If this isn't the region's most beautiful native, then I don't know who is...any votes for Elvis or Dolly? This exquisite woodland perennial makes a dainty-looking 12" wide clump of 2' tall stalks clothed with nondescript green foliage. In late spring, Spigelia marilandica clumps are topped with dozens of stalks of spectacular up-facing, bright red, tubular flowers with a dramatically contrasting yellow center...a hummingbird favorite. Spigelia marilandica, which improves with age, is a true garden show-stopper! We have found that it grows equally well in full sun or light shade, as well as in very moist or bone-dry soils. Our spigelia are clonally propagated. Maintenance: Spigelia marilandica is an extremely low maintenance plant. Really all that is necessary is to cut it to the ground after frost turns it brown in late fall. Though a long-established plant could be divided, Spigelia is not a plant which requires periodic division to rejuvenate older plants. Left to its own devices, and with decent growing conditions, it should improve every year; each year bringing more stems and thus more flowers. Spigelia marilandica also stays put, it never needs to be reigned in since it doesn't travel anywhere. Growing Conditions: Spigelia marilandica is most often encountered as a woodland plant, though like many shade tolerant plants it will also thrive in full sun where it will grow stronger and bloom more. So it is a superb plant for either light shade or full sun. It will grow well in average soils that range from dry to moist. Natural Impact: Spigelia marilandica is very showy in bloom and its floral display is the reason to grow it. Its foliage is tidy, though not terribly interesting. The floral tube is a bright clear red and the petals are bright yellow where they divide and reflex open at the throat of the floral tube. The effect is yellow stars against a red background, one that attracts hummingbirds.
