I am no help for you unfortunately. Here in Ontario bloodroot grows wild on my property and we really love it. It expands each year too. I love watching the leaves unfurl and consider those blooms the true first sign of spring! Yet, our local nursery charges enormous sums for skimpy plants whose origins are dubious. I wouldn't be surprised if those plants didn't make it either.

Know anyone who grows it and wants to divide? Sometimes I see bloodroot at spring plant sales. Good luck in your search.

Have you checked your local extension service, at MSU, or an arboretum near you? We have the New England Wildflower Society here, I assume there's something similar out your way, but maybe not.

In defense of Michigan nurseries, bloodroot is one of the toughest plants to grow on a commercial basis. As soon as the weather warms up a little bit, the pots of bloodroot will start to grow. But then when it gets comfortably warm and sunny outside, the pots in the greenhouse will go dormant. Just about now it's time to start shipping the bloodroot, but all that's left is a pot of dirt.

And if you try to carry the plants in pots over the winter, about half of them will rot.

As a result, most growers who are trying to do a large number of varieties cannot afford to grow bloodroot.

If you can find a source that is selling bloodroot bare root, that might give you the best chance of success. Otherwise, as the others have suggested, I would look for a local native plant sale or someone who is willing to divide some plants.

Good luck! It is a beauty.

V.

Check with Vernon Barnes & Son Nursery at McMinnville, TN.
They have Bloodroot and many other natives at very reasonable prices (5 plants for about $8) and they ship bareroot, usually USPS Priority Mail.
They don't have a website, but will send a catalog upon request. Check GardenWatchDog for address and phone number.
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: Dave's Garden-GWD

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Never thought about contacting a local wildflower society or plant rescue group. Never heard of the Vernon place - thanks for the heads up. GW'ers are such a wealth of information!

Still, Michigan is a wildflower treasure trove, why more aren't easily available (and why more home gardeners don't grow them - it just doesn't get any easier than natives) baffles me.

Hi,

As a Michigan nursery owner I might be able to help answer.

Wildflowers can be difficult to grow in containers when compared to other perennials, plus their growing/blooming season is very short, often at a time when people are not in the mood to shop or buy plants. To top that off they very often go dormant early, so who wants to buy a pot of dirt? Combined with the potential losses there is also a fairly consistent lack of interest from the general perennial gardener, so sales margins can be slim to non-existent. Next, wholesale sources that are not "dubious" are hard to find, and if you do find cultivated stock you can be rest assured the prices are going to be high, but few are willing to pay the steep prices at the retail level.

Nurseries already have a hard time surviving, so when a product is difficult to grow, with a limited consumer base and slim margins, it often just isn't worth it.

Of course, I still have grown my fair share of plants that I absolutely loved and really tried to find a market for, but as time often tells, the compost pile ends up growing some pretty exotic weeds after a while ;)

Hope that helps.

Chris

Hi! MXK3,
We live in MI near Lansing, MI. We seem to have a lot of it in our back yard wildflower section. We would be happy to share a start with you. We do not seem to have a hard time with it. We back up to a wetland, and I do not know if that has something to do with it. We got our start years ago when we lived in Peoria, IL. Helmick's Wildflower Farm there had tons of wildflowers and we bought a chunk from them. We have divided often and we have not heard of anyone having trouble with it. Now I hope we don't have trouble now that we say this.
Also near us is a nursery called Van Atta's and they have a nice selection of wildflower plants. This year we are waiting for our yellow Lady Slipper to bloom.
Let me know if you would like a start and I will see what comes up.

Hagey - I sent you an e-mail thru GardenWeb, let me know if it doesn't get to you...

Chris - didn't see it from that angle. Thanks for sharing the other side of the story (there usually is one, isn't there...).

One other place to check might be your local Master Gardeners Club. Our local group seems to grow hundreds of things that I have never once seen at a retail nursery in the area. I wouldn't miss their annual sale for anything!

Good point, donnabaskets; my bloodroot came from an annual community plant sale at a local library. That kind of sale can be a great source for natives, though you do have to watch out for overly invasive exotics. Things that don't spread easily don't usually end up at plant sales, in my experience.

Just a word to defend Arrowhead Alpines. Although the catalog writing is, admittedly, among the most idiosyncratic you'll find, it is highly entertaining and informative. I've ordered from them for many years and always received excellent plants. They do ship plants out of the pots, and, in many cases, dormant, so shipments do require immediate, experienced attention, which may put some gardeners off. As pointed out in the original post, however, they are occasionally the only source for an item, and it must be an amazing place to visit. I won't hesitate to continue ordering from them (once I find room for more plants!)

