Yes without a doubt, very nice structural plant for the shade garden. I grow Ligularia dentata 'Othello' too, but youÂll have to look for Ligularia dentata ÂBritt-Marie CrawfordÂ, a outstanding variety with deep, dark, glossy, chocolate maroon leaves which are dark purple on the under side. Although the slugs sure adored them more than I did this year ;)

Sharon

Sharon, the slugs love my plant too. If you look close you can see how much..LOL I will have to see if I can find the Britt-Marie Carwford. Thank you.

Yes, Ligularia dentata is a terrific plant! There are also many cultivars/selections with different leaf colors and sizes.
And if you like that ligularia, you may be interested in trying some of the other species and hybrids - haven't come across a non-worthy one yet.

Ligularia dentata 'Desdemona' - not a great photo; the foliage is greener than its counterpart, 'Othello' - on mine anyway (G. S. Thomas says the two cultivars are virtually identical so who knows). I'm just going by how mine were orignally labelled:
{{gwi:779242}}


An excellent hybrid, Ligularia x hessei; the kidney-shaped leaves get to about 15" across, and the whole plant gets to over 6':


{{gwi:779243}}
{{gwi:779245}}


Another hybrid, new for me this year, Ligularia x palmatiloba. It was labelled as 'Gregynog Gold', which is similar to x hessei, but was evidently mislabelled:
{{gwi:779246}}


For very dramatic dark foliage, Ligularia dentata'Othello':
{{gwi:772536}}

If you want earlier bloom and sun-tolerance, 'The Rocket' is great:
{{gwi:779247}}



Anyway, they are fantastic plants and there are many other species that I have yet to encounter.

Hey, Jan, we're talkin' ligularias -where are you? LOL!

Oh I want them all!!!!!! Where do you get them, I've never seen them anywhere else B4. Catalogs, if so I need to be paying better attention then. Oh your pictures have made me feel very greedy and I WANT THEM!!!

Yes, garden centers or mail order - whichever you have access to, or whatever your preference. Ligularias are not at all uncommon, so... GO NUTS!! LOL!

Do I smell a new Ligularia Fan? Wonderful! Let me enable your addiction.

Great pics Lori. I am convinced Ligularia x hessei is the same as 'Gregynog Gold'. Just sold under different names.

I don't think Ligularia przewalskii has been mentioned. Definitely a nice one everyone should have.

I also have L. dentata 'Woerlitzer Gold' and L. japonica. The later is absolutely terrific. Hits 6 feet (counting the flowering stalks) and has gorgeous foliage which is different from all the others. Get L. japonica! I am hoping the seed heads on this will have a chance to ripen this fall because I intend to collect seed if possible.

A couple of new ones I am going to try from seed this year are L. fisheri and L. holmi (a subalpine?). I suspect it will take years to get a decent plant from seed....but going to try anyway. Incidentally, that is the only downside to Ligularias. It takes 3-4 years for purchased plants to 'come into their own'....but then they just get bigger and better every year.

Has anyone started Ligularias from seed? How long does it take to get a somewhat decent size plant?

Yes, slugs are a terrible problem on the L. dentata cultvars. Haven't found them to be problematic on the other Ligularia species or crosses. Load up on the slug bait!

One of the problems I have, in terms of growing all the Ligularias I want to add my collection, is space. These plants need a lot space in a shady area. Something I don't have. Lucky for me, I take care of a very large shade bed at the local nursing home so I keep ripping out other shade-loving plants and adding to my Ligularia collection at that site!

Echoes - Since you are on this side of the border, I am going to include a link at the bottom for an excellent mail order source for Ligularias. I think they have about seven of the ones mentioned on this thread. Do avoid the ones with the species name of tussilaginea. This would not be hardy and has been reclassified as Farifugium tussilaginea. But there are still places that list it as a Ligularia. Often it is sold as a variegated version. Not Hardy.

Echoes - Zone 3 in Oregon? Can I assume you live in the mountains?

