I can get wind my crony now . ‘ It ’s Super Bowl Sunday and where is Matt ? He ’s at a crazy Podophyllum lecture exhaust cookies and sipping tea ” . Actually , I was . Our local North American Rock Garden Society has a quiet little sub - group called the Hardy Plant Group which encounter monthly in the wintertime at various locations where member show and partake either plants , or part images . Each meeting has a theme , and everyone who attends is encouraged to share and take part . Yes , tis a bit geeky , but then again , that ’s really what this is all about . And although not for everyone , the theme are often take exception and always very interesting . In the preceding themes have been Cruciferae , or early spring bulbs , or even our favorite winter blooming shrub . Today , the national was Podophyllum , along with a discussion on other plant within the Family Berberidaceae .
I can admit here that I do indeed have an compulsion with Podophyllum . Today ’s talk was take by retentive - metre Friend Darrell Probst , who share with us his many images of his own seed ingathering , crosses and fresh coinage which he collected on hostile expedition to China along with Daniel Hinkley way back in the 1990 ’s . We are very fortunate here in the Boston suburbs , as our phallus are passionate and even included some well known names in the plant world . Members today let in Ellen Hornig – preceding owner of the now closed in Seneca Hill nursery , of course , Darrell Probst , mention epimedium and now coreopsis breeder . Our interview also included Roy Herald and Helen Herold ( Roy , Hosta stock breeder and dynamic member of the Pacific Bulb Society , NARGS and the Cactus and Succulent Society , and his married woman Helen , past president of the N.E. NARGS chapter ) . Oh yes , and the Onion Man himself – Mark McDonough I really ca n’t believe of a nice mathematical group of friends .
just affair of all ? The talk today was not arrest at a library or in a conference elbow room – today , it was held in a house – the snug base of another well known plant duet – Jan Sacks and Marty Schafer , possessor ofJoe Pye Weed garden , the well have intercourse iris breeders and nursery . We just give up our snowy boot off on their cold , glaze in porch which house an awful collection of sassanqua camellias , citrus and pelargoniums , and grabbed a steaming loving cup of chocolate from the range , a comfortable electric chair in their life room and ascertain the power degree display as the snow diminish in immense , fluffy flakes . It was perfectly set , and perfectly puke . Interesting friends , great talk and fascinating inspiration . It remind me of when I was a small fry , and would go to a friends house to recreate while their parent perhaps catch a football secret plan .
I go out with a Modern , and even more enhanced noesis about the genus Podophyllum , and … a little sad ( if not crazy ) since many of the cracking selections and ringer that have appeared in the market over the past couple of years , are now gone , with little Bob Hope of new ones coming in since the genus is notoriously challenging to micropropagate and part is slow . In the natural state , population are being depleted in China as Formosan nurseries are spoil the woodlands , divest out every clon they can find , and now that aesculapian researcher are look at the genus as a possible malignant neoplastic disease intervention , newfangled plants being imported is even less likely .
And now , off on my commission to find out more about this genus . I have a few plants already , perhaps one of each mintage available in most catalog in the past tense , but now that I know that there are different population , and different secections as well as crosses between Chinese species and American mintage , as well as this deficit of some very alternative plants such asPodophyllum delavyi‘Spotty Dotty ’ which Terra Nova inaugurate last class , but which is impossible to find today , as well as some fine Heronswood selections from the past ( Damn – if only I had money then ! ) . Some other selections such as P. ‘ Kaleidoscope ’ are evenly scarce today in the trade . So , I am on a mission to recover and collect them all . ( Oh , jeesh – another plant to collect more of ) , and who have it off – if I do n’t heat my greenhouse next year , maybe I will dump my Clivia collection and start up breeding Podophyllum . Or better yet , take a trip to western China .
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