Caltha palustris may be a common plant but each spring it becomes a star in the garden for about 3 weeks. It has been in my garden for over 10 years, never gets any maintenance, never has pest or disease problems and it flowers like crazy. How many garden plants can match these qualities?
The marsh marigold likes to sit in water, or at least have wet soil in spring. If things get too hot or dry in late summer it will die back. It is perfectly suited to the shallow edge of a pond or waterfall as shown in these pictures. It is such a great plant that the Royal Horticulture Society has given it their prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
Other common names include kingcup, mayflower, May blobs, mollyblobs, pollyblobs, horse blob, water blob, water bubles, gollins, and publican. Although it is called a marigold, it belongs to the buttercup family is unrelated to the aster family.
If the plain, single yellow one is too common for you to grow, it is also available as Caltha palustris var. alba and Caltha palustris ‘Floro Pleno’, a double form.
Caltha palustris
(KAL-tha pal-US-triss)
Life Cycle: perennial
Height: 25cm (10in)
Bloom Time: spring
Natural Range: Northern temperate regions
Habitat: sunny pond edges, river banks and ditches
Synonyms: NA
Cultivation of Caltha palustris:
Light: sun to part shade in hotter climates
Soil: variable
Water: wet to standing water
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 –11
Propagation: seed, division
The young leaves are edible and you can also use the unopen flower pods to pickle and make capers.
I love this plant. I have at least a dozen in my garden.
We have one of these old faithfuls in our pond on a shelf and have had it for ten years. It is the first pond plant to burst into colour in the spring. I tidy it up a bit after the flowers fade and often get a second flush in the fall.