On my hike with Justin to the top of
Gambo Mountain, I kept seeing these beautiful little blue flowers all along the way. Since there's not a lot to do here, and since I had plenty of time to be curious about these little flowers on our 10 hour hike, I finally decided to dig a few up and try to transplant them.
When I got back, I asked someone what the flowers were called and I was told that in English they were called "Gentians." I looked them up online and there are a number of strands of these vibrant blue
Gentiana, which grow all over the world in dry, rocky places, often at higher elevations. I finally nailed down that the flower I had dug up was called "
Gentiana Phyllocalyx."
Now, I'm not much of a green thumb, and the person who told me the name of the flower also said that transplanting them was darn near impossible, but, as they say, "if you've got the money honey, I've got the time."
I dug up two root clusters while I was hiking, so I decided that two aluminum cans would make fine seed beds. I also wanted to try two different methods of growing to see if one was better than the other.
I had read that Gentiana often live in places where underground flows are the only source of water, so I decided that for one can, I would soak the roots through holes in the bottom of the can (every other day), rather than watering from the top, to simulate an underground flow. The other can I'll water like normal, on a twice-a-week schedule.
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| My two cans of choice |
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| Little holes punched all over the bottoms |
I grabbed some dirt from on campus, which is less then 5 miles from where I dug up the Gentiana, and hopefully the soil types will be similar and not too much of a factor. Once the cans were full, I added the Gentiana root clusters and then topped off with soil. I placed the cans in a tub with water, but also opted to water with a cup of water per can from the top, just to aid in root re-establishment.
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| All the essentials |
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| Packing the "seed beds" with dirt |
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| Ready to rock n roll |
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| Nothing like a nice soak |
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| The hopefully the vibrant blue flowerswill return soon |
Once they were watered, they went out on the window sill to soak up some rays.
The first two days, I watered from the top and soaked in the tub with water overnight. Now, they are on their own on the window sill, and I'll water them with the plan I mentioned above.
"Oh, thank you, little roots! Please stay strong!" - Chris Farley, "Black Sheep"
