Seneca Hill Perennials

Gentiana acaulis, mixed forms

A fine European gentian that forms slowly-spreading mats topped in late spring or summer with astonishing large outward-facing deep blue trumpets. We find it moderately easy to grow in raised beds of moisture-retentive clayey loam.

Gentiana asclepiadea, upright blue

A first-class gentian for the semi-shady garden, forming substantial clumps of upright to arching stems studded in late summer with trumpet-shaped flowers. Because it is decidedly phototropic, site it so that the brightest light is behind you when you view it. These plants are seedlings of an unusually upright-growing, compact plant.

Gentiana scabra var. buergeri

A big, showy, late-blooming gentian (here, October). The stems aspire to be upright, but tend to slump at the base; the upward-facing blue to blue-purple flowers emerge at both the leaf axils and the tip of the stem. We offer seedlings of plants selected for their rich coloration (purplish stems and blue-purple flowers). An easy species to please, and the late fall flowers are astonishing among the golds and browns of the autumn garden.

Gentiana scabra var. saxatilis

We thank customer Barbara Weinz for sending our original stock of this diminutive selection, perfect for shady rock gardens and small spaces under deciduous shrubs. The stems, slightly decumbent, hold their flowers determinedly upright; and those flowers are the bluest of blues, pure perfection against their own foliage, which turns gold even as the flowers bloom.

Gentiana triflora var. montana

A lovely Japanese alpine species, from parents wild-collected on Mt. Daisetu, Hokkaido. It forms clumps of short, upright stems supporting apical and subapical clusters of gorgeous blue half-closed flowers. Unlike most gentians, it has handsome and tidy foliage. Definitely one of our favorite gentians for the garden, as it is beautiful, sturdy, free-flowering and long-lived.

Gentiana triflora var. montana f. alba

We were very excited to get hold of seeds of the white-flowered form of this, one of our favorite easily-grown gentians. We find the plants to be more robust than those of the blue form we grow (see above), but they're definitely a lot shorter and more compact in growth habit than the white G. triflora we grow in the garden. WYSIWYG.

Gentianopsis crinita

The beautiful biennial US native fringed gentian grows as a ground-hugging rosette the first year, then sends up spikes of glorious, satiny blue upward-facing fringed flowers the next summer. The plants we ship are starting their second year and should be planted as early as possible, to allow them to root in well and support a good flowering spike. Because they're biennial, you'll need to save seed for sowing, or scatter it around and hope nature takes its course. Thanks to our friend Harold Peachey for both seeds and our photo of this beautiful plant.

Geranium maculatum f. albiflorum

A pretty form of our eastern native wild geranium, with good-sized white flowers rather than the typical mauvey pink. We like this in our woodland garden, where it brightens up the shade and combines beautifully with smaller spring bloomers.

Gladiolus 'Boone'

An old passalong garden plant, close to the species G. dalenii, with a color unlike anything else we grow: tones of apricot, buff and gold. It retains the dignity of a species glad, with flowers spaced out a bit along the spike - none of that funeral-flower look. Once established, it gets quite tall, and multiplies like crazy. Perfectly hardy here. Each order gets one blooming-size corm and a couple smaller ones, or eqiuvalent.

Gladiolus caucasicus

A lovely little gladiolus from the Caucasus with one-sided (secund) spikes carrying five to eight delicately frilled, fairly wide-petaled red-violet flowers. This one is a charmer. Previously-bloomed potted corms.

Gladiolus dalenii hyb., "parrot glad"

A really startling glad and an old passalong plant in the southern US, the parrot glad blooms on sturdy 5-foot spikes with screaming red yellow-throated flowers. Staking is a good idea. This one definitely makes a statement in the perennial border. Each order receives one blooming- or near-blooming-size corms and several little cormlets.

Gladiolus dalenii, wild type

The typical species, with spikes of tawny orange hooded flowers (more precisely, the base color is a soft yellow, but it is fairly uniformly stippled and striped with red, for an overall tawny orange appearance). This is a widely distributed species, found throughout the Drakensberg at up to 2500m/8125ft in grasslands and scrub, hardy here in Oswego with snow cover. Limited supply.

Gladiolus flanaganii

A spectacular short-growing, large-blooming summer-rainfall species, endemic to high-altitude basalt cliffs on the Drakensberg escarpment (at around 3000m), the Suicide Gladiolus has proven surprisingly easily to cultivate in pots, and we are hoping it will turn out to be as hardy in our garden as Gladiolus oppositiflorus subsp. salmoneus, which has bloomed and multiplied here for at least ten years. Its popular name derives from the difficulty of collecting it from its wild habitat, not from its flowers, though their color (a glowing carmine-red) might suggest otherwise. We offer previously-bloomed corms, in pots.

Gladiolus italicus coll. Turkey

We obtained this nine years ago without a name, but are now fairly sure it's G. italicus. It's a very pretty plant, blooming in early summer with slightly lax one-sided (secund) spikes of soft pink flowers, the lower segments of which have a central white streak bordered by darker lines. Collected on Bolkar Dag, Turkey, at 2000m/6700ft. Several corms per pot.

Gladiolus mortonius

An elegant summer-rainfall gladiolus, resembling G. oppositiflorus subsp. salmoneus in bloom but more closely related to G. ochroleucus. I saw this in its typical habitat of stony grassland, where it likes to grow in the shelter of larger plants and shrubs. This species is found only in a restricted area of the Eastern Cape. The flowers are pink and fairly large, with a reddish streak in the center of each lower tepal.

Gladiolus ochroleucus

A beautiful form of G. ochroleucus grown from seed received many years ago from Silverhill Seeds. These plants bloom very late: here, in pots, October-November; and have flared flowers in shades of pink. We think they may need more summer heat than we have to get them moving a bit earlier in the season. One blooming-size corm per order.

Gladiolus oppositiflorus subsp. salmoneus

This stunning high-altitude Drakensberg gladiolus has been established here for many years, and we're quite convinced it's hardy. The lightly ruffled salmon-pink flowers, much more gracefully shaped than are your typical modern hybrids, line up along the stem with military precision: one faces left, the next right, the next left, and so forth.

Gladiolus papilio

A vigorous colonizing species from the Eastern Cape, with slightly nodding creamy-yellow flowers with large purplish blotches on the lower petals. Each order receives several corms. We do want to mention that though these are grown from wild-collected seeds, a few interesting natural hybrids have shown up in our stock flats, and though we've tried to segregate them, more may emerge. If you get one and don't like it, we will more than happily replace it with double the number if you send it back to us.

Gladiolus saundersii

A showy southern and central Drakensberg species which has overwintered and bloomed in our garden for many years. Each large scarlet to coral-red flower has splashes of white speckled with red on the three lower tepals - practically glows in the dark. Once established, these produces copious quantities of tiny cormlets. Each order receives one blooming-size corm and a couple of smaller ones, or equivalent.

Glaucidium palmatum

One of the world's truly great plants, this slow-growing Japanese native displays its large silky lilac-pink flowers (7cm/3in across) above large palmate leaves. It is a relatively early bloomer, opening here when the hostas have barely begun to unfurl. A mature clump is a breathtaking sight.

Glaucidium palmatum var. leucanthum

The snowy-white-flowered version of the preceding, with all of its elegance.