Grow and Care for Fringe Cups

Grow fringe cups in part shade and moist, humus-rich woodland soil that still drains. Fringe cups is Tellima grandiflora, also called bigflower tellima — a western woodland perennial, not coral bells and not a fringe tree.

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

Fringe cups is a western woodland perennial from short rhizomes, with a basal mound of hairy, shallowly lobed leaves. Sit it in part shade so the leaves stay cool, in soil that stays moist but still drains after rain. [1] Full sun works only when the ground stays moist; drier shade is fine once the clump is settled. [2] Water it through the first summer. After that, a short dry spell in shade is not a crisis, but a hot, dry bank still makes the leaves flag. A thin layer of shredded leaves holds moisture and keeps the roots cool. [3] It is a moist-woods plant, not a prairie. Water a new planting in a dry week, then leave the leaf mulch in place through winter.

Plant in spring or fall, at the same depth as the pot

Set nursery plants in spring or fall, in a shady, moist bed you will not need to move later. Set the crown at the same depth it grew in the pot, firm the backfill, and water it in the same day. Space plants about 12 to 18 inches apart so the leaves can fill without rotting in a crowded crown. 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.
2. Plant in spring or fall, at the same depth the crown already grew in the nursery pot.
3. Space plants about 12 to 18 inches apart, then firm the soil so there are no air pockets around the roots.
4. Water thoroughly the same day, mulch with leaves, and keep the soil evenly moist while the clump settles.

Cut the spent stems, or leave them so the patch self-sows

Fringe cups open small greenish-white cups with five deeply cut petals, lined along a slender raceme in mid- to late spring. The cups often blush pink or red as they age, and some plants are lightly fragrant. If you want a tidy ground cover with fewer volunteer seedlings, cut the spent stems once the flowers fade. If you want the patch to thicken from seed, leave those stems until the capsules empty, then pull extras later. To raise plants from collected seed, see Growing Fringe Cups From Seed.

In a mild winter the leaves stay on as a low green mat. In late winter, pull tatty or winter-burned leaves so the new mound can fill. Do not shear the crown to the ground as if it were a woody shrub. Plant it with other woodland neighbors that share shade and moist humus, such as How to Grow Foamflower, and keep aggressive spreaders off the clump.

• Cut faded racemes if you want a tidy mound and fewer seedlings.
• Leave the stems if you want self-sown patches, and thin extras the next spring.
• Pull tatty winter leaves in late winter; do not hard-prune the crown.

Not coral bells — and not foamflower or a fringe tree

Out of flower, fringe cups look a lot like alumroot. Coral bells are Heuchera, usually grown for colorful leaves and small unfringed bells — see How to Grow Coral Bells. Foamflower is Tiarella, with frothy white spikes rather than a line of fringed cups — see How to Grow Foamflower. Foamy bells are Heucherella, a hybrid of those two, not this western species — see How to Grow Foamy Bells.

Miterwort is Mitella. The names are anagrams, and both have tiny fringed petals, but miterwort is a smaller eastern woodland plant with snowflake flowers and a seed cup that rain splashes — see How to Grow Miterwort. Piggyback plant is Tolmiea. The leaves can look alike until you find plantlets sitting on the old leaf blades; fringe cups do not make those plantlets. [4] Do not buy a piggyback when you wanted this raceme of fringed cups.

A fringe tree is Chionanthus, a woody tree with white tassels — see How to Grow Fringe Tree. Chinese fringe flower is Loropetalum, a shrub — see How to Grow Chinese Fringe Flower. Fringed orchid is Platanthera — see How to Grow Fringed Orchid. Large-flowered collomia is an annual in the phlox family that sometimes surfaces next to a Tellima search — see How to Grow Collomia if that is the shop tag.

If the leaves scorch by midsummer, the sun was too hot or the soil dried out. Move the next plants into part shade with a leaf mulch, and keep a new clump evenly moist its first year.