Claytonia sibirica (Siberian Spring Beauty)

Claytonia sibirica (Siberian Spring Beauty) is a charming annual or short-lived perennial forming a rosette of fleshy, egg-to-lance-shaped leaves. It produces upright leafy stems bearing loose clusters of up to 3 small, white to pink flowers. Blooming in mid-spring to mid-summer (depending on location), each flower, 1 in. across (2 cm), features 5 white, candy-striped, or pink petals notched at the tips. Delicate deep magenta veins on the petals help guide bees to the nectar. Siberian Spring Beauty occurs naturally along the western coast of North America from Alaska to California. It is also native to eastern Siberia and has been naturalized in Britain. It usually grows in moist shady sites such as forests, stream banks, and meadows at low to mid-elevations. Siberian Spring Beauty is edible. Its leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and used in salads or as a steamed green. They are mild in flavor and are high in vitamin C. Siberian Spring Beauty is reported to have been used by miners during the California gold rush in the mid-1800s to prevent scurvy, hence the other common name of Miner’s Lettuce.

• Grows up to 6-10 in. tall (15-25 cm) and up to 36-48 in. wide (90-120 cm). This beauty naturalizes via underground rhizomes and self-seeding without being invasive.
• Easily grown in humus-rich, sandy, moist, acidic, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. Tolerates sun in temperate climate as long as the soil is kept moist.
• Good choice near ponds and streams or as a groundcover.
• No serious pest or disease issues. Keep an eye out for downy mildew and aphids.
• Propagate using seeds. No treatment.
• Native to Siberia and western North America.