What a beautiful plant, dtd. I never saw it--or even heard of it. And you got it tax-free whilst virtuously pursuing another errand--the chairs. I Googled it and there were a bunch of hits. Sorry I don't have any first-hand experience to share.

The Crownsville Nursery site had the best info. It is yet another Terra Nova nursery intro, a relative of heucheras, clump-forming, hardy to VT. More info on the site.

Very, very lovely plant! Thanks for letting us know about it. Hope someone here has grown it and can share more info.

Snort.......ya mean someone else lies about their 'errand running'??? It's a private joke now for us!

Well, isn't that purty? I just might have to pick up one. Appears very hardy and I'm desperate for some more part shade plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Dipper

I got one last year and I have to say I'm underwhelmed. No red tinges until fall. It disappeared completely in October and I thought I lost it, but it came back fine. I'll try to get a picture later.

I am also wondering if it might do better when it gets a bit older. Some plants take awhile to reach their stride.

Mine is in moist shade. When it gets big enough to divide, I will try a bit more sun.

Aha, another one of those underwhelming groundcovers - I fall for them every time.

Did yours bloom, Wendyb? Some of the photos show a flower that looks a lot like Astilboides tabularis (formerly Rogersia t.) - a flower that I missed the first few years I grew the plant, because it came so early - but then again you can't trust google images very far.

Hmmm.. I don't think so. I wasn't expecting any bloom, maybe I missed it.

I've grown it for about 4 years now. It blooms early every spring...if you make a point of looking you may even see the blooms. In my shady site it is underwhelming and certainly not a groundcover. Mind you, there are lots of rodents about who dig and munch, so maybe it would spread more in ideal circumstances. It does at least return however. I think mine, NOT the 'Crimson Fans', has no Fall colour. Might be worth trying a bit more sun...?

Mine's got quite a bit of red on the leaves, and was in the shady area of a local nursery. We'll see how it does in the wilds of my "woods." Thanks for the info, I'm hoping this will work as an alternative to Euro ginger, which I use a lot but which disappears (visually, at least) in the woods.

European ginger disappears for you? You mean it is too shady there or it goes dormant? I adore Euro ginger! My favourite ground cover!
I sure hope your Mukdenia thrives. Then I'll try the red variety too! ;-)

Oh, I love gingers too, the European gingers are just not what I'm looking for in this particular deep woodsy area - they spread nicely in other shady areas. I'd rather use something with a larger leaf in my tiny wild woods; especially something unusual. We'll see how this works out.

I was trying to collect all the hardy gingers at one point, but I think I quit at about 5. When I win the lottery, or get that big promotion (ha!), I might take it up again. Much more practical than another collection I attempted, viburnums. I gave up on that after I realized I couldn't cram them all onto a 1/3 acre lot.

I'm growing this Galax next to Mukdenia and it stays this burgundy color all fall and winter. Love it! I got them both last year so its hard to tell how they will fill in and mature, but so far the galax wins for color!