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One More For Early Spring
In addition to the elegant flowers, the leaves are most attractive; a smooth, wax-like texture in green, mottled and marbled in chocolate brown. 'Pagoda' is a hybrid of Erythronium tuolumnense. I've had a few of them for years and years in my USDA zone 7 garden. They haven't increased, but they're still with me, nodding their cheery yellow flowers at me each spring. They're in a pretty densely planted bed, which may have something to do with their reluctance to spread. I got a number of seed to germinate last year and there still seem to be living roots in the pan, so I'm hoping for spring growth so that I can increase my colony, although I know it will take several years for them to flower. You can also dig them up after the leaves die down and separate the offsets to increase your stock. Erythronium are all plants for the woodland edge -- in my area anyway -- part of the ephemeral spring display that makes an early show and quietly disappears as the leaves come out on the trees. You don't want to put them in a place that gets bone dry in summer, and they do better where not exposed to harsh winds. Do try some, if you haven't already.
Moving on -- Mid Spring Bloomers Fritillaria Of the nearly one hundred species of these spring-flowering members of Liliaceae, I grow two that are well suited to partial shade.
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