Erythronium
Jean Genie
Posts: 1,724
Morning all , cat woke me up by sitting on my head hence the early post ! Its a lovely day here in Lancashire so thought I would have a potter about in the garden today. I planted some erythroniums ( dogs tooth violets ) last year in tubs in the shady part of my garden and the '' rose queen '' variety have not made an appearance at all - not one solitary leaf ! I also planted ''pagoda '' and they did really well so I'm unsure what to do next . Should I re-pot them or leave them in the tub ? I have read in the R.H.S. book that this particular variety can be hard to establish so I'm thinking maybe leave them until next spring but I'm also thinking there may be beasties in the tub - i.e. the dreaded vine weevil ! Has anybody got any thoughts ? Thanks .
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Once the leaves have died down, then you can empty out the tubers and plant them where you want. Thy do well from fresh tubers, but not so good from dried bought ones. Hence the reputation for being difficult to establish. For anyone buying dried ones, in Autumn, try soaking them overnight in warm water with a little fungicide addded. It plumps them up no end and increases the chances of them taking.
Thanks Berghill I did soak them before planting and as mentioned pagodas came up and flowered well but nothing at all with the others so nothing to die down ! Wondering whether to dig up tubers or leave them till next year . The same thing happened with some lily-of -the-valley but it appeared the year after.
Jean if a cat sat on my head it would be instantly airborne through a closed window, we do not get on.
Erythronium dens-canis likes organic rich deep soil and hate being waterlogged, not good this summer then. Once set in position in late summer they can be left for years and they do like semi shade. If you do move them wait until the leaves die down and in your case of no leaves showing it may be as well having a look at the bulbs to see if they are showing any life at all.
Frank.
Oops maybe I should have left the cat bit out didn't mean to get anyone's back up ! Well back to the dog ' ( s tooth ) violets - think I may have a look at the tubers and see whats going on . Maybe try to track down an established clump in spring . Thanks Frank.
May sound daft, but are you sure that you didn't miss them, Jean? When I first planted mine they only produced a couple of moth-eaten leaves in the first year, which would have been easy to pull up as weeds. It took about three years for them to produce flowers, although they are now thriving.
No Alina - they are all in tubs as I know they can spread like billy- o once they're established . I made that mistake with a little pot of labrador violets which I got from Scotland - they have now taken over the garden but I do enjoy them - just have to have a cull every now and then ! I planted them nice and deep with added compost and as I mentioned the yellow pagodas flowered really well in spring - first year. Sure I read somewhere that ''rose queen'' can be really difficult to get going . I think they are also called trout lilys . Not sure what to do now .
Funnily enough, it's the yellows that I've found to spread and thrive - the pinks thrive, but don't really spread. I think that your original idea of checking the roots was a good one - if you find the pinks have rotted, you know that you need to replace them.
By the way, if you have any local flower shows in spring, they are a good source for growing plants.
Thanks for that Alina , as soon as this monsoon stops think I' ll have a peek .Failing that I'll take your advice and may go to the Southport one next year to try and track some down . So much for a lovely day in Lancashire ! At least I got the pruning done.