Plant care & info

Family: Berberidaceae

Genus: Vancouveria

Common: Inside-Out Flower, Duck’s Foot

From just south of Puget Sound, throughout the western half of Oregon, and just barely into northern California. A true northwest native.

Soft mounds of wiry stems and three-lobed, semi-evergreen leaves that emerge bright green and darken as they age. In late spring and early summer, a thin flowering stem rises above the foliage and carries the delicate looking blooms.

Grows in part to full shade, but is ideal for dappled sun. It has moderate water needs, and is an excellent plant for dry, shady areas.

Virtually pest and disease free.

Delicate sprays of late spring flowers—with recurved, blown back petals—give this plant its common name: Inside-Out flower. Stamens thrust forward into a pointed tip like a sharp pencil lead, very much like the native Primula (shooting star). Depending on species, the mounded leaves are either evergreen or deciduous. They’re also uniquely tri-lobed, reminiscent of the duck’s foot (which is their other common name).

Vancouveria is delicately showy, and is best suited for a semi-shady, dappled light setting. It also prefers humus-rich soil with a moderate amount of water. Though it often can be found in moist forests in our region, it can also grow well in drier, shady spots in the garden. Spreading by underground rhizomes, it will easily fill a space and is best used to fill between taller, larger plants. Keeping it on the drier side will slow the pace of its spreading.

Vancouveria is also virtually disease and pest-free. It is reliably low-maintenance, even by native plant standards. The most you’ll need to do is cut back and clean up the dead or winter-damaged leaves, making way for new spring growth.

Explore MORE NATIVE INSIDE-OUT FLOWER

Inside-out Flower

Vancouveria hexandra: Inside-out Flower

This inside-out flower is most common to our region, frequently spotted in low- to mid-elevation forests. Its leaves are deciduous and form mounds eight to sixteen inches tall, with new leaves sometimes emerging tinged with deep brick red. The thin, leafless flowering stalks rise above like a mobile of tiny white inside-out umbrellas. It is a delicate looking but sturdy plant, undemanding in its care and undisturbed by bugs or disease.

Siskiyou Inside-out Flower

Vancouveria chrysantha: Golden Inside-out Flower, Siskiyou Inside-out Flower

Not commonly found, but the intense yellow flowers are a treasure. This little, evergreen beauty lights up the shady woods in the Siskiyou mountains near the southwest corner of the state and into northern California. It spreads more slowly than V. hexandra and is a little harder to grow here in the Willamette Valley.

Redwood Inside-out Flower

Vancouveria planipetala: Redwood Inside-out Flower

Also evergreen, this inside-out flower is essentially a diminutive version of V. hexandra. Not commonly found, it grows in the drier woods and redwood forests of southern Oregon and down along the California coast. You may find this online, but unfortunately, we have not been able to find a source for us.