Description Family Polygonaceae Originating from the Himalayas, Pakistan, and China. Bold foliage forms wide spreading lush clumps Fat spikes of deep red/pink flowers are borne over a long period in summer Vary hardy and easy to grow in any soil in full sun or part shade. Fat, cheerfully bright, apple-green heart-shaped leaves form low and wide mounds of lush foliage, making the perfect backdrop for its flower spikes. The broad puckered, and handsomely veined leaves have no leaf stalks and grow directly from the flowering stem, their bases wrapping almost around it. They have a rough surface to add to their character, terminating in a sharp-looking arrow-like leaf tip. The red hot poker-like flowers are fatter than most Persicaria spikes and create a big impact with their deep cerise pink/red colour, and are loved by pollinators. The many individual star shaped blooms on each spike open in succession, meaning that each inflorescence has a long period of colourful display, and the many flower spikes produced by a single clump create a floral display lasting for months rather than weeks. This is a bold and abundant Persicaria in every way; it can make the perfect lower level addition to jungle and exotic schemes, where its large foliage looks in keeping with Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex‘, Fatsia polycarpa ‘Green Fingers’ and Fatshedera lizei. In loud exotic plantings it can be paired with Canna ‘Taney’, Canna ‘Russian Red‘ and Hedychium coccineum ‘Tara’. This fantastically adaptable variety of ‘Red Bistort’ is usually associated with prairie gardens where it is happy in full sun alongside Miscanthus sacchariflorus, Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’ or Helenium ‘Sahins Early Flowerer’. Persicarias are an old favourite in a herbaceous border too, complementing Achillea ‘Petra’, Agastache ‘Mexican Red Fortune’ and Verbena bonariensis perfectly. Very hardy and Easy to grow in any soil type. Height and spread after 2 – 5 years 1.5m x 1m.
