Corydalis ‘Tory MP’

Description

Corydalis ‘Tory MP’.

Corydalis ‘Tory MP’ certainly has some Corydalis elata blood in it. The habit is fairly upright with the flowers being held high on tall stems and can come a month later than varieties such as Corydalis flexuosa ‘Pere David’. They are a rich blue in colour. I did wonder if this earned its name on account of it being true blue and upstanding, then I read that it came from being true blue and going on and on! – but then again perhaps it owes something to its habit of disappearing from sight over the Summer ! – I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Early Spring. 45*30cm. For moisture retentive soil in shade or half shade.

We grow cultivars of the lovely Chinese corydalis, Corydalis flexuosa and some hybrids that take on a little blood from Corydalis elata`or Corydalis cashmeriana. All the Corydalis have beautiful ferny foliage and spurred, tubular flowers.

The growth pattern of Corydalis is to form a mat of small stolons and fleshy leaf bases that begin to produce leaves as soon as the Autumn rains bring cooler weather. It continues to grow steadily through the winter. When the frosts come the leaves bow down and you think all is lost, but they always bounce back in a most remarkable way. Then in March and April the flowers come in bunch after bunch, getting deeper in colour as the light levels rise, only stopping when the Summer dormancy kicks in. Corydalis flexuosa is fairly easily grown if a little attention is paid to its needs. On the whole it grow well in any reasonably well drained humus rich soil in partial shade. In the drier areas of the country it can be a little harder to please, tending to lose its leaves earlier in the year, leaving the ground bare for longer. Corydalis cashmeriana has a greater need for moisture. Corydalis elata extends the flowering season by being a month later to flower and also being more upright in growth.

Corydalis flexuosa can be found in the wild growing on steep shady slopes alongside Matteuccia struthiopteris – the Ostrich Fern

The name Corydalis comes from the Greek ‘korydalis’ – The Crested Lark for a fancied resemblance of the flower to the shape of the lark’s head.

Corydalis is a member of the Poppy family, Papaveraceae, a fact that is not obvious from the general shape of the flowers, but makes more sense when you are more familiar with the texture of the roots and stems, where genera like Papaver, Corydalis. Macleya and Dicentra are all quite similar.