Grow and Care for Diphylleia

Grow diphylleia in moist shade. Diphylleia is one species, Diphylleia cymosa, also sold as American umbrellaleaf. It is not the skeleton flower.

Keep it in moist shade

diphylleia is a clump of large umbrella leaves. A flowering stem usually carries two peltate leaves — the stalk joins under the middle of the blade — and each blade can reach a foot across or more. White flowers open in a cluster above those leaves in late spring, then blue berries sit on red stalks. Keep the soil moist and cool so the leaves stay green. Dry soil browns the edges. [1] [2]

Plant in spring, with the rhizome just below the soil

Plant a container plant in spring, when the soil is workable. Set the rhizome at the old soil line so the buds are not buried, and leave room for the leaves to open.

1. Plant in spring, when the soil is workable.
2. Dig a hole as deep as the pot and a little wider.
3. Set the rhizome at the old soil line. Do not bury the buds.
4. Leave about one to three feet between plants, so the leaves can open.
5. Water well, then keep the soil moist.
6. Choose a seep, stream edge, or woodland bed, not a dry border.

Split a crowded clump in spring

When the clump is crowded, lift it in spring as the new shoots emerge. Split the rhizome so each piece has buds and roots, then replant at the same depth.

1. In spring, as new shoots emerge, lift the clump.
2. Split the rhizome so each piece has buds and roots.
3. Replant at the same depth, and water so the soil stays moist.

Let the leaves die down in fall

The large leaves feed the rhizome for next spring. Leave them in place until they yellow and die down in fall. Do not cut green foliage. This is a hardy garden perennial. Do not lift the rhizomes and store them dry.

1. Leave the leaves until they yellow and die down in fall. [3]
2. Cut dead stems to the ground in late fall or in early spring, if you want a tidy bed.
3. Spread a thin layer of leaf mold so the soil stays moist. Do not bury the crown under a heavy bark mulch.

Not the skeleton flower — and not mayapple or indoor umbrella plant

Skeleton flower is Diphylleia grayi, a Japanese cousin. Its white petals turn clear when they stay wet. The plant we list is American umbrellaleaf. It wants the same moist shade, but the petals do not put on that show, and we do not list the Japanese plant as a second card.

Indoor umbrella plant is usually Schefflera, a woody houseplant that dries between waterings. This plant is a woodland perennial with two large leaves per flowering stem.

Mayapple is Podophyllum peltatum. Its flower hangs under the leaves, and the colony often dies back by midsummer. This plant holds larger leaves, and the white cluster stands above them. Some lists now file American umbrellaleaf as Podophyllum cymosum. That is the same plant, not mayapple.

If the tag says umbrella plant and the leaves are round and the flowers open on naked stems before the foliage, that is darmera. See How to Grow Darmera. If you bought the usual big shade leaves for a border, see How to Grow Hostas.

In the wild it forms colonies on moist Blue Ridge slopes, in seeps, and along streams, then it is grown as an ornamental in the same kind of ground. [4]

Set it in moist shade, with the rhizome at the old soil line. Keep the soil from drying, and do not buy a skeleton flower, an indoor umbrella plant, or mayapple as this plant.