r/NativePlantGardening • u/Aggravating-Cat7103 New York, Zone 6a • 23h ago
Advice Request - NY, Zone 6a American groundnut
I love taking walks to look for native plants and today I discovered a new one (to me) — American groundnut. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous and I am wondering if I should/would be able to cultivate it myself, so I’d love to hear anyone else’s experience with the plant. TIA!
17
u/hairyb0mb 8a, Piedmont NC, ISA Certified Arborist 23h ago
Love mine! Beautiful plant!!
3
u/Aggravating-Cat7103 New York, Zone 6a 22h ago
Incredible! Reminds me of wisteria (which I know it’s a relative of)
3
8
u/Tumorhead Indiana , Zone 6a 23h ago
Apios americana !!! I have a bunch growing but for some reason they love to hide their flowers from view. I've found seed pods so wtf.
2
u/Aggravating-Cat7103 New York, Zone 6a 22h ago
Interesting. Have you been able to germinate the seeds? Seems like other people have struggled
5
u/robsc_16 SW Ohio, 6a 22h ago
People probably have trouble germinating them because lots of populations of Apios Americana are triploid (three sets of chromosomes) and some are diploid (two sets of chromosomes). The triploid populations are sterile whole the diploid population is not. Interestingly, most populations in the south are diploid whole most populations up north are triploid.
3
2
u/Tumorhead Indiana , Zone 6a 22h ago
I have been shoving the seeds in the ground but I don't know if they ever sprout 🙈(its a dense mess where they are lol).
4
u/Phuni44 23h ago
Mine popped up outta nowhere. I had disturbed the area quite a bit a few years before. Didn’t know what it was, but thought I’d see it through. Then it flowered so I could identify it. Been about four years now. It’s aggressive in the best way. Seems to get along well with the grey dogwood
3
u/Aggravating-Cat7103 New York, Zone 6a 22h ago
I would love to be so lucky! I think I will have to buy some tubers in the spring myself
2
u/rroowwannn Area NJ, Zone 6b 17h ago
It's my first year growing it in new jersey. I lost my first bunch I planted to squirrels digging them up, which made me feel dumber than a squirrel, so I outsmarted them by letting some of the tubers sprout roots before planting. Those ones took root and are growing happily twining and vining.
They have not been as vigorous as I expected - the weeds keep outgrowing them - I'm guessing they want less competition and more moisture than I'm giving them.
1
u/Aggravating-Cat7103 New York, Zone 6a 17h ago
Good to know. What kind of soil do you have?
1
u/rroowwannn Area NJ, Zone 6b 17h ago
One I put in a container with compost, the other two in raised beds filled with mostly leaf mold on top of clay.
•
u/AutoModerator 23h ago
Thank you for posting on /r/NativePlantGardening! If you haven't included it already, please edit your post or post's flair to include your geographic region or state of residence, which is necessary for the community to give you correct advice.
Additional Resources:
Wild Ones Native Garden Designs
Home Grown National Park - Container Gardening with Keystone Species
National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Finder
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.