Is there anything I can do to stop my Ligularia from wilting in the afternoons?
Ligularia is a bit of an oddball plant. It has the large, shiny leaves normally associated with shade loving plants and yet it loves the sun or, at the very least, partial shade.
The problem, as you've discovered, is that when you grow ligularia in the full sun, it does the most impressive dying swan routine in the middle of the afternoon. You'd swear that sucker is light-years past dead and yet when evening rolls around, it perks back up again in perfect condition.
I read once that if you plant ligularia in full sun then provide it with shade for a few hours each afternoon, it will grow happily without feeling the need to resort to dramatic afternoon wilting. For some reason, this advice always causes me to imagine some frazzled gardener perched gardenside with a parasol in one hand and a margarita in the other. Presumably the advice implies that if you have a tree or structure magically blocking the light mid-afternoon (and at no other time), you’re in business.
Good luck with that.
I've got a ligularia growing in an area where it gets bright shade for most of the day, but starting late in the afternoon it gets several hours of direct sunlight. Yes, I know that's opposite to the advice generally handed out, but aside from the fact that the plant is a bit spindly, it seems content not to throw a mid-afternoon hissy fit so, if nothing else, we’ve at least managed some sort of a truce.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
