I love rodgersias. I only grow the Rodgersia aesculifolia (no variety name...) as I prefer the shape and texture of the leaves of that one. And it is the leaves you grow them for - I usually cut off the flowers. They are tougher than the 'moist soil' requirement might lead you to believe. A lot of mine grow quite happily in reasonably dry conditions - in fact the ones that get the most moisture are wimpy in comparison in my garden! The ones in the pictures below grow under the shade and canopy of white pines. They get some sun around noon when the sun is directly over a 'hole' in the tree canopy. The dense carpet of pine needles and the dry conditions under the pines limits what grows there but these rodgersias do fine with the rain that falls through the 'hole' in the canopy.

In early June not long after the leaves emerge:
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Lost Horizons is a great nursery! :-)

In August, viewed from further back - the rodgersias are on the shed side near the bend in the path.
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Thanks Woodyoak for those pictures. I am just curious as to how old/mature are your 'Rodgersia aesculifolia' and how large they get by August?

Lost Horizons is a great nursery!

I too love it. I have my handful of nurseries I rely on and this one is tops.

I wonder if there are similarly organized (or should I say disorganized ;) nurseries in the US?

Those rodgersias are probably about 10 years old, but they've been a good size since they were about 3 years old. The leaves are 3'+ wide by August. These ones grow the biggest of all the ones I have - I think the fairly deep shade makes them grow bigger leaves to capture as much light as possible.

I'm not sure where you are but have you ever been to Northland Nursery? (see link below) That's a great place to pick up plants at a good price. Because they are largely a wholesale propagation business, you do have to be careful to ensure that what you're buying is well rooted and not a recent cutting that hasn't a lot of roots. In the spring you need to look for the stuff that has obviously overwintered and is growing strongly again. I don't shop there in early-mid summer as most things are recent divisions, cuttings or seedlings. But late summer/early fall is good (I just bought a bunch of stuff a week or so ago...) as things are reasonably well established by then.

Here is a link that might be useful: Northland Nursery

Thanks for that note re Northland. Doing a quick scan I am betting that they have (many) more perennial varieties than is shown on their online catalogue. And when I am down in Waterdown I sometimes stop into the large Connon Nurseries sales yard.

It sounds like we hit a lot of the same places... Connon's wholesale side is usually where I end up, rather than the retail store... Have you been to Hortico in Waterdown? That place makes Lost Horizons look obsessively neat and tidy! :-) But it was the only place I could find white redbud trees. I think Hortico's best known for their roses but it's trees and shrubs that I go there for - although I haven't been there this year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hortico

I love Rodgersias! I only have the plain 'ol green ones, but if find one of the bronze cultivars locally, I'll definitely snatch it up. Haven't any of you noticed the fragrance of the blooms? Lovely, honey-like scent. I've also noticed flies like to rest on the leaves - not sure what's up with that.

Anyway, here's Roger. He's on the patio, which faces north and only gets limited early morning sun, though the rest of the day the shade is bright shade. I also have a Rodgersia planted in the ground on the west side of the house, where he does well.

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'woody', I have been scanning the on line catalogue for HORTICO....wow! Such a huge variety of perennials. I wonder how many of these they really carry.

I take it you have been there in person? What's it like?

And it appears they mail order. I have bookmarked their site.

Thank you.

I haven't been tto Hortico for a couple of years now. The times I've been there in the past, the perennials were in rough shape - but the trees and shrubs were good. Over the years they have flirted with bankruptcy a few times :-) so, lets just say, the facilitiy does not look like a lot of money was lavished on it... :-) But, maybe it's better now - I should check it out again but there's nothing I really need at the moment.

The other nursery we go to when we're looking for special things is Vineland Nurseries in Niagara - have you been there? If you're looking for Japanese maples or interesting evergreens in particular, that's the place to go. If they don't have what you're looking for, they will get it for you.

What are your favorite nurseries aside from Lost Horizons?

Here is a link that might be useful: Vineland Nurseries

For sure thanks for the information 'woody'. I would love to be able to plant trees but it is not possible on our small property.

