I'm starting a little series called "Plant Baggage". I will highlight a plant that I consider one of my favorites, and that means any kind of plant. Everything from tropicals to herbs, perennials to trees, if I like it, I will tell you why and hope you might consider growing it. Since we are in the middle of winter, and a particularly cold and long winter, I thought I might talk about one of my favorite March plants. This little tuber is called Corydalis solida 'George Baker', the primary reason I chose it (as will be the case quite often) is because it's been a very faithful plant. It grew in my little rock garden when I operated my nursery, Windy Hill and it's also in my garden at home. In pronouncing the name, said correctly it's kor-ID'-a-lis with the accent on ID. Don't draw out the last syllable dalis, something I was reminded of in my youthful days of gardening.

Growing from a tuber, the time to purchase this corydalis is in fall with the rest of the bulbs. As with my nursery, many businesses pot up any bulbs they have left and you may find it for sale in spring after it's been wintered over. There are many corydalis, 300 species, over half of these come from China. This particular selection is from Romania and was once known as Corydalis transsylvanica, found in the Carpathian Mountains by Dr. Albert Amlacher. Doctor Albert was a historian and writer, his family was Austrian, he was born in Romania. From what little I can tell, he was not a plant collector but probably passed the plant along to George Baker, who owned a nursery in England. References say that the plant was not associated with George Baker until 1977, which is 103 years after his death, although there was a George Junior. The actual history of this particular plant is a bit confusing, but many plants have a murky background.

What is clear is that it's from a cold part of the world and of­ten used in rock gardens, rubbing shoulders with other little alpine plants. This is part of the reason I like it so much, Virginia is not an alpine place, yet Corydalis s. 'George Baker' is happy here. Typical of early bulbs, in this case a tuber (like a potato), it pops it's little floral head up, flowers and then disappears for the rest of the year. Only 4 to 6" tall, the colder the spring, the redder the flowers. The fact that it's dormant for so long, the gardener forgets about this little gem. It arrives in cold March, while things are very sleepy, blooms and disappears by June. The space it occupied in spring can easily support other perennials in summer, it's great for the layered garden.

When planting it, summer shade is good, it keeps the soil a little cooler. Cooler being the key word for so many corydalis species, only a few grow well in Virginia. So when you find that electric blue flowering variety for sale, don't succumb.

When planting it, summer shade is good, it keeps the soil a little cooler. Cooler being the key word for so many corydalis species, only a few grow well in Virginia. So when you find that electric blue flowering variety for sale, don't succumb.