Trumpet Gentian

Did you know

• Trumpet gentian has flowers as long as the entire rest of the plant—huge upturned blue trumpets up to 3 inches long sitting on rosettes of small dark green leaves.
• Unlike spring gentian, trumpet gentian forms slow-spreading mats and grows on acid soil—gardeners distinguish them by the soil they prefer and by trumpet's much larger flowers.
• Each flower has five spotted lobes inside the throat and reflects a UV pattern visible only to bees—the lobes are 'nectar guides' for the bumblebees that pollinate it.
• In folk medicine across the Alps, the bitter root was the universal remedy for digestive complaints, fevers, and 'low spirits'—the original 'bitters' before they became fashionable cocktail ingredients.
• It is the floral symbol of multiple European national parks, including Switzerland's Swiss National Park and Italy's Gran Paradiso, where it grows wild on alpine meadows.

Color meanings

Uses

• Alpine gardens
• Rock gardens
• Specimen plant
• Cool-climate gardens