Hepatica

Liverleafs are among the spring bloomers I always look for when I can. It is common many places where I have my summer cabin.
You are right, Lori, it is diffucult to capture the blue color - the wild populations have many different blue hues and red and white too.
Here are some of the color types.

Great displays!  I think mine have been crowded out by my rather vigorous Skimmia!

A great display, Michael 8)
The leaves of no 4 is awesome!

Wow! Such rich, saturated colors! I bought 2 from Ellen Hornig last year with very strongly variegated leaves...can't wait to see them in bloom.

Michael, among my favorite topics on SRGC, and now here on NARGS, are the Hepatica ones, serving up such an array of dazzling colors and flower forms (I love the semi-double types).  And as diverse as the color palette is, one can still be surprised and amazed seeing pure reds, yellows, or even green ones, and whimsical variations of petalloid stamens.  Thanks for showing these here; wish they were as accessible here from American nurseries as they are in Europe and Japan.

They're all :o :o :o !!!

When I was a kid, my family would spend most of our spring and summer weekends  at our cabin in northern Minnesota.  I was constantly exploring the rocks, hills, lakes, streams, swamps and bogs (I guess I should be saying fens).  Although the hills were not that high, and swamps not that low, it was the most rugged country for many, many miles around.  I briefly toyed with the idea of hybridizing Hepatica americana when I found a colony that tended toward five lobed leaves, while others had richly colored flowers with beautifully frosted picotees.

I'm glad I didn't embark on that!  I would be left in the dust.  But I do still grow, in my garden down here, descendants of transplants from our land up there.  It's surprising how much dryness they can tolerate in the shade.

I try to grow Hepaticas in my garden but it is difficult as some critter devour the plants. It is however no option to grow them in pots as I am away for long periods in summer.
But when I see all the very gorgeous liverworts here I am tempted to try!

Michael, I find all of these Hepatica to be supremely desirable. The "Purple nidan saki" one is an eye-catching beauty, a unique color.  Can you tell us approximately how expensive it is to buy these plants.  Do you import any plants from Japanese nurseries, or are most of them available in European nurseries?  And, do you harvest and grow on your own seed to see what the hybrid progeny might be like?  Thanks for continuing to feed our eyes and souls with such delights.

I have never dared starting collecting liverworts - I had never been satisfied and always wanted more and more!
Besides, some culprit often devour my few hepaticas :'(
But it is a pleasure and a tease to see the beautiful plants here :o

Absolutely amazing plants! Can you go over the best way to divide mature plants and your tips on sowing seed? I live in the woods here in Vermont where there are loads of colonies of Hepatica and would love to collect seed and/or divisions as some of the color variations are quite beautiful!

Michael, please tell me if you ever get more seeds than you manage to grow! I'll buy the surplus seeds right away ;D

;D ;D ;D

How cow!  What a spectacular collection of Hepatica...I never realized there were so many.  I know some of these fetch huge prices.

Oh Lordy...I'm in trouble now!! I am just in love with these plants after seeing those photos! I saw that Peter Joppe of Hillside Nursery in Mass. sells a few species including the japonica. I will have some for sale of his at the American Primrose Societies National Show at the end of April. Or maybe I won't have any for sale & will keep them for myself!!  ;)

Not only that, with the expense of these, where else would we even get to see them, except here and the SRGC forum!

Thanks so much Michael!

Thanks for propagating info Michael.....and please oh please put me on your seed list!!

Here are a few from the woods near my house last spring. Not nearly as pretty as your Michael, but they'll do. ;)

Nice leaf form on that second pic, Amy.  It's different from a five lobed form I have seen in Minnesota.

I think this is pretty typical of Hepatica americana flower form in northern Minnesota, although there is a lot of variation:

I have always been fascinated by liverworts ever since I was a little child and my mom and dad took me and my sister out in the woods to find and pick the very first "blueflowers" in the spring. Sometimes we found a red or a white one and that was very exiting. But I never realized all the different colors "blueflowers" can have! Now I really wont to establish a population of different colors in my garden :o
I would like to try H americana as well!

No Hepatica blooming here yet so these are from last spring at my cabin! (Wild population)

Trond, yours have such a nice rich color. Especially the pink one! I haven't found any that saturated yet, but I'm still hoping and tramping through the woods around here. I'm going to hopefully get out at the right time and collect some seed this year.

AmyO wrote:

Trond, yours have such a nice rich color. Especially the pink one! I haven't found any that saturated yet, but I'm still hoping and tramping through the woods around here. I'm going to hopefully get out at the right time and collect some seed this year.

AmyO
The red one is a member of a population that consists of almost 30% reds and a few whites. I can try to collect some seed if I hit the right time and if you are interested we can swap!

Oh yes Trond, I would love to! And thanks! ;D

I've just come from visiting Plant Delights Nursery during their open house and what a time that was! I of course came away with a cart load of treasures, but no Hepatica. I did get this pic of one and it was lovely!

AmyO
Brunswick, GA (temporarily)

Nice one Amy, the simple purity of the white starry bloom hold their own, even among the more flamboyant cultivars.

Wow!  No problems with hepatica in calgary!  My acutiloba have died (or crowded) out.  The two nobilis I got at the WWSW will have to be treated with more respect!