Cultivation > Cultivation Problems
Growing European gentians in a lawn meadow area
Tristan_He:
Thanks both. I'm not necessarily expecting success, but thought it would be an interesting thing to try. Of course the different species don't necessarily grow together in the wild, and I don't know which will do best here. One would think acaulis given the acid soil, but it doesn't always work like that!
I don't think I'll be using pots though as there is a bit of a risk they will dry out. Any material I use will be spare pieces from the rockery, where I have several clones growing quite well (though not necessarily flowering). One has not flowered in 10 years and is certainly a candidate for the compost heap!
I used the term 'acaulis agg' because here in Britain at least I am not very confident about the identity of many gentians of this group in cultivation. There are lots of named clones sold which may or may not be the species on the label! ??? But pretty much all are worth growing (when they flower).
Hoy:
Hello Tristan,
I don't grow the species you mention but Gentiana verna, G. purpurea and Gentianella campestris in a kind of lawn/meadow at our mountain cabin. I cut the grass in fall (October) and remove it. If some plants still are in flower I try to avoid cutting them. G. verna and campastris have "always" been there but they would perish if I hadn't managed the grass (would have turned into woodland). Being annuals/biennials verna and campestris vary a lot from one year to another. (This year they're plentiful.) I have planted a few and sowed many of the G. purpurea. This species compete easily with rather coarse grass like Deschampsia cespitosa. The soil is sandy glacial moraine and vary in nutrient and pH. I never feed it. Yellow rattle and Melampyrum sylvaticum grow also naturally here but I have introduced Bartsia alpina and try to establish other hemiparasites.
I always try get plants/seeds from as many different sources/provenances as I can.
Gentiana verna can grow quite big in grass.
Here the grass is very short.
Also Gentianella campestris can grow in rather dense grass.
Here the soil is more sandy.
Gentiana purpurea in the meadow.
Catwheazle:
<G. verna and campastris have "always" been there....
so the perfect location and soil is there :-) (* envy *)
I guess it is easier to keep high mountain plants in Norway than e.g. in Wales or in southern Germany. (After all, I am lucky to live in the appropriate altitude in the mountains, with the corresponding frequent rainfall, long winters and - comparatively - cooler summer temperatures)
Hoy:
--- Quote from: Catwheazle on August 15, 2020, 08:34:49 AM ---<G. verna and campastris have "always" been there....
so the perfect location and soil is there :-) (* envy *)
I guess it is easier to keep high mountain plants in Norway than e.g. in Wales or in southern Germany. (After all, I am lucky to live in the appropriate altitude in the mountains, with the corresponding frequent rainfall, long winters and - comparatively - cooler summer temperatures)
--- End quote ---
Oh yes, in the mountains in S Norway and in the north it is not very difficult to grow alpine plants. But along the coast in south it is not easy. Where I live we have almost no winter at all.
Tristan_He:
Beautiful photos Trond!
Funnily enough I don't find the taller European gentians (lutea / purpurea etc) at all easy. They just never seem to settle here. ???
One of the acaulis in its new home...
...and when I divided the plants there were quite a lot of smaller pieces that I thought could do with establishing a bit before planting out. So I should have plenty of material to play with!
We hardly seem to get winters here at all these days, just a handful of frosty nights. :-\ Even so, most of the alpines seem to do ok once established.
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