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Silphium laciniatum |
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Common name |
compass plant |
Family |
asteraceae |
Life cycle |
perennial |
Flowers |
yellow (summer) |
Size |
6-8 ft |
Light |
sun |
Cultural notes |
average garden soil. drought-tolerant. very long tap root (may grow to 6 feet) |
From seed  |
give 2 months cold, then germinate at room temperature. self-seeds in our garden; seed ripens late (mid-late october) detailed seed-starting info below
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Prairie native whose basal leaves supposedly arrange themselves along the North-South axis (hence the common name). We can't really tell, because they're squeezed between so many other plants. Easily the most narrowly upright perennial we grow - single flower stalks rise to eight foot, and carry yellow daisies way up high. The taproots go very deep, making it difficult to transplant.
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The tall stalks often flop over after being banged around by a windstorm. While it doesn't make for the tidiest appearance, it does provide an opportunity to see the flowers up close
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About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Silphium laciniatum
Visitors to this page have left the following commentsAnthony | Dec 29, 2005 | do these die back every year?..just wondering? Yes - it's a herbaceous perennial, which reemerges from its roots every spring. |
- Seed from AHS '00 exchange. Baggy 35F (9w) - 70F (100%G, 2-3d)
- Seed from '02 garden. Baggy 35F (9w) - 70F (50%G, 5-10d)
- Seed from NARGS '13/'14 exchange, cold-stored. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (100%G, 3d)
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