier this year, donated by Darrell Probst, who originally got it from Jim Jones, our own great grower of esoterica.  It has very fine foliage and late blooms that are good sized and bright golden yellow with a brown center. Haven't found just the right spot to plant it out yet, but I welcome growing a woodlander that will flower August through September.



Coreopsis pulchra (woodland tickseed)
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=Copu9

[McDonough]

Mark - I can't imagine a Kirengeshoma 8ft across until you showed your pictures. What a special plant! the best I have ever seen was next to a mill stream in a garden in Suffolk. I expect it is the sort of plant they grow superbly at Crug Farm in North Wales, along with giant polygonatums and arisaemas. Summer growing woodlanders in our garden rarely do well, although this year's cool wet summer has helped.

I wish I had a small stream or bubbling brook to grow Kirengeshoma along the banks, as it is most definitely a water hog.  They were looking splendid this year with our moist latter part of spring, until the 6 weeks of drought and very hot daily temperatures, when they started collapsing in spite of my alternate-day watering efforts.  Now that we seem to have adopted a monsoon weather pattern like that of Calcutta with thunderstorms dumping 1-3" of rain each day or night, they have perked up, but the drought mostly put an end to the flower buds and scorched the foliage so that it looks bedraggled.

With the heat and now over-abundant rains, some self-sown seedlings are grow lustily, must move them someplace where they have room to bulk up.

After last year's discovery of a single plant of K. koreana in a nursery among the left-over perennials late in summer, the plant overwintered fine, and amazingly, survived intact after the fall of a gargantuan sugar maple tree, and miraculously survived the foot pummeling of two different arborists cutting up and removing the massive branches and trunk.  Here it sits quite unaffected, with most plants on either side of it and behind, no longer showing any trace of existance (although I'm hoping the roots of these beheaded plants will resprout next spring). Kirengeshoma koreana is most welcome for the fact it blooms so late, still just in bud.

[Hoy]

My Kirengeshomas have dwindled the last two years. Think I have to find some other place for them

Mark, that Coreopsis looks good! It should bring light and colour to a dull green wood I have to look for that species!

I have gotten this one (see below) in my woodland. It has escaped from somewhere. It is a bit like Senecio cannabifolius (which I have plenty of) but the leaves are entire not digitate.

[cohan]

Nice Coreopsis, Mark- yellow would be welcome this time of year- I only have the (I think) native Hieracium umbellatum- a not particularly showy plant, and mostly grows singly or in very small numbers, though in many places, I was thinking today it would be good to make a group of them to complement the numerous lilac/blue asters (ciliolatum, I think, is the most common one wild on my property, flowering virtually anywhere I miss mowing for a while).. the Coreopsis is much fancier though, as is Trond's Senecio! though 'escaped from somewhere' sounds a bit ominous...
We have Solidagos, but they are mostly done by the time the asters are going full strength, and don't seem to come into the forest edge as much...

[McDonough]

Trond, even a tall Senecio blooming yellow in the fall would be welcome in the shade garden, although I'm wondering about your plant, perhaps what you have is Senecio cannabifolius var. integrifolius with undivided leaves.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242348219

The type Senecio cannabifolius has very interesting divided leaves as the name suggests, here are some links to this plant.  I had not known about this plant until you posted it

Senecio cannabifolius
http://hosho.ees.hokudai.ac.jp/~tsuyu/plants/senecio/can.html

foliage close-ups:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/317610/
http://had0.big.ous.ac.jp/plantsdic/angiospermae/dicotyledoneae/sympetalae/compositae/hangonsou/hangonnsou.htm

Finally, Kirengeshoma koreana has opened some flowers, this species is very late, flowering after K. palmata has finished.  Love the waxy spiralling golden eggs, the stem tips bending over under their weight.

[cohan]

That is a nice one, Mark- and that is late to start flowering, thoujgh of course not nearly so late for your garden as it would be here..

[McDonough]

Hundreds of Cimicifuga simplex are in bloom, perfuming much of the yard and garden.  My favorite are those that has dramatic dark pruplish foliage (particularly early in the season), black purple stems, and ruby-purple sepals on the small florets, striking as the flowers first open. Such plants are referred to as "atropurpurea group". Eventually the fluffy flower spires become all white.

