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Post by ottawagardener on Mar 9, 2009 12:34:38 GMT -5
So I bumped into this herb and thought, ooo, I could try growing that in the sandy part of my garden where I grow Seakale. It's kinda pretty and it's hardy and it's edible. I'm not seeing where I could go wrong. So tell me folks:
1. Does it taste boring or yucky?
2. Is it very difficult to grow?
3. If no to the first two, where would I find seeds?
Thanks again and as always pictures are welcome!
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Post by ottawagardener on Mar 10, 2009 7:53:34 GMT -5
Really, no one grows it here? Well if that is indeed true, I will try to be the first.
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Post by orflo on Mar 10, 2009 8:08:15 GMT -5
I had one plant once, but it just didn't thrive over here, probably just too wet.... A friend has some plants, but I think he's keeping them all in pots. And for the taste.....  I didn't like it, but others just adore it... |
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Post by plantsnobin on Mar 10, 2009 12:17:05 GMT -5
Sorry I don't have anything to add here. My favorite flower of all time is mertensia virginica, although they have gone and changed the name recently. Virginia bluebells, anyway. They are just starting to poke through the ground here, they come up all purply, and within a month they will be blooming. Where they are happy, they will reseed readily. They quickly go dormant, waiting to thrill you all over again next April. I had some seed of mertensia cana that I left laying in the potting shed, I planted it really not expecting it to germinate, but it did! About 1/2 an inch tall right now. I don't think I will be able to keep it alive with our humidity but it is worth a shot. I love blue flowers. I don't know about the edibility of any of the other mertensias. But I did try some campanula glomerate yesterday. Let's just say there is a big difference between 'won't kill you' and 'tastes good'.
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Post by bunkie on Mar 10, 2009 12:18:14 GMT -5
i haven't grwon it, but will be curious to hear how you like it and how it does up north. is it a perennial?
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Post by ottawagardener on Mar 10, 2009 15:36:53 GMT -5
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Post by canadamike on Mar 10, 2009 18:38:42 GMT -5
Beware of the map telsing. If they find plants in one little spot in a province, they color the whole province map. Note that the 2 only province not touching any seawater are excluded. It suggests they are really ''maritima''. And since they grow in the territories and Groenland, I would suspect they are, in fact, very hardy, unless artic climate qualifies as ''warm temperate''  I love the flowers, they look quite like the pulmonarias.... |
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Post by ottawagardener on Mar 10, 2009 19:57:23 GMT -5
Yes, I noticed that. I have read of gardens that grow them outside of their traditional 'sea range' so I'm being hopeful!
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Post by stevil on Mar 14, 2009 14:47:27 GMT -5
Never had much luck with this one, even though it's a wild plant around here - much commoner along the coast in Northern Norway. I've tried starting from seed and from plants several times, inclucing ssp. asiatica. It has survived the winter, it just doesn't grow very well (it resents root disturbance, I understand). I mulched last year with seaweed on a sand bed, so I'll wait final judgement to this year. The taste isn't that much either - I'm with Frank there. It is also not known to have been used for food in Norway despite it being common in the North. Mertensia ciliata is a much more vigorous, productive plant and hardy: [a href="  "] [/a] I haven't tried it yet, but will do this summer. PFAF give a reference for its edibility to: Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. Anyone have that book who could tell us what it actually says? |
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Post by plantsnobin on Mar 14, 2009 18:23:19 GMT -5
Stevil, your ciliata looks much like our virginica. Telsing, do you grow virginica? Don't let the notion that it is a woodland wildflower stop you from growing it if you don't have shade. Despite what many will say, this does not need shade, period. It comes up and blooms long before trees are casting much shade anyway. Mine are all in full sun and they flower better than ones growing in the woods. They self seed like crazy and are dormant before they get in the way of anything else.
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Post by ottawagardener on Mar 16, 2009 12:18:32 GMT -5
Karen, good to know. I have one virginica that grows under a large spiria and am hoping that it will self sow. I would be happy to move any seedlings to a less shady spot though my neighbour is going to put up an 8 foot wooden fence to keep in his new hound dog (mastiff) between our two houses so my eastern facing 'strip' bed along the house will be quite shady though I suppose a woodland flower might benefit from my spring sun.
Do you eat Mertensia ciliata? And if so, what does it taste like?
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Post by prairiegardens on Oct 29, 2019 10:44:19 GMT -5
So, did you grow and try this? I just found several places offering it although so far only Baker Creek in N.A.. is it worth growing and even more important, worth eating? I found a site from Quebec that talks about it and where/how it grows wild, but they don't offer seed.
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Post by diane on Oct 29, 2019 11:11:58 GMT -5
My favourite wildflower book, Plants of Coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon and Alaska, by Pojar and MacKinnon, has very thorough descriptions of how a plant is used for food or medicine by First Nations.
Mertensia marítima has nothing noted except for where it grows - circumpolar, most common on Arctic shores.
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Post by prairiegardens on Oct 30, 2019 1:46:09 GMT -5
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I didn't like it, but others just adore it...
