Plant of the Week: Pickerel Weed (Pondeteria cordata)

This is a water's edge plant and typically grows in mud with water covering the rhizomes.  It can form vast colonies in the wild but is tamed in the water garden by growing in containers with rich loamy soil covered with a few inches of water.  It flowers from late June through summer and the flower spikes occur on glossy green arrow-shaped leaves.  The flowers give rise to distinctive seeds with toothed ridges that can be dried and eaten with granola. The entire plant gets 2 - 4 feet tall and it must be grown in full sun. The plant gets its name from the Northern pike or pickerel fish from which it is believed to coexist with.