Ligularia Desdemona – Hardy Perennial – Shade Plant – Grows 3 to 5 feet tall – Toothed foliage w/ Tall Yellow flower spikes

Ligularia Desdemona

Fun plant with bold, dramatic foliage!

Important to protect from hot afternoon sun.

Growing Conditions
Zone: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Exposure: Filtered Sun, Morning Sun, Open Shade

Water Needs: Regular / Even

Description
Size: 24 – 48 tall x 24 – 36 wide

Shape / Form: Mounding

Foliage Texture: Bold, Coarse

Foliage Quality: Bold, Coarse

Features: Attractive Foliage

Foliage Color: Brown / Chocolate, Burgundy / Maroon

Bloom Season: Jun, Jul, Summer

Flower Shape: Daisy / Composite

Uses and Applications
Landscape Uses: Beds and Borders, Container, Mixed Border
Special Situations: Wet Soil Tolerant
More Design Considerations

Season of Interest: Spring, Summer, Fall, Three Seasons of Interest

Plant Behavior: Well Behaved / Companionable

Care and Maintenance
Maintenance Level:
medium

Uses
Group or mass in moist or wet areas of shade or woodland gardens. Particularly effective along streams, ponds, pools or bog gardens. Excellent specimen for the shaded border as long as soil moisture requirements can be met.

Here’s a big, beautiful, easy-to-grow perennial, offering a commanding, shrub-like presence from June through September. In late August, ‘Desdemona’ erupts with beefy, daisies-on-a-bender blooms that last a solid three weeks. Bloom time depends on exposure; plants grown in mostly shade bloom later, and one of mine is just hitting peak bloom now, as we enter the second week of September.

Leaves are leathery, huge, rounded, and deep green, with purple undersides and petioles (leaf stalks). Topsides of newer leaves contain purple veining; leaves are born in great abundance throughout the plant’s mounding form, and look great all season. ‘Desdemona’ will grow from three to four feet tall, with an equal spread.

Care and Use
It’s a good plant for the middle to rear of the bed, though I’ve seen it planted boldly to the front in large beds. You sure don’t want to plant it where you can’t see the foliage. One of mine sits right alongside a pathway.