PLANT FINDER
Cool Gold Piggyback Plant
Tolmiea menziesii 'Cool Gold'
Plant Height: 16 inches
Flower Height: 24 inches
Spread: 5 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 6a
Brand: Terra Nova
Description:
This native woodland plant adds bright yellow-gold color to shady spots in the garden and retains its color throughout the season; late spring flowers are insignificant; fast growing and adaptable
Ornamental Features
Cool Gold Piggyback Plant's attractive serrated heart-shaped leaves emerge chartreuse in spring, turning gold in color with showy buttery yellow variegation and tinges of lime green the rest of the year on a plant with a spreading habit of growth.
Landscape Attributes
Cool Gold Piggyback Plant is an herbaceous evergreen perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Cool Gold Piggyback Plant is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Groundcover
- Container Planting
- Hanging Baskets
Planting & Growing
Cool Gold Piggyback Plant will grow to be about 16 inches tall at maturity extending to 24 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 5 feet. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.
This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selection of a native North American species. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Cool Gold Piggyback Plant is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. 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.
Characteristics
Applications
Ornamental Features