Dwarf lady's mantle
Alchemilla erythropoda ·
A lady's mantle in miniature: scalloped, blue-green leaves that hold beads of rain, and a froth of lime-yellow flowers on red stems.
- Size
- 8 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late May to mid July
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around dwarf lady's mantle
The planner designed this bed around dwarf lady's mantle when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why dwarf lady's mantle stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Dwarf lady's mantle × 8, green
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 6, tan
- 3 Blue wood aster × 5, lavender
- 4 Swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' × 3, white
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Hellebore 'Ivory Prince' × 3, cream
- 7 Double snowdrop × 12, white
- 8 Surprise lily × 12, pink
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are spires, daisies, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only green. Green sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 8 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 37% of the edge.
- 8 plants in 2 runs (5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late May to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With moor grass 'Greenlee' and swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' in early July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Three kinds, among them moor grass 'Greenlee' and dwarf English boxwood, carry the bed through winter. Low plants run along 95% of the front edge: moor grass 'Greenlee' and dwarf lady's mantle. Every line of the Design check comes out Good or better.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 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 dwarf lady's mantle goes in a border
At 8 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
It does the same softening job as the common kind at a third of the size, and does not seed everywhere. Use it to edge a small bed or fill a crack in paving.
- Edging small beds
- Paving cracks and rock gardens
- Softening the front of a border
What to plant with dwarf lady's mantle
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Cranesbill 'Biokovo': in flower together for five weeks, from late May.
- Carpathian bellflower: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks.
- Coral bells: its burgundy leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about dwarf lady's mantle
Does dwarf lady's mantle need sun or shade?
Dwarf lady's mantle grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does dwarf lady's mantle grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °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 dwarf lady's mantle flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to mid July. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 5 | Late May to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Late May to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to early July |
| Zone 8 | Early May to early July |
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 dwarf lady's mantle be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 8 in (20 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many dwarf lady's mantle plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is there a native plant like dwarf lady's mantle?
Dwarf lady's mantle is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Coral bells 'Firefly': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; red, not green, keeps its leaves in winter.
- Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to mid June, yellow, not green.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after dwarf lady's mantle?
Dwarf lady's mantle is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Ornamental onion 'Millenium': from mid July to late August, 18 in tall.
What does dwarf lady's mantle look like in winter?
Dwarf lady's mantle 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 Alchemilla
- Lady's mantle Alchemilla mollis
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 8 in (20 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to mid July; airy sprays; green, yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; blue-green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. 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.