Friday, May 10, 1991 - North Shore News - 19

On becoming a gentian enthusiast

I AM fascinated by the choice of words used by interior
decorators to describe the colors of their profession. What
variety of the subject plant are they thinking of when they

refer to fuchsia, lilac,

heliotrope?

I have often seen white
fuchsias, pink lilacs, blue roses,
red primroses and what the
dickens is heliotrope? In fact,
most of the namesakes they speak
of come to us in a much wider
assortment of colors than they
would have us believe.

Take “Gentian Blue’’ as an ex-
ample. In addition to the vivid
biues prized by the professionals,
I have seen gentians in shades of
white, pink, purpie as well as
yellow and green.

If you have ever seen a gentian,
you will know what I mean. I
know of no one who has seen a
gentian who hasn’t immediately
wanted to grow them. Here are a
few of the reasons why.

There are over 400 species in an
evergrowing list of hybrids of
gentians classified to date, and
they can be found in almost every
corner of the planet. It therefore
becomes difficult to understand
why we don’t see more of them in
the garden.

The commonly grown garden
gentians can be classified into two
groups: spring-flowering and
summer/fall-flowering. The spring
gentians are generally more
challenging and come to us from
the alpine regions of Europe.
Those of the fall are usually of

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OVER THE GARDEN GATE

Asian origin and can be easier to
grow.

Gentiana acaulis is a native of
the European Alps and as such, is
perhaps one of the few plants tru-
ly deserving of the name alpine. It
forms a spreading mound, three
to four inches in height, 12 to 18
inches in width and well foliated
with sharply pointed, glossy,
mid-green leaves,

They are relatively easy plants

‘to grow but unpredictable to bring

into flower. The one to two-inch

mam

trumpet-shaped flowers are bright
blue with speckled, lighter throats.
They generally arrive in May and
can last well into June.

It is odd that one of the mast
difficult plants to bring into
flower is also one of the most
readily available. There is no sure
fire method of attaining success.
The best advice seems to suggest
that they be planted in sunny,
well-ventilated locations in soils
that are well-drained, yet moist.

While the fall flowering g.
sina-ornata is much easier to bring
into flower, some ‘‘cultivated’’
gardeners hold this against them.
“If it is easy, it just isn’t worth
growing,’’ they say. I have never
held good performance against
garden treasures such as these.

This Asiatic species grows in
low, grass-like mats and can
spread to a substantial size. The
trumpet-shaped flowers are a
bright, sky blue at their mouths
and fade to almost white in their
throats. They also sport vivid
green stripes around the outsides.

The flowers can appear from
late August to late October, with
some hybrids extending this into
November. Although the flowers
arrive faithfully, proper care can

44 There are over 400 species in
an evergrowing list of hybrids of
gentians classified to date, and
they can be found in almost every
corner of the planet. 95

still produce the best results. This
plant likes sun and foamy soils
and hates poorly drained sites in
the winter as well as those which
bake in the summer months.

One of the most overiooked and
yet easiest varieties to grow would
be g. septemfida. If this plant
were anything but a gentian, it
would have achieved wider popu-
larity, but because it’s associated
with its flashier cousins, it suffers
more neglect than it deserves.

True, its darker, deep blue
flowers do not rival those of g.
acaulis or g. sino-ornata mention-
ed above, but they are not without
merit. How many other rockery

plants do we have that will put on,

an equivalent show in the months

of July and August? It will reward
the sunny, well-drained location
with years of reliable color.

Although these gentians are not
considered to be overly
temperamental with regard to the
pH factor of the soil, they will
rebel in strongly acid or chalky
locations. For the coastal gardens
of the Pacific Northwest, I would
suggest bi-annual applications of
bonemeal, spring and fall.

If you become a true gentian
enthusiast, look into varieties such
as g. asclepiadea, g. farreri, g.
verna and others. You might have
difficulty in tracking them down
but once you have you will not
regret the effort. Try contacting
the B.C. Alpine Society for help.

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