Great Design Plant: Sanguinaria Canadensis Lights the Spring Woodland
Bloodroot’s large, showy white flowers and attractive foliage brighten eastern woodland gardens in early spring
After a long, snowy winter, bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is one of the first things I look forward to seeing flowering in my landscape. I always make a point to go out on warm, sunny spring days and look for the first bees of the season visiting the bloodroot flowers. Bees are hard pressed to find many plants in flower so early in the season, and bloodroot is one plant that provides sought-after pollen for foraging females.
If your garden is lacking color first thing in spring, consider adding some bloodroot to provide large splashes of white flowers. It is not difficult to grow if you have average soil structure and moisture and a shady place under deciduous trees.
If your garden is lacking color first thing in spring, consider adding some bloodroot to provide large splashes of white flowers. It is not difficult to grow if you have average soil structure and moisture and a shady place under deciduous trees.
Distinguishing traits. The root is rhizomatous, and mature colonies can provide large blocks of color in the woodland or shade garden.
Shown: Mature brown seeds inside the seedpod. Each seed has an attached fleshy structure, called an elaiosome, which is sought after by ants, which are responsible for dispersing the seed.
Shown: Mature brown seeds inside the seedpod. Each seed has an attached fleshy structure, called an elaiosome, which is sought after by ants, which are responsible for dispersing the seed.
How to use it. Bloodroot can be used in any shady location under deciduous trees. For large shade gardens, combine it with summer- or fall-flowering plants near the border to provide an ongoing colorful display. It also works nicely along woodland paths, where one can appreciate the flowers up close.
Shown: A small sweat bee (Lasioglossum sp) foraging for pollen on the flowers
Shown: A small sweat bee (Lasioglossum sp) foraging for pollen on the flowers
Planting notes. Bloodroot plants form horizontal rhizomes. The rhizomes on mature plants can be divided and replanted, or you can just leave the plants in place, allowing them to spread naturally. After the flowers have been pollinated, upright seedpods form under the leaf next to the flower stalk. Seeds typically mature 45 to 60 days after flowering. In Minnesota I usually look for seeds the second week of June. Collected seeds should be sown right away, ensuring that the seeds do not dry out. Seedlings will emerge two seasons after seeds are sown in late spring.
Shown: A female mining bee (Andrena sp) foraging for pollen on the flowers
Shown: A female mining bee (Andrena sp) foraging for pollen on the flowers
Pollinator notes. Bloodroot flowers have little to no competition for pollinators from other flowering plants in early spring. The flowers are nectarless but will lure in nectar-seeking pollinating insects, such as bee flies and cuckoo bees. These insects try to probe the flowers for nectar but come away with no reward.
Mining bees (Andrena spp) are very common visitors to the flowers. There is a flurry of activity around the flowers on warm, sunny afternoons. It is not uncommon for males to patrol a patch of flowers, zigzagging back and forth waiting for a female to forage on the flowers for pollen. Females are often pounced on by many males; a mass of male bees competes for the opportunity to mate with the female.
Shown: A common scene around a patch of bloodroot in early spring: Many male mining bees patrol the airspace above the plants waiting for females to arrive.
Mining bees (Andrena spp) are very common visitors to the flowers. There is a flurry of activity around the flowers on warm, sunny afternoons. It is not uncommon for males to patrol a patch of flowers, zigzagging back and forth waiting for a female to forage on the flowers for pollen. Females are often pounced on by many males; a mass of male bees competes for the opportunity to mate with the female.
Shown: A common scene around a patch of bloodroot in early spring: Many male mining bees patrol the airspace above the plants waiting for females to arrive.
Early spring is a precarious time to flower, because pollinator activity is variable or nonexistent due to cold temperatures. Bloodroot flowers will self-pollinate if the flowers do not receive visits from pollinators. The pollen-producing anthers bend toward the stigma around the third day of flowering, depositing pollen onto the stigma and self-pollinating the plant. You can see this occurring in this image. When the flowers first open, the anthers and filaments splay outward, distancing the male reproductive parts from the female reproductive parts to initially limit self-pollination.
Note: The double-flowered form ‘Multiplex’ is sterile (it produces no pollen or nectar). It therefore offers no rewards to pollinators.
Shown: A small carpenter bee (Ceratina sp) searching for nectar
More:
Learn more about gardening with native plants in your area
20 Ways to Work White Magic in Your Yard
Note: The double-flowered form ‘Multiplex’ is sterile (it produces no pollen or nectar). It therefore offers no rewards to pollinators.
Shown: A small carpenter bee (Ceratina sp) searching for nectar
More:
Learn more about gardening with native plants in your area
20 Ways to Work White Magic in Your Yard
Common name: Bloodroot
Origin: Bloodroot occurs in eastern North American woodlands, from the states bordering the Mississippi River eastward; in Canada it occurs from Manitoba east to Nova Scotia.
Where it will grow: Hardy to -45 degrees Fahrenheit (USDA zones 2b to 7a; find your zone)
Typical plant communities: Moist to mesic woodlands
Soil requirement: Moist to mesic-dry, sandy-loam to clay-loam soil
Light requirement: Shade to partial shade
Mature size: 4 to 8 inches tall and 6 inches wide
Benefits and tolerances: Tolerant of most soils; prefers woodlands with an ample amount of humus and leaf litter
Seasonal interest: Large, stark white flowers over 2 inches in diameter open in early spring, typically in April or May, providing the first splashes of color in woodlands and shade gardens; the large, palmate leaves persist into late summer.
When to plant: Spring or fall; bare-root or potted plants are available from many native plant nurseries.