- "Kon Chiri Shima"

- "Fireworks"

- "falcatum" [Silver Striped Selection]

- geminiflorum

If none, what is your favourite Polygonatum?

I grow Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum' which is lovely with its cream colored stripes. I also have the native Polygonatum biflorum. I like them both, and though P. biflorum is smaller and just green, it is a delicate plant with a nice shade of blue-green. I don't have a spot where one can view them from below so I grow them as foliage plants since the flowers aren't really visible from above.

I don't have any of those listed. I have the large Polygonatum (biflorum I would imagine), humile, x 'Striatum' (aka 'Grace Baker' I think??), and the old odoratum 'Variegatum'.

I have a few on my "wants" list, like hookeri, Silver Striped Selection, 'Green Hankies', 'Byakko', 'Betberg', and maybe kingianum. I was thinking about that 'Fireworks', but I'm not sure but the speckling would be kind of wishy-washy.

-NHbabs, here are some links to sites that sells a few of them (it is SO sad that I have this memorized, lol):

Far Reaches Farm

Arrowhead Alpines

Plant Delights Nursery
CMK

Each of the selections I listed are actually available in my neck of the woods...within a hour's drive by car (LOST HORIZONS Nursery).

I was thinking about a shorter variety...maybe around a foot in height but there are several of these I have listed that are quite tall. And wow...these plants can be very expensive! (For example "Kon Chiri Shima" is shown as $58!!)

I forgot to comment on the ones I grow last night... I do like the humile, but it runs pretty fast! I made the mistake of planting it by the patio by my other treasured plants and It has about taken some over. I'm going to have to move the patch to a bigger area at some point. Great groundcover though. The 'Striatum' is looking a bit weaker this year. It was already a bit weak to begin with (being so variegated), but I think the soil in this one area is very poor and I isn't getting enough nutrients.

Another one I REALLY want but haven't been able to find at all is a variegated form of P. humile. Think I scared my co-workers a bit when I first saw it online at work and squealed with delight, lol.

LOL! $58 is nothin'! At the now-no-longer-existent Asiatica Nursery I saw some rare Polygonatum going for a couple hundred each. I've never spent that much on one plant, though if I were to Polygonatum would be the one I suppose. Trouble is, many of the hardiness listings for the obscure ones on the websites are only guestimates and maybe a tad optimistic...so that would be a costly experiment!

So nice to have another Polygonatum lover here ;-)
CMK

I have read, that there is a species of Polygonatum (called giganteum or biflorum, depending on source) in Eastern North USA, that goes up to 2 meters tall(especially in the mountains of Pennsylvania). I'm seeking somebody from there to collect some seed for me from such plants (can swap for the seeds of my azaleas or other). I've bought it several times, but none of the clones here goes up more than 1 m.

The nursery was unable to locate it in their shade beds :(.

So instead I "settled" for one that seems almost non existent in a google search ie "Gao Dan Bai". (Maybe it goes by a different name?)

Anyways here are two pics I took of it just before planting.

What distinguishes "odoratum" Polygonatum from other Polygonatum?

I only see reference to it here:

Slowly but surely my "Gao Dan Bai" disappeared last summer...planted in June 2013.

I was pleasantly surprised to see it reappear with some vigor this spring.

Here is a close-up as of today:

p.Grace Barker is gorgeous. In my garden it did not clump, Its rhizomes produced widely space stalks that suddently showed up in the middle of "something else" a foot or two away. I didn't like that For my tight knit shade garden, so I moved it to the "woodland" garden where it can romp where ever it wants.

A wonderful independent nursery that I often visit has an outstanding collection of polygonatums.

See the 2 pages in their 2014 catalogue:

You are lucky to live near nurseries that supply such rare gems!

Interesting about it "disappearing". Wonder if it is sensitive to summer heat?
CMK

Interesting CMK. I never considered that possibility for a Polygonatum (I always thought they were pretty tough). I had thought it was just kind of a delayed transplant shock as it was its first year in the garden.

I guess I will see what happens this summer.

Frustrating isn't it!