Even by tissue culture, propagation is a slow process; hence the higher prices. BUT you should be able to pick up gallons anywhere from $12-$20 depending on variety and nursery. Of course, dark-leaved varieties are slower growing. General info: The plants formerly known as Cimicifuga are typically later bloomers, get huge, and have seed pods as opposed to berries. They like some afternoon shade, but should be in a bright location with some direct morning or evening sun. They are typically woodland edge/savana plants. They don't want to be dry, but I don't find them to be water hogs once they're established either. Treat them like most plants and the'll be fine. They can tolerate full sun with extra water. I highly recommend A. 'Black Negligee' as it has been the fastest growing dark-leaved variety I've tried. Actaea pachypoda, rubra, and a few others are the baneberries. I often see 'Misty Blue' being listed without its species name; it is a form of A. pachypoda. A. pachypoda gets white berries in summer. A rubra gets red berries, though there are white-berried populations. A. nigra is european and gets black berries. They are spring blooming woodland plants and tolerate shade very well. They all have white flowers followed by berries, either red, white, or black. All berries are poisonous. I find them growing here in maple/beech forests, which tend to be very dark. They get 2-3' tall depending on species and variety. A. pachypoda tends to be taller and more upright @ 2'-3', A. rubra is more bushy and shorter and closer to 18"-24". Best bet for success is rich soil with lots of organic matter and even moisture. Some morning sun is good for vigor, especially with A. rubra, but afternoon sun should be avoided. Currently the only one I'm aware of being vegetatively produced with any regularity is 'Misty Blue'. The rest are either seed grown (and fairly expensive- it takes up to 2 year to germinate the seed and another 5-7 years to be a salable plant) or wild collected. Wild collected material should be avoided unless you can certify it came from a construction site rescue. Plant to pay $10 or more for 4.5" quart pots for A. rubra, somewhat less for A. pachypoda as it's a bit faster growing. Both groups are easy to grow, but require some patience. The Plant Geek www.confessionsofaplantgeek.com www.botanophilia.com www.facebook.com/botanophilia

Easy to transplant (?). . . I guess it's relative. The plants didn't have any issues when I dug them up in the fall, put them in large containers, and then replanted in the spring, though I don't remember how late in the spring. (This was made necessary by construction.) However, the actual digging and moving was NOT easy! The below-ground part of the plants was huge and heavy with roots that seemed to stretch for several feet. I ended up with hunks that probably weighed 40 or 50 pounds. Looking at the above ground plant I was shocked, and relatively, the size of the entire cimicifuga was quite large compared to the size of plants that looked about the same size above ground. I did dig up a few seedlings this weekend, so it's too soon to tell how they will adjust, but I imagine they will be fine based on how easily the last batch adjusted.

Help Me Find lists three offspring of Louis Philippe. One is a mutation; one is from its seed and one from its pollen. Archduke Charles is a mutation of Old Blush and has produced only mutations. That doesn't necessarily mean anything other than no one has reported raising any seedlings from it, but seedlings have been raised from Old Blush. Mel's Heritage may be fertile, or not. There are no listed crosses involving it, either direction. Again, though, that only means no one has reported raising any crosses from it. Of the three, I would think Mel's Heritage would be the most interesting to try, because of its parentage and the fact no one has reported any results from it. Unless you're going to try something really far out, like species crossed with Archduke Charles or Louis Philippe, you are likely to raise "more of the same" from them.

I only have experience with trilliums.... They grow well around here. There were a few already here when we bought this property in 1999 but we're added to them since. What has worked for us is to plant them dormant in mid summer, plant them in areas with lots of leaf litter - under trees, and never water or disturb them while they are dormant! There are lots of squirrels here and, as far as I can tell, they've never bothered them. The white trilliums are more vigorous for us than red ones - white ones are the provincial flower of Ontario so that might be a sign that they are particularly suited here. They are now spreading by both offsets and seedlings. Some pictures....: Cole in the nearby 'trillium wood' that is my reference for what I'd like to have here! White trilliums near the shed in our garden: A closer view from 2015 where you can see seedlings getting big enough to start to bloom: (Note the plentiful oak leaves in those pictures! The trilliums seem to like those conditions....) Red trilliums don't seem as happy here and are spreading much slower: On the issue of squirrels and tulips.... Here the squirrels seem inclined to ADD tulips to our garden! Several years after we started gardening here, a clump of orange tulips appeared under the oak tree in the back yard. We didn't plant them and the tulips looked suspiciously like ones in a neighbour's yard down the street! :-) So we assume the squirrels planted them..... Aside from deadheading the tulips once the flowers fade, I do nothing to them - they keep returning and the clump gets bigger as the years pass. The oldest picture I can find on this computer is 2010 but I think they first appeared before that. 2010: 2015 (apologies for the poor picture quality!) Some salmony-pink tulips appeared in the front garden 2-3 years ago that I was sure we didn't plant and, looking around, I saw the same ones in a garden across the street! So squirrels might dig up the occasional bulb, but they are probably gifting it to a neighbour :-)