Kev Spence

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Do you guys grow this spp over your way its a very hardy plant and has been unfazed by our recent cold winters.
This one is over 6ft tall now and is covered in flowers Veratrum nigrum I also have V.alba as the name suggest its white and certainly should have a place in most peoples gardens though one plant is very expensive here £15 for one pot........love the pleated leaves it comes with too.

Vlad Pomajzl

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Google says: "This herb is highly toxic..." and that "The dried and powdered root is used as an insecticide and a parasiticide[172]. It is also effective against caterpillars and mammals so great caution is advised".

Kev, I like it already. Anything that deer won't touch. But could it be invasive? Probably not, considering its need for water and our summer droughts:

"Requires a deep fertile moisture retentive humus-rich soil. Succeeds in full sun if the soil does not dry out but prefers a position in semi-shade. Dislikes dry soils. Grows best in a cool woodland garden or a north facing border. Plants are hardy to about -25°c, especially if they are given a protective mulch in the winter. The flowers smell of rotten fruit and are visited by flies. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer. Plants are long-lived and can be left in the same position for years without attention".

Where can I get one?

John(Aberdeen)

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http://www.edelweissperennials.com/Large_Image.aspx?nm=463

Vlad, Edelweiss Perennials out of Oregon claims to have it, and they ship to Canada. It is expensive because of the permits and inspections. If you can't find a Canadian source and really want one, then give them a try.

Linda, Denman Isl,BC

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It looks like you don't have to leave the island for some species of it because Fraser's Thimble Farms has some. I don't know if they are as nice as Kev's nigrum, but V. formosum has dark flowers.
http://www.thimblefarms.com/perennials%20h-z.html

Vlad Pomajzl

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Thanks John and Linda for the info. I haven't been to Fraser's for a while so I will head up there on the weekend. You know what that means Linda, don't you? A carful of plants regardless of whether they have Veratrum or not, lol.

Linda, Denman Isl,BC

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I know Vlad - I think that's one of the reasons why I have avoided visiting Valley Succulents. Fraser's has some great plants and I tend to order every few years or so from them. It would be dangerous to live on the same island as that nursery.

Kev Spence

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Get yourself a good haul Vlad let us know how you get on.
These must be difficult to germinate as I have never managed a single one as yet but this year the white one and this "black" version flowered at the same time so fingers crossed.

Ian in Sequim

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We have at least two native Veratrums, V. californicum and V. viride. I think I tried to grow V. viride once but somehow it died - I got the impression it didn't like being in a pot for very long. They are certainly among our most spectacular native plants and are actually quite common in some of the alpine areas of our mountains, especially (but not always) in marshy areas. Here's a post about them on one of the blogs I follow: http://prairiebreak.blogspot.com/2012/0 ... names.html

Glen in Surrey

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As Ian mentioned, V. viride is common in the subalpines, and forms pretty spectacular displays there. I was just up in the Manning Park meadows and was loving the veratrum display which is in full tilt right now...along with the arnica, lupines, larkspurs, beargrass, it goes on and on...A great time to visit the mountains!

The pleated leaves of veratrum are as attractive as any flowers to my eye...

Glen in Surrey

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For those that haven't ventured into our PNW subalpines in summer, thought I'd share a pic or two of the meadows in Manning Park, taken about a week ago. The native veratrum here is V. viride, makes some pretty thick colonies on moister slopes...



Other common flowers here are a topic for some other forum but include the very common, but beautiful blue lupins, along with arnica, aster, and pasqueflower...latter being at the seedhead stage which I mistakenly labeled beargrass earlier...sorry Linda and all...



Vlad mentions difficulty growing veratrum in the garden...reproducing this habitat is probably tough unless we move even higher in elevation (I'm at 325 ft, Vlad quite a bit higher if I recall) The meadows pictured are something like 1900-2000 meters elevation...