Saussurea

[Howey]

I believe it was Trond who mentioned (and showed pictures) of this plant in its early stage in his own garden...looked similar to what was in my garden.  This second year for it I had almost given up hope of seeing it again.  However, in the spot, 4 tiny umbrellas have suddenly appeared.  Am wondering if Trond is seeing them as well.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

[Howey]

My apologies.  Just had a look at the label and this plant is Saussurea - not Nassauvia.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

[Lori S.]

No worries!  Very interesting! I'd love to know what Saussurea you are growing.

(NB. I have changed the subject of this thread.)

[Howey]

Hi Lori:  The seed was labelled Saussurea nepalense.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

[Lori S.]

I grew that one but not a single seedling wintered over... must try again.  Here is what I had as Saussurea nepalensis as  a seedling - I'd love to see how they look in their maturity in garden conditions (or at least older than my fleeting experiments!)


I have had a couple(?) of Saussurea spp. overwinter in the tufa garden though... must figure out which they are - more favourable conditions there, I guess.

P.S. The mention of "umbrellas" puts me in mind of Syneilesis as they emerge from the ground, which I am keenly watching out for!

[cohan]

I have a couple/several spp of S seedlings from last year-- and I was surprised to see some leaves in the pots (small seed pots sunk in ground for winter, since the rock garden is still in progress..or will be in progress if/when we get conditions where I can dig..), since the seedlings were so tiny after a whole season's growth I didn't expect much!
I have a couple pics of the microscopic leaves to process, and will check labels to see what has survived...

OK, the ones I took pics of the other day, after a quick glance at the labels, it seems there are leaves on
Saussurea aff superba

 

and Saussurea cf leontodontoides     
 

without checking records, both are from Holubec, and both Himalayan spp

[Hoy]

Hello Frances
If I have shown pictures of Saussurea it has to be S alpina which grows at my mountain cabin. But I think that Lori has posted some other Saussurea pictures
Picture from last year.

[cohan]

Hello Frances
If I have shown pictures of Saussurea it has to be S alpina which grows at my mountain cabin. But I think that Lori has posted some other Saussurea pictures
Picture from last year.

I think I like every species, though the really crazy ones are most fun 

[Todd Boland]

I've tried them several times from seed with  no luck.  This year I finally got 7 seedlings of S. pygmaea...now the challenge of keeping them alive.

[cohan]

I had a half dozen species from Holubec, and got germination on most, though not on a couple... long term care is another issue

[Lori S.]

I had Saussurea eopygmaea survive, from seed last year. 

It looks like it may be reasonably interesting some day (if it continues to survive!)
http://www.efloras.org/gallery_image.aspx?flora_id=960&gallery_id=1064&image_id=1361

No sign (yet?) of S. stella, also from seed last year.

[cohan]

Looks healthy the tiny silver leaves on S cf leontodontoides      above are getting a tiny bit bigger, so I am hopeful...

[Lori S.]

So, what I am now growing this year as Saussurea nepalensis (first photo below) bears no resemblance at all to what I grew a few years ago (second photo, below)!   This is actually sort of encouraging, since the current plant looks much more like the available photos in a google search (Edit: hmm, not sure about that now).  Perhaps it has a better chance of survival - not a single one of what I grew earlier actually wintered-over (and I do wonder what heck it actually was?!?)

 

Do yours look like the first photo, Frances?

Here is this year's seedlings of locally-collected Saussurea nuda ssp. densa, starting to look a bit like their wild counterparts:
   

Saussurea nupuripoensis, developing nicely:

[cohan]

Looking good, Lori! I'm quite fascinated by this genus along with other odd Asteraceae    I'm nervously watching for re-emergence of a couple I planted in the ground last fall-- they'd survived outdoors in sunk pots the year before... and I have seed of a couple more to sow...

[Todd Boland]

Lori, i think your mystery nepalense might be a Leibnitzia.  I have two Saussurea coming along as seedlings...nepalense and a N. spp. from Goteborg BG.  S. pygmaea from last year show no signs yet.