Sanguinaria canadensis
Red puccoon, Coonroot, Indian paint
- Height × spread
- 0.15m × 0.6m
- Position
- Part shade
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Flowers
- Spring
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This plant starts life with luscious flowers emerging from the earth, each accompanied by folded up leaves. The flowers make simple, large, white cups. When the flowers decline the leaves unfurl, rounded matt veined and full of beauty. It is a superb woodland plant. The name derives from the reddish-orange sap which comes from the rhizomes if they are damaged. Dawn Macleod notes that the orange sap from this plant was used by North American Indians for warpaint. It also has medicinal uses.
- Flower colour
- White
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Dome
- Height
- 0.15m
- Spread
- 0.6m
- Season of interest
- Spring
- Flowers in
- Spring
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Sun or shade
- Likes part shade, likes light shade, tolerates dense shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Damp and wet soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring · Planting
Divide after flowering
Clumps that have become congested can be lifted, divided and replanted with some space between the bulbs, corms, or rhizomes so that they can further develop, producing new foliage clumps in the future.