For a 'brick and mortar' nursery of course I like LH. But also "Connon", "Harpers", "Glen Echo", "Humber", "Mason House Gardens" and "Johns Garden".

I've not been to Glen Echo but it's on my list of ones that look worth a visit someday. I'm also not familiar with Harpers, Mason House (although the name sound familiar....) or Johns - I'll have to find out more about those ones....

mxk3 wrote:

I love Rodgersias! I only have the plain 'ol green ones, but if find one of the bronze cultivars locally, I'll definitely snatch it up.

Well I beat you to the punch! I was out this chilly morning and the independent nursery in my area had several "Bronze Peacocks" for sale. I snapped one up (see picture). I have no idea where I will plant it.

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Lucky you! I've checked out a few places around here but no luck so far.

So I have the plant with no place to put it and you have the place but no plant....um...where do you live? ;)

Love these pics of Rodgersia. I'm putting this on my wish list. Rouge21, what combination are you contemplating?

daysquid wrote: what combination are you contemplating?

Some of

- "Liberty" Hosta
- "Lutea" Corydalis
- Japanese Maple 'Aureum'
- Dogwood 'Ivory Halo'
- -

I have a Rodgersia species (tag has long been lost) growing near the north wall of my house - no actual shade, but very little direct sun except a bit in June-July. It has expanded to a large clump and flowers nicely. Hostas and Tricyrtis also do well in this bed.

I just ordered Rodgersia Pinnata "Fireworks" from Lazy S's and it arrived today with a few more things I can't seem to find around here! I plan to plant it in partial shade down beside our koi pond where the soil stays moist but not competely wet and boggy. I hope it will be happy there! I don't know why I can't find them locally. They are beautiful and are 'supposed' to do well in our zone. I also bought a bottlebrush buckeye after seeing one on the grounds of the High Hampton Inn last year in Highlands, North Carolina. It was massive and gorgeous! I plan to plant it in partial shade down near our creek.

Reviving an old post. Does anyone have a bronze peacock or chocolate wings planted in dense shade? Do the browns and bronzes come out if they are planted in heavy shade? Also wanting to try them in a hotter spot under a large maple, but back far enough to keep them shaded for a larger part of the day. Lupines do decently around that general area, in a sunnier spot and they like water, so I'm hoping it would do OK. I ordered 3 after the one I bought last year didn't come back. Sad...but try, try again. Love looking at your pictures! (Post more!) I bought mine late last summer and it was small, so I never got to enjoy the full effect.

'laura', I have BP in lots of shade and it does not show the intended foliage colour. But having said that I love the plant...great incredibly long lasting blooms.

Thanks, Rouge. I guess I will have to buy some of the green varieties for the full shade areas and utilize my bronze in more sunlight =)

Any thoughts on the following types of locations?

1. An area that gets minimal sunlight in early spring, but as the days lengthen, it get about 4-5 hours of hot afternoon sunlight from roughly around noon-4. Soil stays very moist but well-drained in that area.

2. Another area much like the previous, but not quite as much sun and not quite as damp (although I'm not quite sure where I'll be able to cram in in this location). I will find a place, though!

3. The front of the house, almost full sun through early May until the birch and ash trees fill out. A ligularia is planted there and does pretty well, but it reminds me when it hasn't had enough water.

And another entirely different question: what do you like for companion plants to your rodgersia?

"Any thoughts on the following types of locations?" Laura, this will vary according to where you are. Area 1 might be fine this far north, but if you are in the Carolinas might not be. Here's how to add location info to your profile so that it posts automatically.

Go to Your Houzz in the upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.

If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures.

Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.

'laura' here is Bronze Peacock making itself known this spring. The dark coloration is most prominent now as it gets more light this time of year.

Does anyone have issues with the foliage on Rodgersia getting eaten by bugs, I think perhaps rose chafers? Mine did better last year, but the previous two summers it was munched down to the leaf veins, not a good look. Mine grows in part shade under a dogwood. I may move it to see if another area to see if the bugs bother it less.

