Japanese burnet
Sanguisorba obtusa ·
Fluffy, arching bottlebrushes of bright rose-pink, like caterpillars, above ladder-like, grey-green leaves.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to late August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around Japanese burnet
The planner designed this bed around Japanese burnet 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 Japanese burnet stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Japanese burnet × 3, pink
- 2 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 19, yellow
- 3 Winter heath × 5, white
- 4 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' × 5, pink
- 7 Persian fritillary × 3, purple
- 8 Grape hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only plumes. The others are daisies, bells, dense clusters and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- At the back. At 2½ ft it is seen over coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' (22 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to persian fritillary (3 ft) and garden phlox 'David' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From mid July to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With garden phlox 'David' and coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' in mid July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (pink, purple and blue) and uses yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them. The back corners are held by persian fritillary and garden phlox 'David', the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 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 Japanese burnet goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The showiest burnet, with good foliage. The fluffy tails move in every breeze. It needs soil that stays moist, and leans without a neighbour to hold it.
- Movement in a moist border
- Naturalistic planting
- Cutting
What to plant with Japanese burnet
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Tufted hair grass: in flower together for seven weeks, from mid July; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese anemone: in flower together for two weeks, from mid August; happy in the same moist soil.
- Astilbe 'Purple Candles': in flower together for six weeks, from mid July; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about Japanese burnet
Does Japanese burnet need sun or shade?
Japanese burnet 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 Japanese burnet 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 Japanese burnet flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid July to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid July to late August |
| Zone 6 | Mid July to late August |
| Zone 7 | Early July to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Early July to mid August |
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 Japanese burnet be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (75 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Japanese burnet plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like Japanese burnet?
Japanese burnet is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Garden phlox 'Bright Eyes': the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour.
- Joe-Pye weed 'Baby Joe': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late July to mid September.
- Bee balm 'Purple Rooster': the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 6 in taller, purple, not pink.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after Japanese burnet?
Japanese burnet is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall.
What does Japanese burnet look like in winter?
Japanese burnet 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
- Burnet 'Tanna' Sanguisorba officinalis 'Tanna'
- Canadian burnet Sanguisorba canadensis
- Great burnet Sanguisorba officinalis
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (75 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Mid July to late August; feathery plumes; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; blue-green
- Shape
- Mounding, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- 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.