Hi folks, I bought this lovely plant about 2 years ago, when I started this garden. Its spread a bit, but I wanted to purchase some new for another part of my garden. Unfortunately, I cant remember its name, and after 2 visits to the nursery to search, I thought I ask here. Can any one help me? it seems to do well in shade, spreads by underground root system, and blooms early July. Clearly heart shaped red edged leaves in a very random pattern. anemone/dogwood = I just cant seem to match the flowers with the leaves. Mine is currently about a foot high with leaves of 2-3 inches Thanks!
Thank you! Maybe I should keep it in the contained garden then :-) It is simply amazing there. Mine has spread in 2 years to about 8 -12 plants, but not as bad as a google would seem to indicate! But then I am not trying to kill it yet!
In your climate it may not propagate that fast and it should be easy to keep it under control. In our arboretum, it maid quite a patch, several-square-yards of nice cover. Looks like the plant is quite tolerant to both harsh winter and scorching summer.
It's invasive quality may be why you did not find it most recently in the nursery - there is now some pressure now for them to avoid selling plants that can be hard to control. It is a lovely plant, though. Thank you for posting it.
I have discovered this plant (Houttuynia) in a couple of my garden beds (we bought the place last year and I am still familiarizing myself with the gardens). Houttuynia gows quickly and spreads even more quickly. Because it has rhizomes it is very invasive and difficult to eradicate! Personally I cannot stand the smell which is described as sort of 'citrus like' - it makes me nauseous. I would not recommend this plant. I have someone helping me to get rid of it but I know it will take quite a long time. I've noticed that the leaves are dark green when growing in the shade and variegated (yellow, green with red on the edges) when touched by more sunlight. Over the years I've discovered by experience that certain plants should not be allowed free reign in the garden unless you don't mind them taking over. These include: michaelmas daisies, mints, japanese anemones, and houttuynia. There may be a few others but I can't remember them right now.
I agree about the smell, which is particularly noticeable when you're trying to pull it out, adding insult to injury. And I was just trying to get it out of a small planter box. I had to remove all the soil to do that. And it had shoots extending out the bottom and side edges of the box. Probably the healthiest, best growing thing I've ever planted.
