Lesser celandine

How to recognise it

Habit

Low, hairless plant 5–15 cm tall that forms carpets. Only above ground from January–February until May–June.

Leaf

Heart- to kidney-shaped, 2–4 cm, glossy dark green, sometimes with dark or silvery markings, on long stalks. The edge is wavy or slightly scalloped.

Flower

Star-shaped, 2–3 cm across, with 8–12 shiny yellow petals and three green sepals. The flower fades as it ages.

Fruit/Seed

A small ball of tiny nutlets, but many plants set little seed. It spreads mainly by small bulbils in the leaf axils, the size of a grain of wheat.

Roots

A cluster of club-shaped root tubers; every tuber left in the soil can grow into a new plant.

Look-alikes

Marsh marigold is much larger, has five yellow sepals and grows in marshes. Colt’s-foot has dandelion-like flower heads that appear before the leaves. Buttercups have five petals and divided leaves.

Flowering: March–May

Why grow it?

• One of the first flowers of the year: pollen and nectar for bumblebee queens, mining bees and flies.
• Forms a glossy carpet in the shade under shrubs and trees, in places where almost nothing grows in summer.
• No work at all: it disappears by itself in June and makes way for ferns and summer plants.
• A lovely sign of spring: the flowers open in the sun and close in cold or cloudy weather.
• Part of the classic spring flora of old woods and hedgerows, together with wood anemone and snowdrop.

Lesser celandine: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: damp broadleaved woods, hedgerows, stream banks, parks, verges and shady lawns.
• Half shade to shade under deciduous trees and shrubs; in spring it gets plenty of light there.
• Moist, humus-rich, fertile soil: loam and clay; it tolerates wet feet in winter.
• In the garden: under a hedge, beneath shrubs, in a woodland garden or in a lawn that is mown late. Not in a border with small plants, where it takes up too much room.

Goes well with

• Wood anemone: White stars at the same time as the yellow ones, under the same shrubs.
• Snowdrop: Flowers just before it and shares the same moist half shade.
• Sweet violet: Fragrant purple flowers in the same spring weeks.
• Male fern: Unfurls its fronds as the celandine disappears, filling the empty space.

Lesser celandine: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy pot-grown plants or tubers from a native plant nursery, or ask a neighbour for a piece. Never dig plants up from the wild.
2. Plant the tubers in September–October, 3–5 cm deep and 15–20 cm apart, in small groups.
3. Plant pot-grown plants in spring, just after flowering, or in autumn.
4. Choose a spot where it may spread: under shrubs or in grass that is mown late.
5. Water after planting and scatter a little leaf mould over the spot.
6. After that there is no more work: the leaves die back by themselves in May–June.

Care

Water

Not needed: it grows in the wet spring and rests below ground in the dry summer.

Feeding

Not needed. Leave the fallen leaves of the trees above it: they turn into compost by themselves.

Mowing

Mow a lawn with celandines only when the leaves turn yellow, from mid-May to early June. That way it can fill its tubers.

Spreading

In a border it spreads stubbornly by tubers and bulbils. Dig out whole clumps with a generous root ball, preferably while it is in flower and you can still see it.

Dying back

Yellow leaves in May–June are normal: the plant is going into summer dormancy. Don’t cut them off; just let them rot down.

Tip: Don’t want it in your border? Dig it out while it is in flower and you can still see it, taking a generous root ball: after June you will never find the tubers again.

Pruning and mowing

When: Not needed. Let the leaves die back naturally in May–June.

How:

• Never cut or mow the leaves while they are still green; the plant needs them to fill its tubers.
• Lawn with celandines: mow for the first time only once the leaves have yellowed.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Division

After flowering or in autumn, lift a clump and split it into pieces with tubers.

Bulbils

After flowering, small bulbils appear in the leaf axils. Gather them in May–June and lay them just below the surface in their new spot.

Seed

Many plants set little seed. If you do have some, sow the ripe seed outdoors straight after collecting it.

Lesser celandine: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• From June until winter it rests below ground as tubers; above ground you see nothing.
• As early as January–February the first glossy leaves appear, often among the snowdrops.
• Fully hardy; the young leaves also tolerate night frosts.

Diseases and pests

• Spreading in borders: Tubers and bulbils are easily left behind when weeding. Dig out clumps with a generous root ball before the leaves die back, and only put them on the compost heap if it gets really hot; otherwise use the green waste bin.
• Rust: Small yellow spots and orange-brown pustules on the underside of the leaves. Harmless: the plant dies back soon anyway. Remove badly affected leaves.
• Slugs: Sometimes eat young leaves. The carpet usually recovers by itself.
• Bare patches in summer: Once it has died back, the soil is left bare. Combine it with ferns or plants that come up in summer.

Through the year

• January: First leaves above ground.
• February: Leaves grow fast; the first buds appear.
• March: Full flower. Bumblebee queens out looking for pollen.
• April: Flowering. Dig out clumps where there are too many.
• May: Last flowers; bulbils in the leaf axils. Only mow the lawn once the leaves turn yellow.
• June: Leaves die back; summer rest below ground.
• September: Plant tubers.
• October: You can still plant. Leave fallen leaves where they lie.

Did you know?

• Its old English name pilewort and its Dutch name speenkruid come from the doctrine of signatures: the root tubers were thought to resemble piles, and so the plant was once used against them.
• The scientific name Ficaria comes from the Latin ficus, fig: the root tubers look like tiny figs.
• The flowers open only in sunny weather and close in the evening and when it rains.