Ligularia 'BOTTLE ROCKET' ligularia, leopard plant

Ligularia is probably too beautiful to worry about its common name. There are so many of them such as leopard plant, golden groundsel, ray flower, even tractor seat, and still mostly everybody call it ligularia. Bottle Rocket is a 2011 introduction from Walters Gardens in Michigan, USA. It is a sport of previously cultivated Little Rocket, just a little shorter, more compact and resistant to wilting.

Bottle Rocket ligularia produces 50-60 cm tall, dark stems with spikes if vivid golden yellow flowers in midsummer. They come out in such profusion that makes the stems invisible. Once established the plant produces numerous flowering stems that look like a floristic masterpiece in a vase. The leaves are large, distinctly lobed at margins, rich green with some brown-red hues and veins. Unlike its parent they do not tend to wilt unless the plant suffers from lack of moisture.

Ligularia loves moist and wet sites. Use it along river banks, at ponds and garden lakes, or grow it in a common border which will be regularly irrigated since the soil must never dry out. It likes medium fertile soil and full sun with some midday shade. Provide some protection from slugs and snails which love its newly emerging leaves. Fully hardy to about -34°C (USDA zone 4).

Last update 04-01-2014