Corydalis solida Beth Evans

The bird on a stool is what this plant is affectionately called by plant lovers. The mother of Corydalis Beth Evens and the Corydalis Purple Bird is the Corydalis solida and this is native to the inner dune edges where it thrives locally. Despite its delicate appearance, it is a tough bulbous plant that sows and spreads easily. Apparently, it is the ants that spread its seeds.

The Corydalis solida is not too flashy, to admire the beauty of its soft pink colored flowers you really have to bend your knees. When the Corydalis solida came to stand in the gardens of plant collectors near exotic Corydalis species, you saw new colors spontaneously emerge. Bright colors and a few larger plants emerged, some of which were also easy to propagate.

This is also how Beth Evans and Purple Bird came into being. It is believed that Beth Evans came from a spontaneous cross between Corydalis solida and Corydalis transsylvanica, which originated in Romania. Corydalis Purple Bird is said to be a possible hybrid from a spontaneous cross with Corydalis decipiens.

These Corydalises are really fantastic for an informal or wild piece of garden where they are left alone. If you plant them both near each other, other colours can also spontaneously arise with you.

I was never that keen on Corydalis solida, but now that I have seen these Corydalises growing against a piece of tree stump in the garden for a few years, I have come to think differently. Tough bulbs that even when our goat had eaten them, simply returned the following year.