Description
Scientific name: Cleone glabra
Range: Keweenaw native
Light: Full Sun, partial sun
Soil: Clay, Loam, Sand
Moisture: Wet, Medium Wet
Benefits: Butterflies, Pollinators, Hummingbirds, Host Plant, Deer Resistant
Height: 2-5′
Blooms: July-Sept
Zones: 3-8
Color: White, Cream, sometimes tinged with pink
Spacing: 1′
Root: Fibrous
Turtlehead is prized for its eponymous blooms, which do evoke a turtle sticking its head from its shell. It will grow in a tended garden, but the soil must be moist for it to thrive. It can benefit from pinching it back in early summer to keep it from overgrowing and flopping, which can happen in shadier locations. Spreads slowly by rhizomes–yay!–because who doesn’t want more turtleheads?
