Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'
Ligularia dentata 'Britt-Marie Crawford' ·
Big, glossy, round leaves of dark chocolate-maroon, purple beneath, with orange-yellow daisies in late summer. It must have moist soil and wilts dramatically in sun.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Early August to early September
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'
The planner designed this bed around ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' × 1, orange
- 2 Creeping phlox 'Sherwood Purple' × 12, purple
- 3 Dwarf lady's mantle × 8, green
- 4 Rose turtlehead × 3, pink
- 5 Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' × 3, white
- 6 Palm sedge × 3, green leaves
- 7 Double snowdrop × 8, white
- 8 Yellow trout lily × 12, yellow
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are medium and fine. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only daisies. The others are dense clusters, airy sprays, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only orange.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3½ ft it is among the tallest plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to rose turtlehead (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From early August to early September.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 8 groups (88%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (purple and pink) set against hot ones (orange and yellow), with green and white to calm things between them. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 50 to 50, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory. 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 ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
The darkest large leaf for shade. Put gold or bright green beside it, and the lacy texture of ferns or astilbe. It droops on hot afternoons even in wet soil, and recovers by evening.
- Dark, bold foliage for moist shade
- Pond and stream sides
- Contrast with gold and green leaves
What to plant with ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Astilbe: flowers first, late June to mid July, so the spot is never empty; fine leaves against its bold ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Ostrich fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; medium leaves against its bold ones.
Questions about ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'
Does ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' need sun or shade?
Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water.
What zones does ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' 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 ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early August to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early August to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early August to early September |
| Zone 6 | Early August to early September |
| Zone 7 | Late July to early September |
| Zone 8 | Late July 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 ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' be planted?
2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3½ ft (100 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 5 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 6 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is there a native plant like ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'?
Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Umbrella plant: the same job in a bed; belongs in the middle, not at the back, 6 in wider.
- Interrupted fern: the same job in a bed and the same size; grown for its leaves, not its flowers, medium leaves, not bold.
- Wallich's wood fern: the same job in a bed and the same size; grown for its leaves, not its flowers, medium leaves, not bold.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford'?
Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Blue-stemmed goldenrod: from early September to mid October, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Toad lily: from mid September to mid October, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue wood aster: from mid September to mid October, 3 ft tall.
What does ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' look like in winter?
Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford' 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 Ligularia
- Ligularia 'Bottle Rocket' Ligularia 'Bottle Rocket'
- Ligularia 'Desdemona' Ligularia dentata 'Desdemona'
- Ligularia 'The Rocket' Ligularia stenocephala 'The Rocket'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (75 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early August to early September; daisies; orange
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; purple
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- Moderate, in spring
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.