Parentage of Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve'

[Rodger Whitlock]

Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve', one of the all-time best garden plants, is a hybrid, hence sets very little seed. I've read that one of the parents is Erysimum linifolium, but cannot for the life of me think what the other parent is. Googling doesn't cough up anything useful.

Does anyone happen to know what the other parent is?

[Lvandelft]

Rodger, I found on my bookshelf a book of Roy Lancaster: Garden Plants for Connoisseurs.
It is seemingly that we never will know more about the parentage of Erysimum Bowles Mauve.
Bowles has probably never seen this plants.

A photo of Lancasters' text below.

Alex Pankhurst in: Who Does Your Garden Grow (1992)writes:
After Bowles' death Frances Perry, Amos's daughter in law, who had known Myddelton House garden from childhood, showed the wallflower to the men who had worked in the garden. They had never seen it before. It is undoubtedly the sort of plant Bowles would have liked, but its origin and why his name was linked to it remains a mystery.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Thank you for posting that page.

I will say, however, that it does not do full justice to 'Bowles' Mauve'. 'Bowles' Mauve' erysimum is a plant that thrives on neglect and does better in hot, sunny locations with no summer water. It is marginally tender - my plants were hit hard this last winter, along with many other normally hardy things, but they are coming back. In the village of Ganges on Saltspring Island, there are public plantings near the harbor that include Bowles' Mauve, and those ancient plants thrive under the conditions of benign neglect they get there.

Let me rephrase that: it's an ideal plant for climates that don't get too cold in winter and have dry, sunny summers, as long as it's in a well drained location.

I have Erysimum linifolium in the garden, btw. It's very similar but being fertile the flowers fade much more quickly than those of Bowles' Mauve. Perhaps I should send some to the exchange?

[Paddy Tobin]

Rodger,

By coincidence, Mary has been looking for a plant of E. 'Bowles Mauve' this year. We have grown it on several occasions but as our gardenis inclined to be wet it is short lived with us.

Paddy

[fermi de Sousa]

I bought a couple of plants of "Bowles Mauve" ( I hope they are the correct plant!) a few years ago and they have been outstanding little shrubs, getting up to 60cm high as well as wide. It does set seed but the seedlings so far look like the "ordinary" wallflowers in mauve and purple without the dwarfer, more "substantial" foliage of the parent. I'll have to resort to cuttings if I remember to take them at the right time!
cheers
fermi

[Rodger Whitlock]

I bought a couple of plants of "Bowles Mauve" ( I hope they are the correct plant!) a few years ago and they have been outstanding little shrubs, getting up to 60cm high as well as wide. It does set seed but the seedlings so far look like the "ordinary" wallflowers in mauve and purple without the dwarfer, more "substantial" foliage of the parent. I'll have to resort to cuttings if I remember to take them at the right time!

From your description, I have a suspicion that you don't have authentic Bowles Mauve. First, your plants are too small if they are mature. With time, Bowles Mauve can reach 3' diameter and 2' height. Second, Bowles Mauve is almost completely sterile. I don't recall ever seeing a seed capsule form on mine, but I know people who have had seed. I recognize that in your warm climate, it may set seed more easily than in Victoria, BC's rather cool climate.

While out measuring my winter-damaged specimen with a tape measure so I could state its size accurately, I happened to look at my other specimen and realized it was nearly dead. But not quite: one branch had a bit of growth on it, though withered as the water supply from below was cut off. I've taken what cuttings I could in hopes of preserving it, as it is traceable back to a very old garden here and served to verify that the modern commercial form of Bowles Mauve is indeed what it claims to be. The older specimen was clearly virused, the modern one isn't, but for all that they were clearly the same plant.

[Lvandelft]

I bought a couple of plants of "Bowles Mauve" ( I hope they are the correct plant!) a few years ago and they have been outstanding little shrubs, getting up to 60cm high as well as wide. It does set seed but the seedlings so far look like the "ordinary" wallflowers in mauve and purple without the dwarfer, more "substantial" foliage of the parent. I'll have to resort to cuttings if I remember to take them at the right time!
cheers
fermi

Fermi, I believe that seeds are not likely to produce very uniform offspring.
This plant is here not hardy enough either. It may survive some winters but that's all.
I found a picture of a ca. 2 year old plant which I made in 2002.

[fermi de Sousa]

Thanks, Rodger and Luit,
our plants are just coming into flower; if I get a chance I take some pics and post them for comparison.
cheers
fermi