1-2' × 2-3' Formerly Ledum groenlandicum. Our plants are grown from cuttings of a stand of plants in northern Michigan.
Low-growing native evergreen twiggy shrub with leathery elliptical leaves. Easily identified by the felted rust-colored woolly hairs on the leaves’ undersides, which help the plant retain moisture and protect it from drying winter winds. In spring, it can look dead, but wait! Small bulbous flower heads emerge atop the twigs and open to a fuzzy cluster of small very white blossoms, late June in central Maine.
We’ve had a long love affair with this plant, a common understated beauty we encounter on our north country hikes in boglands and mountaintops alike. Where there are large stands, one can’t resist harvesting a small handful of leaves to stick in your pocket and take back to camp for tea. Thrives in nutrient-poor sphagnum bogs. We have ours growing in an acidic rain garden that gets adequate moisture. Keep the base mulched to help it withstand drought. Best tucked into a planting with lowbush blueberries and other heaths. It won’t fill out as a stand-alone specimen or rise above other ornamentals, but we consider it a must-have for Zone 2 plant enthusiasts. Native to bogs, ponds, mountain tops and tundra from Newfoundland to Alaska, extending south into New England and the Great Lakes. Zone 2.
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