Mertensia pterocarpa

[maggiepie]

I have managed to germinate a few mertensia pterocarpa seeds ( 5) am wondering how long they take to flower from seed and also what conditions they prefer in the garden.
Can they grow in an area with lots of sun?
Am finding conflicting information on the web.
Would also like to know if there is a trick to getting more seeds to germinate.
The leaves are so beautiful I would like more.

[Lesley Cox]

Mertensia pterocarpa likes a cooler place Helen, out of too hot a sun. It shrivels quickly otherwise. It is deciduous so will die down for winter. Seed should germinate well if fresh but if you have 5 that may be all you get. Seedlings should flower after about a year, a beautiful sky blue. It is a super plant which I have lost.

[Kristl Walek]

Helen,
I know this as Mertensia sibirica (pterocarpa)...this and M. virginica are the only two species in a genus I am quite fond of that have been long-lived and reliable for me. I've tried a number of other small western species, without being able to keep them happy.

It's a great plant; good foliage, wonderful flowers with the typical pink-in-bud turning blue blooms over a very long period (late spring through summer). It has survived winters of -45C.

I've tried it in various sites---for me it was very unhappy (and not pretty) in shade, becoming lax and not in character. For a time I moved it to light shade, where it was decidedly happier, but rotted in the end.

It has, however, been wonderful in full sun in my scree garden. This bed has a lot of underlying moisture (as it is next to one of my large ponds, and the soil is high clay). Here it is tidy, floriferous and has prospered.

[maggiepie]

Lesley, am sorry to hear you lost your mertensia, can you start more from seed?
The 5 seedlings I have came from 3 different lots of seeds, I did have another 3 but they perished a few weeks after they were potted up.

Kristl, thanks for the pics, yours really does look very happy where you have it, not to mention absolutely gorgeous.
I think I will hedge my bets and put 2 where they will get morning sun and the others more.
I've been a tad confused about pterocarpa and sibirica, they are the same?
ORG&HPS has different germination advice for each name.

[Lesley Cox]

The two names are synonyms Helen. Different germination advice? It figures I suppose, just as Kristl and I have had different growing experience. Our climates are very different of course. It all goes to show that one's own PERSONAL experience is best of all as a guidline (when available of course). I'd certainly love to grow it again and it IS on our permitted list.