| Where
the garden meets the wild
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CORYDALIS Fumariaceae (Fumitory family) / Papaveraceae (Poppy family) |
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Corydalis seisumsiana at our nursery in late March. Photo © Pat Woodward. |
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These spurred beauties thrive in sun to deep shade, depending on the species. All are delightful alone or as groundcovers. Many have a faint, sweet scent. Plant them in well aerated, fast-draining soil that contains some humus. They like a damp (but not soggy!) bed while in growth. Some of the most exquisite require a dry period that lasts from the moment the leaves start dying down until early spring, when moisture, imitating snowmelt, will trigger a new cycle of growth. Some of our Corydalis species are tuberous, others are not. For convenience, we list them all here. Our main authority is Corydalis by Magnus Lidén and Henrik Zetterlund (ISBN 0-900048-66-2). |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Corydalis
ledebouriana Kar. & Kir. Somewhat lax racemes of flowers that are
purple to violet
with a pale pink to white spur bloom in February-April
above compact mounds
of glaucous foliage. Height 5-13 cm (2-5"). Tuberous; does not
increase vegetatively. Native to Central Asia. Our plants are garden
stock, originally from Mt. Chimgan, Uzbekistan. Hardy. Award of Merit (Royal
Horticultural Society). Tuber (Fall shipping only). $17.75 |
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Photograph © Tony Goode |
Corydalis popovii Nevski
ex Popov. Above glaucous leaves rise stems of large, pale pink flowers,
up to 5 cm (2") long and tipped
with dark purple. They bloom in February with us. Unique in Corydalis, they
open from the top down. To seduce fly pollinators, they emit a sickly perfume
until consummation. Height 8-25 cm (3-10"). Tuberous; does not
increase vegetatively. Native to
the Pamir Alai of Central Asia. Our plants descend from
material collected in the Hissar Range in Tajikistan by Jánis Rukšáns
and Arnis Seisums.
"The fascinating flowers, combined with a sturdy growth, [qualify it]
for a selected spot in the alpine-house where it is trouble-free
and long-lived" ~ Lidén and Zetterlund. Supposedly Zone 8, but
flourishing with us in a Zone 6 frame that excludes heavy winter
rain. Award of Merit (Royal
Horticultural Society). Tuber (Fall shipping only). $15.50 |
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Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog
Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Corydalis schanginii (Pall.) B. Fedtsch. A very desirable tuberous plant with maroon-tipped,
long-spurred, pink
flowers up to 4 cm (1.5") long and grey-blue divided leaves. Prefers sun and a dry summer. Native to S Russia, Kazakhstan, N
Kirghizia, Xinjiang province in China, W Mongolia. Our plants descend from
material collected by Jánis Rukšáns near Frunze, Kirghizia
in 1975. Height 10-20 cm (4-8"). Blooms February-April. Scented.
Very hardy (below Zone 6). Not available this season. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Corydalis schanginii (Pall.) B. Fedtsch. subsp. ainae Rukšáns ex Lidén. A plant possibly even more desirable than the previous one. The grey-blue, dissected leaves set off a flower, again up to 4 cm (1.5") long, that is white at the tail and yellow tipped with maroon at the lips. Please note the spelling of the subspecies: the plants are named for a woman. Native to the Kara-Tau Mountains of Kazakhstan. Our plants descend from material collected there by Jánis Rukšáns in 1977. Height 10-20 cm (4-8"). Blooms February-April. Scented. Dry summer. Very hardy. Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 2000. Not available this season. |
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Photograph © Dr. Betsy Kirkpatrick
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Corydalis scouleri
Hook. Western corydalis. Almost unsung, this tall and showy
perennial deserves its own anthem. One of the most shade-tolerant plants
we know, it thrives on dim, moist slopes,
spreading by rhizomes to form colonies. Long racemes of
hot-pink florets, each 2-3 cm (1") long, bloom in May-July above
large, glaucous, divided leaves attached midway up the 100-cm (40")
stem. Native to S Vancouver Island and to Washington and
Oregon west of the Cascades. Our plants descend from seeds generously collected
in the Cascades near Ashford, Washington by Rick Lupp. Zone 6. Not available this season. |
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Photographs © Pat Woodward |
Corydalis seisumsiana Lidén.
Tuberous. Flowers that are purple-pink to white with a dark purple
blotch on the upper petal (and again on the inner petal and the lower lip) bloom in
February-April above grey-green,
cut leaves. They are sweetly scented. You can
see the full range of color variation in our picture at the top of this
page. Height 5-15 cm
(2-6"). Native to dry, rocky slopes in Armenia's
Zangezur Range. Our plants descend from material collected there under the
name C. persica by Arnis
Seisums of Selaspils Botanic Garden in Latvia. Dry summer. Hardy. Tuber (Fall shipping only). $30.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Corydalis sempervirens =
Capnoides sempervirens (L.) Borckh. Rock
harlequin. This jaunty biennial, happy in dry shade or sun, has leaves
that are much bluer than in our photograph and pink flowers tipped with
yellow. Well suited to rock gardens, it also makes an easy, captivating groundcover.
