While the all-green species form of this handsome native perennial rarely warrants a second look, Persicaria virginiana ‘Painter’s Palette’ is another matter altogether. One look at the show-stopping foliage and most gardeners are completely smitten. Plus, in addition to knock-out foliage, this native wildflower also is easy to grow and thrives in partial shade. It’s definitely a plant that should be more widely grown.
Clumps of ‘Painter’s Palette’ make colorful additions to beds and borders from early summer right through to fall. Each leaf is marked with a central blotch in brownish red or pink along with streaks and blotches of green, cream, white, and yellow. Every leaf is marked a little bit differently.
A Native Species
Commonly known as Virginia knotweed or jumpseed (more on the origins and resulting ramifications of the latter common name a bit later), P. virginiana is found throughout the eastern half of North America as well as in Asia. If you are looking to find it in a field guide, gardening book, or on the internet, be aware that botanists have had something of a field day with its correct nomenclature. You won’t find the name Persicaria virginiana in most books. Instead you will need to look under a couple of former names: Tovaria virginiana may be most common in print and is used in Peterson’s A Field Guide to Wildflowers and Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. The species also has been listed as Polygonatum virginianum.
Hardy in USDA Zones 5 to 9, plants range from 1 to 4 feet tall. They bear broad, egg-shaped leaves with pointed tips that are 3 to as much as 10 inches long. While green leaves are the norm, plants in the wild can have leaves with a darker green blotch. The tubed sheath at the base of each petiole (leaf stalk) indicates the plant’s membership in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Plants bear wandlike spikes of tiny, widely spaced, greenish white flowers from late summer to fall. The spikes are both terminal and axillary.
As the common name jumpseed implies, this species is a self-sower, and seedlings will appear far beyond the parent plant. Both species and cultivar spread with abandon and can become a nuisance—some references warn they may become invasive. For gardeners, the good news is that ‘Painter’s Palette’ seedlings come true, meaning they are as brightly variegated as their parents. For this reason, they’re quite welcome in most gardens. The colorful foliage also makes wayward seedlings easy to spot, whether you’re looking to do them in with a hoe or other weeding implement, or dig them up for transplanting or potting. However you deal with seedlings, be aware that eventually management will be in order.
Propagating this plant isn’t much of a problem. Just dig self-sown seedlings anytime during the growing season and move them to a new spot. Or pot them up to give away or add to a container.
A Colorful Landscape Filler
Give ‘Painter’s Palette’ a spot in partial shade. Plants thrive and spread most quickly in rich, moist soil. They tolerate drought fairly well, but adequate soil moisture is the ticket for lush, attractive leaves. Dry soil and wind quickly take their toll on the leaves.
The brightly variegated leaves are especially effective when plants are mixed into a shrub border, where they can fill in under and around the shrubs and act as a colorful ground cover. Try combining them with moisture-loving shrubs like hydrangeas, Virginia sweetspire, and sweetshrub or Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus). They are effective with tough ferns like Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and male or Buckler ferns (Dryopteris spp.)
Also try adding seedlings to containers. The foliage adds color and interest much longer than most flowers do. Here, too, try them with ferns such as autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora) as well as sedges and hostas.
Random self-sowing is a good way to determine where plants appear to go, but keep in mind that eventually you will have to pull established plants or rogue out excess seedlings. Be especially careful to keep ‘Painter’s Palette’ away from newly planted or less-vigorous perennials.
An Easy, Colorful Ground Cover
You can find ‘Painter’s Palette’ at native specialty nurseries, or start plants from seed, which is offered by some seed exchanges. Once you have it started in your garden, you’ll probably never be without it. As long as you monitor populations, and pull seedlings where they are not wanted, you can keep plants where you want them. When you share seedlings with gardening friends—and they’ll ask when they see plants in your beds and borders—be a responsible gardener and friend. Warn gift recipients of their self-sowing potential.
Barbara Ellis - A freelance writer, editor, and passionate lifelong gardener, Barbara is the author of a number of garden books, including Covering Ground ...
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