I mentioned that Allegheny vine (Adlumia fungosa) was blooming for me in July’s Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day post, and Leslie asked me what that was. Thank you, Leslie. I was dying for someone to ask.
A Biennial, Native Vine
I had never even heard of a biennial vine until Allegheny vine showed up in my garden. What does biennial mean? It means it takes two years to get to the blooming stage, and then it dies.
The first year it forms a mound of ferny foliage -- September 16, 2008
However, in its second year, the “mound” or rosette starts to climb.
In June 2009 the vine has started to climb the nearby mockorange shrub.
There is no mistaking it for tall meadow rue now.
By July 8, 2009, the vine has really hit its stride and is blooming like mad.
You can see the resemblance to bleeding heart.
As you might suspect from the appearance of the flowers, Allegheny vine is related to bleeding hearts (Dicentra spp.) and corydalis, among others. (Some say they have their own family, Fumariaceae, but others say they are merely a section of the poppy family.)
A Native Plant with Mysterious Origins
You may have noticed I said this plant showed up in my garden. I never planted it, and its first appearance in my nascent flower bed started quite the detective hunt, back in the pre-internet days. It is native throughout northeastern North America, but I have never seen it growing in any of the wild areas hereabouts. So where did it come from? It is sad to think it may once have grown wild here, and has now been extirpated from the local ecosystem. It is intriguing to think that one of the former owners of our house traded seed by mail or swapped plants with another gardener, and introduced this lovely, emphemeral plant to the garden I now tend.
How to Grow Adlumia fungosa
I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know how to grow Allegheny vine, which is also called climbing fumitory and–my favorite–mountain fringe. I have saved seeds and tried to sow them, without a single one germinating. It is one of those plants that I can’t grow, but if I wait patiently, it shows up on its own. It doesn’t show up every year, mind you, and rarely shows up twice in the same spot, though it always chooses a fairly moist spot. This particular plant, blooming in 2009, is probably the most spectacular vine I’ve been privileged to watch grow. If you’ve managed to grow it from seed, I’d appreciate any tips you could pass along.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Kathy,
I sowed some Adlumia fungosa seeds few years ago attempting to get a vine to cover a shady corner of the fence. The seeds germinated easily and I spread the seedlings in many parts of the garden, and they bloomed nicely the second year, but in my haste to clean up I pulled out all after that year. Bought the seed from Garden North (http://gardensnorth.com/site/index.htm). She used to have an interesting desciption on its culture. One of the things she pointed out is, in order to have blooms everyyear rather than alternate year, to sow the seeds in two successive years to start the cycle.
Twitter: @BayAreaTendrils
Kathy,
I have successfully scanned my Adlumia fungosa article, and believe I can send you a copy as a jpeg – 2 jpeg pages. Or I might post it on BayAreaTendrils & link to your site?
Shall I email it to you? Is there an email address on your site that I missed? Cheers, Alice
Alice Joyce´s last blog ..Plantsman Extraordinaire – Sean Hogan & Cistus Nursery
Twitter: @torontogardens
What a miraculous gift! I wonder if it would grow here?
Helen at Toronto Gardens´s last blog ..Who knows what lily beetles lurk…
Well, you are in its native range. Do you have a moist spot?
I grew it once from seed from the NARGS exchange. Worked out well, but I couldn’t get it to reseed. I love bienniels and many thrive what with my weedy ways. I’m not sure what kept this one from seeding around.
Craig @ Ellis Hollow´s last blog ..Verbascums bloom twice
Twitter: @BayAreaTendrils
Kathy, I’ll look into whether CGM has any kind of archive online. It’s been more than ten years since it appeared.
Perhaps I could scan the pages, & post or email it? I wish you were HERE – you’re much more tech-savvy than I!
btw, All my images are 35mm slides that need to be converted to digital.
An unhappy note: we’ve been thinking of moving, and I’ve been doing my best to clear out files. Recently, I threw away most of the background materials I had collected. I was of two minds in doing so, but felt compelled to clear things out. I had copies sent by horticultural librarians – pages of info from old books.
