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Rodgersia

Rodgersia podophylla

Also called Japanese Rodgersia, Rodger’s Bronze Leaf

Rodgersia
Photo: Velela, CC BY 2.5

Rodgersia podophylla is a large herbaceous perennial grown for its bold, bronze-tinted palmate leaves, which can reach about 2 m tall and wide. It thrives in cool, damp, shady sites with rich soil and spreads slowly by rhizomes.

Family
Saxifragaceae (Saxifrag family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist, especially during dry spells and the growing season.
Soil
Rich, moist, humus-rich soil, neutral to acid.
Temperature
Hardy to -20 °C; protect from cold winds and prolonged frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
NE. China to Korea, Japan (S. Hokkaido, Honshu)
Climate
temperate

About

Rodgersia podophylla is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family native to Japan and Korea. Growing to 2 m (6.6 ft) tall and broad, it is a herbaceous perennial with handsome spiky leaves, and occasional creamy-white flower panicles in June and July. It is extensively grown for ornamental use in gardens where it prefers damp shady positions on neutral to acid soils. Though hardy to −20 °C (−4 °F) it enjoys a sheltered location. It is chosen primarily for its clumps of large 5- or 7-toothed palmate leaves, which open bronze, turning green in summer and bronze-red in autumn. It can spread by underground rhizomes, eventually covering a large area.

The compact cultivar 'Rotlaub' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Other Rodgersia plants

Chinese Rodgersia · Featherleaf Rodgersia

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rodgersia podophylla 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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