Yerba Mansa is a wonderful plant to have in your swale, rain garden, or any other moist spot in your yard. It’s seasonal, growing in the Spring and into the Summer before dying back to the ground as the heat of the summer bakes the landscape. The winter rains will revive it and it will start the process all over again. Withstands being underwater in swales and when I’ve seen it in nature, it grows best in straight up mud or with lots of water. With extra water, it’ll stay present in your landscape for longer, particularly if it has full sun. In my yard, it grows in Part Shade so it is’ not nearly as prolific as I wish. Mix in with Carex or Juncus for a beautiful, striking bloom. Leaves contrast well with the aforementioned genus’s as well since they are thick, ovate and leather compared to the slender leaves of Carex and Juncus. When the flowers open, they are a rich white but as they fade they become spattered in crimson that makes them look even more striking. Will slowly spread by runners into other moist areas of the yard, which I’m all for.

Calscape