Sunday, October 22, 2006

Mountain Fleece Flower (Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail')




Mountain Fleece Flower
Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail'
(per-sih-KAR-ee-uh) (am-pleks-ih-KAW-liss)
Polygonaceae

This is an interesting perennial that you don’t see very often. Developed by Blooms of Bressingham this hardy plant is a slow spreader. I wouldn’t recommend it for the small garden but a nice patch in the larger garden or border is nice. My experience has been that it grows to about 3 feet and my 6 plants have become about 6 feet across after several years. The flower color is gorgeous, a really nice Crimson Red. It can tolerate part shade but looks better in sun. I have had a little problem with some rusty fungus on the leaves but it only seems to develop when the conditions are just right. There is a new cultivar out called ‘Taurus’ (Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Taurus'), which looks even better.

I had a few appointments this morning and then snuck off to the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford. I am working down the street and will probably try to go at least one more time. The gardens were nice. A lot of fall colors and quite a few flowers were out. I meant to stay about a half an hour but actually was there for 2 hours.

(Synonyms: Polygonum amplexicaule, Bistorta amplexicaulis)

No comments: