Friday, April 2, 2010

Petasites frigidus var. palmatus

Petasites frigidus var. palmatus in the Genessee Meadow March 2010

Petasites frigidus var. palmatus in the Genessee Meadow March 2010

Petasites frigidus var. palmatus in Genessee Meadow March 2010

Petasites frigidus var. palmatus is a Washington native plant that grows in moist & shaded places mostly west of the Cascade Mountains.  Arctic Sweet Coltsfoot (the common name) also grows along the Pacific Northwest coast from northern California to Alaska, across the northern tier of the eastern United States & across Canada.  In Seattle, you will find it growing in boggy places such as the Washington Park Arboretum & the Genessee Meadow.  It spreads fairly aggressively in moist, shaded conditions.  That might not be a bad thing, if you are the sort of gardener who doesn't want to put a lot of effort or money into your swampy garden.  It would be less likely to spread in a drier spot.  In fact, it would be unlikely to survive in my dry hilltop garden.

5 comments:

Karen said...

It is lovely and if it stays put in its boggy habitat, is unlikely to spread to my place either! Also dry, also on a hill. Hope your garden survived the crazy windstorm, hoping to make it over to see it today but it depends on the kiddo's mood. Good luck with the tour!

allanbecker-gardenguru said...

When the word "spread" and "aggressively" are used in the same sentence, I get the kind of shivers that only gardeners understand.

Noel Morata said...

aloha jordan,

this is a beautiful plant, wish i had a boggy environment, too much drainage here...

great photos

Helen at summerhouse said...

I feel so lucky to have discovered your blog! You are a fount of info! And also you have a plant that I featured on my blog as a mystery plant because I really didn't know what it was...bought it at a garage sale a few summers ago. And yes it is spreading and it loves it's shady spot. And this year it bloomed. I suppose I'll have to pot some of it up and share.

Lisa said...

What a beautiful plant!