Most of the daffodils bar the very late varieties (more of that another time) have gone over but my craving for some sunshine yellow in the borders finds fulfilment in the form of Erythronium 'Pagoda'.
The common name for it is dog's-tooth violet and I presume this comes from the shape of the bulb which uncannily looks like a canine tooth.
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| Close up and cross section of a bulb (photo credit: SRGC) |
Best planted individually about a foot or so apart and rather deep (10cm), they will send up attractive glossy wide leaved foliage in spring, followed by these dainty violet-like flowers on very slender stems. They may look delicate but are anything but; I find them as tough as old boots. They associate particularly well with pale yellow tulips, blue anemones and bluebells and the clumps will gradually increase to a diameter of about a foot. They are not invasive, don't self seed and as long as you protect them from slugs when the foliage first appears they should give you pleasure for years.
They are a woodland plant and are happiest in dappled shade and originally mine were planted under a tree to give a wonderful spring display in the company of the above mentioned spring flowers. The tree has long gone, damaged by a freak storm but the erythroniums are still here. The growing conditions have changed of course, no more dappled shade from the emerging tree foliage but baking sun in the summer.
Still, they do well and once the foliage has gone yellow and dried up, I clear the plot and put a selection of dahlias in. As they are quite shallow rooted (started off in pots), they sit happily on top of the dormant erythronium bulbs. Any bulbs that I dig up by accident, just get buried again.
Just beautiful , those delicate yellow oriental looking flowers . I love plants that have down-turned flowers , so that one has to stoop down and turn up the face the better to see.
ReplyDeleteI think we may have seen these at Kew, but three or four weeks ago . DH and I are visiting twice a week at the moment, there's so much to see including a stunning exhibition of garden photography .
Ah, Estrella, can't beat Kew Gardens and wish it was a bit closer as visiting it means a long day out. Jealous that you and DH get to go so often, enjoy every minute.
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