Corydalis

Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'

Some sources say this is a hybrid but Dan Heims, of Terra Nova Nurseries in Tigard, Oregon, who has this in tissue culture, was quoted on one of the garden email lists as saying that he does not consider this a hybrid and that he'd sent photographs to Henrik Zetterlund, author of the book Corydalis who had no guess as to the species. He also noted that his breeder reported that the pollen under the microscope is very similar to C. flexuosa. It appears that the plant originated in Szechuan, China. Hardiness ratings vary from USDA zone 5 or 6 to 8a.

Dan Heims further said that 'Blackberry Wine' is definitely perennial and most closely resembles C. smithiana; that it does not go summer dormant like C. flexuosa but resents high heat, full sun, and moist conditions in combination; that drainage is important but not critical as with the flexuosa types. He also observed that it seems to prefer morning sun and slightly moist, humus-rich soil. On the other hand, Tony Avent's Plant Delights catalog description states that it has performed amazingly well in their trials in their full sun rock scree, flowering from mid April into early summer. Don't you just love it when the experts disagree?

In my garden, the plant starts out strong as a nice clump in spring, sprawling gracelessly and going semi-dormant in mid summer, throwing up some new foliage to mark its location. This is its third year in the garden. I've been so happy to have it even survive that I have not tried cutting it back hard after bloom; just a few nips here and there to remove the most raggedy stems. It is in the woodland garden in a good deal of shade - perhaps too much - and while the soil is well amended and drains well, it's not the loose rotted woodchip soil in which C. ochroleuca is reveling. I think that I shall move this next spring to join C. ochroleuca and see if more light and different soil make any difference in behavior.