Viola beckwithii

[ronm]

I have been offered a decent amount of fresh Viola beckwithii seed next year. I am very keen to say 'yes please' to this kind offer, but have read that it is a very difficult species to germinate. If I don't feel confident of some success then I'll have to pass on the offer. Anyone have any comments / tips regarding this species please?

[David Nicholson]

Some information and possible contacts here Ron:-

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=2896.0

[Maggi Young]

  and from this page :
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=6925.msg192632#msg192632 
 on Seed Vernalisation.....

Professor Deno's books on seed germination are now available online. See:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5209.0

 

[Lesley Cox]

I was sent a few seeds of V. beckwithii and V. pedata (the true one) a few years ago and found they both took ages to germinate. V. pedata did eventually grow to be small plants and stayed for some years but only had a very few flowers. V. beckwithii stayed as cotyledons for a full season, died down and never showed again.

Having said that, if you are offered the seed, go for it. You could share it with good UK or European growers who would more likely succeed with raising the plants than I did.

[maggiepie]

Ron, several years ago I bought some V. beckwithii seed from Alplains.
I put them in baggies with damp vermiculite and put them in the meat drawer in the fridge.
They germinated in 3-4 months, unfortunately I lost most of them after a few months and the few I planted out came back one year ( without flowering) and then disappeared.

You must accept the seeds, am sure you will be a much better at looking after them than I was.

[Rick R.]

A little more insight can be found here:

https://www.nargs.org/forum/viola-beckwithii

Edited to fix the url

[Maggi Young]

Thanks for the link, Rick! 

[ronm]

Thanks for the link, Rick! 

Indeed.  Thank you to you all for the links and the information shared. As the seed will be fresh I think I may stand a chance. I'm sure I can grow it, its just the germination issue that was concerning me.
Armed with the information provided, I'll be giving this fascinating Viola a go, 

[Lesley Cox]

We shall await your results Ron, with baited breath, as the cat said to the mouse.

[ronm]

To quote the great man ( Sir A.C.Doyle ) -

"when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" 

Keep an eye on the Forum, I'll report back, .... in three to four years maybe 

[Tim Ingram]

Ron - many years ago I had seed of rosulate violas from David and Anke Wraight. It had been freshly collected and stored, I think as Helen describes, in damp medium in a fridge. They germinated really well when I sowed them, so I would stratify them like this and keep a close eye on them to see if they start to germinate at 4°C (I have found this happening with a number of plants such as umbellifers and eriogonums). From what Lesley says they sound like other drought adapted species (eg: Helleborus vesicarius), which just produce cotyledons the first year and develop really slowly. Would be a stunning plant to grow!

[Gerdk]

Hoping this remarks are not too late  - but maybe I can add a little bit of my experience about cultivation.

Can't tell nothing about germination because I received only a few collected plants a long time ago.
But this ones survived until today. I once got the information that all members of the Chrysanthae - group - Vv. beckwithii, chrysantha, hallii, sheltonii, and trinervata  because of their adaption to arid habitats are cultivated best in the way which is used for bulbs with a pronounced summer rest.
So I did - which means a little water in autumn, winter and spring and less after flowering and only a little bit of moisture in the plunge material in summer.
All plants are pot grown and kept inside in winter in my USDA-zone 7 b. Keeping the plants outside failed, but maybe with some protection against rain in winter it might not be impossible.
Hope this will help at least a little bit.

Gerd

[ronm]

Thanks Tim and Gerd for sharing this information, very helpful indeed.
Certainly not too late Gerd as I won't be getting the seed until next year. As they grow along with, and on a similar cycle to, some of the USA Fritillaria I grow ( indeed it would seem that V.beckwithii acts very much like a bulb ! ) I am reasonably confident in growing them on. Initial germination was my main worry, but I'm hoping I've got that figured out now. Its interesting in the thread on NARGS Forum from 'Weiser' ( superb pictures and information there  )that germination on seed he scattered around was also poor, and this in the area they grow!
What month do you see the first signs of growth Gerd?

[Maggi Young]

"Weiser" on NARGS is "seirrarainshadow" in the SRGC  forum, Ron, so I hope he would be happy to respond if you had any questions for him. 

[ronm]

Thanks Maggi.