Bloodroot is hard to find, especially in quantities, ANYWHERE and is expensive often too! Its not just the nursery's in your area

I have uncommonly seen bloodroot for sale in MI or anywhere else. In a pot it blooms for a very short time and I suspect the nurseries don't want to carry it because there is little demand and it doesn't make a splash on the display shelves.

I have had no problems in general with Arrowhead, it is a great nursery. I think this plant is propagated from root cuttings and may just take a while to get established.

There are a couple of native plant growers who sell plants at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and I think I have seen the plant for sale there during the bloom season (anywhere from mid April to early May depending on the weather). If you live close to Ann Arbor you could make a couple of trips down here on Saturday mornings when the market is open. The plants will generally be cheaper than at conventional nurseries and it is a fun, festive way to spend a Saturday AM. Lots of other good unusual plants available too.

Yes, Saguaro is closed.

David

I purchased a few pots of Bloodroot from Van Atta's 2 or 3 years ago. I don't know if they still carry it, but they're worth a try. They carry a good selection of native flowers. They are in Haslett, near East Lansing.

Hi MXK3,
I promised you a start of Blood Root when it comes up. Well, I misplaced the sheet and today I finally found it. The Bloodroot is up and ready to divide. Let me know if you still want a start. Betty

Does your local/nearby Botanical Garden(s) have plant sales?
There are two near me, one at a local College that specializes in regional Native plants. They have frequent plant sales to fund expansion of the Native plant Gardens. Many of them are propagated in their greenhouses, by volunteers, under the guidance of a retired Botany Professor.
Another source of natives are Native Plant Society's.
Our local Native Plant Society has a very active plant rescue schedule for construction and development sites.
It has been a source of numerous Natives that are in my garden. We had one site of about 100 acres, that produced about 75-80 different species of garden worthy native plants, including many species of trees, shrubs, vines & 10 species of Ferns. Amazingly, I did not find a single exotic invasive plant on the site!
We have recently initiated a program to propagate native plants to repopulate a local State Park, while at the same time, remove the invasive plants that displaced the original natives.

I am also a longtime customer of Arrowhead Alpines. They offer so many unusual and difficult to find plants, that I can't resist. When I look through the catalog, an order is usually on the way within hours! Received this year's order from them about a month ago and every item is healthy and growing. Everything was in pots, except some Medeola virginiana pips, which have since emerged and are about 4" tall. Agreed, some are pricey, but having propagated plants for many years and experiencing the sometimes difficult and frustrating tasks, I can understand the reason they must command a higher price. Bob & Brigitta have a marvelous resource there in the frozen North(:Rb

Hi Hagey - sent you an e-mail this morning, hope you get it, GW e-mail is goofy at times...

Okay, I have to recant my rant for Arrowhead Alpines. I checked outside, and some of the stuff I bought from them last season did indeed survive, including a lovely Limelight hydrangea standard.

I have no idea why in years past I've had losses of plants from that nursery, and I did lose all the bulbous oat grass I purchased last summer (it was toast by the end of the season, I ended up replacing it with bloodgrass), but I'll now un-cross them off my list, as a good portion of what I purchased last summer seems to be fine.

And that catalog is a hoot! My favorite part is about the Giant Pokeweed - hilarious!!!

I ordered from Arrowhead Alpines for the first time this year, and I'm perfectly okay with the size and health of the plants I ordered. I ordered things I've had trouble propagating from seed myself, so I knew not to expect gargantuan plants. And if everything I purchased dies over the winter, well, that's because I have a lamentable habit of trying to grow plants that might not be hardy, much less suitable in my climate. For me, it's all part of the madness I mean adventure called gardening. If I wanted reliable success, I'd go to the big box stores and limit myself to junipers, petunias and geraniums.

Lisa

I was just looking Cranbrook's page for their spring plant sale:

http://www.cranbrook.edu/housegardens/events/detail.asp?newsid=241277

...it looks like they will have Bloodroot available.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a tricky plant to grow - even Native Plant propagators struggle. The soil should be slightly acidic, a fertile sandy loam that retains moisture with minimal standing water in spring, in/under a deciduous setting (not pine which often is too dry and acidic). The biggest problem with this species is "planting the plant where it wants to be - not where you want it to be!" Advice - buy at least three for multiple locations to allow the plant to choose it's own destiny. And you may still find your choices struggling while the ants dispersed seeds site flourishing.

Bloodroot even under the best of conditions, when not in bloom ain't gonna sell. You might try mail order bare root from Prairie Moon Nursery and say a few hail Marys. I have had some that survived this way, when planted in happy places. https://www.prairiemoon.com/search.html?Search=bloodroot