amazing Apiaceae (the umbellifers)

Okay then, by scattering them outside, they are being stratified (exposed to varying temperatures)... good to know.  Thank you!

Really like that Oreoxis and the further details from Mark - these small umbels have the same appeal that the larger herbaceous species have, even if a lot more tricky to grow. I have always sown umbellifer seed in the cooling days of autumn (if I get the seed early enough), so it gets a spell of warm and moist weather, with cooler nights, and then a winter stratification. Usually then germination is pretty good in spring. However, I have had seed sown late and stratified in the fridge germinate still at 4°C in the dark (similarly with eriogonums). This year plants of Lomatium columbianum in our garden set lots of seed so I hope for good germination next year. I find the foliage of these plants irresistable.

Very helpful to read your germination experiences too, Tim.  Thanks.

The dry (on top of cold, I suppose) conditions here have seemed to keep it in check so far, but I will certainly watch it.

I thought the white flowers were the Athamantha turbith... ?    ???

Yes - sorry, I have the two plants growing next to each other and the picture was taken after the Lomatium had flowered.

Well, guess we've cleared that up...  :D

Lots more beauties- love them all-- the Oreoxis is very cute! I think I have a few Cymopterus seedlings-- some I think came up second spring..
Alplains has a lot of these, have to check there for Oreoxis...

Great to know :) these have been emerging in the woods here the last few weeks, always great to see those pretty leaves :)

This is Athamanta turbith flowering again this summer on a raised bed, and it still holds pride of place in my affection for umbels; such a delicate and beautiful plant. The aquilegia is triternata, but unfortunately this has crossed with other more vigorous species close by in the garden and a lot of very different specimens have appeared on the bed as well.

Great contrast between those two Stephen - nudicaule is so distinct but urticulatum resembles so many other species! I'm aiming to gather more information on umbels over this coming autumn/winter so will have to quiz you on what you grow! The number of people who grow these American species must be pretty much counted on one hand.

Trond - that longifolium is very striking. I have grown it but it never seems long lived. Wonderful flower arrangers plant!

No new ones - I remain totally unable to grow umbellifers from seed!  >:(  - just some of the old ones in bloom:
Athamanta turbith ssp. haynaldii:

Pimpinella major 'Rosea':

Peucedanum ostruthium 'Daphnis':
 

Lori wrote:

No new ones - I remain totally unable to grow umbellifers from seed!  >:(  - just some of the old ones in bloom:

I have exactly two seedlings of Cymopterus (planosus, I think) from Alplains seed two years ago...lol.. several Angelicas from StephenB did nothing for me, but Anthriscus Ravenswing from Kristl did germinate well, and I have a couple doing well in ground- tried a drier spot which died over winter and a wetter spot which is doing well, no sign of flowers yet, though!

Trond - Angelica sylvestris isn't seen too much in gardens, much less than the culinary A. archangelica, but has sported to produce deep purple leaved forms like Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing'. Rather stunning specimens, but because they are biennial they come and go and don't self-seed with the freedom of cow parsley.

Cohan - will be interested to know how you get on with the Cymopterus - so far I have germinated quite a number but not managed to grow them on well. I think they need the same treatment as many bulbs - so really summer dry as they aestivate naturally. The smaller species are the most striking but the larger probably the ones easiest to grow. Are they grown at Denver at all I wonder?

Lori - if I have my own seed I sow it in the autumn and usually get good germination the following spring. I think the oily nature of the seed tends to make it more hydrophobic as it dries out and older seed can be really slow and difficult to come up, if at all. Late sown seed I often put in the fridge for 4 to 6 weeks and this has been quite good for Lomatium and Cymopterus, in fact they sometimes begin to germinate in the fridge as I have also found with Eriogonum. I am aiming to write something on the family so really want to learn a lot more about the American species.

Is Angelica sylvestris then the same as Anthriscus sylvestris?
Anthriscus sylvestris Ravenswing is not that large here yet, but assuming I get flowers and seeds, I'll have to make sure to replant some on purpose!

The Cymopterus I have was, I think, sown in 2010, though I think I was too late in spring to get adequate cold stratification, and they germinated last year.. still in the pot and still very tiny.. if I get the bed intended for dryland North Americans finished soon enough (working in that general area- building the alpine stretch now, then a sort of steppe area in front of it) I will plant them out this year..
Can't say I have any great insight to special treatment for them, other than that they will get a highly drained area, and the overall design will hopefully create a bit of a heat sink... Our greatest precip is usually from late May or early June until early to mid July, so time will tell how dry summer plants will do here! I'm hoping our generally cool spring/early summer will be the growing period for that sort of plant and they wont mind the moisture then.... a long hot dry summer is not going to happen here, at least not in recent years' patterns!

Truth be known quite a number of umbels are weedy!! But they can be very beautiful, like Selinum wallichianum from the Himalayas, which flowers later into the summer and has the most fine foliage of all, or very different, like Thapsia maxima (below) from the south-west Mediterranean. The most extraordinary must be the eryngiums - this one, bourgatii, is widely grown but also very free seeding. The larger colouring flowers with long spiky bracts are actually on a single plant that grew earlier than the rest and could be an interesting variant. I have this planted in a bulb bed which it effectively takes over after the bulbs have flowered and are dying down - I am trying to weed it out of more alpine areas!

Nice, Tim. 

Here's Eryngium alpinum in bud:

I'm very envious Lori because I've never been able to grow alpinum very well and you really don't see it in gardens so much. Those bracts are wonderfully dissected and quite soft compared to most eryngos.

I've had something I've been referring to as Eryngium x zabellii for many years now... I'm sort of wondering if it may not be E. bourgatii - I'll have to pay closer attention to it this year.
Love that Bupleurum longifolium, Trond!
It's disappointing that a couple of Angelica sp. used to generally be available as potted plants around here but not so for the last few years.  I was hoping to find one at a nursery to fill some of the big gaps left by shrub removal.
Tim, your mention of Selinum reminds me that I did grow Selinum tenuifolium for a few years; it never did bloom, oddly enough, but I did enjoy the foliage.  I must try these again.
Interesting thread... I'm realizing that many plants that I would not have suspected to be, are actually umbellifers!

Astrantia major:

Astrantia carniolica 'Rubra'... or so it is supposed to be - I was just reading recently that this is supposed to be a dwarf astrantia, and my plants certainly are not!

I didnt realise Astrantias and Eryngiums were umbellifers- interesting! Still love the purple Angelicas- and quite lovely foliage on the Selinums as well...

One of my favourite of the natives is the very delicate Cicuta bulbifera -bulbous water hemlock.. I thought perhaps it was inappropriate to cultivate it, but then as long as I'm not mixing it with water parsnips, I don't see an issue  ;D - I don't think twice about growing other poisonous plants such as Zigadenus.. Maybe I will collect some bulbils this year..

Like the Angelica gigas with monarda and lily - all these plants struggle in our summer dry garden, though might have done better this year (which was actually spring 'very dry' and summer 'quite cool and moist'). The pictures of Selinum show what a very lovely plant it is with those dark stems. And I am interested in Angelica grayi - I've not grown this, but until now I have tended to assume all angelicas are monocarpic. Do you get many wasps pollinating A. gigas? Umbels are great for all sorts of insects but some seem to especially attract different types.