i'm guessing laceyvail's southern location affects his/her plant's size. and YOU are in the PNW where all plants are twice the size of their sisters in new england.I've had my clump 3 years and it is huge and happy in a moist area w/ diameter of 4'.It has months of flower and seed interest. Nice to grow small flowered clematis through it and tall grasses near it. best, Mindy

Mine is in a spot that gets a bit too damp. It is expanding to the point to eating other mild mannered perennials. But it makes a wonderful dramatic backdrop to the rest of the bed. IÂd like to dig it up and move at least parts of it (dramatic backdrops are useful in many areas!) and start over with a smaller part of it, but IÂm afraid of losing it. So itÂs good to read these various experiences. It sent up an off shoot well apart from the parent 2 years ago, I cut that off and replanted it. It died. I tried seeing if I could dig it up and divide it but the roots went way too far down. Then I tried rooting cuttings last spring, those died (but I have trouble rooting anything, I think maybe it could be my water, or maybe I just donÂt change it often enough). I thought of trying an axe next time and just chopping off a part just when itÂs emerging, if that would not injure the main plant too much. The crown is over a foot across and very dense.

It looks like you have a nice large property there! I assume the shed (?) in the back is yours too? Is the usual primary viewing of this area the one in the picture? If so, be careful that placement of tres, shrubs and large perennials (e.g. the Persicaria) doesn't block the view of the building (assuming you don't want to deliberately hide it....). It looks like there might be an arbour there too....? When I look at the pictures of my Persicaria, I notice that most of their companions are white-flowering too, with the effect being the Persicarias forming a background to a larger picture. So I'd probably be inclined to spread around other white-flowering things of a similar stature that would keep the area white (a color very visible from a long distance away...) over most of the season. You could start the spring with a serviceberry (which would also give fall foliage colour and berries for people and birds), a pearlbush would be nice to follow, along with viburnum. Bridalwreath or Snowmound spirea could fit in there too. There are lots of white hydrangeas that bloom at various times through the summer, some with flowers that turn pink in the late summer. Our C. kousa dogwood looks good with a Persicaria by the patio when they bloom together. For fall you could try a Heptacodium tree. That's a lot of plants! You'd need to draw a plan to scale to figure out how many plants would fit and not block the desired views. I find big blue hostas go nicely near the Persicarias if there is shade and moisture for them and blue-flowered perennials or perennials with flowers in the cooler tones of pink and red look good too. Deep red hardy hibiscuses are fabulous with white-flowered companions in late summer.. Lots of potential there.. you need to decide on what look you want, what views you want to keep - or hide, and how much - and what kind - of maintenance you're prepared to do. Take some pictures of the area and doodle ideas on them to help get a feel for what you'd like. Have fun!

Thank you rouge and gardenho. It is culvers root. I love that plant, I have the lavender, pink and white which must be virginicum as it seeds around quite a bit, usually in a pathway or in the center of another perennial. The obelisk was a Mother’s Day present from my SO. It is in that spot on a temporary basis until I move some tired iris in another spot (constantly moving things it seems). Now there are 2 pots of Heavenly Blue morning glory trying to fight their way out of the shade of the persicaria. Once the obelisk is in its’ permanent home, there is a Perle d’azur and a Jackmanii clematis waiting for planting. i forgot to add another benefit of the eventual size of the P. polymorpha:: it is a beacon in the night, especially on a moonlit night...