They are nice plants. I don't know why you do see them more then you do even out here in the midwest. I have two small clumps that are doing well, flower well, and don't need much in regards to care even in our hot summers.

Now if someone likes a hunt... try and find Spigelia gentianoides somewhere... then PM me!

Could this plant growing in my yard possibly be spigelia gentianoides? I have always assumed that it is some wild gentian. This photo is after the blooms have withered. The fresh blooms look remarkably like the ones at the link below and are found in my home county.

Your news made my day 'gg'!

I have two established Spigelia's BUT this spring I thought I unexpectedly lost one. It has arisen but is not nearly as vigorous as I have seen in previously.

(Two weeks ago I planted two "Little Redheads").

Sweet_betsy. The picture on your link is captioned Spigelia gentianoides, but to me it looks more like a true gentian.

Not sure if gentianoides would do well in zone 6, since it only grows naturally in AL. and FL.

Yes, Jay, that shot is totally different so I guess mine is a gentian.

Your so close to the real thing, if you know where to look. I find it funny that Plants Delights Nursery won't ship S. alabamensis outside of North Carolina, when that species only occurs in Alabama.

I had to smile after seeing your post. Finding a long searched for plant is cause for celebration!

i too have tried to grow it and failed. I think we are in the same zone so will be following your progress in coaxing it to flourish.

Which plant are you talking about?

I have seen it growing in gay abandon in a garden in the Mukilteo area so I am hoping it will be OK. Providing my cat-sized slugs and snails don't find it :-)

I am off to the nursery right now to pick them up.

The plant that is the subject of this thread.

I have a strain with chartreuse stars rather than yellow,

laceyvail I so wish I live close enough to be able to benefit from a seedling or two from you!

here is a slightly greener top version on one of my plants.

I was at a small independent nursery last week and was surprised to find a large cache of Spigelia Marlandica.

I asked about this to the owner and he said he thought it should be much easier going forward obtaining these Spigelia as growers had gone hog wild growing "Little Redhead".

(I wonder how much different if any is LRH from the "regular" Spigelia Marilandica)

UPDATE: May 2021:

Last season I planted 4 of the cultivar "Little Redhead". I am really pleased see that all 4 plants made it through their first winter. In fact I am convinced that LR has shown signs of life (much) sooner than previous Spigelia Marilandicas I have grown (and killed ;)). And for those it wasn't till lots later in May and even into June before I saw life.

'gg', how are yours looking?

They are looking great!! Despite the fact that I somehow never quite got around to actually putting them in the ground :-) Mea culp, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! But I am pleased to announce that all three plants are showing several sprouts about 4" tall.

That is craziness gg!

You had them in their original plastic containers for almost a year??

Where have they been the whole time?

You plan to out them in the ground....soon?

My spigelia never come up this early -- it's usually much later in May before any noticeable growth occurs. Glad yours survived, GardenGal -- I know you've been wanting them for a long time.

"That is craziness gg!" No....just my normal state of garden procrastination.

"You had them in their original plastic containers for almost a year??" Yep!!

"Where have they been the whole time?" Sitting in the approximate location I intended to plant them.

"You plan to out them in the ground....soon?" Soonish :-) It's tricky trying to devote much time to my own garden when I am busy helping others develop their gardens. (That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!!)

My spigelia never come up this early -- it's usually much later in May before any noticeable growth occurs

And this is exactly my experience as well...in fact I think I recall one not showing life until early June!

But given that I already see sign of life for all 4 "Little Redheads" I guess I am wondering if there is some difference(s) with this cultivar eg hardier?

Updates on spigelia?

Hello MT :).

A follow-up on my post from 10 days ago (just above yours):

In our garden I had 2 spigelia that had been planted probably...3 years ago. And then I planted just last year 4 of the spigelia called "Little Redhead".

All 4 of the only 1 season old LRs showed signs of life, probably 2 weeks ahead of the only one of the established one that survived! (And the 4 continue to grow (albeit slowly as has always been the case for SM for me). Anyways from this anecdotal experience I am confident that "Little Redhead" is hardier than pervious Spigelia Marilandicas.

I have one or two that are showing tiny bits of green at soil level, but most are not. I'm not too worried about it -- they'll appear when it's time. Heck, one of them I moved a couple years ago that I thought was dead but I mistakenly planted upside down *still* survived when I dug it up after an entire season and moved it again (right-side up that time!).

@mxk3 z5b_MI so are the "tiny bit" now showing flowers?

I love this plant....even more so this year when all four planted last year "easily" survived last winter :).

