Erythroniums...for Amy
By waddy
9 comments
Erythronium bulbs are brittle so you can’t just push them into the ground.
- Prepare the site; Dig over the soil and water dry ground thoroughly.
- Plant them carefully. Gently place new bulbs into a planting hole and cover with compost. When dividing lift the whole clump, and gently tease apart then space out the bulbs.
- Let them seed around. Bees love Erythroniums, which freely produce seeds. This doesn’t seem to affect the vigour of parent clumps, so let them seed around. Many resultant seedlings will show variation.
Pick of the Best…
Best for early flowers; E.Revolutum ‘Knightshayes Pink’
This early march blooming cultivar is a vigorous self-seeder.
Best for Dramatic;
E. Dens-Canis ‘Old Aberdeen’ Although harder to grow, this floriferous dog’s tooth violet cultivar has stunning purple flowers and jade-green foliage.
Best for Elegance;
E. Californicum ‘White Beauty’ With poised flowers, fine foliage and a will to bulk up, this cultivar looks great with rusty brown-bristled ferns.
Best for Colonising; E ‘Pagoda’ Commonly grown, with sprays of greenish-yellow flowers held above mottled foliage, but in some years the leaves are plain-green.
22 Mar, 2017
3 likes
More blog posts by waddy
Previous post: In between the raindrops...
Next post: Mother's Day Prezzie...
Comments
Thanks for this Waddy its very kind of you , all I can say is I must be incredibly lucky I'm sure I didn't do any of those things when I planted mine .. it has made me more aware of the correct procedure and also keen to look out for more to collect especially the 'White Beauty ' I'm going copy and print this and also add it to my favorites for future reference .. Brilliant Blog .. xx
22 Mar, 2017
:)) Glad to be of help.
23 Mar, 2017
Can you help me too Waddy? Mine are not doing well - poor little things with only one pair of leaves and one flower bud each. And a bit of slug damage into the bargain I noticed this afternoon. they are in shade until mid afternoon - and I don't think the soil is very good as its a bed I haven't got round to improving as most things in it are tough.
23 Mar, 2017
Oh they are pretty flowers (Have just Googled them). Reckon they would do well on the bank under the trees.
23 Mar, 2017
Perhaps a move might be an idea Stera?
24 Mar, 2017
But where might they be happy? The banks we have wouldn't be suitable Eirlys -they are very steep and still wild, just getting strimmed a couple of times a year.
24 Mar, 2017
the ones that do best for me gat a half day of sun and dry out quite well in the summer. I have a good clump under the beech tree and that gets very dry. so I suppose it is humus rich but 'free draining'.
One that is doing well is coming up between the rhizomes of an iris, again sun for half the day.
25 Mar, 2017
They do get sun for half the day - perhaps they need a bit more humus as the soil isn't very good in that spot. I like the idea of the iris nursemaiding yours!
25 Mar, 2017
Recent posts by waddy
- A very Happy Christmas.
20 Dec, 2021
- A last gasp?
23 Sep, 2021
- Chorley Flower Show.
1 Aug, 2021
- Pretty hedgerow
17 Jul, 2021
- For Shirley-Tulip
21 Jun, 2021
- Some Colour Already.
10 Jun, 2021
Members who like this blog
-
Gardening with friends since
17 Apr, 2008 -
Gardening with friends since
16 Mar, 2010 -
Gardening with friends since
17 Nov, 2014
I always start mine off in pots of a mix of john innes and multi purpose compost. I can then give them a good start before popping them in the ground.
22 Mar, 2017