Persicaria amplexicaulis Bloody Mary - Mountain Fleece

The  Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Bloody Mary' is a variety of vivid and rich-coloured knotweed, remarkable in the garden. It produces fine pink-red flower spikes on a dense and rounded medium-sized clump. This beautiful perennial offers a long flowering period from summer to autumn, when its foliage turns purple before disappearing. Very hardy and vigorous, it has a striking effect in borders or near water features, and its spikes, although small, catch the eye. It is a robust plant, not very demanding in terms of soil type, as long as it is moist, fertile, and well-drained, and can be placed in full sun or partial shade.

The Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Bloody Mary' is a plant of the Polygonaceae family. It is a more or less evergreen perennial in winter, depending on the climate, which quickly forms a clump 70 cm (28in) high. This plant spreads more or less slowly, depending on the soil fertility, and can form imposing clumps. Very floriferous, this knotweed produces many 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4in) long, slender spikes composed of small flowers with an ambiguous red, tending towards pink, in the leaf axils at the end of the stems. The flowering is continuous throughout the summer, from July to October, as long as the soil does not dry out too much. The leaves, borne by sturdy stems, are lanceolate to cordate in shape, measuring 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10in) long, and are embracing at the base. They are green to dark green in colour, velvety on the underside, and turn red in autumn.

The knotweed fits well in both contemporary gardens and more wild environments, and forms beautiful autumn scenes with grasses, especially the red-flowered varieties, when the grasses turn golden. Thanks to its spreading habit, the lovely 'Bloody Mary' variety can be used as a ground cover, provided it is given enough space. This perennial enjoys full sun, but also partial shade. It likes rich and heavy soils, moist or even very wet, and can be grown independently on sunny pond banks and even in a cool, partially shaded woodland at the foot of trees. Its association with Rodgersias and bugbanes is very pleasant, as well as with Astilboides tabularis.