Rodgersia is a medium-sized perennial, with fantastic, luscious broad leaves. These are palm shaped and slightly leathery, and are often bronze-green when young, darkening to green as they mature. Rodgersia also produces pretty sprays of white or pink flowers in late summer.
A moisture-loving plant, rodgersia can be grown as a marginal pond plant or in boggy areas, near water. It looks good planted alongside ferns.
Follow our rodgersia Grow Guide, below.
Where to plant rodgersia
For the best coloured leaves, grow rodgersia in a sheltered, but sunny spot in moist soil, such as in the margins of a pond or stream.
How to plant rodgersia
When planting rodgersia in boggy, moist soil, add a spadeful of garden compost into the hole. If you have a pond, watch Monty Don for tips on planting marginal plants.
Propagating rodgersia
Rodgersia can be propagated by dividing plants in spring.
Video: How to lift and divide herbaceous perennials
Rodgersia: problem solving
Rodgersia does not suffer from any known diseases although, being a foliage plant, the young leaves may be eaten by slugs and snails.
Care and maintenance
Rodgersias are easy to care for if grown in the right conditions. They will spread slowly, so every few years plants will need reinvigorating. Lift and divide congested clumps in spring.
Rodgersia varieties to try
- Rodgersia pinnata ‘Chocolate Wing’ has chocolate-tinged, bronze-green foliage, which contrasts with small pink flowers
- Rodgersia pinnata ‘Buckland Beauty’ has dramatic, reddish-brown foliage and clusters of bright pink, star-shaped flowers on dark-red stems from mid- to late summer
- Rodgersia podophylla has the signature large palmate leaves but with ragged edges. The leaves emerge bronze in spring but mature to a deep, dark green. From midsummer it bears upright clusters of cream-green, star-shaped flowers
- Rodgersia pinnata has bronze-tinged dark green foliage, which contrast with small pink flowers. Grow in a sheltered, partially shaded site in moist soil, such as in the margins of a pond or stream
- Rodgersia aesculifolia is a striking Chinese species with long, bronze-tinted leaves with brown veins, and star-shaped, white or pink flowers in midsummer. These are followed by reddish seedheads in autumn. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has give it the prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM)
