Ligularia

Did you know

• Ligularia is one of the most dramatic shade perennials in existence—huge dinner-plate leaves, often dark purple beneath, topped by orange daisy flowers on tall black stems.
• The plant droops melodramatically in midday heat even when soil is wet—it's a famously sensitive 'fainting' plant that recovers as soon as the sun moves off.
• The cultivar 'Britt-Marie Crawford' has nearly black leaves the size of a serving platter—it was discovered as a chance seedling by a Scottish gardener and has become a global bestseller.
• Slugs love ligularias passionately, and gardeners have been waging slug wars over ligularia leaves for decades—copper rings and beer traps are the most common defenses.
• In its native Chinese and Japanese mountains, ligularia grows along stream banks where its roots are perpetually soaked—it cannot survive even brief drought.

Color meanings

Uses

• Shade gardens
• Pond margins
• Bog gardens
• Specimen plant