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Maianthemum canadense

[] Good morning, children. It's time for todays Latin lesson.

Well actually, although most botanical nomenclature is in the beautiful language of Latin, there is much in Greek and other languages. So to be correct, we should refer to a plant name as its "Scientific Name".

The flavor of the day today is Maianthemum canadense, a plant that rocks my world every spring. If you break down the genus name, "Mai" refers to the month of May, (duh), the time that this woodland beauty flowers with its soft sprays of creamy white flowers and, of course, "anthemum" means flower. So there ya go, and that brings us to its common names, "May Flower", "Canada Mayflower" and "False Lily of the Valley". Common names can be so charming, don't you agree?

By the way, although the specific epithet is canadense, that doesn't mean it is native only to Canada. During the time of Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy,  1707-1778, there was no United States and this whole part of the world was referred to as Canada. Consequently, plants like Asarum canadense, Aquilegia canadense etc were given the specific epithet of canadense to describe the region of the world that they inhabited.

Although Maianthemum canadense is native to 27 mostly northern states and every province of Canada, see //plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MACA4 Maianthemum canadense also grows well in the south and west if provided full shade. Soooooo I guess that justa bout covers every state in the mainland US and I'd venture to say they'd probably grow well in Alaska also. Hawaii ??, I don't know.

Maianthemum canadense is one of my all-time favorite native groundcovers. It forms a dense mat of glossy green foliage that emerges through the leaf litter in my garden very early in the spring. Even after the long flowering period, the foliage is persistent the growing season long. Maianthemum canadense spreads by underground runners (stolons) to quickly form a natural colony. I would never consider it invasive or even aggressive.

I have some lovely plants of Maianthemum canadense that I'd love to share with you. They're single leaved plants, bareroot with a nice stolon and root. And next year, you'll have two or three and the following year, more and the following year,  even more, and...well...you get it. They're very easy to establish bareroot anytime of the year that the ground isn't frozen. Just keep them moist, not wet, until they get established.

Ohhhhhh, I almost forgot to tell you, and in case you were wondering, the deer have NEVER touched them! And I live 10 miles down a one lane road on a 3000' mountain in a town of 18 people where the deer outnumber the humans 3-1. And neither have the rabbits or other little varmints. By the way, did you know that was the correct spelling of the word that I always thought was "varmits"???

The prices shown below include FREE SHIPPING on bareroot plants out of their 2" pots. If you would like to receive the plants undisturbed, in their pots, please add .95¢ per plant to cover the extra cost of shipping soil and pots.

12    are $25.00  delivered ($2.09 ea)
30    are $50.00  delivered ($1.67 ea)
50    are $75.00  delivered ($1.50 ea)
100  are $100.00 delivered ($1.00 ea)

Larger quantities at even lower prices upon request

Ordering couldn't be easier! Just fill out the order form at //www.sunfarm.com/orderform.pdf

Most of our previous weekly specials are still available. Go to - //sunfarm.com/specials/ to browse the archives.

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Barry Glick, Sunshine Farm and Gardens
696 Glicks Rd, Renick, WV 24966, USA
Phone: (304) 497-2208
E-mail: barry@sunfarm.com

Last modified February 24, 2009
URL: //www.sunfarm.com/specials/maianthemum_canadense.php