Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Water Snowflake

Description:

Dainty, fringed, star-shaped flowers rise up in summer; deep chocolate foliage with contrasting bright green veins; a beautiful addition to your pond; easy to care for; best in still water

Ornamental Features

Chocolate Snowflake features dainty yellow star-shaped flowers held atop the stems in early summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive glossy heart-shaped leaves remain burgundy in colour with distinctive light green veins throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Chocolate Snowflake is an herbaceous annual with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Chocolate Snowflake is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Water Gardens
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting
• Bog Gardens

Planting & Growing

Chocolate Snowflake will grow to be only 3 inches tall at maturity extending to 6 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 6 feet. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is an excellent choice for very wet locations or locations with some standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division.

Chocolate Snowflake is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.