Sanguinaria, bloodroot, is a fleeting spring treat and this spring the double form of Sanguinaria canadensis, the Canadian bloodroot, reminds us of a greater truth.

Take a look at the picture (above, click to enlarge). The plant has been in place for about five years, and it’s grown steadily. But now the center of the plant is dying out, and all the strong flowering growth is round the edge. The doughnut look is really starting to spoil the effect. So, what’s to be done?

Well, nothing now; it’s too late. By the time the flowers are over the rounded foliage you can see emerging amongst the blooms will be too large; dig it all up, split it and replant at that stage and you’ll do more harm than good. The time to do it is either when the foliage has died down later in the year, or next spring just as growth is stirring.

One thing I suppose I could do is to remove all the old tired soil from the center and replace it with fresh, so that this year the fat rhizomes can grow inwards into rich soil as well as outwards. Then perhaps there’ll be more to split when the time comes

A huge range of other perennials suffer from the same problem: phlox, hardy chrysanthemums, many hardy geraniums, heleniums, and many more. Many of these benefit from being split every three or four years. But hostas and hellebores, in particular, are best left to make ever-fatter clumps; they spread slowly, and even if the centers do become doughnut-ised it doesn’t usually show.

For more on the spring delights of these lovely plants, check out my earlier posts on sanguinarias:
Star of the spring garden
Sanguinaria - the spring overture