no.. never.. and i quit wasting money on them a decade or so ago ..

seems like there might be multiple historical posts about the base hatred for this foo foo plant ...

give yourself a pat on the back .. and move onto something that is a real perennial ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: and not to insinuate your should have searched.. but to prove to you.. that you are not alone ....

No never, already tried too many times.

Nope, same as above. One came back two years in a row. My personal record.

tj

Mine didn't come back and I won't buy it again at perennial plant prices.

another carp plant with a cool name ...

boy have i fallen for that trap too many times

ken

Which speices of Jacob's Ladder have you tried?

I have had good luck with the native species Polemonium reptens living at least 3 years and if the soil is good, self-seeding everywhere. It must be the all green native, not the variegated cultivar 'Stairway to Heaven'. That one is same species but very weak.

The other one commonly found at garden centers, P. caeruleum is the European Jacob's Ladder and agree, you are lucky to get about two years out of it. I find it rots in our sticky clay soil here in Chicago. The native species has a much prettier form to it and better suited to our soil.

I haven't seen it yet this year...but I had a Stairway To Heaven or something very similar for at least 6-7 years at my old house. Moved it last year to the new house, it seemed ok with the move but I guess I'll find out.

It is a very pretty variegated plant but I have found it sometimes peters out or if it self-seeds is not true to form. Although, in a grouping I think that the variegated with the non-variegated would look very cool together! That said, it is worth a second look at.

Have planted dozens of Jacob's ladder plants over the years. All of them were purchased as plants, in flower.

Like a number of garden perennials, I haven't found them to be particularly long lived, though I'd expect to get at least two or three years out of them in mixed perennial beds.

The Polemonium caeruleum in the picture below (in front of the columbine) was planted at least three years before the picture was taken.

Plain green - can't get rid of it and I keep trying. The ones I fell in love with - a couple years then gone.

I only grow Polemonium caeruleum and yes, they act like true perennials for me coming back year after year after year. In fact, the clumps grow so large I could probably divide and fill my garden with them if I wanted to. Are you growing these in too much shade? That could at least partially account for their short life. These aren't shade plants - at least not in my experience.

Kevin

The green leaved, blue flowering one is perfectly hardy for me and is almost invasive with its self sowing habits; I had a white one too but didn't see it last year. The variegated Jacob's Ladder is the one that is finicky.

I grew the plain green species from seed via winter sowing last year and planted multiple clumps in part sun. All but one clump has sent out new growth this year. My DIL has quite a robust clump growing in part shade that comes back reliably year after year and blooms profusely.

Can be a bit of a miff in the UK too - although I have a sterile caeruleam variety, Lambrooke Mauve which, being sterile, flowers all summer and seems to not seed itself to death because it has been reliably perennial for the last 3 years (this is the 4th).
Variegated - 'Brise d'Anjou et al. and the pinkish P.carneum are short-lived perennials - ie. 3 years if you are lucky.

For me Polemonium reptens is a fully hardy and easy perennial. It's been in a mostly shady and rather neglected corner of my garden for well over five years now. It blooms well in spring, has healthy green foliage, and is a very slowly spreading ground cover. I have well-drained, acid, silty soil with plenty of organic matter.

I am with those that find it reliable- depending on species. In my mind I've always separated Polemonium into two classes, those that flower enthusiastically, seed abundantly, and are short lived (pretty much bloom themselves to death it seems, though likely fall into the short lived perennial category). My P. viscosum 'Blue Whirl' is like that. Then you have your longer lived ones (least they have been for me). I've had P. caeruleum 'Brise d' Anjou' for six or more years and reptens 'Touch of Class' for going on three now. I believe both of those last cultivars are sterile. The first gets mildew sometimes, but has always come thru it.

PS. and before someone jumps on me saying I don't count since I live in "the temperate PNW".... the side of WA I live on is quite different from say Seattle- over here it is semi arid and snowy/cold in the winter. :-)
CMK

Just saw mine coming in today, sending up it's little sprouts...

I received a clump of what I assume is the species Polemonium reptans in a swap 5 years ago (hosted the swap myself actually) and it is already up about 4 inches this year. So, yes this particular specimen is perennial.

I bought a variegated cultivar of P reptans (not 'Stairway to Heaven' that's all I remember) at Santa Rosa 2 years ago, and that is also coming up this year. Which surprises me, because I lose many of the fancy cultivars purchased from commercial sources.

I have tried more than one year to winter-sow P. reptans from seed, with no germination. Didn't think this was supposed to be difficult to start from seed?

Here is the Santa Rosa plant - the swap plant looks like this except the flowers are bluer and the foliage isn't variegated.

-terrene, plant in your pic looks like 'Touch of Class' to me. I really love it- so robust too.

Totally guessing here, but your seed may need warm/cold to germinate better (unless it was old of course). In natural conditions my 'Blue Whirl' gets several months of warm weather before winter sets in (can't remember if they germ before winter, but thinking it is following spring). You could try WSing your seed in mid fall for the warm period. Just a thought anyway...
CMK

Yes I think it's Touch of Class Christin, it's a pretty plant and nice to hear it's rugged.