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Polemoniaceae
Jacob's Ladder
Polemonium caeruleum
Aspiration, reaching upward, dreams.
- Family
- Polemoniaceae
- Genus
- Polemonium
- Native to
- Europe, Asia
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 30–90 cm
- Sunlight
- Part shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 3–7
- Lifespan
- Long-lived perennial
Did you know
- The name comes from the leaves, which are arranged in two parallel rows along the stem like the rungs of a ladder — a reference to Jacob's biblical dream of a ladder reaching to heaven.
- Charles Darwin was so taken with Jacob's ladder that he experimented on it to study self-fertilization.
- Bumblebees and small butterflies favor the bowl-shaped flowers, which are perfectly sized for medium-tongued pollinators.
- It self-seeds gently in the right woodland conditions, forming colonies that drift between hostas and ferns.
- Variegated cultivars with cream-edged leaves are some of the most striking foliage plants for the spring shade garden, even before the flowers open.
Color meanings
Blue
Spiritual ascent