Definately garden worthy, though there's something it wants that was lacking when I tried to grow it in my garden. I wasn't able to figure out what it was before it died. And that's extremely rare in my garden; most plants go totally buck-wild here. Haven't gotten around to trying it a second time.

Out Back Nursery has some excellent specimens in one of their gardens.

The leaves when crushed have a heavenly scent!

Dirr agrees that it suckers profusely, but then goes on to say it is "a nice novely plant for the collector." In my observations in the wild stolons are quite long before coming up for sun, and this would make it difficult to control.

Still, I have a friend in Iowa who grow it with little problem. In the wild it grows in quite sterile soils, devoid of nutrients. My friend's bed is certainly not so, and I wonder if that has a role in its ambivalence to wandering lust.

Seed germination is difficult, should be scarified, and GA3 applied according to Dirr. But young shoots are easily rooted, and root cuttings taken in late winter/early spring are also succesful.

My friend gets a lot of oohhs and aahhs from visitors as few have ever seen sweet fern before. But at least up in the Arrowhead, I have found it to be quite common, and I'm not sure you'd get the same reaction.

And about Hudsonia tomentosa, it is a plant I have kept my eyes open for. It should make a good addition and companion for my cactus troughs. T. Morley in his Spring Flora of Minnesota notes it as native to Anoka, Sherburne, Meeker, Morrison, Crow Wing, Polk and southern St. Louis counties.

Rick

Thanks for the info.

Think I am going to go ahead and try the Comptonia. Have a good sandy-gravel site on our upper driveway which should suit it well. Nothing else wants to grow there. Might not be acid enough but....will see.

Going to pass on starting it from seed. Instead, will take some stem cuttings in the spring and try my luck with rooting and starting it that way.

I am sure I will not get 'oohhs and aahhs' but that has never affected my choice of plants. In fact, I tend to get "Isn't that the weed that grows in the ditches?" (Eupatorium, etc.) This summer the Big Blue Stem in my seed beds received some very strange looks...one person finally asked me if there was a reason I didn't weed out that grass! LOL. (Rick- incidentally that BBS is starting to scare me....now topping out at 72 inches and still growing!)

Noticed that GN has seed for Hudsonia tomentosa.....collected in Ontario. Wish it was a central Saskatchewan collection.
Jan

I get that "weed growing in ditches" comment too- don't let it deter you.
I have to ask though, what's the difference in the seed collection areas? Hardiness?

OMG Jan!!! Stop with the steroids on that big bluestem!

At least it does NOT run underground. I swear I didn't exposed those seeds to any x-rays or extra gamma rays. LOL, is it walking too?

Rick

Rick: I don't mean to hijack Jan's thread here but which book of Dirr's are you referencing? Would you recommend it?
Thanks,
Lynette

Both of Michael Dirr's books are very good.
Manual of Woody Landscape Plants
A blend of the technical and common style of writing. Each entry has sub-headings like leaves, bud, stem, bark, fruit, size, hardiness, habit, rate, texture, culture, etc. Line drawings only, but very good. The drawback is that it includes species from all U.S. zones. 800 plus pages. Very well known and would be easy to find.

The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation
Includes same array of plant materials. 200 plus pages.

How about "DIRRÂS HARDY TREES AND SHRUBS: An Illustrated Encyclopedia". I thought this was the 'must have' for northern gardeners. Intended for USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 6. (494 pages) Anybody have this reference by Dirr?

Nettie - don't know that it would make a whole lot of difference in the seed source of the Hudsonia. But, generally I prefer, when possible, to get seed from a colder zone. 'Seed from Ontario' doesn't tell me much. Southern Ontario is zone 5. Most of Saskatchewan is zone 2 or colder with the southern part being a nice warm zone 3!

We live in one of those cold spots in northern Minnesota. Makes International Falls look like the 'Hotbox of the Nation'. A couple of mornings ago....only Churchill, Manitoba (of Polar Bear fame on the shores of Hudson Bay) had a temp as cold as we were.
Jan

Dirr's HARDY TREES AND SHRUBS is good for wanting to know what materials look like. Most of the time for most people it is difficult to get a picture just from words. The disadvantage is that not a lot of extra information is given in that book - if I remember right.