Carried by 7 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
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Darmera peltata (Indian rhubarb or, ambiguously, "umbrella plant") is the only species within the genus Darmera in the family Saxifragaceae. It is a slowly-spreading rhizomatous perennial from mountain streamsides in woodland in the western United States (southwestern Oregon to northwestern California). In late spring the flowers emerge before the leaves, with rounded cymes of numerous five-petalled white to bright pink flowers (measuring up to 1.5 centimeter across each) borne on flower stems up to 2 meter long. The leaves are peltate, rounded, deeply lobed, coarsely-toothed, conspicuously veined and dark green, also on stems up to 2 meter in height. The leaves turn red in autumn.
In gardens, Darmera peltata flourishes in pond margins and bog gardens, where it forms an imposing umbrella-like clump. It is suited to smaller gardens where there is no room for Gunnera manicata or Gunnera tinctoria, unrelated plants that are somewhat similar in appearance, but much larger. It is easy to grow in the cooler climates of its native range, but is not happy in hot southern areas.
D. peltata has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Perennial herb
2 - 7 ft Tall
2 - 3 ft Wide
Mounding, Spreading
Slow
Winter Deciduous
Pink, White
Spring, Summer, Fall
Containers, Deer resistant, Water features or wet habitats
Partial Shade
High
Keep moist
Tolerates cold to 5 - 10° F
Standing
Adaptable.
Propogates by rhizomes. Divide the rootball and replant.
1*, 2*, 3*, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 14, 15, 16, 17*, 18, 19, 20
Rocky streambanks
Douglas-Fir Forest, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian
Spice Bush (Calycanthus occidentalis), Seep Monkey Flower (Erythranthe guttata), Giant Chain Fern (Woodwardia fimbriata), White Brodiaea (Triteleia hyacinthina), Field Mint (Mentha arvensis), Water Plantain (Alisma triviale), Douglas' Meadowfoam (Limnanthes douglasii ssp rosea), Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum)