Hepatica Species, Sharp-Lobed Hepatica

2010
I love this plant in my garden. It seems to do extremely well in our slightly acidic soil. The plant flowers very early in th...Read Moree spring, when most other perennials are still asleep, and then sends out new foliage. Upon finding a couple babies near mine, I tried sowing the seed myself by simply picking some drooping seed heads and scattering the seeds beneath a pine tree.

June 9, 2011
This spring, I found several new seedlings beneath the pine tree. I left them to grow on their own.

May 24, 2013
This year one of those seeded babies flowered. Each of the young plants is only a grouping of 3-4 leaves, but they now have nearly adult sized leaves and stems. I have other two year old babies that are shorter and did not flower this spring.

This sweetie was growing wild on a trailhead in Sedona, Arizona. The stems are a bit woolier than those of the cultivars.

Since this plant has some special requirements for germination, I hope the following will be helpful -

1) Tom Cothier - "...Read MoreSow immediately outdoors. Short viability seed will germinate in the spring."

2) Ontario Rock Garden Society

a) Fresh seed is best - sow immediately. "Dry storage is fatal, [although] stored seed can be coaxed into germination with temperature cycling and patience."

b) "Expose to fluctuating outdoor winter temperatures including freezing for 3 months (best accomplished by sowing in open ground). Gradually increase light and temperature in spring."

3) from 2nd edition of Norman C. Deno's book, Seed Germination Theory and Practice -

"...[wash the seed] with dilute Clorox (dilute acqueous NAOCl)...[and sow at 70*F and 40*F for 3 months each, using the Deno baggy method which can be found in my comment to Haberlea rhodopensis. Deno got 88% germination in the 4th and 6th weeks with this method]" He also wrote, "Curiously, those sown outdoors or at 40*F all rotted."

At this point at the end of January, with un-fresh seed, I will sow this seed indoors at 70*F per Deno, using his baggy method, but at the beginning of March, will move the pot outside for those fluctuating temps, taking care to ventilate the baggy, shade in afternoon by placing it on our northwest-facing porch, and spritz with water to keep seeds from drying out. I might try to purchase a plant in spring for a source of fresh seed, while leaving the seeds alone in their pot for a few more months.

Deno's foregoing germination method is for H. acutiloba, which is similar to his method for H. nobilis.

With regard to "ventilating the baggy" as mentioned above in Deno's method, the Wintersowing Forum on DG can be very helpful.

Sharp-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) grows wild in my woods. It seems to like the south side of a gently sloping ravine. It is a p...Read Moreerennial native in Ohio, and is nearly identical to Round-lobed Hepatica.

The stems of pollinated flowers lengthen and droop towards the ground where ants collect and disperse the seeds.

Bloom color can be pinkish, lavernder-blue or white.
The plant retains its leaves all winter, but previous year's leaves are dark purple to brown and new growth is a light green.