I see there are orangey coloured flowers for this wonderful plant i.e. 'Ragin Cajun'

https://www.waltersgardens.com/variety.php?ID=SPIRC

I had a lovely clump in a former garden. Enjoyed it for 5 years, then Poof! But it was worth it!

@callirhoe123 I am concerned about "Poof" for our *8* Spigelias. This has been the coldest Jan and Feb we have seen in ages...sometimes as cold as -23C/-9F...with no snow cover :(.

The no snow cover is more the issue than the cold. Chicago routinely gets winter weather in the single digits and negative numbers In 2019 we had a string of days icolder than -11 F/-23C and my clump of Spigelia came back just fine. Good winter/early spring drainage is also key to survival.

The no snow cover is more the issue than the cold.

Yup I realize that snow can serve as a good insulator.

Time will tell.

My favourite June perennial...heck one of my fave plants regardless of the month:

(All 8 plants made it to 2023 but two are in too much shade.)

is there a dark leaved spigelia? There's a bushy plant in town on the Main St. that looks like this with not quite maroon leaves. I noticed it is starting to bloom, but I haven't gotten close enough to be sure.

These spigelias do a not trivial rebloom.

Here is the same one today that is pictured two posts above from this past late June:

(A great plant if your hardiness zone can accommodate it.)

Mine never rebloom.

Morning @mxk3 z5b_MI, it wasnt till I did the "obvious" i.e. dead heading, that I got a reasonably robust rebloom.

I dead-headed, but still waiting on the rebloom...it’s coming, though…I can see new buds. I have ”Little Redhead”. Looking great, Rouge!

(Hey @Jay 6a Chicago, I dont think Spigelia is native for my location (we are too far north?) but I am thinking it is for you and many other states?)

@rouge21, I tried growing SM several years ago with no success, but Im a lot more exerienced now, and Im planning on trying it again next spring. I also have a couple friends who are growing Spigelia alabamensis, and they are both willing to share some with me. Spigelia marilandica's natural range goes as far north as southern Illinois, but it is being cultivated up here in northern Illinois.

Spigelia alabamensis

What the heck Jay?! And here I thought I was familiar with the most beautiful flowers on a perennial and then you post that! Amazing.

but it is being cultivated up here in northern Illinois.

Not that latitude is the only consideration but we are north of you Jay, and so I bet you will find success with trying Spigelia again.

Oh, the Indian pink is very pretty indeed...vaguely similar to centaury erythreae, a persistent biennial around my allotment and woodland edge.

https://macedonianature.blogspot.com/2019/03/centaury-centaurium-erythraea-herb.html

I almost ordered s.marilandica but decided it wouldn't really fit anywhere in my garden and I certainly was not going to spend £££ for the allotment.

While I have enjoyed reading all the comments - thanks rouge, for keeping this topic going - I haven't updated for several years about my own spigelia. Which are doing fine!! They got a slow start this season with our very cool and wet spring but then took off. Just recently finished blooming. They look very happy and healthy so must like the current growing conditions.

I am just a touch embarrassed to admit that they are still in containers and unplanted. 🙄 But there must have been an unrecognized method to my madness as I just found out I will be moving in the next few months and many of my containerized plants - of which there are far too many - will be making the move with me, including the spigelia.

While I have complained a bit about my current tiny garden, it really has quite a bit of space, just not plantable space, hence my huge collection of containers, which I can schlepp to wherever I want them - no planting bed required. My new place has only a really small back garden, much of which is taken up by a generous deck. The rest is just a bare, weedy lawn that will be removed. We don't close until the end of the month but my contractor and I are visiting later this coming week to discuss my visions for this small space and investigate access, which is very limited. It is in the middle of a row of single story condominiums, all connected, so access is limited to through the house(!!) or a very narrow access path in back of the garden. The logistics of clearing out what's there, moving in soils and hardscaping supplies and some very large container plants is going to be a challenge.

This is really only the second garden I have designed just for myself, as most others I have only added plants to what already exists. This is really a blank slate. I have some ideas and will try to incorporate as many of my favorite existing plants as possible but they're not all gonna fit. Deciding what goes, what stays and what to do with an excess of containerized Japanese maples is taxing my brain. What to do about my hydrangea collection, hardy fuchsias, raspberries and other inground stuff?? Guess I will be doing some cuttings in the next few weeks - not my forte. I find I am spending more time thinking about the garden than prepping for the actual move. There's a lot of household stuff that will need to be edited and purged as well, as the new place is smaller and with much less storage than my current one.

Focusing on the garden now is less of a stress than worrying about downsizing the rest of my belongings. I am getting a bit old for this and this will be my last move.