If you knew how pretty this is en masse, you would order it immediately. Self-sows
prolifically (we are honest); cut off seedheads, or if you forget, it is
easy to pull, no vicious weed. Native to temperate North
America. Our plants are from garden seed. Height
15 cm (6"). Zone 6. Pot (10 cm / 4"). $4.00 |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Corydalis solida L. (Clairv.)
'George Baker'. "The red corydalis of great fame; really
a superb plant" ~ Lidén and Zetterlund. This March-April
bloomer
descends from red solida collected in Romania, in the
Transsylvanian Alps. Probably that stock was collected between the two World Wars,
by Dr. A. Amlacher, but perhaps it was part of the 1972 collection that produced 'Prasil
Strain'. The history has yet to be proved beyond argument, as L & Z
entertainingly show in their book. They say the name of the revered
plantsman George P. Baker was not associated with the plant until 1977 and "it seems probable" that it "never passed through his
hands." No matter who selected this, it's a beauty. Our plants are
propagated vegetatively. The
colder the weather, the later and more intensely red the flowers. Tuberous.
Scented. Height 10-15 cm (4-6"). Award of
Garden Merit (Royal
Horticultural Society) 1993.
Tuber (Fall shipping only). $12.00 |
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Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog |
Corydalis solida L. (Clairv.)
Mixed Pinks and Reds. These are handsome, vigorous, scented
plants grown from nursery seed of good forms. They will bloom in March-April.
Friends who bought some asked for more when they saw the flowers. Why not
order a few yourself, let them cross and start selecting your own
cultivars?
Tuber (Fall shipping only). $7.00 |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Corydalis solida L. (Clairv.)'Prášil
Strain'. Knockout red flowers may bloom for a month ~
under glass in February-March, outdoors later. Our plants descend from
specimens found by Josef Kupeç and Milan Prášil
in the Paringului Range of central Romania in 1972. These plants are
clones, but their flowers do vary with late-winter temperatures. As with
'George Baker' and 'Zwanenburg,' the
colder the weather, the redder, and later, the flowers. Tuberous. Scented.
Multiplies rapidly. Height 10-15 cm (4-6"). Tuber (Fall shipping only). $8.00 |
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Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog |
Corydalis solida L.
(Clairv.)
'Purple Beauty'. Selected by a Dutch bulb
specialist for its dark purple flowers
and dense, compact form.
Tuber (Fall shipping only). $8.00 |
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Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog |
Corydalis solida L. (Clairv.)
'Zwanenburg'. This
is the reddest of all reds. When Josef Kupeç and Milan Prášil
collected C. solida in Romania in 1972, the best reds they found became
‘Prášil
Strain’. From those reds the late Michael Hoog selected the most
intense one and called it 'Zwanenburg.' Bloom time is March-April.
The colder the weather, the later, and redder, the flowers.
"From what we have seen this really is the reddest but,
unfortunately, it is still rare," Lidén
& Zetterlund said a decade ago. That remains true today. Choice.
Tuber (Fall shipping only). $35.00 |
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Photograph © Nick Kurzenko |
Corydalis
turtschaninovii Besser subsp. turtschaninovii
'Gorin'. This is a wow of a garden plant with dense
racemes of large, almost opalescent blue flowers.
"Outstanding," say Lidén & Zetterlund, who have two
glorious color photos of it in their book. The subspecies is native to
Manchuria and Siberia. This selection was collected on the banks
of the Gorin River, a tributary of the Amur in Siberia. It blooms in
late spring and multiplies quite fast given humus-rich soil and deciduous
shade. Height 15-20 cm (6-8"). Very hardy.
Tuber (Fall shipping only). $26.50 |
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Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog |
Corydalis
vittae Kolak. A note of simplicity in the riot of spring,
this little plant has racemes of large, long-lasting flowers that change
from greenish-white to white. The species is native to the Caucasus. Our
plants descend from material collected in Georgia near Bakuriani. Height
10-15 cm (4-6"). Very hardy.
Tuber (Fall shipping only). $16.75
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Corydalis
wendelboi Lidén. This
clone with outstanding grey-purple flowers is
new to commerce. Named for the revered botanist Per Wendelbo, it was
collected in 2003 on the Alcabel Pass in central Turkey.
Fragrant.
Tuber (Fall shipping only). $11.50 |
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| This page was updated May 12, 2008. | ||
