Saxifraga, Fortune Saxifrage

This species is on my short list of plants for autumn display in shade: Starting in September, showy panicles of white flowers like a swa...Read Morerm of butterflies hover well above the foliage for about a month.

This beautiful perennial has graced my Boston Z6a garden for over ten years, with virtually no maintenance. It looks a lot like a coral bells (Heuchera) when out of flower---the leaves are round, lobed, bronze tinted above and bronze-red underneath. It hasn't spread out at all from the original clump.

This does well for me in dappled shade. It's in a raised bed, but the soil is heavy and silty. It gets watered occasionally, during droughts, but there's no automatic irrigation system.

There are many cultivars, varying in size, leaf color, and flower color, but the original species is lovely. I also planted the pink-flowered cultivar 'Beni Fugi', but it didn't last more than a season.

This species is said to be difficult (but not impossible) to divide (in early spring only!) and I've never attempted it. It can also be grown from seed.

The RHS awarded this plant its coveted Award of Garden Merit. According to their information, it likes its soil moist but well drained, tolerates a wide pH range, and grows on "loam, chalk, or sand".

added 5/1/16: I tried lifting this decade-old clump for the first time. It easily broke into 3 pieces, which I replanted. So much for division being difficult. It has very shallow roots.