Sunday, May 3, 2009

Spots

This farfugium japonicum or as some refer to it, ligularia tussilaginea is commonly called the 'Leopard Plant' for obvious reasons. People that are not familiar with it often think it is diseased or the spots are the work of some pest, but that is not the case. It is a shade plant that adds a bright spot to dark beds with what looks like dappled light hitting the leaves. It does have yellow flowers on spikes, but I grow it primarily for the foliage.

7 comments:

Gail said...

Sheila, There are some plants that don't look good variegated. This one looks good to me! I like both the leaf shape and the yellow spots..love the name, Leopard Plant, too! gail

Stephanie said...

The spots make the leaf look dramatic. The leaves are lovely. I like this plant ;-)

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

I love spotted plants(-:
Yours is very pretty! I bet it does light up the shade!!!
CiNdEeS' GaRdEn

Kathleen said...

I have one of those ~ now I need to go look for it. Last time I was removing mulch from that bed I didn't see it. Thanks for the reminder. I bought it for the foliage too.
PS The pink & orange coloring on the Disneyland rose is gorgeous.

Pam/Digging said...

I just saw this in Scott Ogden's garden, where it really lit up the shade. He indicated that it's fairly drought-tolerant when established. Is that your experience?

Sheila said...

Pam, I would say "fairly" drought tolerant as long as it is in the shade. This one is getting a couple hours of sun (suddenly with the season changing) and it wilts like a damp tissue, but springs right back as soon as the sun passes.

wiseacre said...

Rats! Zone 7. It would have been a welcome addition to my garden otherwise. (I don't kid myself - maps may say I'm a 4 but experience says 3 too often)