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By Corinne Hannah
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Calgary Horticultural Society
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All of us want a bit drama in our gardens, and for daring, glamorous foliage, one could be hard-pressed to beat the genus Ligularia. Together with roughly 150 species, this genus involves us largely from Asia (certainly, over half are endemic to China), with some species hailing from Europe.
Widespread names for this plant are a bit confounding, I have to confess. The moderately coarse-sounding “ragwort” harkens again to a time when Ligularia was included within the genus Senecio. Some species have noticed leaves, giving rise to the moniker’ leopard plant’. Lately I discover most gardeners use the botanical identify colloquially to determine this important member of their plant palette.
Ligularia are structured with a big basal rosette of leaves that change from broad and leathery to extremely incised. The foliage is accented with floral displays following certainly one of three primary developments: tall slim spikes, broader cone-shaped spikes or flat-topped clusters (free corymbs). All of them have daisy-shaped flowers in shades of yellow, differing merely in association and scale. The botanical identify Ligularia comes from the Latin phrase Ligula that means little tongue, referencing the form of the ray petals of the blooms.
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Within the Dorothy Harvie Gardens, there are over 15 completely different species and cultivars of Ligularia. Of the darker-leaved L. dentata cultivars, Othello and Britt Marie Crawford are amongst my favourites. Othello has broad, cordate-based leaves with dentate margins that emerge deep inexperienced with red-purple margins, veins, and undersides. In the event you probability to see the morning solar filtering by the tissues of the leaves (crouch down and search for), there’s a marvellous stained glass facet to this view. I do know some gardeners who eschew the flowers, eradicating the floral stems at first sight, preferring moderately to benefit from the foliage. Nonetheless, to my eye, the emphatic orange-yellow blooms do add a bit sparkle to a darkish nook.
Britt Marie Crawford has lustrous deep purple leaves that evolve to deep inexperienced as they age. Britt Marie Crawford spied this inky specimen amongst her L. dentata seedlings in her small nursery on an property in Scotland. Sadly, Mrs. Crawford died shortly after making this discovery. To honour her reminiscence, her loving husband, Captain James Crawford, took the mandatory steps to introduce this choice into commerce. What a stunning legacy!
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The Rocket sequence brings quite a bit to the desk. The Rocket is a statuesque basic, reaching 1.5 metres in peak, with closely serrated inexperienced leaves and tall, swish spires of yellow florets. Little Rocket is a smaller model topping out at a few metre. Bottle Rocket, a sport of Little Rocket, matches its dimension however is extra sturdy in look.
Serge Fafard of Les Jardins Osiris in Quebec began breeding Ligularia in 1995. He has since launched a number of enticing compact choices for the smaller backyard. The serrated heart-shaped leaves of Osiris Fantaisie emerge purple within the spring, and the higher surfaces evolve to darkish inexperienced over the season. The hue evolution of Osiris Cafe Noir is barely completely different, beginning black-purple, growing old to bronze and eventually, olive inexperienced. I’ve but to get my arms on the variegated alternatives like Osiris Pure Fantaisie, Osiris Chameleon, or Osiris Pistache, however they’re on my want checklist.
Gregynog Gold is a tall, sturdy hybrid of L. dentata x L. veitchiana, with massive heart-shaped inexperienced leaves and broad pyramidal spikes of golden yellow blooms. For the compact model, look no additional than Little Lantern, a lucky mutation of Gregynog Gold.
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All Ligularia require fertile, evenly moist soil and part-sun publicity. All will flag on the hottest a part of the day (The Rocket being the worst offender). Nonetheless, positioning your crops with morning moderately than afternoon solar will cut back this impact. Mulching the bottom of the crops will assist maintain moisture ranges optimum, mitigating flagging. Lop off spent blooms; they don’t age gracefully, and power shops are higher put to make use of sustaining wholesome foliage for the rest of the season.
The largest challenges will be slugs and hail. For the previous, hand-picking and baiting work fairly effectively. For the latter, effectively, there’s at all times subsequent 12 months.
Regardless of a bit every day sulk, Ligularia remains to be well worth the funding. In spite of everything, one can not aspire to drama with out encountering a number of drama queens.
To study extra about gardening within the Calgary space, go to the Society’s web site, calhort.org
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