All the Dirt on Gardening

In "Perennials for Every Purpose" (c 2000) Larry Hodgson tells readers that Persicaria used to be lumped in with all fleeceflowers, into the genus Polygonum. The family was broken up into Polygonum and Fallopia. Polygonum cuspidatum is now Fallopia japonica sold as an ornamental but potentially invasive. Most gardening books leave it out all together. What stimulated my interest is that I have one that I picked up at a free plant exchange and hear very little about it. Last night I was browsing the Roots and Rhizomes Catalog ("for the discriminating gardener") and there it was. R & R says Persicaria is also called Tovara and Polygonum. Their varieties and descriptions are - Persicaria alata: creeping, trailing and can be invasive so plant in pots. Persicaria amplexicaulis Firetail: bright red flowers above heart shaped green leaves. Fine Gardening has a piece about it here . Roots & Rhizomes Persicaria Painters Palette Persicaria filiformis P...

One of the plants that reseeds quite a bit in the shade garden is Tovara Virginia or Painter's Palette. It brightens up the shadowy places beneath trees with it's colorful leaves. Late in the summer, its flowers rise on tall, bare stalks, looking more like tiny red beads than flowers. In 2001, David Barnett posted a dozen shade loving plants on the Arlington Organic Garden Club webpage . Barnett's list is here and includes Tovara , Hardy Begonia, Turk's Cap and others. Missouri Botanical Garden's MOBOT Plantfinder page says the common name is knotweed . They also say it is a Missouri native they call Polygonum virginianum . At the URI Master Gardener's Favorite Plants site , the plant is recommended as Polygonum virginianum or Tovara virginiana . Their term for her willingness to fill a bed is "an enthusiastic self-sower". Rhode Island isn't in our horticultural zone but their list of plants is similar. Lots of great information and ...