Grow and Care for Bloodroot

Grow bloodroot in part shade and moist, humus-rich woodland soil that still drains. Bloodroot is Sanguinaria canadensis, also called Canada puccoon — an eastern woodland wildflower, not twinleaf.

Give it shade, moist woodland soil, and a leaf mulch

Bloodroot is a spring woodland perennial from a shallow rhizome that bleeds orange-red sap when it is cut. Sit it under deciduous trees so it gets light in early spring and shade once the canopy closes. [1] Keep the soil evenly moist while the leaves are up. Dry ground is the usual reason the clump fades early; a soggy low spot is what rots the rhizome. A thin layer of shredded leaves holds that moisture and keeps the roots cool, which is the same litter the plant grows in on the forest floor. [2] It is a woodland plant, not a dry gravel bed. Water it in a dry spell the first spring, then leave the leaf mulch in place through winter.

Plant the rhizome in fall or spring, with the bud facing up

Set nursery plants or dormant rhizomes in fall or in early spring, in a shady, moist bed you will not need to move later. Wear gloves. The sap is caustic on skin, and the rhizome is poisonous if it is eaten. [3] Lay the rhizome so the bud faces up, cover it with about one to two inches of soil, firm the backfill, and water it in the same day. Space pieces about 6 inches apart so the leaves can fill without crowding. Keep the soil moist while it settles, and do not dig plants from the woods.

1. Pick a shady, moist woodland bed you will not need to move later, and wear gloves.
2. Plant in fall or early spring, with the bud facing up and about one to two inches of soil over the rhizome.
3. Space plants about 6 inches apart, then firm the soil so there are no air pockets around the rhizome.
4. Water thoroughly the same day, mulch with leaves, and keep the soil evenly moist while the clump settles.

The white flower lasts a day or two; the leaf lasts until midsummer

Bloodroot opens a white cup in March or April, on a short stalk, with the single lobed leaf still wrapped around the bud. Each bloom lasts about a day or two after it is pollinated, and the petals drop. After that, the leaf unfurls and grows to about 6 to 9 inches across, and it usually holds until midsummer, then yellows and goes away. [4] Do not cut the leaves while they are green. The plant is storing food in the rhizome for next spring. To raise plants from the capsule, see Growing Bloodroot From Seed.

Plant it with other woodland neighbors that share shade and moist humus, such as How to Grow Trillium, How to Grow Wild Ginger, and How to Grow Hostas, and keep aggressive spreaders off the clump.

Not twinleaf — and not mayapple or yellow puccoon

The white spring cup looks like twinleaf until you see the leaf. Twinleaf has a leaf split into two matching leaflets, like a butterfly with its wings open. Bloodroot has one palmately lobed leaf that wraps the stalk as it comes up, and the sap is orange-red. If the leaf is two matching halves and there is no red sap, you have twinleaf — see How to Grow Twinleaf.

Mayapple is another woodland white flower, but it carries umbrella leaves on a forked stem, with the flower nodding in the fork. Bloodroot never makes that umbrella — see How to Grow Mayapple if that is the shop tag. Yellow puccoon is Lithospermum, a prairie plant with orange-yellow flowers, not this white woodland cup. Catalog tags that say turmeric are this same bloodroot as a folk name, not culinary turmeric — see How to Grow Turmeric if the rhizome is fat, orange, and tropical. Goldenseal is a different woodland rhizome with a yellow interior — see How to Grow Goldenseal.

If the leaves fade by early summer, the soil probably dried out or the sun was too hot. Put the next plants in shade with a leaf mulch, and keep the soil evenly moist while the leaves are up.