Meteoric!! Well, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but "Shooting Stars"
is the common name for Dodecatheon meadia and you really
don't have to stretch your imagination too far to see how folks arrived
at that moniker. Here's a very unusual, easy to grow early Spring
ephemeral wildflower that's native to 27 states east of the Mississippi,
yet will find itself happy and at home just about anywhere.
Dodecatheon meadia is a member of the Primula family, closely
related to Cyclamen and Primrose.
The form I've been growing for the past few decades is actually referred
to as Dodecatheon meadia Alba. It's a pure white form and just so
happens to be wonderfully fragrant. From a basal rosette, when there's
not much else going on in the garden, multiple, sturdy, wiry stems emerge
and shoot skyward to 24" tall. Seemingly overnight, clusters of
upright buds, each on its own wiry little stem, appear. As these swelling
buds age, they slowly turn downwards and open to create delightfully,
unusually shaped pendulous flowers that "hang around" for quite
a while.
The pollinated flowers set copious amounts of seed and before you know
it, you'll have your own natural colony of Shooting Stars.
Being a woodland plant, they naturally occur in the shade, but can easily
handle sun as there really are no leaves on the trees in the early time
of Spring that these guys are up and out. Dodecatheon meadia
doesn't appear to be too concerned about soil type or texture, pH or
moisture conditions.
And as an added benefit, as with other members of this family such as
Primroses, the deer pay them no mind.
OH! I almost forgot to tell you what really cool cut flowers they
make.
Pretty versatile plant, huh?
I've been building a good stock of plants to share with you and if your
ground is frozen, not to worry, as you can specify the shipdate for your
particular area in a provided space on our online PDF orderform.
What you'll receive are large, 3 year old bareroot plants. They'll arrive
wrapped in long fibered, unmilled sphagnum moss. This material is
antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and a very useful material.
The prices shown below include FREE SHIPPING on bareroot plants out of their 2" pots. If you would like to receive the plants undisturbed, in their pots, please add .95¢ per plant to cover the extra cost of shipping soil and pots.
7 for $ 35.00 delivered ($5.00 ea)
10 for $ 45.00 delivered ($4.50 ea)
15 for $ 60.00 delivered ($4.00 ea)
20 for $ 70.00 delivered ($3.50 ea)
50 for $150.00 delivered ($3.00 ea)
Larger quantities at even lower prices upon request.
Ordering couldn't be easier! Just fill out the order form at
//www.sunfarm.com/orderform.pdf
Most of our previous weekly specials are still available. Go to -
//sunfarm.com/specials/ to browse the archives.
By the way, if you haven't read the story in GQ magazine about me, you
can read it on line at
//sunfarm.com/images/GVQ08-2.pdf
This is a retail mailing. If you are a nursery, garden center, landscape
architect or garden designer etc, please make sure that you are also on
my wholesale mailing list by emailing me at my personal email address -
barry@sunfarm.com - with the words
WHOLESALE LIST in all caps in the subject line.
