Erythronium dens-canis (Dog’s Tooth Violet)

Erythronium dens-canis (Dog’s Tooth Violet) is a charming perennial boasting elegant, nodding, mauve-pink flowers, one per stem, in mid-spring. Relatively large, each blossom, 2 in. across (5 cm), features gracefully recurved, pointed petals adorned with contrasting cinnamon-brown and yellow markings in the throat. They rise well above the basal foliage of mid-green, elliptic leaves, copiously marbled with purple-brown. Lovely in groups under deciduous trees, in rock gardens, or near ponds and streams where it will happily multiply.

• Grows in clumps up to 6-10 in. tall (15-25 cm) and 3-4 in. wide (7-10 cm). This beauty naturalizes quite easily in the shade garden.
• Easily grown in humus-rich, well-drained soils in part shade. Needs moist soil, even when dormant, do not let the soil dry out!
• Stunning in beds and borders, rock gardens, underplanting shrubs or roses, cottage gardens, or in prairies. Because it goes dormant after blooming, interplant with late emerging perennials to fill in the open space (bleeding heart, columbine, and hostas).
• Virtually disease free. Watch for slugs. Deer resistant.
• To be planted in fall. Propagate by division after flowering.
• Native to Europe, Asia