Good luck on your venture into the wonderful world of Ligularias. Am I going to have to give up my position as the president of the Ligularia Fan Club? LOL.
Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Dipper Farm

Re. ligularias from seed - I had a seedling of 'The Rocket' appear (or rather, I noticed it then) in the spring of 2004 - it had a couple of leaves then. I moved it to a different spot, where it bloomed this year with one flower spike and has formed a reasonably substantial plant...so perhaps not all take so long from seed?

That's encouraging news, Lori. I shall approach starting Ligularias from seed with a positive attitude!

If I picked a whole stem of L.japonica before the seed heads were completely ripe...and put the stem in a glass of water....do ya think I could successfully finish the ripening process? I really doubt those seeds are going to ripen before hard, hard freezes. Sheesh...predicting snow on Wenesday. Yuk
Jan

Wenesday? What kinda word is that? Where did that 'd' go? Gotta start using that spellchecker! LOL.
Jan

The attached site shows a few more...
Wow, that L. japonica is lovely!

Jan, sure, sounds like a good way to spread the odds (i.e. seeing if a cut flower stalk will set viable seeds). I'm often surprised that mine manage to set seed, even as late-blooming as they are, and with the cruddy weather that comes and goes starting around about now.

To my frustration, I can't even find a picture of L. holmi - is it a native of Alaska? How are you coming up with these exotica?!? LOL!

What do you think of L. macrophylla (the horseradishy one from Rix-Phillips)? I'd find a spot for that one too if I ever stumbled across it!

I suspect there must be some fabulous plants in the Senecio family too (some "Ligularias" were once "Senecios")- has anyone made any inroads into that group?

Here is a link that might be useful: more ligularias

Thank you, thank-you, thank-you, Lori, for that website. I don't know why I never searched for Crûg Farm Plants before. The owners are cohorts/friends of Dan Hinkley of Heronswood fame (Washington State). Together and separately they make many expeditions world-wide to collect seed and plants. Plants-people of the most excellent caliber. Hersonswood catalog is a joy to read. Hinkley raises the written English language to an art form. Included in the catalog are some of his essays and musings...perhaps I enjoy those more than the plant descriptions!

But I digress......

The site has more Ligularias to drool over!

L. holmi. Nary a picture of that plant around. Here is how Alplains describes it.
9cm x 12cm. Zone 3. Seed collected at Gunnison Colorado, 12000 feet (3548 meters). "Essentially a robust version of L.soldanella with larger yellow flowers and sparsely-dentate, leathery leaves, beet-purple on the reverse. Rocky soils.

L. soldanella (by Alplains): "One of the best in the genus with succulent leaves, typically beet-red on the reverse. Short-caped, stubby flowers with wide yellow petals."

Now....how could I pass on an opportunity to get L. Holmi seed? Native to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Perhaps extends into Canada?

If you do a search on Ligularia soldanella you will find it goes by the horrid common name of Colorado Ragwort. Also, it is sometimes listed as a AKA Senecio soldanella. RMRP offers it under the name of Senecio soldanella. I will put a link to a pic on the bottom of this post. Don't you think it looks like a minature of a dark leaved L. dentata? Apparently L. soldanella is difficult to grow out of its alpine environment. That is why I chose the 'more robust version' in the form of L. holmi. This cross-over in genus name confirms your comment about the worthiness of exploring the Senecios when looking for Ligularias!

L. macrophylla - I would do anything (short of immoral) to get my grubby hands on this plant. Hopefully, next year Heronswood will again offer Ligularia seedlings listed only with a code number but described as "Large arrow-shaped leaves and unbranched spikes of flowers to 5 feet." From China. Sounds kinda like L. macrophylla....and if its not.....well, it probably is as close as I will ever come to the real thing. Also possible, by next year, maybe they will have committed to an actual species name. Maybe it will be L. macrophylla?

Incidentally...in my earlier post I erred in saying I was going to start seed of L. fischeri. Where was my brain? I meant L. sibirica. (GN seed.)

I think I hear some one whispering, "Shut-up already about Ligularias!" LOL
Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: L.soldanella AKA S. soldanella

Yes I live on the eastside of the Cascade Mountains that run smack dab in the middle of the State. Elevation is right at 4600 feet. Thanks for all this wonderful information... I can feel my pocket book getting lighter as I type. LOL

{{gwi:779248}}