Thursday, February 2, 2012

Umbrella Plant

Darmera peltata

Also called Peltiphyllum peltatum. It forms a moderate to fast ( on wet soils ), rhizomatous, clumping perennial, reaching a maximum size of 7 x 10 ( rarely over 3 ) feet, that is native from coastal Oregon to northwest California. It is also native to a small section of central Utah. A clump of Darmera always looks spectacular on the edge of a pond.
The large, coarsely-toothed, deeply lobed, peltate-rounded leaves, up to 24 inches across, are glossy deep green turning to orange and scarlet-red during autumn. The deeply-veined leaves are borne on stalks up to 6 feet high.
The starry, pink flowers, up to 0.6 inches across, are borne on dense rounded cymes during mid spring. The flowers are borne atop stems as high as 6 feet before the foliage emerges.
Hardy zones 4 to 8 in partial to full shade though surprisingly tolerant of sun, drought and sandy soils. It prefers persistently moist, fertile soils, it even tolerates standing water. Darmera is resistant to slugs unlike somewhat similar looking Petasites which is often found with holes in the leaves.

* photos taken on May 27 2017 @ Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA

* photo of unknown internet source

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