Gymnospermium 2009

[Jim McKenney]

Gymnospermium altaicum is blooming here in my zone 7, Maryland, USA garden today. Although they are not related to Corydalis, their overall habit reminds me of some of them,  and I grow this species as I do some members of that genus.

These plants are not showy, but they are very interesting. Last year, a friend saw my plant when it had no blooms and asked if it might be a seedling peony. Considering the botanical speculation about their relationships, that was not really such a bad guess.

In our climate these plants seem to be very averse to warm, moist soil both when they are growing and particularly when they are dormant.

Here is Gymnospermium altaicum making its flowering debut in one of my unprotected cold frames.

[fermi de Sousa]

Nice one, Jim.
I hope you'll show us its progress over the next few weeks.
cheers
fermi

[Tony Willis]

Jim

I posted mine in Flowers and Foliage in February no177 This is a plant that needs to be completely dry when dormant for the summer and only brought back into growth in autumn. I think it is very showy!

[Jim McKenney]

Thanks, Tony and Fermi

Tony, I'll take a look at yours: I keep posting things which duplicate other postings! I'll never catch up and see everything.

Can you tell us a bit more about how you grow this plant? Last year I thought I dried it off too much, but it bounced back well when I finally began to water it again.

[Tony Willis]

Thanks, Tony and Fermi

Tony, I'll take a look at yours: I keep posting things which duplicate other postings! I'll never catch up and see everything.

Can you tell us a bit more about how you grow this plant? Last year I thought I dried it off too much, but it bounced back well when I finally began to water it again.

Jim I grow it in a 50/50 John Innes and grit compost in a clay pot plunged in sand.I keep it totally dry until repotting and start watering about mid September and dry it of again about the end of  May. It has never got any bigger even though I have had it about 15 years but perhaps I under pot it and do not feed it.If you keep it to  dry in spring you will send it straight into dormancy.I think it is a snowmelt plant which is then baked in summer.

[ichristie]

Hi to all, I am sure you know that Gymnospermium is in the Berberidacea family and sure aint hardy ouside here but a super plant for a pot. Ian the Christie kind

[Lesley Cox]

This is a plant that needs to be completley dry when dormant for the summer and only brought back into growth in autumn.

Does this apply equally to G. albertii and Leontice leontopetalum?

[Tony Willis]

This is a plant that needs to be completley dry when dormant for the summer and only brought back into growth in autumn.

Does this apply equally to G. albertii and Leontice leontopetalum?

yes it does with me

[Sinchets]

This is a plant that needs to be completley dry when dormant for the summer and only brought back into growth in autumn.

Does this apply equally to G. albertii and Leontice leontopetalum?

I had Gymnospermium altaicum and albertii growing outside in a well drained soils in the sun in Lincolnshire for 4 years. They were grown over by Micromeria and Satureja in summer- they grew and flowered through these dwarf shrubs which helped support them and keep the soil around them drier. I found them far happier than in pots, as I had grow them previously. They are also happy here outside in Bulgaria - currently flowering under snow. Leontice leontopetalum is native to Bulgaria, but we have yet to find it. I can only presume it is flowering somewhere- under snow 

[olegKon]

Hi to all, I am sure you know that Gymnospermium is in the Berberidacea family and sure aint hardy ouside here but a super plant for a pot. Ian the Christie kind

I grow both species outside, so they are hardy here in Moscow, with G. albertii being planted 15-20 sm deep and mulched. What it doesn't tolerate is wet conditions so I dig it up to store in a dry place until planting back mid September. I leave G. altaicum undisturbed in a sunny place year round. It shows its flower buds at the ground level already in autumn to be the first to flower in spring.

[gote]

This must mean that Kirremuir is not too cold for them but too wet??
I assume they could be grown in a bulb frame or similar structure that can keep them dry and cosy when dormant.
Göte

[Lesley Cox]

I might remove mine from their pots then and plant them in a dry place with herby things, origanums, thymes, satureja etc. It's certainly dry there in summer.

[Diane Clement]

This must mean that Kirremuir is not too cold for them but too wet??
I assume they could be grown in a bulb frame or similar structure that can keep them dry and cosy when dormant.   Göte   

Yes, I grow both species in an unheated alpine house, and I think they are quite cold hardy, but they do need a completely dry summer rest. 
Last year, for the first time for several years of growing it, G albertii set seed which has now germinated.

Leontice leontopetalum is from a different sort of climate and has not proved hardy here, even if kept under cover. 

[Sinchets]

Maybe the Leontice in cultivation is all L.leontopetalum ssp eversmanni. The one found here in Bulgaria is ssp leontopetalum. I can only assume this should be hardy enough, given the areas where it grows. Gymnospermium and Bongardia both set seed here, helped by a little tickling with a fine art brush 

[Diane Clement]

Maybe the Leontice in cultivation is all L.leontopetalum ssp eversmanni. The one found here in Bulgaria is ssp leontopetalum. I can only assume this should be hardy enough, given the areas where it grows. Gymnospermium and Bongardia both set seed here, helped by a little tickling with a fine art brush     

I only know Leontice and Bongardia from the Eastern Mediterranean, I didn't realise their range stretched north.  I have had little success with keeping either, and always assumed it was cold winters they didn't like.  Maybe they also like warm summers as well