Plant of the Month November 2023
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Now is the time to think about seed orders. With an early start, many biennials and perennials will flower in their first year.
Foxgloves are one of my favourites. As a child, I loved putting the large pink bells of Digitalis purpurea on my fingers. (“Fingerhut” - Lady’s Glove in Germany). We saw plants in the wild on visits to the south and west of Stratford-on-Avon near where I grew up. (Shakespeare does not mention foxgloves, indicating he really wrote the plays as other possible authors would have seen many in their neighbourhoods.)
I have observed D. purpurea growing in the wild and naturalized in North America, New Zealand, etc. I found D. lanata growing in Greece and surprisingly naturalized in our small local ravine system here in Toronto. D. grandiflora was growing at woodland edges on lower slopes of the French Alps. D. thapsi is Spanish. We saw patches growing in stoney ground in full sun.
The genera, Digitalis and Penstemon, are now in the Plantaginaceae, no longer in the large family of Scrophulariaceae. Linnaeus reputedly dumped several groups in this family as their differences were minor!
The medical use of digitalis was popularized by a Birmingham, UK, doctor, William Withering, whose book, 'An Account of the Foxglove', was first published in 1785. He treated patients with foxglove leaves for dropsy, but noticed their effect on the heart. He ended with saying that foxgloves might produce a valuable heart drug in the future. Digoxin, extracted from Digitalis lanata was very important but is now mostly synthetic.
Synonym: Digitalis 'Café Crème’, a name used for marketing.
Common Name: Woolly foxglove or Grecian foxglove.
Life Cycle: Herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial.
Digitalis lanata.
Bloom Time: June - July, with more flowers into August if the spent stem is removed above any leaves.
Height: Flowering stem 60 - 75 cm.
Leaves: Low evergreen rosette for the first year with numerous, mid-green, stalkless leaves. These are lanceolate, up to 15 cm long, 2-3 cm wide with 3-4 parallel veins. The leaves are supposedly hairy at the base and undersides. My plants do not show this. 
Digitalis lanata - winter leaves.
Flower Colour & Size: Many 2.5 cm long, tubular to bell-shaped flowers are densely packed on a leafy, wooly (lanata) stalk. The sepals and the outside of the corolla are hairy. The tubes are white, with honey-brown reticulate netted veins on the inside. The lower central lobe forms a white tongue, sticking out about 1 cm. 4 stamens are clustered above this at the tube entrance.
Digitalis lanata - inflorescence.
Digitalis lanata - close up of flower.
Fruit: 2-chambered, pointed, conical capsule about 1 cm long, with numerous seeds.
Digitalis lanata - capsules with seeds.
Range: Native to Eastern Europe to Turkey. Naturalized in other parts of the world. Invasive in some parts of the US.
Habitat: Grasslands and woodland edges.
CULTIVATION:
Light: Half shade to full sun.
Soil: Most soils - prefers neutral to acid with plenty of organic material.
Water: Average. Withstands drought when well established.
USDA Hardiness: Zones 4-9.
Companion planting: Woodland edge plants. N.B. may hybridize with other Digitalis.
Propagation: Will self-seed. Starting indoors, sow @ 20°C in light. Seed will germinate within 3 months. Basal offshoots can be removed and rooted.
Problems: All parts toxic. Crown and root rot can occur if the plant is waterlogged.
References:
https://onrockgarden.com/index.php/germination-guide
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Digitalis_lanata
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/grecian-foxglove
William Withering, An Account of the Foxglove, 1785.
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt (Toronto Master Gardener)
Plant of the Month October 2023
GENERAL INFORMATION: I like all the shapes and bright colours of the multitude of Tulip flowers. However, many of these gorgeous cultivars are short lived in my garden. They are perhaps at their best massed in formal beds or in large groups in a spring bed.
I discovered species tulips and their cultivars. These are shorter and live much longer. One of my clumps must be 30 years old but only slowly increasing in a somewhat difficult area. Others self seed and appear in different places.
Synonym: Tulipa batalini ‘Bright Gem’, Tulipa ‘Bright Gem’
Common Name: Species Tulip. Botanical Tulip.
Cultivars: Tulipa linifolia (Batalinii Group) 'Honky Tonk’, 'Red Hunter' (red), ‘Bronze Charm’, ’Apricot Jewel', 'Yellow Jewel’.
Life Cycle: Perennial bulb.
Height: 10-25cm, spreading to 10 cm.
Bloom Time: Mid May.
