Trollius ledebour x chinensis 'Golden Queen'

Trollius “Golden Queen” is truly the queen of the buttercup family, having strongly erect stems requiring no staking, rising up to three feet from out of its clump of three-lobed serrated foliage. Each stem is topped by the largest brightest tangerine blossoms which are excellent for bouquets and magnets for butterflies and bees. After flowering cut back heavily to encourage a second flush of flowers.

These clump-forming perennials are suitable for full sun or part shade and as with all globeflowers, require moist conditions, it is appropriate to the bog garden and can be used as a marginal plant. It will easily adapt to well-drained soil but will not tolerate outright dryness.

This hybrid globe flower was created from the relatively late-blooming & tender Chinese Globeflower (T. chinensis) crossed with the taller and hardier Ledebour Globeflower (T. lebourii), getting the best traits from both species. This and other globeflower crosses are also sold under the hybrid name T. cultorum. The blooms opened flatter than other globeflowers so that the name 'globeflower' is not so applicable in this cultivar.

• Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit
  Trollius ledebour x chinensis 'Golden Queen' has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Sowing:
Trollius is a “cold germinator” Seeds can be left to go through the seasons naturally or germination hastened by “Stratifying” (imitating the seasons)
Germination should start to occur after 30 days, but can be slow and irregular. It may be up to a year, don’t throw away the seed tray too soon!

The “Natural” method:
Sow seeds at 10°C (50°F), covering them with a thin layer of vermiculite or free draining compost. Keep moist but not wet at all times.
Place each container in a polythene bag to conserve moisture. Check for germination regularly and transplant any seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle.
In autumn, place the containers outside in a cold frame or plunge them up to the rims in a shady part of the garden border and cover with glass or clear plastic.
Some of the seeds may germinate during the spring and summer and these should be transplanted when large enough to handle. The remainder of the seeds may lay dormant until next spring.

Hastening Germination by Stratification:
Soak and sow seeds as above and leave for four weeks. Transplant any seedlings that have germinated. After 6 weeks chill the remaining seeds: put the tray into the refrigerator at 4°C (39°F), or somewhere with a similar temperature for 6 to 8 weeks. Then remove to around 10°C (50°F)

Transplanting:
Prick out each seedling as it becomes large enough to handle, transplant into 7.5cm (3in) pots or trays. Gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions for 10 to 15 days before planting out, space 30cm (12in) apart.

Cultivation:
Cut down flowers as they are over to encourage After flowering cut back heavily for a second flush of flowers and to encourage basal growth.
Trollius thrive in neutral to alkaline soils that are moist, fertile and humus-rich. Partial shade is ideal but can tolerate full sun. Provide shelter from strong, cold winds and mulch annually in autumn.

Plant Uses:
Flower Borders and Beds. Damp areas & marginal planting, Shaded areas.

Notes:
All Trollius species are slightly poisonous when fresh to cattle and other livestock, but their acrid taste means they are usually left uneaten. They are, however, used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Silver-ground Carpet.
Like other members of the buttercup family, the globe-flower contains the blister-inducing, bitter-tasting poison ‘protoanemonin’, to deter browsers and protect the plant. It is a rubefacient when used fresh. (A rubefacient is a substance for external application that produces redness of the skin e.g. by causing dilation of the capillaries and an increase in blood circulation) Please take care when handling the plant as it may cause skin irritation.

Origin:
The species is native to Europe and Western Asia.
Even though it's is a member of the buttercup family, which sports some very aggressive members, the opposite is true of Trollius. It relies on seed production, having no powers of vegetative reproduction and therefore cannot spread by roots.
At first glance you could be forgiven for confusing trollius with the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), as both are spring-flowering golden-flowered bog garden buttercups. The easiest way to tell them apart is by their Ieaves; Trollius have leaves that are divided and buttercup-like, whilst those of Caltha are glossy and rounded.

Nomenclature:
The genus was named by Linnaeus in 1753.Troll is Latin for 'globe' and lax is Latin for 'loose'.
The species name ledebour x chinensis refers to its parents, the tall Ledebour Globeflower and the Chinese Globeflower
It is commonly called Globe Flower due to the shape of the blooms of the species.
Trollius ledebourii was named after German botanist Carl Friedrich von Ledebour, professor of science and Director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Tartu in Estonia 1811 to 1836, then in Heidelberg and Munich. He was the first one to describe many species that were collected in Siberia and other unexplored regions of the Russian empire, and he himself travelled to the Altai Mountains area. One of the species that he described for the first time was Malus sieversii, the wild ancestor of the apple (ref. Lonicera involucrata var. ledebourii)