Pretty Persicaria, Easy For Shade

My apologies, readers. Yesterday’s blog contained an error in the plant photo identification. This is the corrected version. Sorry!

If you are looking for a low-maintenance plant with attractive foliage that will fill a shady area quickly, look no further than the Persicarias. Persicaria (pronounced per-sih-KAR-ee-uh) genus has a reputation for invasiveness but there is at least one member of the genus that is well-behaved. The common name, Knotweed, does not lend appeal. There are two species worthy of consideration.

Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ leaves are burgundy marked with a vee-shaped shield. It has tiny white (sterile) flowers, but is grown for the lovely foliage. Unlike some of its cousins, Red Dragon has a clumping habit. It does not spread underground by stolons. It will, however, root if one of the stems rests atop soil. I have not encountered this, but a peony support or modified tomato cage would ensure it does not.  

Persicaria virginiana ‘Painter’s Palette’ brightens a shady area with pale yellow-to-cream foliage marked with green, pink, dark green and burgundy variegations. It is sometimes identified as Tovara virginiana. Painter’s Palette does spread by underground runners, so take great care to ensure that it does not extend into undesired areas. It produces skinny stems with tiny red flowers. These are attractive when seen up close, but are not particularly impressive.

Both Red Dragon and Painter’s Palette will reach 24 inches in height. They are low-maintenance, tolerating just about any soil and limited drought, though they thrive in partial shade with regular irrigation. Consider them as an alternative to Hosta. Because the beauty of these plants is in their foliage rather than blooms, they provide a much longer season of appeal than flowering plants. Although Persicarias are in the same family as buckwheat, they are not edible. Both species die to the ground in winter and return reliably in zones 6-8, maybe wider. In the Mary Snoddy garden, deer nibble on Red Dragon while they ignore the adjacent planting of Painter’s Palette. I don’t know why. I have given up trying to determine why certain plants are deer fodder.

Even though it is not perennial and it is not for shade, another Persicaria that deserves an honorable mention is Persicaria orientale. Its common name, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate, lured me into planting it. Unlike the two mentioned above, Kiss-Me is an annual.  It is grown from seed in full sun. It will not transplant, so must be started directly in the ground.  It reseeds, so an initial success is usually followed by a reappearance year after year. The Japanese Beetles love it as much as I do. By late summer, the leaves are tattered, so I have let this one slip from the Snoddy garden.

Please do not confuse the above Knotweeds with Mexican Bamboo, a thug also known as Japanese Knotweed. Now listed as Polygonum cuspidatum, it has moved in and out of several genus, including Fallopia, Reynoutria and Otatea. Mexican Bamboo is invasive everywhere. Once established, it is darn near impossible to eradicate. I set a clump on fire numerous times before I finally caved and treated it with nasty herbicides. Even then, it required multiple treatments to kill it. Several years ago, a normally reliable catalog company sold a variegated form that they said would not spread. It was beautiful; I was seduced. They were wrong. It spreads invasively, albeit a tiny bit slower than the non-variegated variety. DO NOT plant Mexican Bamboo. Newsweek magazine ran an article in July, 2014 entitled “Japanese Knotweed: The Invasive Plant That Eats the Value of Your Home.” I rest my case.

Painter's Palette

Red Dragon

Red Dragon

Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate

Mexican Bamboo

Variegated Mex Bamboo

Stunning Shade Plant

Variegated Solomon’s Seal is a top performer in the Mary Snoddy garden. It looks good from the time bulbous, pinkish heads emerge from cold soil in March until dry, frost-killed yellow/tan leaves make whispery sounds in autumn breezes. In late spring, dainty white flowers dangle in pairs from the underside of its curved stems, like tiny white bells. These are described as fragrant, but I have never been able to detect a scent.

We do not normally think of tall plants as being groundcovers, but Solomon’s Seal works well as a carefree soil cover in areas where few other plants thrive. Solomon’s Seal is undemanding. It prefers partial shade and moist-to-wet soil, but survives full-sun exposure at a pond perimeter in my zone 7b garden. Elsewhere, I do not offer supplemental irrigation except in extended dry periods. Plants grown in sun attain only half the height of those grown in partial to full shade. It will also tolerate deep shade. They can be grown in containers, but all stems arch the same direction which may give an unbalanced look.

Plants combine well with ferns and hostas, and look especially great when paired with dark green European ginger, Asarum europaeum.