Left:   Cimicifuga simplex "atropurpurea" in bud early flower.
Right: Cimicifuga simplex "atropurpurea" in full flower.




These seed about rather too easily, the seedlings with foliage from all green (which I discard) to dark blackish-purple.  Of hundreds of self-sown plants, all have pure white flowers (although the "atropurpurea" types with striking ruby sepals).  Today I noticed one plant flowering that has decidely pink flowers, really lovely.  Here are two views showing this light pink-flowered beauty.

[Hoy]

Trond, even a tall Senecio blooming yellow in the fall would be welcome in the shade garden, although I'm wondering about your plant, perhaps what you have is Senecio cannabifolius var. integrifolius with undivided leaves.

It could be that one, Mark.
It is no problem sending seed of both forms if you are interested although I think they'll be earlier in your climate than in mine. You better have to deadhead the plants too or you'll soon have more than you want - if they don't behave differently over there

Hundreds of Cimicifuga simplex are in bloom, perfuming much of the yard and garden.  My favorite are those that has dramatic dark pruplish foliage (particularly early in the season), black purple stems, and ruby-purple sepals on the small florets, striking as the flowers first open. Such plants are referred to as "atropurpurea group". Eventually the fluffy flower spires become all white.

I can't boast of hundreds but two plants and they are in flower now! I like the scent but some friends don't

[McDonough]

It is no problem sending seed of both forms if you are interested although I think they'll be earlier in your climate than in mine. You better have to deadhead the plants too or you'll soon have more than you want - if they don't behave differently over there

I can't boast of hundreds but two plants and they are in flower now! I like the scent but some friends don't

I'm a bit wary of taking on any more "big woodland plants".  I had added some woodland goldenrods (Solidago) and several Aster species, but they quickly started taking over, and I have ripped most of them out now.  I'm finally getting self-sown seedlings on BIG plants like Kirengeshoma palmata, but will have to transplant these to places where then can grow large. I'm not writing the Senecio off entirely, I thank you for the kind offer, and I like the look of that Senecio, but I wonder.

On Cimicifuga simplex, they seed around with wild abandon.  Each spring I allow the local garden club ladies come in and dig a few dozen big plants to sell at they annual spring plant sale.  I relocate many seedlings to woodsy enbankments and rough woodland areas where I don't actually garden, and they survive and with reasonable moisture during the summer, are splendid in late summer/early autumn with great trusses of white flowers.  I've been known to snip off the 7-8' stalks in late autumn when the dry seed follicles split to shed seed, and take these great seed wands and do a ritualistic thrashing dance in the woodland, to promote and assist their self-sowing.

[Hoy]

I've been known to snip off the 7-8' stalks in late autumn when the dry seed follicles split to shed seed, and take these great seed wands and do a ritualistic thrashing dance in the woodland, to promote and assist their self-sowing.

I can imagine that Who is the drummer?

[Tim Ingram]

We visited a wonderful small specialist nursery on Wednesday - Beeches Nursery near Saffron Waldon, just north of London. They grow an especially fine range of woodland plants - I picked up a nice Trillium simile with two noses, Scopolia carniolica 'Brevifolia', which I know by name but have never grown, and this blue form of Helionopsis orientalis from Korea. There were also some lusty plants of Ypsilandra tibetica. Nice trip on what has been one of the coldest days this spring, with blistering winds. Another plant in one of the tunnels was Eriogonum allenii 'Little Rascal'. Does anyone know this plant? Very good foliage.

[cohan]

Looks like some nice choices, Tim! I've only seen Helionopsis and Ypsilandra on these fora, but like them a lot.. I have seed outside currently of Scopolia from Gardens North, don't think its 'Brevifolia' but I found it quite interesting looking..

[Hoy]

Ah! The blue Heloniopsis orientalis looks awesome! I have some forms of Heloniopsis and Ypsilandra but I am very afraid they are damaged in this cold dry weather we have.
I would love to visit that nursery!