In my own library I have lovely old illustrated volumes from The Nature Library – Wild Flowers, & Garden Flowers, which lists Adlumia fungosa.
Other wild plants I totally obsessed about, grew and wrote on include Clematis virginiana; greater celandine – Chelidonium majus, and lesser celandine or celandine poppy – Stylophorum diphyllum.
But… don’t get me started! Alice
aka Bay Area Tendrils Garden Travel
Alice Joyce´s last blog ..Living Carpet of Texture & Color: Eco-Roof, Portland Central Library
VERY interesting, Kathy! Lucky you
Cool that you were able to ID it for us. I’ve never seen anything like that growing wild, but I will keep an eye out in the boggy spots. BTW the Thalictrum you gave me is SO tall and pretty–one success amid too many failures this summer. I love the flowers and hope it seeds around. Thank you again!
Lynn´s last blog ..beets beets beets!
Very elegant. It looks like my fern-leaf bleeding heart, except the climbing, of course. Does it have tendrils?
Twitter: @Annieinaustin
So this Adlumia appears and looks like a meadowrue, then starts to climb and pops out Dicentra/Bleeding Heart flowers? Quite a lot of action from such a sweet little leaf, Kathy! Google pulled up a couple of sites that said this plant wants moist, rich shade, and that doesn’t sound either like Texas or the Midwest that I lived in so I’m glad to have seen it on your blog.
May this cool plant keep popping up for you every year!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie in Austin´s last blog ..The Lilies of August
Twitter: @Indygardener
What an interesting vine. Curious how it just showed up for you, but you can’t really “grow it” in the sense of tending it the way we think of our garden plants. What a happy “random act of the garden” for you!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens´s last blog ..Ritual Of The First Tomato – Revisited
Twitter: @mycornerofkaty
That’s really unusual and very pretty. I’m glad it made an appearance for you!
Cindy, MCOK´s last blog ..Through the Garden Gate: Monday, August 3rd
Twitter: @reddirtramblin
It’s just so pretty Kathy, and I’ve never seen it, but I’ll look for it now that I know what it is. Thanks.~~Dee
Dee/reddirtramblings.com´s last blog ..Dear Friends and Gardeners Week 22
Twitter: @BayAreaTendrils
Kathy, Kathy, Kathy!
This is one of my all-time favorite, i.e. most beloved plants.
It grew in my Chicago garden and I become obsessed with its beauty and history. I did extensive research, photographed its growing habit and bloom endlessly, and wrote about it in an article for Chicagoland Gardening magazine. I miss it dearly!
Truly delighted to see this post, Cheers, Alice
aka BayAreaTendrils
Alice Joyce´s last blog ..Living Carpet of Texture & Color: Eco-Roof, Portland Central Library
Oh, Alice, I would love to read that article! Is it online, or can you send me a copy?
Happy that I provided the excuse you needed to write about this plant!
Turns out that I have it growing in my garden. I know where mine came from but never know where it is going. Haven’t been able to grow it from seen but set some pots under a growing flowering plant and it self seeded into the pots. It climbs the first year for me and acts as an annual. Also a caution. It really likes parts of my yard (especially the lilac hedge)and grows and seeds there rampantly. It grows to the top of the lilacs and covers the canopy – to the detrement of the lilacs. I also find that mine looses its lower leaves about now and looks yellowy brown – like a bleeding heart before it goes dormant.
I would also love to read Alice’s article. Perhaps you could post the link if she sends it to you
Like many of your readers I thought for sure bleeding heart. Interesting there is something so akin. More interesting that it moves around! Very pretty. I love surprises. Sounds like you are enjoying yours!
Kathryn/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com´s last blog ..Center Stage: Hydrangea!
Twitter: @suburbangarden
That is so pretty! I’ve never heard of it, so it’s not a Midwestern native. You must feel honored when it shows up.
Mr. McGregor’s Daughter´s last blog ..Mishmash Monday
According to the USDA, it is native to your state, though it may not be native to your particular ecosystem or habitat in the state. Of course, when we’re talking about a developed area, the original habitat may be a moot point.