Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Hepatica => Topic started by: robsorchids on December 28, 2008, 08:12:12 PM
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i really love the special double/anemone forms of these little plants, but the only nursery i know of that does them is edrom nursery.
sadly they are extremely expensive, one i recall was 125 pounds or more (a gorgeous double blue)
so i wonder, is there any cheaper, easier ways of obtaining them?
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I think the only other way is to swap something with those who already have them, unfortunately they do not multiply as quickly as the single forms, but I am quite willing to swap if I get any offsets.
cheers
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Rob they have some varieties that are around £30. Beeches Nursery down your way also sell them
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You seem to refer to Hepaticas collectively when you talk about prices. The gorgeous blue double at £125,- I suppose this must have been a Japanese double? European doubles tend to be cheaper than the Japanese plants. When looking through Jurgen Peters price list £125 is actually the price for one of the cheaper clones on his list :(.
I have otherwise seen H. transsilvanica "Elison Spence" at €35, which I do not think is too bad.
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I see you have added a photo of yourself
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The'yre really expensive things Rob and what Edrom charge is really not exhuberant in "Jap. Hepaticaland".
125 or even 175 £ is nothing record breaking...
On the other hand, Edrom do offer some at 15-20-25 £ as well - no doubles at that price though.
To keep everything into perspective.... at the site of Jueren Petersen (Hamburg), last time I looked, the most expensive specimen, believe it or not, was 2.500 €... ::)
Looking around and swapping does help though !
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Luc can you post a link so we can see why it costs so much?
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I'm no real specialist in these doubles Rob - for obvious reasons... ::)
I know they're not all that easy... and definitely not to be grown outdoors here, but if you go through the Hepatica threads of 2008-2007-2006 you'll find masses of information.
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I wouldn't say they are delicate,just slower to clump up, and they usually do not produce the double flowers for a year after potting up.
They probably would survive outside but who would plant them out in the garden at that price. They would make a nice expensive lunch for a slug.
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I have heard that yellow hepaticas are highly priced in Japan. 2 500 euro :o I have a few Japanese hepaticas outside, don't tell the snails, but they are not expensive double ones.
The double forms I grow are H. nobilis and they are not at all fussy but they are slow growers.
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I do not think I would start growing Hepaticas if the entry ticket is £125 for a plant. For beginners it would be much cheaper to buy single-flowered European plants and build up one's experience along the way.
In my garden doubles tend to clump up faster than singles as the doubles do not waste any energy in producing seeds. It all depends on the clone whether it is a slow grower or not. The main reason why doubles are expensive is that they are rare and can only be propagated vegetatively.
As for slugs we do not have the Iberian type where I live which is a really aggressive type of slug. Occasionally slugs eat seedlings in the outside garden but they leave mature plants alone generally.
Hi there Guilla, fancy meeting you here ;)
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Good to see you here too, Einar ;)
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Rob and every one else at plant fares there are sometimes plants that would normally cost a lot at better prices since most plants are sold at low prices they can not /will not charge the "internet marking prices". They might still not be cheap but not extremely overpriced for a "normal" gardener.
I think Gunilla has bought some of her doubles at these plant fares in Sweden and maybe she can tell more about that.
I do not know if You have similar sales by non-professionals that sells the plants that are divided in the garden or the extras from sowing and so on. There is no guarantee to find something extra ordinary there but if You do they are generally affordable.
So far I have only managed to get something not expected when buying 5 or 10 Anemone nemorosa plena for 2€ in total. They where not in flower (bare rooted) and I have missed their flowering so I might have been fooled but that was a low cost to get something interesting. 8)
These plant markets are fun to visit so even when leaving without a double hepatica You will most likely not leave empty handed. ;D
Good luck finding someone
Joakim
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I am thinking on the nobilis type rather than the Japanese in the Nordic countries but maybe in some part of the UK they grow also the Japanese so well that they need to divide them.
Have anyone seen them on plant fares / plant markets?
Kind regards
Joakim
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Hi Joakim. I am a member of the Swedish garden society "Trädgårdsamatörerna" and I use to attend the plantsale arranged by our local group every spring and autumn at Alnarp. This is a great opportunity to meet and talk to people with a big interest in plants. I usually have something to sell but somehow always manage to buy more than I sell. The prices are often very low and you are right Joakim, I have bought most of my hepaticas there. I couldn't possibly afford them at normal marketprices.
Have you ever been to Alnarp, Jokaim? Maybe we have met.
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Gunilla I have missed the plant sales in Alnarp even though I used to live very close. I have only been there on STA things at the bulbsale 2005.
I saw something on the Nordic hepatica forum about buying in a plant market, but was not sure where You bought them.
I once went to the fair held by Kristianstad garden club in Bäckaskog Castle where I bought Anemone nemorosa flora plena.
Do these things not exist in the UK where plants are sold by private persons to private persons often for a price below "market value"?
Has anyone bought a nice plant at these sales?
Kind regards
Joakim
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I saw something on the Nordic hepatica forum about buying in a plant market, but was not sure where You bought them ... Do these things not exist in the UK where plants are sold by private persons to private persons often for a price below "market value"? Has anyone bought a nice plant at these sales?
There are plant sales as you describe at all the shows and meetings we attend. Depending on the meeting, the grower will get between 50% - 75% of the sales price, the balance going towards the running cost of the meeting or show. There are sometimes bargains to be had! With regard to hepaticas, I have seen nice potfuls of nobilis, but I have rarely seen any interesting japonicas in this situation. I think growers of these would rarely have enough spare to be able to sell them in this way. Private swaps are more likely.
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Thanks Diane I thought You in the UK only had "professional selling" at the meetings. Nice to hear that people can make some nice bargains at the meetings yet an other reason to visit them. :)
Hope You will be able to visit some meetings Rob and make bargains.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Hello, Can I give a little suggestion that buy Japanese Hepatica? hope I can express clearly in my poor English....
Please link auction of Yahoo.jp http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/0-category.html?alocale=0jp and input 雪割草（this is Chinese means Hepatica,copy and paste it）, and then click 檢索(means search)---I attached that where you should input.
but only local Japanese can bid and purchase flower on Yahoo.jp, maybe you can let your Japanese friends to help you get it. price is lovely, usually between 10~30US$ for red or double flower.
show my Japanese Hepatica:-)
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But Rob, £25 to £40 is the same as buying a snowdrop.
Have you gone to Beeches?
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Here is a translated page of a Japanese house that sells plant.
I do not know if and how they export but some are nice and does not cost a fortune. Getting them to Europe might?
Anyway one can look even if one can not buy? Maybe one can? Last year they had yellows for a nice price.
Enjoy
Joakim
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Joakim,
was there supposed to be a link to the site?
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Ooops Yes but then I need to add it will I not :-[ . Me thinking was not enough ::)
Here it is
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.yukiwarisou-tachi.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=6&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dyukiwarisou%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN
Click on the text with the flowers called new offering or something and then You will see what they have.
Joakim
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['url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.yukiwarisou-tachi.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=6&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dyukiwarisou%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN] Japanese Hepaticas [/url']
Mark you need to remove the apostrophes, they were just to show the code without it translating it.
Japanese Hepaticas (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.yukiwarisou-tachi.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=6&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dyukiwarisou%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN)
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Edrom have some good offers
http://www.edrom-nurseries.co.uk/search_results.asp?keywords=hepatica&search.x=19&search.y=4 (http://www.edrom-nurseries.co.uk/search_results.asp?keywords=hepatica&search.x=19&search.y=4)
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Fraser's Thimble Farms, on Saltspring Island BC, offers a number of the Japanese double hepaticas. Their latest catalogue lists the cultivars Haruno-awayuki, Kagura, Orihime, Shihou, Shigyoku, Shirayuki, Subaru, Tamamushi, Tougen, and Utyuu (a single) at prices ranging from C$72 (Utyuu) to C$375 (Shihou).
I asked the proprietor if these plants are propagated by tissue culture. He said no, they are all propagated by division, one of the reasons the prices are so high.
I am of course tempted to treat myself to one or two of the less expensive cultivars, but I've never had great success with hepaticas and am reluctant to risk the money.
This leads to a question about soil mixes suitable for hepaticas. The genus seems to be calciophile, which may explain why plants in the open garden do rather poorly here. With our heavy winter rains, all soluble nutrients, including calcium, are leached from the native soils. I can only conclude that a potting mix suitable for hepaticas should be near neutral, or even slightly alkaline, and that a little extra lime on the soil surface from time to time might help them.
A question for those of you successfully growing hepaticas in pots: what soil mix do you use, and what do you think are the key characteristics that make it suitable for hepaticas?
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Hi Rodger - I carefully follow the methods explained very comprehensively by Ian Christie in the main website (not the Forum !) - in the second of his "Nursery workshops"
I've been quite happy with the results ! :D
http://www.srgc.org.uk/nurseryws/040404/content.html
Good luck !
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The bit that says "For more mature plants we remove from the pots and cut the lower half of root system away this sounds drastic but on re-potting into same pot with some fresh compost plants grow away very well." sounds very scary, but go ahead and do it. It really seems to give the plants a boost.
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Most definitely Ann.This was advocated by John Massey when I attended his workshop a few years ago and I have practiced it ever since.I lay the root-ball horizontally on the bench and literally slice one third to a half off the bottom with an old carving knife and then remove a good portion of the remaing compost before re-potting with fresh compost.The old brown roots are theoretically of no further use to the plant although I must say that you can identify new white roots emanating from these brown roots but not in abundance.
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Or plant them in the garden; easiest of all.
Gerry
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Or plant them in the garden; easiest of all.
Gerry
Well, apart from fighting the slugs off them... that's pretty difficult :'(
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I forgot, Aberdeen gets more rain than Durham.
Even so - my Heps and corydalis are in a bed raised about 4 inches of the path with board edging. Theres a birch in the middle. The plants don't touch each other so there's no real cover for beasties. The bed was backfiled with old soil based compost and lealfmould.
Its worked for the last two years. :)
Gerry