'Babs' I have not noticed this with ours.

Five years on from a previous post, my clump of Rodgersia is still doing fine and preparing to flower (never any bug problems).

My Rodgersia does not get eaten.

The bronze colour fades to green in my garden, it has been a carefree and reliable perennial...surprised how well it does in zone 2. We had a frost last week that did in the leaves but it is sending out new ones.

I bought my Bronze Peacock last fall and it wintered over in its gallon pot - despite the snow and cold in January! I just planted it this morning on the east side of the house. It will get morning sun until about 1:00, then it will be shaded by the house the rest of the day. My garden beds are irrigated so it should stay moist. It is sharing space with Stained Glass hostas, variegated Japanese forest grass, Blackout heucheras, Visions astilbe (same color as BP flowers), and a Diablo ninebark. Yes, I have the bronze and green-gold going in that corner! I do surround my hostas with slug bait so I'll put some around BP, also! West Linn, OR

It is sharing space with Stained Glass hostas, variegated Japanese forest grass, Blackout heucheras, Visions astilbe (same color as BP flowers), and a Diablo ninebark.

I would love to see pictures of this area 'Andrea'.

Please see the message I sent you!

Any chance Andrea that you could post them in this thread? (We all would love to see).

donna_in_sask wrote:

We had a frost last week

Probably mentioned this in the past but a dear relative, a lifelong resident of Saskatchewan, once told me that one year they had frost in every month!

'donna' wrote:

"The bronze colour fades to green in my garden,..."

Does yours get much sun 'donna'?

Here is my BP (the same one pictured above a little over 2 weeks ago) and it is now almost completely "bronze free" ;) :

This one went in the ground this year. It gets sun till around noon or so. It's called 'Bronze Form'.

'Catkin', those don't look like Rodgersia leaves.... gorgeous color for sure.

I have a noid division from a generous neighbor. It comes up a bronze tone also. Here it is now. Any idea which one it is? Can you tell by the bloom? (Kind of hard to see)

That looks like a very healthy plant GH...huge leaves.

Yes thank you, it's done well this year. I believe it's in its third year.

Any flowers GH on that plant?

Rouge - Difficult to see, but there's a flowering stem in the photo that rises up just in front of where the hosta and hakone grass meet and ends at the top of the photo just in front of the tree trunk.

Oops...thanks for pointing that out.

rouge thanks, it's a R. podophylla, I'd never seen it before and got some at a plant sale last Fall.

Catkin - I did a Google image search using the photo you posted and R. podophylla appeared in all its glory! I also checked out the Missouri BG website and found this description: Rodgersia podophylla is a bold, clump-forming, rhizomatous perennial that is native to shaded slopes, moist woodlands and stream banks in Japan and Korea. Although the summer-blooming, astilbe-like, creamy-white flowers in foot-long clusters are ornamentally attractive, it is the large, coarsely-toothed, palmate, green to bronze-green leaves (basal leaves to 16” across/cauline leaves smaller) that primarily attract gardeners to this plant. This is a substantial perennial that typically forms a spreading foliage mound to 3' tall and as wide. It will naturalize over time by thick rhizomes. Each palmate-compound leaf has 5 (less frequently 7) lobes. Each lobe is deeply veined and serrated with 3-5 shallow lobes near the apex. Leaves emerge bronze-green in spring, mature to green in summer and finally turn bronze-red in fall. Small, white to greenish-white funnel-shaped, apetulous flowers bloom in dense, branched clusters (to 12" long) from June to August on upright stems rising 1'-2' above the foliage mound. This species is sometimes commonly called bronzeleaf rodgersia.

Enjoy!

I thought of you 'Babs' when I saw obvious signs of "bug damage" on 1 of our 3 Rodgersias just the other day:

I know that the rose chafers are out now, so I should go check mine. Thanks for the reminder, Rouge.

Thank you Colleen!

UPDATE:

There is a detailed article covering Rodgersia in the February 2018 edition of fine Gardening (including a trial garden evaluating 14 different varieties).

I get that magazine, I should check it!