Thanks,
Not an easy plant to find around here!
I did find one place in Canada, that also happens to have some other wonderful and hard to find plants that I covet, so I may have to bite the bullet...
I have found seeds, all over the place...
this first one, R. yunnanensis, looks to be much more heat tolerant, taller and sprawly
copied and pasted from ??somewhere:
RHODIOLA
—Rhodiola yunnanensis. (50) RHDI-28. Packet: $4.00
'HONG JING TIAN'. Caudex-forming succulent with annual stems to 18", with whorled leaves. Pink-purple flowers on female plants and yellowish flowers on males. Western China, 3000 - 12,000 feet, in forests. Zone 7. Used like R. rosea in Chinese medicine. Easier to grow and more heat-tolerant than rosea. Germinates in 1 - 2 weeks.
RHODIOLA (ro-dee-O-la)
CRASSULACEAE. Succulent perennials much like Sedum. Easily grown in well-drained soils. Hardy.
—Rhodiola rosea. (100) RHDI-21. Packet: $3.00
1/4 gram: $25.00, Gram: $54.00, 5 grams: $200.00, 10 grams: $350.00
'ROSE-ROOT'. Dense clusters of yellow flowers in May and June. Very hardy perennial to 10", with crowded succulent grey-green leaves, often tinged red at the base. Northern regions. Zone 1. The leaves have been eaten in salads, steamed, or pickled. The rose-scented root is a valuable medicine, being adaptogenic like ginseng, increasing strength, endurance, learning, memory, is cardioprotective, anti-carcinogenic, and is used for a wide variety of conditions. For a good overview, see Herbalgram No. 56, 2002. Prechill 4 weeks or give GA-3 at 200 to 500ppm to germinate in 1 - 3 weeks.
