Plant care & info

Family: Portulacacea

Genus: Lewisia

Common Name: Bitterroot

High, rocky areas in the western half of the United States and Canada.

Mostly sun, but thrives when there is also a little shade; light to regular water but with sharp drainage, dry in winter.

Deadhead to encourage new flowering.

Root rot can occur when too much moisture is retained in the soil, and hail can damage the succulent. You may see occasional slug damage, but the plant is virtually pest free.

A plant destined for rock garden or container, it is relatively a no-muss-no-fuss plant once happily in its niche; a mostly sunny site, quick-draining soil and being kept sufficiently dry in winter pretty much all that’s really required.

Native Lewisias all have the fleshy leaves of their dry country succulent brethren; some have that lightning bolt of intense color typical of the plants of the desert, others more pale and delicate appearing. Each is uniquely lovely and will add a special cheer to your garden with a limited amount of care.

Explore More Native Bitterroot

Lewisia Cotyledon

Lewisia Cotyledon

Originating from the Siskiyou Mountains in southwestern Oregon and south into the north coast ranges of California, this species makes up the vast majority of Lewisias available for sale. Its hardiness and ease of cultivation and hybridization make it a favorite of plant enthusiasts of all sorts. Lewisia cotyledon can be an easily successful specimen in gardens well beyond its native range. Though its appearance would make one think it wanted to bask in full sun, Lewisia cotyledon actually prefers a little shade during the day.

Its flower color can vary from plant to plant, as well as among the many blossoms of a single plant. The flowers can be white to yellow to fiery orange to electric pink as well as in a variety of combinations of these, often with the exuberant color reminiscent of cacti. Wide, fleshy evergreen leaves form a basal rosette with the small multi-petaled flowers rising above numerously atop thin stems.

Lewisia Columbiana

Lewisia Columbiana

From the high, rocky reaches of British Columbia to northern Oregon east of the Cascades, Lewisia columbiana—and its many naturally occurring variations—are a more diminutive and delicate-appearing group than their showier relatives. The basal rosette, evergreen leaves are fleshy and succulent, but instead of being broad they are narrower and much longer than wide. The flowers tend to be fewer-petaled and small, in a more open spray above the leaves, usually white with dark pink stripes or a more solid light lavender to magenta, forming a lovely drift of color when in full bloom.

Lewisia columbiana var. rupicola

Lewisia Columbiana var. Rupicola

Lewisia var. Rupicola is a smaller variety found on Mt. Rainier, the Olympics and Oregon Coast Range. It has soft, lavender flowers, often with tiny magenta stripes.

Lewisia columbiana var. wallowensis

Lewisia Columbiana var. Wallowensis

Lewisia var. wallowensis is native to eastern Oregon, above and around the Snake River. It produces small white flowers with pink stripes. In both of these varieties, the leaves are smaller and shorter than the species, but still evergreen.