Bloodroot is an “ephemeral” …now you see it now you don’t. We have a planting on the north side of our house, pictured above on April 30, just poking through. It does very well there with about two hours of sun a day as the sun rises more and more in the northeast as spring comes on. It likes rich moist soil in a hardwood edge where it gets the spring sun and blooms before the tree foliage puts it in the shade, after which all we see is leaves the rest of the year. It is visited by bumblebees and other wild bees and honeybees and provides them with pollen. Apparently it doesn’t have to give any nectar reward to bees because it can self pollinate. Ants distribute its seeds by taking them to their nests. It’s rhizomes can be dug and divided to make plantings. There are many medicinal claims for this plant: in toothpaste to fight plaque and gingivitis and as a cancer medication, to treat skin rashes and as an insect repellent. “Only the dose makes the poison”, said Paracelsus, and bloodroot is one of those things to handle with care …the right dose a cure, the wrong one a poison. Interesting non-medical factoid: blood root gets its name from the red juice in its rhizome and that juice can be used as a natural fabric dye.