I am a bit of an evangelist when it comes to Solomon’s Seal. Visitors to my garden often admire the large swaths in my shady beds and woodland areas. Though they are best divided in autumn, I grab a sharp shovel and dig clumps of the shallow rhizomes to share. They spread rapidly enough to disguise the removals within one season. Plants are not bothered by insects and are rarely browsed by (my) deer,

There are several anecdotal explanations for the common name, but none of them appeal to me. Instead, I think the gardener who chooses this plant for their shade garden exhibits the wisdom of King Solomon. Variegated Solomon’s Seal, Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’ was named as Plant of the Year in 2013 by the Perennial Plant Association.

Solomon’s Seal in bloom

Solomon’s Seal buds pushing up in March

Architectural Acanthus

One of my favorite plants for shade is Acanthus, (pronounced ah-KAN-thus) commonly called “Bear’s Breeches” for unknown reasons.  There are two species available in nurseries, Acanthus mollis and Acanthus spinosus. See the accompanying photograph for a side-by-side comparison.

Both species have bold evergreen leaves that draw attention in the garden. When you see one in bloom, you cannot help but say, “Golly!” The leaves of mollis are large and shiny; the leaves of spinosus bristle with sharp spines. (Bet you saw that one coming, huh?).  Leaf clumps may reach three feet tall. Bloom stems jump up to five feet or more. In the Mary Snoddy garden, the height of the bloom stem is a direct reflection of any irrigation I have thrown their way. The more water, the taller the stem. They do prefer a drier soil, however, so don’t get carried away with the watering. Ensure good drainage during winter to prevent root rot.

Acanthus’s distinctive leaves served as the pattern for carvings on classical Greek architecture. Blooms appear in early to mid summer on sturdy stems, white petals held by dusky purple bracts.

Acanthus are cold-hardy zone 7-10. They are evergreen in my zone 7b garden. Plants may spread by seed or by underground roots. I have seen reports of invasiveness on the internet, but have not experienced any such behavior in the ten-plus years I have enjoyed them. Deer, rabbits and voles avoid them.

Acanthus spinosus on left; Acanthus mollis on right.

Prickly Acanthus spinosus

Mary Snoddy and Acanthus mollis ‘Rue Ledan’

Chinese Foxgloves

Spring means “garden tour time” here in South Carolina. I enjoy garden tours and attend as many as possible because (a) I enjoy seeing the way other people have conquered garden challenges and (b) I discover exciting new plants.

Several years ago, I encountered a plant I had never seen before. The homeowner/tour host told me it was a Chinese Foxglove, Rehemannia eleta. The beautiful tubular blooms made a pink cloud in the dry shade under a tree. The voice that lives in my head said, “Must.Have.That.Plant!”

I scoured all local nurseries, trying to find this beauty for sale. When that failed, I turned to the internet. I did not find plants, but I did find seeds for sale, at a company located in Ontario, Canada. Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and I held the precious envelope, ready to start my own pink cloud. When I opened the seed envelope, there was a smaller, waxy envelope inside. And inside this envelope there was – nothing. I telephoned the seed seller, which was a bit frustrating. I do not speak French; they did not speak Southern. When I was transferred to someone who understood my problem, I was told that there was, in fact, seeds inside the inner envelope. They were the size of dust particles. I hung up and found my trusty jeweler’s loupe, one of the handiest items ever created. 

Yes, there were minute seeds, visible with 10x magnification. I had never started anything so small, so I took special precautions. I used a very fine seed-starting mix, soaked it completely, and packed it lightly into plastic 4-cell packs. I tore a paper coffee filter into tiny scraps. then used tweezers dip each filter piece into water. I touched a corner of the damp filter to  the seeds, one at a time.  The seeds adhered nicely to the damp filter. I laid each filter piece and its attached seed on top of the seed starting mix, one per cell.  In just a few weeks, I had tiny plants and large self-congratulation. (This technique works well for any tiny seeds.)

Since then, the Chinese Foxgloves in the Mary Snoddy garden have reseeded into large, handsome clumps. (I guess Mother Nature did not need tweezers and a coffee filter.) They have a travel plan of their own design, and crop up in other places in the same shady bed. I assume that their seeds are wind-distributed.

Chinese Foxgloves thrive in the same soil, moisture and light exposure as Hostas. Despite the common name, they are not true Foxgloves (Digitalis). The tubular blooms have a bit of flare to the petals. They are cold-hardy In Zones 7-11. If deadheaded, they will bloom for months. I choose to skip the removal of old blooms, and still enjoy four to six weeks of flowering.