This is a fantastic plant and my favourite amplexicaulis cultivar. In my garden, it flowers for well over 3 months from mid/late summer ...Read Morewell into the fall. The vivid crimson spikes make a bold statement and create an impact even when viewed from a distance. It has come back reliably in my zone 4a garden, seems happy in part shade, and has not seemed too fussed about dry spells.
Seems to also be a wasp magnet. Every time I see this in bloom it has several wasps feeding on the flowers. Obviously if you dislike wa...Read Moresps (or if you are allergic to wasp stings) this plant should be avoided.
A handsome, well-behaved, long-lived border perennial. This cultivar is supposed to be a little shorter than the species, and to have lon...Read Moreger flower spikes, but I can't tell them apart. Both bloom nonstop from early summer to frost. Neither is either aggressive or invasive.
Grows from a thick shallow rhizome that is slow-growing and easy to control. Better with protection from afternoon shade if you grow it here without irrigation (Boston, MA Z6a), though I've seen another cultivar happily growing in full sun twenty years after being abandoned.
I have had significant Japanese beetle damage on other plants, but not on this one.
The Mountain Fleeceflowers are widely used in European gardens. Give this plant elbow room. Wonderful for massing in (slightly) moist ar...Read Moreeas. Flowers are excellent for cutting. These longflowering plants are easy to maintain and combine very well with grasses or in 'Dutch Wave' plantings. Plants are easily divided in early spring. While this plant is a steady spreader, it is not considered to be invasive in any way.
Mountain Fleece 'Firetail' received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM)
Persicaria amplexicaulis syn Bistorta amplexicaulis, Polygonum amplexicaule - Bistort, Mountain Fleece
Persicaria amplexicaulis is...Read More a clump-forming, leafy, semi-evergreen perennial from the Himalayas. It has oval to heart-shaped mid-green leaves and grows to a height and spread of 4'. Its profuse spikes of small, rich red flowers are borne from summer to fall.
P amplexicaulis 'Firetail' is a low grower with vivid crimson flowers.
'Inverleith' is a dwarf cultivar with short spikes of deep crimson flowers.
Zones 5-9
Cultivation: Most species are vigorous and very frost hardy and easily cultivated in any well-drained soil in sun or part-shade; indeed, some are too vigorous and may become invasive. The stronger growers are best planted where they can be contained. Propagate from seed in spring or by division in spring or fall.
This is a fantastic plant and my favourite amplexicaulis cultivar. In my garden, it flowers for well over 3 months from mid/late summer ...Read More
Seems to also be a wasp magnet. Every time I see this in bloom it has several wasps feeding on the flowers. Obviously if you dislike wa...Read More
A handsome, well-behaved, long-lived border perennial. This cultivar is supposed to be a little shorter than the species, and to have lon...Read More
The Mountain Fleeceflowers are widely used in European gardens. Give this plant elbow room. Wonderful for massing in (slightly) moist ar...Read More
A Japanese beetle magnet! Unless the plant is sprayed, the leaves resemble green Swiss cheese in a day or two.
Persicaria amplexicaulis syn Bistorta amplexicaulis, Polygonum amplexicaule - Bistort, Mountain Fleece
Persicaria amplexicaulis is...Read More