The Heartleaf foamflower gets its name because when the plants are in bloom, the flowers look like small spikes of dainty stars topped with white foam. (Photo by Ginny Rosenkranz)
If your garden has a bit of shade, there is a wonderful small native plant that blooms in May with lovely heart-shaped leaves that thrive all summer long.
Tiarella cordifolia’s common name is Heartleaf foamflower because when the plants are in bloom, the flowers look like small spikes of dainty stars topped with white foam.
These beautiful plants can be evergreen during mild winters but will lose the foliage during cold winters.
The lovely clump-forming plants need organically rich, moist soils that drain well in the winter. In the spring the new foliage emerges from the rhizomes, a modified underground plant stem that grows horizontally and produces new shoots to slowly create a lovely groundcover.
The 2-4-inch-wide heart shaped leaves are a bright green with dark red veins which gives the foliage color throughout the summer into the autumn.
They look like maple leaves with three to five lobes that are sharply toothed, giving both color and texture to the shady gardens.
The tiny pink buds open to tiny, dainty, white star shaped flowers which are grouped in a cluster 1-2 feet tall, that seem to float above the foliage.
Each flower has a very long stamens tipped with a golden drop of pollen, which gives the flowers their foamy texture.
The flowers will last up to six long weeks, brightening the shady gardens, and welcoming the pollinators.
The fall semi evergreen foliage becomes bronze with the chilly weather.
Garden companions can include the Northern Lady Fern (Athyrium angustum), the Northern Maidenhair fern (Adiatum pedatum), the large — flowering Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) and the shade loving creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera).
The plants are also deer- and rabbit-resistant!
(Editor’s Note: Ginny Rosenkranz is a commercial horticulture specialist with the University of Maryland Extension.)
