Hepatica 2009

[Regelian]

http://www.alpine-peters.de/sortimente/hepatica/pdf/Hepatica_Preisliste2008.pdf

Although the text is in German, one doesn't need it to get a good idea of what is what.  Actually, there is very little text!

This is the best reference I have found and is printable, if one would like to take it comfortably to bed!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Very impressive Elison Spence Melvyn !

Gorgeous !

[Mad]

What a...Preisliste!   It's not only to take it in bed, but also to have a heart attack...

Maybe it's a silly question, but why Hepaticsa cost soooo much?

[Maggi Young]

Madi, Hepaticas are very popular right now, especially the Japanese double types and these can only be propagated by division and they are quite slow growing, so that  is  why the prices are so high ..... probaply cheaper to buy a Maserati to drive to the mountains to see other flowers!! 

[Regelian]

Silly question!  No, but the answer is easy to explain; supply and demand.  The named varieties tend to increase quite slowly compared to most garden perennials, and with some, this is literally the only way to obtain such a flower as they are otherwise infertile or close to.

Although I am not such a fan of Hepatica to pay more than, say, €50 for a plant, I do buy €200 daylilies!  Not many, but it is rather easy to spend for something that one wants and is rare or very limitedly available.

Tissue culture has proved adequate for many plants, but some plants do not TC well, such as Hepatica and Hemerocallis, although this is getting better.  Still, let's face it, there is a certain caché to owning an exclusive plant.  I would rather promote expensive cultured forms in the place of endangered species! Diverting the interest from wild plants to rare cultivars of extremely desirable qualities seems a prudent direction to promote.  Just not for everyone.  Mind you, I have raised some real show stoppers from seed, which is really the fun of the whole game.

[Mad]

OK, thanks fot the kind answers!  So, if I don't wnat to spend 1/5 of my income to buy an hepatica, the only way is to raise it from seed. And, of course you're right, it's much moore fun.
Besides, I agree with your ideas about endangered species and expensive cultured forms.

And now I will take my lunch-break and dream with the Peters catalogue 

[Maggi Young]

And now I will take my lunch-break and dream with the Peters catalogue 

 Bon appetit, Madi ......... at least the dreaming will cost you nothing!

[mickeymuc]

Hi Madi,

I know of those breathtaking Prices of Juergen Peters, but those plants are slow growing and very exquisite - I'll be visiting his Hepatica Show this weekend and am very curious how these plants look like in reality (and how my wallet looks afterwords....).
Whatever, I got some double Hepaticas in great size / quality from Edrom Nurseries, www.edromnurseries.co.uk - although I bought them as single budded two had two growing tips and one even three ! It was a set of three named hybrids (http://www.edromnurseries.co.uk/product.asp?col=y&product=1941) for 68 GBP - I think that's all right (especially at the moment, as the GBP is not so expensive for us).
I'll see if I'll post a photo, the white Harukin was full of Flowers when I received it - opening that box was a great moment :-)

Best regards,

Michael

[chasw]

Taken this afternoon
Hepatica Media? Harvington Beauty

[Regelian]

Madi,

I just received these from Jürgen Peters' nursery and none were more than €10,00.  They are just seedlings, but I find them beautiful and are just the kind of start I wanted.  If I do well with these, I will add a few special ones to breed with.

Michael,

I was hoping to go up to the nursery on Sunday.  When are you going?  Are you taking the train?  For the rest of you, it's like driving from Devon to Glasgow in a day!

[gote]

A post script:
The basic "bone of contention" is the question whether a plant in it's "natural habitat" has a higher value than exactly the same plant in a garden.
My view is that we humans are also a part of nature.
A bumble bee is attracted to a larger flower and pollinates it
A gardener is attracted to a larger flower and pollinates it.
I think that  gardener is as valuable living being as a bumble bee.
I think that it is meaningless to say that a wolf has the right to eat a deer but a human hunter has not.
My belief is that a human hunter has the same rights as a four-legged hunter. The difference is that human hunters rarely hunts to extinction - something the four-legged will happily do.
A rose is a rose is a rose - be it in a rose garden or in the wilderness where it will be starved and eaten by deer.
Göte 

[Gerry Webster]

I have a print of a painting by Ehret, dated 1745, of double pink & double blue hepaticas.

[annew]

Nice double blew.

[wolfgang vorig]

Hepatica today in flower


 H. nobilis alba Albino
 H. nobilis alba Albino 1
 H. nobilis 1
 H. nobilis 2

[annew]

That is a lovely white form, Wolfgang. If you should have spare seeds, maybe we can exchange?