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Polygonum virginianum 'Painter's palette' |
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| Synonym(s) |
Persicaria virginiana. Tovara virginiana. |
| Common name |
painter's palette |
| Family |
polygonaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z4-8) |
| Flowers |
tiny red beads (late summer) |
| Size |
18-24" |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
| Cultural notes |
ordinary garden soil, grows best when not too dry |
From seed  |
give 4-6 weeks cold, then germinate at room temperature
detailed seed-starting info below
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| Seed ripens | early November |
Primarily a foliage plant, grown for its boldly variegated leaves. Although a member of the weedy polygonum family, this one is well worth growing. It seeds around a bit, but not enough to be a nuisance, and brightens up the scene in unexpected places. The tiny red flowers appear in late summer and are easy to miss (but quite interesting up close).
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following areas: side garden, back yard island, orchard nursery area Seed for this plant is included on my seed trade list About my plant portraits
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Donato | Aug 02, 2005 | Is the painters palette an American native plant? As its name might apply, is it from the VA region?
I've had it for years, love it and never knew what to call it. I have an entire walkway covered by it on both sides. Its beautiful!
Great site! Thanks for the plant id!
Yes, it is a US native. According to this USDA site, it is distributed across just about all of the Eastern US. |
| Sue | Apr 14, 2006 | A friend and I both fell in love with the painter's palette last summer and bought ones for her garden and for mine. Our question now that spring has come is how to prune it .... right back down to the ground, or does new growth occur on existing branches? It's a gorgeous plant and I'm so happy to find a page like yours with information on it, and a page that's so well laid out and informational. Thank you!
It may depend on your zone. In my garden, the plant dies back completely to the roots, or a few low-growing rosette leaves, so I prune off the top growth either in fall or early spring, before active growth starts up again. |
| Sue | Apr 15, 2006 | Thanks so much for answering so quickly, Rob! We're Zone 5a here (north of Toronto, in Ontario), and my painter's palette looks intact from last year, although the stems are all a shiny reddish brown now, not green. I haven't seen any growth on it at all, and have been debating whether to cut back to just above ground level or wait and see what happens. |
- Seed from trade#1. Baggy, 70F (4wks); cold (5 wks); 70F (no germination)
Seed from trade#2. Baggy, cold (5 wks); 70F (65%G, 4-9d
- Seed from trade#2. Baggy, cold (3 wks); 70F (14%G, 7-14d).
- Seed from '02 garden. Baggy, cold (5 wks); 70F (10%G, 8d)
- >Seed from '03 garden. Baggy, cold (5 wks); 65F (28%G, 6-12d).
Cold treatment appears to be necessary, and germination is rather low - sow several times the number of plants required. Seedlings are very cold-sensitive - don't set out until after all danger of frost.
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Last modified:
November 05, 2006
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