Burnet 'Tanna'
Sanguisorba officinalis 'Tanna' · Rosaceae
A dwarf burnet: small, dark maroon bobbles on wiry stems above a neat mound of fine, toothed leaves.
- Size
- 18 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early July to early September
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Weaver
A bed built around burnet 'Tanna'
The planner designed this bed around burnet 'Tanna' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why burnet 'Tanna' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Burnet 'Tanna' × 1, red
- 2 Winter heath × 6, pink
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 24, yellow
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 5 Garden phlox 'Jeana' × 4, pink
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
Why this plant
- The only red.
Why here
- In the middle. At 18 in it is seen over winter heath (10 in) in front of it.
- One plant. An accent is used singly, like a punctuation mark.
Why now
- In flower for 10 weeks. From early July to early September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With false sunflower 'Summer Sun' and garden phlox 'Jeana' in mid July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 51 to 49, left to right. Low plants run along 99% of the front edge: silver sage, mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' and winter heath.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where burnet 'Tanna' goes in a border
At 18 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in). It is airy enough to see through, so it can also come forward and veil what is behind it.
Its job: weaver. A light, airy plant threaded singly between sturdier ones to knit the planting together.
It gives the dark dots of the great burnet at knee height, for a small garden. The bobbles hover among low grasses and last from July to September.
- Dark dots among low grasses
- Small gardens
- Naturalistic planting at the front
What to plant with burnet 'Tanna'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sneezeweed: in flower together for five weeks, from early August; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Tufted hair grass: in flower together for eight weeks, from early July; tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne': in flower together for 10 weeks, from early July.
Questions about burnet 'Tanna'
Does burnet 'Tanna' need sun or shade?
Burnet 'Tanna' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does burnet 'Tanna' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does burnet 'Tanna' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early July to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early July to early September |
| Zone 6 | Early July to early September |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should burnet 'Tanna' be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 18 in (45 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many burnet 'Tanna' plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, threaded between sturdier plants.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
What flowers after burnet 'Tanna'?
Burnet 'Tanna' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Bottle gentian: from late August to early October, 20 in tall.
What does burnet 'Tanna' look like in winter?
Burnet 'Tanna' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Sanguisorba
- Canadian burnet Sanguisorba canadensis
- Great burnet Sanguisorba officinalis
- Japanese burnet Sanguisorba obtusa
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 18 in (45 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front, or further forward: it is airy enough to see through
- Flowers
- Early July to early September; globes; red
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.