Caper plants are small, spreading shrubs, eventually reaching one meter in height. Their flower buds are picked before they open and conserved in vinegar and salt (caper) and widely used in the Mediterranean cookery. The nice flowers are born on first-year branches. Young plants should preferably be grown under frostfree conditions, where they should be kept drier, very sunny and cooler at minimum 5°C in winter. Older, mature plants with a wooden rootstock may be planted in a rocky soil, very well drained in full sun in a protected spot in the open garden (e.g. at the bottom of a south facing wall). Prior to sowing soak seeds for 48h in luke warm water, then sow flat in any very well draining substrate at 15° to 20°C. Lower night temperatures (down to 10°C) will enhance the germination process. Germination in this genus is naturally irregular and usually takes several weeks to a couple of months. At temperatures constantly above 20°C seeds will not break their dormancy and this will impede germination. Keep seedlings always very sunny in a slightly moist soil. Ideal pot plants in a cool, yet frostfree and sunny wintergarden. All are USDA Climate Zone 7. 20 seeds per package. |
Capparis spinosa (Caper)30 (100)cm, Caper has bluish green, oval, slightly succulent leaves on spiny branches. White flowers with nicely contrasting rose to purplish sepals. Native throughout the central and eastern Mediterranean region, growing in dryish rock crevices and stone walls. This seed batch is from cultivated plants without any provenance data. V-VIII. |
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seed package (unknown provenance)2153 | € 2,99 | |||
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Capparis spinosa (Caper, ex Cyprus)50 (120)cm, Caper in a form from a population found close to the town of Perikklishia (Cyprus) at some 350m with most ornamental bluish green, oval leaves on spiny branches. This form has white flowers with a pale rose heart and rather narrow caper fruits. For a rocky, well drained soil in a protected spot in full sun. Best grown under protective cold glass at a minimum of 5°C in winter, as this form is supposedly not reliably hardy enough in Central Europe. V-VIII. |
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seed package 6363 | € 4,99 | |||
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Capparis spinosa (Caper, ex Lebanon)30 (100)cm, Caper in a form from a population found close to the town of Beit ed Dine (Lebanon) at some 850m with most ornamental bluish green, oval leaves on very spiny branches. This very nice form has pure white flowers and elongated caper fruits. For a rocky, well drained soil in a protected spot in full sun. Best grown under protective cold glass at a minimum of 5°C in winter, as this form is supposedly not reliably hardy enough in Central Europe. V-VIII. |
price (plus Shipping Costs) | |||
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seed package 2154 | € 4,99 |
Capparis spinosa ssp. rupestris (Balearic Caper)100 (150)cm, Balearic Caper has dark green, oval leaves with a bluish tinge, on either spineless or few-spined annual to semi-perennials branches formed from a perennial subterranean rootstock. It has large, showy white to pale rose flowers which are followed by elongated fruits. The subspecies rupestris is mostly found in the western Mediterranean, wheras subspecies spinosa comes the central and eastern Mediterranean. For any rich, very well drained substrate in a protected spot in full sun. Not reliably winter hardy in Central Europe, best grown in pots under frostfree conditions at a minimum of 5°C in winter with reduced watering. Ideal for a cold and frostfree greenhouse or a wintergarden. V-VIII. |
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seed package8031 | € 4,99 | |||
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