KTRS 550 Inside Out Show Plant of the Week July 3 Twilight Gardening Best Pick

My Favorite Twilight Garden Candidate (or maybe I should title this "Cultivate a Taste for the Evening Gardening with Culver’s Root")

Culver's root is a large, erect native perennial which occurs in open woods, thickets and moist meadows / prairies throughout Missouri.

She can stretch as tall as 7' when challenged by tall perennial neighbors but more typically, without a reduction cut in spring, her bloom height tops out around 4-5’.

Although her narrow whorled leaves offer a unique look in the landscape, it is the clustering of so many delicate looking spirals held in a candelabra-like fashion that really lights up the garden at twilight!

These arrangements of tiny tube-like flowers on these narrow steeples open sequentially from the top to the base. Proceeding like a dreamy wedding march, she eventually reaches her most beautiful moment, as Summer approaches. He embraces his enchanting bride just as the smaller lateral wands of blossoms follow the bride's silent cue and fully open. Now these flanking maids of honor welcome all to celebrate the marriage of heat and humidity!

This wedding wonder is camera ready when grow in average, medium to wet, well-drained soil in full sun. She tolerates light shade but does not appreciate poor lighting. Too much darkness leads to her eventual decline. Moisture contributes to her dewy complexion so she will need to be well watered during extended drought conditions. She can repeat this bloom cycle for decades. Her mature beauty may take a few years to fully develop.

Dressed in white, in the faltering light, she is especially captivating especially when accompanied with Wild quinine and Rattlesnake master, two favorite Twilight Garden invitees! Wild Quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) and Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) like similar situations and have a similar bloom period with complimentary flowers and foliage.

Care Factor Rating: 2 Spring clean-up procedure is standard careful removal of last season debris in April. She also requires a spring reduction pruning of 1/3 - ½ in May. When her fresh new growth reaches 10” in height, cut it to 5-6"tall. This "reduction pruning" result is a shorter bloom height 24-30" instead of 4-5', a slightly delayed bloom period and stronger more upright and compact growth.

Removal of the finished flower spikes are not necessary but can improve her appearance and slightly extend her bloom period a few more weeks. Division is not typically required for plant health, but if there is overcrowding or space considerations, divide or move this beauty in mid-spring.