I am just a touch embarrassed to admit that they are still in containers and unplanted.

I N C R E D I B L E !!

I just found out I will be moving in the next few months

A bit 'scary' and exciting at the same time eh 'gg'?

and other inground stuff?

I am interested in what you will do here.

I know you will be way busy but I hope you will find time to post re this move and how you accommodate your plants.

LOL!! I knew you would have something to say about my hanging on to the unplanted spigelia for the last 3+ years!! I haven't even up-potted them. And they are not the only "victims".......I have bunches of unplanted container plants, which, as it turns out, will be a bit of a boon for the new garden.

I am not good about photographing my garden but will try and document this new adventure.

hanging on to the unplanted spigelia for the last 3+ years!! I haven't even up-potted them.

Just curious as to the nuts and bolts of keeping them happy and healthy for the past 3 years. Of course you water them when necessary and feed them...how often and with what? I know your location is moderate in terms of a hardiness zone but given that your spigelia has been in the same 'cramped' quarters 'forever', did you need to do anything special to overwinter them successfully?

Other than watering and giving them a dose of alfalfa tea when I fertilize my other containers (on no particular schedule), I have done nothing with them. No doubt they will be very happy to get their 'feet' finally down into Mother Earth!! 🤗

Most stuff will overwinter here in containers without issue, even very tender perennials like dahlias, snapdragons and zonal geraniums. Hardy perennials never even blink. The only time I have lost a plant being grown in a container was from lack of consistent or necessary watering. And only a couple of those. I can kill houseplants far more easily!!

My whole garden is more or less containerised and I have been less than punctilious in garden care (regarding topdressing, drainage issues, root pruning (never done it), fertilising and so on. I mostly lose stuff through over-watering (especially in winter) but I have had some things in the same pots for over a decade...and have done nothing apart from shuffle them around the garden when looking less than stellar. I guess I have probably caused a bit of root-strangling, when pots are eventually moved into the ground (to the allotment cos the garden is so tiny) but I dunno, plants are pretty tough and seem to do OK. I could probably get bigger and better displays if I was a bit more consistent, but it is quite astonishing how much punishment some of my plants survive and even thrive on.

I don't have a single living houseplant. Have seen off dracaenas, dfjeffenbachias (sp?), even spider plants.

I did lose a heap of stuff last year because I had no room in the greenhouse so they had to survive (or die) a particularly nasty winter.

Love the rebloom (now in late August):

And in October:

as I just found out I will be moving in the next few months and many of my containerized plants - of which there are far too many - will be making the move with me,

Hey @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) I bet I missed some posts of yours, detailing the move or post move?

DId you have time to set up some containers once you settled in or was it too late in the year?

How is the space for gardening compare to your previous location?

Are you excited about the season to come?

LOL!! I am too old for moving house to be an easy proposition :-) I moved officially at the beginning of November so too late to worry about anything more than all the containers being moved. And there were lots of them!! tbh, I am still in the process of getting settled indoors and the winter weather does not encourage much time outside so all I am doing now is thinking about my new garden.

Yes, it is much smaller than even my previous small garden. In fact, it is tiny......just around 500 square feet, not including a generously sized deck and small storage shed. The entire garden will be containers - no inground plantings. That will leave a small portion of the yard still with grass (good for the shared pup, who stays over often) for access.

I only moved the plants that were already in containers. I dug up nothing that was planted in the ground. So I left behind some really great plants, including most of my hydrangeas. But because I excel at garden procrastination, I still was able to bring with me to the new place a bunch of not-yet-planted treasures......including the spigelia that are the subject of this thread.

I am very excited about the new gardening season in the new place!! This is a whole new gardening experience for me but one I think will best fit my aging lifestyle and the tiny space I have available. I have a loooong shopping list. 😁

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a) - since you referred to this thread today, I thought an update would be appropriate. 😊

I never did get around to planting my spigelias in the ground and a good thing too, since nothing that was actually planted made the move with me. Although tbh, as long as I waited to finally get my hands on these plants, I likely would have dug them up!

So they did make it through another winter in the same 1G containers I received them in. And that was a test, as we got significantly colder in my location than in the previous few years and these pots were pretty exposed and unprotected. So a few weeks ago, I unpotted them, divided them and then repotted them all together in a single but very large pot. I am happy to report that they are sending up all sorts of new shoots and I am looking forward to a good bloom season this year.

I don't remember precisely when these bloomed for me but I seem to recall it was late enough that even cutting back after flowering would not have allowed much time for a rebloom before colder weather set in. I'll try to remember to take some pics.