Shieldleaf rodgersia
Astilboides tabularis ·
Round, pale green leaves as wide as a dinner table's place setting, each balanced on its stalk like a parasol, with drooping plumes of cream in early summer.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 3½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 7
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers late June to mid July
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around shieldleaf rodgersia
The planner designed this bed around shieldleaf rodgersia 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 shieldleaf rodgersia stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Shieldleaf rodgersia × 1, green leaves
- 2 Creeping phlox 'Sherwood Purple' × 5, purple
- 3 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 5, tan
- 4 Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' × 3, white
- 5 Blue-stemmed goldenrod × 3, yellow
- 6 Wild geranium × 5, pink
- 7 Grecian windflower × 12, blue
- 8 Snowdrop × 12, white
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are medium and fine. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
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 blue-stemmed goldenrod (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
- Here for its leaves, spring to frost. They cover the 8 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 51% of the visual weight and the right half 49%. The scheme leans cool (purple, pink and blue) and uses yellow for warmth, with tan and white to calm things between them.
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 shieldleaf rodgersia goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs in the middle 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.
One of the boldest leaves that can be grown in a cold climate. It needs shelter from wind, cool shade and soil that never dries; in the wrong place the leaves scorch by July.
- A bold foliage feature for moist shade
- Pond and stream sides
- Contrast with ferns and grasses
What to plant with shieldleaf rodgersia
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Ostrich fern: medium leaves against its bold ones.
- Japanese forest grass: fine leaves against its bold ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Astilbe: adds the flowers, late June to mid July; fine leaves against its bold ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about shieldleaf rodgersia
Does shieldleaf rodgersia need sun or shade?
Shieldleaf rodgersia 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 shieldleaf rodgersia grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 7. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 7 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.
How far apart should shieldleaf rodgersia be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3½ ft (100 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 shieldleaf rodgersia plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 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.
What does shieldleaf rodgersia look like in winter?
Shieldleaf rodgersia 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.
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 3½ ft (100 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July; feathery plumes; cream, white
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 7
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- Light, 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.