Erythronium 2024

[Robert]

Leena,

Thank you for sharing some photographs of your lovely Erythroniums. Your seedlings are gorgeous!       They are such beautiful plants and such an asset to the garden.

Ian Young can most likely give you the best advice on how to handle your Erythronium seedlings. Our climate here in California is so different. I most likely have to handle my young seedlings differently to compensate for our climatic conditions and the type of species and hybrids that will grow well here.

I germinate my seeds in 4” square plastic nursery pots. As soon as the germinating seedlings are up and growing during their first spring, I very carefully remove the seedlings from their 4” pot as one solid block and transfer the block of seedlings, intact, to a 01 Gallon nursery pot. I then let the seedlings grow for several years without disturbing them. I do not worry about them being crowded closely together. After about two or three years, I separate the seedlings in the early spring as they start active growth, and give each seedling more space. I wait another year or two before planting them in the ground. They are generally of blooming age at this time. This works extremely well for me, but our climate is much different from yours.

Reader might be curious about current conditions in the Crystal Range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Currently at the highest elevations, 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) and above, there is 121.32 inches (308.15 cm) of snow on the ground. This is about average for this time of year. So far there have been 151 snow cover days. This too is about average. The other day the daytime high temperature was 21 F (-6.1 C). The morning low was 5 F (-15 C). These temperatures are below average for this time of year. Spring will not arrive and the snow finally gone, mostly, until some time in June. The high elevation wildflowers will quickly emerge and start blooming.

[Leena]

I germinate my seeds in 4” square plastic nursery pots. As soon as the germinating seedlings are up and growing during their first spring, I very carefully remove the seedlings from their 4” pot as one solid block and transfer the block of seedlings, intact, to a 01 Gallon nursery pot. I then let the seedlings grow for several years without disturbing them. I do not worry about them being crowded closely together. After about two or three years, I separate the seedlings in the early spring as they start active growth, and give each seedling more space. I wait another year or two before planting them in the ground. They are generally of blooming age at this time. This works extremely well for me, but our climate is much different from yours.

Robert, thank you for the answer.
I think I will do like you do, and transfer mine as a clump to a bigger pot. They are now in slightly smaller pot than what you have, mine are 9cm.

[Robert]

Hi Leena,

I certainly hope that your Erythronium seedlings develop and progress well into the future. If you feel inclined to share how your seedlings development over time, I would value learning about your experiences with them.



Here are the current conditions with our Erythronium seedlings. Some are still active others are well on their way to dormancy.



One can still see the square outline from when I transplanted the Erythronium tuolumnense seedlings (right) back in early March. I will keep the pots slightly moist and in the shade over the summer. It gets very hot during the summer and I do not want the tiny bulbs to cook.



This 01 gallon pot full of Erythronium multiscapideum seedlings is just about dormant. I separated the seedlings this year. They will be ready to plant out 2 years from now. They will likely started blooming next year. Any unique seedlings will be grown in pots until I build up stock.

[Leena]

Robert, thank you for the pictures!

[Guff]

Erythronium