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Moving polemonium

Polemonium californicum

Also called California Jacob's Ladder

Moving polemonium
Photo: Walter Siegmund (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0

Moving polemonium is a hairy, clump-forming perennial native to the mountain woodlands of the northwestern United States. It suits shady, moist spots in the garden, where it is grown for its blue or purple bell-shaped flowers.

Family
Polemoniaceae (Polemoni family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during the growing season and avoid letting it dry out completely.
Soil
Moist, well-drained woodland soil rich in organic matter.
Temperature
10–24 °C; hardy in cool temperate climates, protect from severe heat and drought.
How easy
Easy
Native range
W. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Polemonium californicum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names moving polemonium, low Jacob's-ladder, and California Jacob's ladder. It is native to the northwestern United States, where it grows in shady and moist habitat, such as mountain woodlands. It is a hairy, glandular rhizomatous perennial herb forming clumps of several decumbent to erect stems 30 to 50 centimetres (12 to 20 in) in maximum height. The leaves are up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long and are compound, made up of several pairs of oval to lance-shaped leaflets. The leaflet at the tip of the leaf is often fused to the pair behind it. The inflorescence is a crowded cluster of bell-shaped flowers each up to 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) wide. The flower is blue or purple with a yellow center and a whitish tubular throat. The fruit is a capsule.

Other Polemonium plants

Tall Jacob's-ladder · Northern Jacob's-ladder · Brandegee's Jacob's-ladder · Jacob's Ladder · Royal Jacob's-ladder · Mason's Jacob's-ladder · Rocky Mountain Jacob's-ladder · Mount Eddy Jacob's-ladder · Elegant Jacob's-ladder · Skypilot · Towering Jacob's-ladder · Annual polemonium

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polemonium californicum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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