Flower Size & Colour: Buds 6 cm long, opening to a 6-pointed star. Soft yellow tepals have apricot centre - more colour in strong light.
Tulipa linifolia ‘Bright Gem’ - flowers and leaves.
Leaves: Long, grey-green narrow foliage with undulating margins, 20 cm tall.
Range: Native to Uzbekistan.
Habitat: Screes and rocky meadows in mountains.
CULTIVATION:
Plant: Bulbs in groups (10-20 bulbs) in fall up to first light frost, 20 cm deep, 10 cm apart.
Light: Full sun to light shade.
Soil: Most fertile, well drained soils.
Water: Moderate, dry in summer.
USDA Hardiness: Zones 3-8. Needs winter cold.
Companion planting: Dwarf evergreens, small bulbs, other rock garden plants.
Tulipa linifolia ‘Bright Gem’ with companion plants.
Propagation: From Seed - Expose to fluctuating outdoor winter temperatures including freezing for 3 months. Gradually increase light and temperature in the spring. Grow seedlings at cool temperatures – best achieved by sowing in open ground. Also by division - dig bulbs after leaves die back. Separate and replant, or store in a cool dry place and plant in October.
Problems: Few - rodent and slug damage. Toxic to cats and dogs.
References:
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder
https://www.gardenia.net/plant/tulipa-batalinii-bright-gem-botanical-tulip
https://onrockgarden.com/index.php/germination-guide
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt (Toronto Master Gardener)
Plant of the Month September 2023
GENERAL INFORMATION: I visited the Zagros Mountains and surrounding areas in Iran in 2010. Up till then, I had not grown many Muscari, just M. latifolium and M. comosum. We found many Muscari species and the closely related Bellevalia in screes and meadows. These genera have been frequently reclassified. They are now in the Asparagaceae, not Liliaceae.
Bellevalia longipes
Bellevalia longistyla
Bellevalia has previously been described as Hyacinthus or Muscari. Web sites show mixed names and sometimes inaccurate information.
Bellevalia differs from Muscari as the florets are constricted at the mouth in Muscari, open in Bellevalia.
Bellevalia paradoxa (2), Muscari sp. right, showing differences in flower structure.
Synonym: Muscari paradoxum, Bellevalia pynantha and many more.
Common Name: Giant Grape Hyacinth.
Range: Native to NE Turkey, NW Iran and Armenia. There are about 50 species from Europe to the Middle East, many of botanical interest only.
Habitat: Meadows, usually damp, around 2000 m.
Dry - Bellevalia paradoxa in Zagros Mts. In water with Fritillaria reuteri. 
Cultivars: Listed as Bellevalia pycnantha ‘Green Pearl’, with flowers matching the foliage. Bellevalia pycnantha alba is a white form.
Life Cycle: Perennial bulbs, which are round to ovoid, 1.5–2 cm long and 1–3 cm wide. Dormant in summer.
Height: 20-30cm high, 10-20cm spread.
Bloom Time: Late April to late May, in Toronto, with flowers lasting about 3 weeks.
Flower Colour & Size: A leafless stem, up to 30 cm high, with 50-100 dark purple-blue bell-shaped florets packed on a dense raceme which is initially 2-3 cm long. The florets are about 0.5-0.6 cm long and 0.2-0.3 cm wide, sometimes with white margins. Possibly forms from Turkey differ.
Bellevalia paradoxa - Iranian form.
Bellevalia paradoxa in garden, showing inflorescence and leaves.
Leaves: 5-7, sword shaped green leaves, narrowed at the base, with pointed tips, to 20 cm long.
Fruit: Stem elongates after flowering, separating 3-chambered capsules. Black seeds.
CULTIVATION:
Plant: bulbs in early fall, in groups, 5-10cm deep.
Light: Sun to part shade.
Soil: Most soils, well drained, neutral to slightly acid.
Water: Average moisture (will survive brief floods), dry when dormant.
USDA Hardiness: Zones 4-10.
Pests and Diseases: usually trouble free.
Companion planting: With rock garden plants, in mixed bulb border, naturalized in lawns. Use with white or yellow plants to show up the dark colour.
Bellevalia paradoxa in mixed border.
Propagation: Dig and divide clumps in late summer. Sow seeds @ 4°C for 3 weeks, then place at 20°C.
References:
https://onrockgarden.com/index.php/germination-guide
https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Bellevalia
https://gardenchronicle.com/how-to-grow-bellevalia
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt (Toronto Master Gardener)
Plant of the Month August 2023
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, is a useful summer shrub for our gardens. It can grow large, however it is easily pruned to size. It withstands summer heat and humidity and is suited to urban conditions. The cultivars have a long period of bloom with flower colours ranging from pure white through pinks to blues. Most have a dark eye. Some cultivars havre double flowers, others variegated leaves.
Unfortunately, most cultivars produce large quantities of viable seeds, producing dozens of seedlings each spring.
Hibiscus syriacus ‘Diana’ is triploid and produces few seedlings. A chance seedling from my shrub has slightly smaller white flowers.
Common Name: Diana, Rose of Sharon.
Life Cycle: Vigorous, perennial deciduous shrub.
Hibiscus syriacus - Shrub.
Height: Vase-shaped, with several branches. 1.25-4m high, 1-3m wide.
Bloom Time: July till frost.
Hibiscus syriacus - Flowers.
Flower Colour & Size: Five-petalled large pure white flowers form a bowl shape, up to 12 cm across. These remain open in the evening. The stamens are joined in a central column about 7.5 cm long. This cultivar is without a contrasting eye.
Leaves: Medium green, thick, three-lobed, about 10 cm long, with palmate veins and coarse teeth on the margins. No attractive fall colour.
Hibiscus syriacus - Leaves and inflorescence.
Range: Native to east Asia from India to China, “syriacus” reflects its original collection from a garden in Syria!
Native Habitat: Mountain slopes.
Uses: Hibiscus syriacus - as a specimen, espalier or a hedge.
CULTIVATION:
Light: Full sun (best) to part shade.
Soil: Most soils, preferring those that are organically rich, alkaline to neutral. Tolerates poor soils.
Water: Well drained. Will survive some drought.
USDA Hardiness: Zones 5-8.
Pruning: Prune to shape in the spring. For larger flowers, cut back to 3 or 4 buds in the late winter.
Propagation: Stem cuttings, or seed. This triploid plant produces few viable seeds which may have variable seedlings. Sow @ 20°C. Seed germinates within 3 months.
Pests and Diseases: Leaf spots, blights, rusts and canker can occur. Cut out infected leaves and branches. Watch out for, and remove Japanese beetles. Avoided by deer and can grow near Black Walnut.
References:
https://onrockgarden.com/index.php/germination-guide
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt (Toronto Master Gardener)
Plant of the Month July 2023
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Daphne domini has been growing in my scree bed for over 20 years. This small shrub came from Harvey Wrightman of Wrightman Alpines, as Daphne kosaninii. His source was Josef Halda. Soon after, Halda described Daphne domini, which differs from D. kosaninii with fully opening flowers. It also grows in the Pirin Mountains but at a higher altitude. All plants grown in our gardens are probably D. domini, not D. kosanini. Even the experts were confused!
Life Cycle: Evergreen sub-shrub. Stems have reddish brown bark.
Daphne domini in winter.
Height: About 20 cm high, 25 cm wide.
Bloom Time: Late May in Toronto.
Leaves: Alternate, lanceolate, glaucous green above, paler below. 15x4mm.
Daphne domini flower buds.
Flower Colour & Size: Pink, 6-8 x 2mm, in terminal clusters. Flowers do not open and are self fertile (cleistogamous).
Daphne domini - leaves and cleistogamous flowers.
Fruit: Attractive orange berries to 8 mm long. Self seeds.
Daphne domini - berries in June. Berries close up.
Range: Native to Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria.
Habitat: Dry calcareous mountain slopes from 1800-2300m.
CULTIVATION:
Light: Part shade to full sun.
Soil: Well drained, slightly alkaline.
Water: Moderate.
USDA Hardiness: to at least Zone 5.
Companion planting: Other rock garden plants.
Propagation: From seed - fresh is best. Requires scarification. Nick or rub between sheets of sandpaper. Pulpy coat inhibits germination. Remove by soaking and rinsing in clean water for approximately 7 days. Discard water. Sow at 4°C for 3 months, then place @ 20°C for 3 months.
References:
The Genus Daphne, Halda, Josef J. Sen Dobré 2001, ISBN 80-86483-00-2.
Daphnes: A Practical Guide for Gardeners, White, Robin. Timber Press 2006,
ISBN -752-8.978-0-88192
https://onrockgarden.com/index.php/germination-guide
Text and images supplied by Anna Leggatt (Toronto Master Gardener)
