Umbrella plant
Darmera peltata · Saxifragaceae
Round heads of pink flowers come up on bare, hairy stalks in spring, before the leaves: great scalloped parasols that turn red in autumn.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 3½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 7
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers mid April to early May
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around umbrella plant
The planner designed this bed around umbrella plant 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 367 that suit those conditions and its wet soil, and says below why umbrella plant stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Umbrella plant × 1, green leaves
- 2 Blue star creeper × 11, blue
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 17, yellow
- 4 Garden phlox 'Jeana' × 4, pink
- 5 Indian pink × 5, red
- 6 Snowdrop × 12, white
- 7 Checkered lily × 12, purple
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 fine and medium. 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 garden phlox 'Jeana' (4 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 13 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 48 to 52, left to right. There is more mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' than anything else, 17 plants in all.
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 umbrella plant 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.
A native of western mountain streams, and the best big leaf for a pond edge in a cold climate. Its thick rhizomes bind a wet bank against erosion.
- Pond and stream margins
- Bold foliage for wet soil
- Holding a wet bank
What to plant with umbrella plant
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Japanese iris: adds the flowers, late June to mid July; medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same wet soil.
- Royal fern: medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same wet soil.
- Marsh marigold: adds the flowers, mid April to early May; medium leaves against its bold ones; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about umbrella plant
Does umbrella plant need sun or shade?
Umbrella plant grows in 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 moist to wet soil, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water.
What zones does umbrella plant 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 umbrella plant 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 umbrella plant 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.
Will umbrella plant spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by thick surface rhizomes into a broad colony in wet soil. Chop off sections to control it.
What does umbrella plant look like in winter?
Umbrella plant 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
- Mid April to early May; dense clusters; pink, white
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 7
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist to wet
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Saxifragaceae
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.