Kokorycz Corydalis is a genus of plants from the poppy family Papaveraceae, which includes 460 species. In Poland, 6 species of coconut grows: tiny Corydalis pumila, full Corydalis solida, empty Corydalis cava, weak Corydalis intermedia, yellow Corydalis lutea and yellowish Corydalis capnoides.
Kokorycze grown in our gardens are short perennials with a delicate structure, with decorative leaves and flowers.Leaves are usually deeply divided, pinnate or trifoliate, sometimes with a waxy coating. Flowers with a characteristic long spur form clumped inflorescences. The color of the flowers and the time of flowering depend on the species.
Kokorycze creates seeds with elajosomes ("ant bodies").These fat-rich appendages, embedded on the seeds, are eagerly eaten by the ants, which spread the seeds at the same time, thus increasing the range of the plant.This method of dispersing seeds is called myrmecochoria. The most commonly cultivated species of Kokorych are:
Yellow (golden) Kokorycz
Corydalis lutea. It is a European perennial that has been cultivated in gardens for over 400 years. Creates numerous, densely leafed stems 20-40 cm high.The leaves are green on the top, and covered with a bluish bloom on the underside.Golden yellow flowers (darker on the tops) develop from May to September.
Spreads profusely and spreads easily, with the help of her ants; therefore we should not be surprised when we find single specimens in different places of the garden. It is classified as a long-lived perennial. It grows well both in semi-shaded and sunny, dry places.
Kokorycz empty
Corydalis cava. It occurs in beech forests in south-western Poland and in the Carpathian Foothills. The species name comes from the tuber, which is empty inside. The tubers grow 20-30 cm high in early spring, each with two blue-green leaves. The flowers are pinkish-purple or white.Blooms profusely from March to May and forms lush, compact clumps.After seed production, all the aerial part disappears. It spreads itself, giving heterogeneous offspring. It has healing and poisonous properties.
Kokorycz full
Corydalis solida. Unlike the previous species, it creates small, full tubers. It grows up to a height of 20 cm. It is visible in forests and old parks in early spring during flowering.The flowers are pinkish purple, pale pink or purple in color.At the end of May, the plants die.
The selected varieties of 'George Baker' with intensely red flowers and 'Blue Dream' with light blue color of flowers are especially suitable for the garden.During flowering, selection is necessary, because not all plants of these varieties, generatively multiplied, exactly repeat the characteristics of the mother plant.
Kokorycz bent
Corydalis flexuosa is a species recently discovered, only in 1986, in China. It forms dense clumps of 20-50 cm high.The underground part of this perennial consists of easily dividing stolons with fleshy scales (tubers).Stems are stiff, erect and unbranched. The most attractive varieties are:
- 'China Blue' - with blue-white flowers and green leaves with red-purple dots at the base of the leaves,
- 'Purple Leaf' - with blue-purple flowers and dark purple young leaves that turn green,
- 'Blue Panda' - with fragrant, azure-blue flowers and light gray-blue leaves.
These perennials bloom in May and usually die back in summer, but with good weather they can bloom again in autumn. We breed them in summer by division.
Raised Kokorycz
Corydalis elata is distinguished by more lush growth (height 30-70 cm). It grows with short, thickened runners. The flowers have blue inky blue (in the 'Blue Summit' variety) and light green leaves. Blooms profusely in June.Perfect for semi-shaded beds, e.g. between trees.Easily multiplies by division in spring or at the end of summer.
Kokorycz Wilson
Corydalis wilsonii grows 10-20 cm high, has blue-green fern leaves collected in rosettes, from the center of which grows in April-May (sometimes in July) inflorescence shoots with bright yellow flowers.It is best to plant it on rockeries.We propagate Kokorycz from seeds.
Kokorycz lakolistna
Corydalis cheilanthifolia is a lovely perennial with low (10-20 cm) clumps of feathery leaves with a characteristic greenish-brown color and narrow clusters with tiny yellow flowers. It blooms in May-June. It spreads itself.
Substrate for growing coconut oil
If we provide Kokorychas with the right conditions for growth, we will not spend too much time caring for them. You just need to loosen the substrate and weed, especially when you want to obtain the right seedlings, and from time to time enrich them with well-processed compost or decayed leaves.We should also control the spread of plants, because they spread by themselves.Kokorycze winter well, but this does not apply to the bent Kokorycze, which can freeze in a frosty and snowless winter.Therefore, for this time, let's cover it with fibrous peat, needles, bark or pine twigs.
Stand for Kokorycz
Native Kokorycze grow well in any humus-rich and moist (especially in spring) soilFor stronger-growing species of foreign origin, more fertile soils are better. Rock garden species like rocky, humus soils, moderately moist in summer and dry in winter.They feel best in shady, quiet and cool places.So we can plant them under the wide, not too dense canopy of trees and shrubs. The exception is the yellow bun, which has already been mentioned below.
