Colt’s-foot

How to recognise it

Habit

Low perennial with creeping rhizomes. Flowering stems 10–25 cm, leaves up to 30 cm tall.

Flower

One golden-yellow head 2–3 cm across per stem, with many narrow ray florets around a yellow disc. Closes in the evening and in dull weather.

Stem

Flowering stems woolly and covered in reddish-brown, scale-like leaves. No milky sap.

Leaf

Appears after flowering: round to hoof-shaped, 10–30 cm across, with an angular, toothed edge; green above, white-felted beneath.

Fruit/Seed

After flowering the head droops for a while, then straightens into a white seed clock. Each seed has a parachute of white hairs.

Confusion with

Dandelion has leaves at flowering time, smooth hollow stems and white milky sap. Butterbur has pink flower spikes and much larger leaves. Lesser celandine has glossy leaves and star-shaped flowers.

Flowering: February–April

Why grow it?

• One of the first sources of nectar and pollen of the year, for bumblebee queens, mining bees and honeybees.
• A pioneer of bare ground: its rhizomes bind banks and waste ground.
• Strikingly early flowers, at a time when the garden is still grey.
• The white seed clocks spread the seeds on the wind, just like dandelion.
• Of historical interest: the plant was once used against coughs, which is still reflected in its name.

Colt’s-foot: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: railway and road embankments, banks, quarries, clay pits, building sites, field edges and riversides.
• Full sun; in shade it flowers little.
• Bare, open ground, preferably clay or loam, often chalky and moist in spring; also copes with rubble and gravel.
• In the garden: a wild corner, a bank, the edge of a pond or a stony spot where little else grows.

Goes well with

• Goat willow: Flowers at the same time; together a feast for bees in March.
• Blackthorn: White blossom in March–April, also for early insects.
• Lesser celandine: Yellow stars in the same early season, in a moister spot.
• Red dead-nettle: Flowers early on open ground and is also popular with bumblebees.
• Dandelion: Takes over the yellow in April–May.

Colt’s-foot: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy a plant from a native-plant nursery, or ask for a piece of rhizome from someone who already has it in the garden.
2. Plant in March–April or in October in an open, sunny spot, 30–40 cm apart.
3. To keep it in check, plant it in a bottomless bucket or behind a sturdy root barrier.
4. You can sow fresh seed in May: scatter it straight away on moist, bare soil and do not cover it. The seed only stays viable for a short time.
5. Water during dry spells in the first spring; after that it looks after itself.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild.

Care

Water

Only after planting. Established plants need no watering.

Feeding

Not needed: it is a pioneer of poor, bare ground.

Spreading

The rhizomes run far and deep. Slice off runners at the edge every spring, or use a root barrier.

Seeds

If you do not want seedlings, cut off the heads after flowering, before the seed clocks open.

Open ground

Among tall plants and grass it disappears after a few years. Keep the soil open by hoeing now and then.

Tip: Plant colt’s-foot near a window or path: you will see the first flowers in February, and the bumblebees that come to visit them.

Pruning and mowing

When: Not needed. To avoid seedlings, cut off the spent heads in April–May.

How:

• Simply let the leaves die back in autumn; they rot down by themselves.
• Cut off spent heads before they turn to fluff if you want to limit spreading.
• If the leaves sprawl too much you can mow them in summer; the plant will still flower next spring.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Rhizomes

In March or October, cut off a piece of rhizome with a bud and replant it straight away.

Seed

Scatter fresh seed in May on moist, bare soil; it germinates within days to weeks and does not store well.

Colt’s-foot: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Everything above ground dies back in autumn; the plant overwinters as rhizomes in the soil.
• The flower buds are already formed in autumn, just below the surface, ready to open on the first mild days.
• Fully hardy, to about −30 °C.

Diseases and pests

• Spreading: In loose garden soil it spreads quickly. Use a root barrier or slice off the edges every year.
• Rust: Small orange spots on the undersides of the leaves in summer. A rust fungus that also lives on pines; harmless to the plant. You can remove affected leaves.
• Slugs: They nibble the young leaves. The plant usually recovers; let hedgehogs and ground beetles do their job.
• Disappearing: Overgrown by grass or shrubs after a few years. It needs open ground: hoe, or make a new bare patch.

Through the year

• February: First flowers in mild weather, often from mid-February.
• March: Full flower. Bumblebee queens and early bees on the flowers.
• April: Last flowers and white seed clocks. The first leaves appear.
• May: Scatter fresh seed if you want to sow. The leaves grow out.
• June: Leaves fully grown. Slice off rhizomes at the edge if it spreads too far.
• August: Look out for rust on the leaf undersides.
• October: Plant or divide. The leaves die back.
• November: Rest. The flower buds wait just below ground.

Did you know?

• Tussilago comes from the Latin tussis (cough) and agere (to drive away): the plant was used against coughs for centuries. Today we know that is not a good idea because of its toxic compounds.
• Because the flowers appear before the leaves, the plant was once called ‘filius ante patrem’, the son before the father.
• The Dutch, English and French folk names all refer to the leaf shape: hoefblad (hoof leaf), colt’s-foot and pas-d’âne (donkey’s step).