Grow Carolina redroot in full sun to part sun, in soil that stays wet. Carolina redroot is Lachnanthes caroliana, also listed as Lachnanthes caroliniana — also called paint root.
Give it full sun and soil that stays wet
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Full sun to part sun, with open sky for most of the day | Do not tuck it under a dense canopy, where the clump stays leafy and flowers poorly |
| Soil | Moist to wet, acidic sand or peat — a bog, rain garden, pond edge, or ditch, even shallow standing water | Do not plant it in dry ground, which is the main reason clumps fail |
| Water | Keep the soil wet through the growing season; water whenever the surface starts to dry | Do not let the bed dry out in summer |
| Feed | Little or none in ordinary sandy or peaty soil | Do not feed it richly, because this plant grows on lean, wet ground |
Carolina redroot is a wetland perennial from a red-orange rhizome, native to wet savannas, bogs, pond shores, and ditches on the coastal plain. Give it open sun and ground that stays wet, the same kind of ground it grows on in the wild. [1] Acid sand or peat that never dries is the site; ordinary dry border soil is not. [2] The leaves are sword-shaped and rise in a flat fan, so before it flowers the plant can look like a small iris. The rhizome and roots are red-orange, and they run red juice when you cut them — that color is how you tell it from an iris, whose roots are brown. [3] Keep the soil wet from spring until frost. A dry week in summer is what sets the clump back.
How much sun does Carolina redroot need?
Full sun to part sun. Open sky for most of the day. Deep shade gives a weak clump and few flowers.
Can it sit in standing water?
Yes, shallow water at a pond edge or in a ditch is fine. Dry ground is what fails it.
Plant it in spring, in wet ground, and group several together
Set nursery plants in spring, in a full-sun to part-sun bed you can keep wet — a bog, rain garden, pond edge, or low ditch. Plant several together in a group, because a single stem disappears among taller wet-meadow plants. [4] Keep the crown at the same soil line it had in the pot, firm the backfill, and water it in the same day. Keep that soil wet through the first season. To split an established clump, see How to Propagate Carolina Redroot.
- Pick a full-sun to part-sun bed that stays wet, such as a bog, rain garden, pond edge, or ditch.
- Set each plant at the same soil line it had in the pot, and firm the soil so there are no air pockets around the roots.
- Group several plants together, about a foot apart, so the clump reads as a patch instead of a single lost stem.
- Water thoroughly the same day, and keep the soil wet through the first growing season.
When should I plant Carolina redroot?
In spring, while the soil is already wet and the plant is starting to grow. Keep the bed wet after you set it.
Woolly yellow-white flowers open from summer into fall
The flowers open in a woolly cluster at the top of the stem from summer into fall. Each small flower has yellow inner tepals and creamy-white outer tepals covered in soft hairs, so the whole head looks pale and frosted from a few yards away. Bees and butterflies use the nectar, and birds eat the seed, especially sandhill cranes if you plant a wide patch.
When frost has killed the stems, cut them to the ground in late winter before new growth starts. The rhizomes stay in the wet ground. Plant it with other wet-sun natives, such as native grasses, so taller neighbors do not shade the clump.
When does Carolina redroot bloom?
From summer into fall. The cluster is woolly and pale yellow-white. Cut the dead stems to the ground in late winter.
Not bloodroot — and not pigweed or an iris
Woodland bloodroot is a spring wildflower of rich woods, with a single lobed leaf and a white cup. Carolina redroot is a wet-sun plant with iris-like leaves and a woolly summer cluster. If your plant came from a woodland shade bed, it is not this one.
The name redroot is also used for redroot pigweed, an annual weed of dry fields, and for New Jersey tea, a dry-ground shrub. If you mean the leafy annual, read How to Grow Amaranth. If you mean the dry shrub, read How to Grow California Lilac. Without flowers, the fan of leaves can look like iris; iris roots are brown, and this plant's rhizomes are red-orange. Iris care is on How to Grow Irises.
Is Carolina redroot the same as bloodroot?
No. Bloodroot is a woodland spring flower with a white cup. Carolina redroot is a wet-sun perennial with a woolly yellow-white cluster in summer.
If a clump sulks, check the light and the water first: give it open sun and keep the ground wet through the growing season.
FAQ
Is there more than one kind of Carolina redroot?
Lachnanthes caroliana is the plant here, also listed as Lachnanthes caroliniana — the same plant under a second spelling. There is no second type in this catalog.
Can I grow it in a pot?
Only if the pot stays wet, sitting in a saucer or a bog tray. It is a wet-ground plant, not a houseplant. A rain garden or pond edge is the usual home.
Does it come back after winter?
Yes. The top dies back, and the rhizomes stay in the wet ground. Leave them in place and keep the bed from drying out.
Is Carolina redroot toxic?
It is toxic if eaten, including to livestock. Do not eat it, and keep grazing animals off the patch.
Related guides
Recommended plants
References
- [1] Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center -
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LACA5 - [2] Florida Wildflower Foundation -
https://www.flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-lachnanthes-caroliana/ - [3] University of Florida, IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants -
https://plant-directory.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/lachnanthes-caroliniana/ - [4] Sharon's Florida -
https://sharonsflorida.com/plants-page/native-wildflowers/carolina-redroot/
This note is part of Lachnanthes Guides.
More first-season notes by plant are gathered in How to Grow Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors