Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Elecampane Root

Species: Inula helenium

History: Elecampane is native from Spain all the way to parts of China and has become naturalized in parts of North America. It has traditionally served a variety of purposes including being used to treat snake and spider bites by the Ancient Greeks, to test if honey has spoiled by the Ancient Romans, as a candied snack in Medieval Europe, and to make absinthe. Throughout its long history it has provided various medicinal uses as well. It also has quite the storied past, with the species name referring to the myth that the plant sprung up from the tears of Helen of Troy while the Celts associated it with fairies and elves.

Why We Grow It: Although not commonly used medicinally today, it still provides some novelty to the garden. The small, yellow flowers resemble those of asters to which it is related. The flowers attract pollinators and the roots, like comfrey, are good at mining nutrients from deeper in the soil.

$12.00

Quantity:

20 in stock

Fruit Traits:

Recommended Use: Ornamental, attracting pollinators, medicinal

Fruit Size:

Storage:

Harvest:

Plant Traits:

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 3

Soil Preferance: Adaptable to any soil as long as it is well-drained

Flowering Time: Summer

Pollination Requirements:

Sun/Shade Requirements: Prefers partial shade (approx. 6-8 hours of sun daily) but will tolerate full sun

General Growth Habit: Plant grows 3-6ft tall, does not spread via runners as much as related plants. Generally few pest or disease issues. Flowers summer to fall.

Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of plants across Canada. We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

Pick-up: We also have thousands of plants picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc.

Elecampane comes as the following grade:

-Root Chunk - 15-25cm long with at least one crown

Our bareroot perennial vegetables are sold as root crowns or tubers and will often have little to no vegetative growth on them.

Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the plants are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.

Like with our other plants, we recommend planting our perennial vegetables dormant so the transplanting process is less stressful on them. As a result, they may not look like much when you receive them but they tend to start growing fairly quickly.

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