Re: Corydalis lutea

In a message dated 2/26/2003 5:26:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, mtalt@hort.net 
writes:

> While I do not find Corydalis lutea a weed, I know many do;
> he is not the only gardener who has banned this lovely creature from
> his garden.  

I am far from an expert in corydalis, but I think many people confuse C. 
lutea with C. flavula. C. flavula is a native here in SW Ohio and I was 
pleased to discover that I had it in my surrounding woods when I moved to the 
current property in 1990. Then it started showing up in every cultivated bed. 
 

Interestingly, it appears that C. flavula is almost impossible to transplant. 
I've given it away numerous times to various people and they can't get it 
going. A nurseryman in Pittsburgh told me he has never been able to 
transplant it successfully either, but it has succeeded in jumping up off the 
ground where it was growing wild right into one of his greenhouse benches. 
Truly a plant to be wary of. Perhaps those who couldn't transplant it were 
lucky, although the plant is not particularly difficult to dig or pull.

I have purchased what was identified as C. lutea before and it has died out 
on me. I bought a new plant last year and it persisted into winter--don't 
know what it's doing under our present snow and ice. Perhaps it will become a 
monster, but it's much more refined looking than C. flavula. I'm also trying 
about a dozen new corydalis from Janis Ruksans this year--we'll see how many 
survived our winter.
Bill Lee

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