Can't beat P. vulgaris

It seems nearly every rock garden gets temporarily overun by P. vulgaris at first.  But it is a workhorse hard to be without.  This a nice red type.

P.S.  I somehow completely missed this thread, dated Feb 19, and since no one had any replies, I wonder if it is lost to others.  I always start with the page "Show unread posts since last visit."  Now going through many more threads at random, I find several, naye, many that I missed.  Is it just me?

On the subject of seed accuracy, and Pulsatilla halleri ssp. slavica in particular,  I have read that halleri is supposed to emerge with flowers first.  How exacting is that?  Meaning absolutely no foliage present at all (like Pulsatilla patens)?

These pics are from seed from the NARGS seed ex, labeled as P. halleri ssp. slavica.  Is this what they are?

Beautiful plants.
I have no idea about your question... and I wish I knew where to find definitive descriptions of pulsatillas, also...
Here, though, from the SRGC site, is a photo record of the emergence and bloom of what is said to be Pulsatilla halleri ssp. slavica (and no one among a very knowledgeable bunch questioned the ID, so I assume it is correct!)  No leaves visible on that one... but I wonder if conditions may cause it to vary?
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5093.150

Thanks Lori.  Indeed I must have a hybrid with halleri, or plain vulgaris, or something. Whatever it is, it's not pure halleri.

RickR wrote:

It seems nearly every rock garden gets temporarily overun by P. vulgaris at first.  But it is a workhorse hard to be without.  This a nice red type.

P.S.  I somehow completely missed this thread, dated Feb 19, and since no one had any replies, I wonder if it is lost to others.  I always start with the page "Show unread posts since last visit."  Now going through many more threads at random, I find several, naye, many that I missed.  Is it just me?

Rick, really like the your P. vulgaris 'Red Bells'.  I once grew a dwarf true red one that looks similar, its name was 'Red Cloak'.

Well, you could always try posting it at SRGC for ID confirmation, if no one comments here.  In Alpine Plants of Europe, J. Jermyn says of P. halleri, in general, that the foliage is "barely visible at flowering".  In it, there is a photo of ssp. halleri in flower that shows many leaves emerging.  There's also a photo of ssp. slavica in bloom, but the angle is such that one can't see whether any foliage has emerged.

Rick, in the dim and distant past Ian and I  presented a plant of Pulsatilla halleri slavica to the RHS Joint Rock Plant  Committee and the plant was awarded the premier award of  F.C.C. ... i.e. a First Class Certificate.
I cannot lay hands upon a digital photograph at the moment, though I'm looking at a lovely painting  of the plant by the late Lawrence Greenwood, a most accomplished watercolour artist...... and I can tell you that PK's plant is a dead ringer for it.... fabulous pale lilac/purple flowers which open very wide, giving a bloom about four to five inches across..... big boss of golden stamens with a cute lilac centrral "tuft"..... foliage absent or only just emerging at time of flowering. 
It's a gem..... it's not what your plants are, sorry!

Four to five inches across...!?  Good heavens!  The plant in bloom posted by Ruweiss in the SRGC link I posted would then be, conservatively,  6 flowers across, so 24" to 30" across, minimum???

Yup! Fully open, the flowers of a really good plant are huge.... it is the size of them, while still retaining their featherweight beauty that is so breath-taking..... just a truly gorgeous plant. :)

While I am not overjoyed that my plant is most likely P. vulgaris, I am certainly not sorry that it is definitively identified as not halleri.  And the flowers never open wider than in the pics I posted. Thanks everyone.

Well, I'm disappointed my plant may be the real Pulsatilla slavica, since I no longer have it! As for your plant, Rick, it may be vulgaris, but that shouldn't alter your fondness for it: it's a gorgeous form. What's in a name, after all? I rather have a great plant!

That is one of the reasons that I don't bother taking care of the labels. You never know if you have the right thing! Even plants and seed bought from reliable sources may prove wrong. I like plants for the plants sake not its name!

The first P. vulgaris opened yesterday..I have a few colour forms but this dark one always blooms much earlier than the others.

Wow, Todd! That's gorgeous...

I don't ever think of the thousands of pulsatillas I have grown (and I mean thousands) that I have seen anything like it. Except for P. pratensis, which is nodding. Wonder if it's a hybrid.

Do you get seed?

Not the showy colors maybe, but a very fine plant when you find it! To hit the blooming you have to look when the carpet of snow disappear. This year I was a little too late but caught the last flowers of Pulsatilla vernalis (Mogop!).

If you get seed of this one Trond it would be most appreciated!  I have tried it twice and each time they ended up being P. vulgaris!

Todd wrote:

If you get seed of this one Trond it would be most appreciated!  I have tried it twice and each time they ended up being P. vulgaris!

Certainly! But you have to cross your fingers: Two years ago a hare ate all the flowers, last year a herd of sheep managed to get through the fence and ate all the seedheads (and a lot more - among them all the Gentiana purpurea in flower) and this year we have a bunch (or what do you say about this animal?) elk (moose) browsing around the place.

Nice plants!
Trond, I`d like to line up for seeds of vernalis also, if it doesn`t get eaten this year!

Here is one of my 2 beginning plants of P vulgaris, 2010; last year was their first spring after being planted in this bed (previous winter was still in the nursery pots sunk in the ground). I have to say I love to see the foliage poking up in spring--things in general are very slow to start here, and this bed turns out to be in a cool spot...oh well!

Ironically, when the flowers opened in mid-May, we were having some very warm dry weather, so the flowers opened wide ( I prefer them half open!)

A few days later, on a cooler day, they returned to form  ;D