Foamflower is a beautiful, clumping flowering perennial with immense versatility for shady gardens, featuring racemes of starry florets with a “foamy” effect above foot-tall mounds of attractive basal foliage. The leaf shape may vary from almost heart-shaped to deeply lobed with pronounced venation, and the leaf veins are often tinged with burgundy. Naturally occurring populations show a lot of variability in leaf shape and color patterns, and the nursery trade has introduced many cultivars exploiting these differences. Taxonomists have divided the species into two varieties: Tiarella cordifolia var. cordifolia (Allegheny Foamflower) and T. cordifolia var. collina (formerly Tiarella wherryi). The two are similar in appearance, but Allegheny Foamflower is a bit shorter, and more significantly, it is stoloniferous and spreads fairly quickly to form a groundcover. In contrast, Wherry’s Foamflower, a little taller, partitions its energy into more flower production rather than into stoloniferous offsets. You might say Wherry’s Foamflower is more respectful of limited garden space. Also, the natural distribution of Wherry’s Foamflower is more southerly and it is therefore more tolerant of heat and humidity. Foamflower is found on stream edges and moist woodland sites, especially in mountain and piedmont counties. It prefers evenly moist, slightly acidic to neutral soil in light shade where it will complement other shady plants like ferns, Solomon’s Seal, and Dwarf Crested Iris. Foamflower looks lovely planted along shady walkways, mixed in a landscape, or in stand-alone colonies. Both varieties of Foamflower won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit in 1993, and the Georgia Native Plant Society selected Foamflower as the organization’s 2003 Plant of the Year.
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Tiarella cordifolia cordifolia
Key Info
Scientific Name: Tiarella cordifolia L. var. cordifolia
Common Names: Allegheny Foamflower, Heart-leaved Foamflower, False Miterwort
Family Names: Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage Family)
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Flower Color: White/pink
Special Characteristics: Attracts bees, Evergreen, Attracts butterflies, Persistent basal rosette, Stoloniferous, Ornamental foliage, Tolerates shade, Flowers fragrant
Additional Info
Habit: Allegheny Foamflower grows as a neat, mounded clump of leaves, emerging from a central crown held at or just below the soil surface. Each node on the crown contains a bud that will eventually form either a new leaf, an inflorescence, or a stolon that gives rise to an offset.
Height: 6" to 8"
Spread: 8"
Soil Conditions: Average to moist, well drained soil, circumneutral pH, organic, sandy loam, loam, loamy clay.
Leaves: Allegheny Foamflower leaves are covered with soft hairs and are generally semi-evergreen, although the rosettes of the leaves often turn a pleasing bronze while flattening out in the winter. The leaves of Allegheny Foamflower are heart-shaped, 4 inches across with 3 - 5 toothed, maple-like lobes, and often show dark burgundy or maroon veining or patches. Leaves with long petioles arise directly from the runners which then root.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: Allegheny Foamflower inflorescences are bottle-brush-like racemes of many small bell-shaped or spidery florets which mature from the base upward. Each tiny floret is 5-lobed with narrow petals that spread into a star shape and exserted anthers that produce a feathery texture. The peduncle stands 1-2 times the height of the leaf canopy. The inflorescence buds are formed during the summer but they do not grow and open until after they have been exposed to 10 or more weeks of cold temperatures the following year.
Fruit: The fruit is a small lopsided capsule. "Tiarella" comes from "tiara", an upright Persian crown and the diminutive"-ella" which refers to the small turban-shaped dry fruit, a capsule that splits into two segments full of shiny black seed.
Natural Distribution: Moist deciduous woods, stream banks in mountainous regions.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 to 9
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FAC
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, moths
Wildlife Connections: Astringent Foamflower leaves are generally left alone by deer and rabbits. Foamflowers are generally not affected by insect pests.
Propagation: Propagation is easiest by taking up offsets and treating them like cuttings to induce rooting (mist or plastic canopy), or taking them up the second season when they have rooted in place. These plants also self-sow to some extent, and can be propagated by seed.
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