Eranthis

This cheery, bright yellow flower is a welcome sight in any garden.  It is one of the first flowers to appear in late winter, early spring and can produce carpets of bright yellow, buttercup-like flowers from January through to March.  It is a native European woodland plant that thrives when planted under shrubs and deciduous trees. It is full hardy and will happily survive fresh snow cover unharmed. The flowers however, are sensitive to warmth, they will remain tightly shut on cold days and only open if the temperature reaches roughly 10C (50F).

Each plant generally grows to a height of 13cm and spreads up to 10cm.  It is a good ground cover plant and is particularly effective when grown in large numbers, producing a mass of pure golden yellow. It attracts early aphid eating insects and foraging insects such as carder bees; which is good, as these plants need to be pollinated in order to spread their seeds.

The flowers themselves consist of 5-8 bright yellow petals that form a cup-shape and are surrounded by a collar of dark green leaf-like ruffs of lobed bracts.  It produces star shaped seed pods and dies down completely after spring.  It takes 2 to 5 years for plants to fully mature.

The Royal Horticultural Society has presented Eranthis hyemalis with the Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

History

Eranthis hyemalis is a herbaceous perennial native to Europe, which belongs to the family ‘Ranunculaceae’ or ‘buttercup family’.  It is more commonly known as Winter Aconite or Wolf’s bane. 

It was first identified with the classical aconite, which was a poisonous herb dedicated to Hecate, a moon goddess in Greek mythology, who taught witchcraft and sorcery and was Goddess of the dead.  But its origins have been steeped in tales from Greek and Roman mythology. It has been said that Medea tried to poison Theseus by putting aconite in his wine.  Aconite is thought to have come from the saliva of Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guarded the Underworld. Hercules dragged Cerberus up from the Underworld, while the dog turned his face away from the light, barking and depositing saliva along the path. The saliva hardened in the soil and produced its lethal poison in the plants that grew from the soil. Because it was formed and grew on hard stones, farmers called it 'aconite' (from the Greek akone, meaning 'whetstone').  Aconite is said to be one of the most poisonous plants in cultivation and in 1982 it accounted for the death of a woman who used it to make horseradish sauce.

Propagation

This plant can be grown from seed and the seeds should be planted from March to June.  However it is a tuberous plant  and you are much more likely to succeed with propagation if you divide clumps of existing mature plants between April and May or buy new tubers whilst ‘in the green’ ie. still in leaf, either during or just after flowering. These should establish much more readily.

Note : Care should be taken when handling these tubers as all parts of the plant are harmful to humans and may cause mild stomach upset if ingested. Contact with the sap may irritate the skin.

The tubers should be planted 5cm deep and 5cm apart.  The soil should not be too wet and have good drainage but should have good moisture retention as the bulbs do not form deep roots.  Soil structure can be improved by adding course sand or well rotted organic material. The ideal PH level is approximately 6.5.  Fertiliser is not essential but a dressing of a high potash and phosphate fertiliser such as bone meal or blood, fish and bone applied before planting may be beneficial.

Cultivation

A hardy plant that will grow well in any reasonably fertile, moist but well drained, neutral to alkaline soil, in full sun or partial shade.  It does do particularly well in alkaline soils.  It is frost tolerant and will survive fresh snow cover unharmed.  It can also be used in containers, window boxes and naturalised in grass.  If grown in grass mowing should not take place until the leaves have died off.

Care

As already mentioned care must be taken when handling this plant as all parts of the plant are harmful to humans and may cause mild stomach upset if ingested. Contact with the sap may irritate the skin.

Eranthis hyemalis group

It needs little attention once it is established and doesn’t usually suffer from pests.  Eranthis hyemalis grows well in any well-drained soil but it grows better if its soil remains moist during the summer and it does appreciate the presence of an annual application of a little leafmould or peat substitute.

Further Info

A rare species of Eranthis heyemalis is ‘Eranthis hyemalis Flora Plena’.  This is a lovely winter aconite with ruffled, double flowers of green and bright yellow above bright green leaves.

Another more recent hybrid available from Pottertons Nurseries, is Eranthis hyemalis 'Schwefelglanz'.  It is described as ‘Very large, vigorous clone with large straw coloured flowers over dark green foliage. This stunning new hybrid selection is recently obtained from Germany, the English translation of 'Schwefelglanz' is sulphur glow’.