| SUN | SOIL MOISTURE | HEIGHT |
|---|---|---|
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to 2' |
| BLOOM | USDA ZONES | BLOOM COLOR |
|---|---|---|
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Foamflower is a charming woodland native perennial treasured for its frothy spring blooms and lush, heart-shaped foliage. It’s a standout choice for shade gardens, naturalized woodland edges, and pollinator friendly plantings where subtle beauty and ecological value matter.
Foamflower forms low, spreading clumps of bright green, often intricately veined leaves that provide season long interest. In spring, airy spikes of tiny star-shaped blossoms rise above the foliage like delicate foam. White to soft pink flowers are produced in abundance in mid-spring to early summer (typically April-June). Overall height is 8-12″ in bloom. The plant’s tidy habit and attractive foliage make it an excellent groundcover or companion to ferns, wild ginger, and woodland phlox.
The nectar-rich flowers attract small native bees, bee flies, and early season pollinators that rely on spring woodland blooms. Foamflower serves as a larval host for the Hebrew moth (Polygrammate hebraeicum), whose caterpillars feed on the foliage. Dense foliage provides shelter for ground-dwelling insects and beneficial arthropods. While not widely used medicinally, some Indigenous groups historically used related Saxifrage family plants for mild astringent or wound-soothing purposes. Foamflower itself has limited documented medicinal use, but it has long been appreciated in folk tradition for its calming woodland presence.
| Unreported | |
 | Unreported (Absent for area) |
| Native | |
 | Native in state (NA Native and Present in state, but not Present in county) |
 | Native in state and Present in county (NA Native and Present in state, and Present in county) |
 | Rare in state and Present in county (NA Native and Rare in state, and Present in county) |
 | Extirpated/Historic in state/Native (NA Native and Reported in county) |
 | Adventive or Introduced state (NA Native and Adventive in state, and Present in county) |
| Exotic Occurrences | |
 | Exotic in state (Exotic and Present in state, but not Present in county) |
 | Exotic in state and Present in county (Exotic and Present in state, and Present in county) |
| Other | |
 | Noxious in state (Noxious in state, and Present in county) |
 | Questionable Presence (cross-hatched) |
Foamflower thrives in part to full shade, mimicking its natural forest floor habitat. Morning sun is fine but protect it from harsh afternoon sun to prevent leaf scorch and moisture stress. Prefers moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil. Adding compost or shredded leaves each year helps maintain the organic matter it loves. Keep the soil consistently moist, especially during the first growing season. Once established, Foamflower handles short dry spells, but it performs best with regular moisture. Avoid waterlogged conditions, which can lead to root issues.
Please note that Riverside Native Perennials (RNP) only ships our potted “35” product via USPS, UPS or FedEx. We generally can have your plants boxed up and ready to go within two or three days. All other products including our flat of plugs, 1-gallon and 3-gallon containers are only available for nursery pick up in Delaware, OH. For large orders of any of our products we can arrange shipping at an extra cost. Please contact the nursery for additional information.
It’s important to note that when we send plants to you, presentation is everything! We recognize that you’re expecting healthy plants to arrive safely on your doorstep ready to be planted and that is what we’re selling. Further, we want you to know that while we are a fully licensed and inspected perennial nursery in the state of Ohio…we are in Ohio! That means we are subject to Ohio weather. The average frost-free date for our area is May 15. So even though you may live in Florida or California your plants are growing under Ohio conditions and we do not heat our greenhouses due to the expense. Our plants may be slightly delayed but again it’s because we’re in a Zone 5 area. Because we ship nationwide, we ship plants at all times of the year. If it’s winter in Ohio, you’ll be getting dormant plants. If it’s spring or summer in Ohio, you’ll be getting plants of various sizes that are actively growing. Plants shipped during fall in Ohio may be dormant or may be heading towards dormancy. This is all natural and we do not try to modify or prolong the growing season other than to grow them in an unheated greenhouse. Even in an unheated greenhouse our plants are much further along and growing well early in the spring than if they were planted outside in Zone 5. If you would like additional information about sizes for a particular species, please contact us via email.
In 2021 RNP partnered with a shipping professional to design and develop a shipping system that could reasonably be expected to survive the USPS mail room and transportation process. After several design sessions and going back to the drawing board on more than a couple of occasions we created a shipping box system that, to us, is bulletproof. It is strong, lightweight and, to date, has not failed in shipping thousands of packages of plants to all corners of the country.
Once selected from our greenhouse benches, your plants are placed into a small plastic bag to maintain moisture during shipping. To keep the soil in the pot we created a cardboard insert that perfectly fits into the top of our 35 containers. The insert has a cutout that surrounds to plant stem without damaging it. The plastic bag and insert are secured by two rubber bands. Each bagged plant is then placed into an individual corrugated cardboard box which perfectly fits the 35 container, and which locks it in place so that it will not move during transit. Four individual boxes are then placed into another, even heavier duty corrugated cardboard master shipping box. The whole effect is that of double boxing your plants. They are safe and secure for the long trip to your home landscape!
The system only works with 4 individual boxes being packed into a single master shipping box so we encourage you to buy four plants or a multiple of four plants. You can buy less than four plants but we will need to send all the cardboard for four plants in order for the shipping system to succeed as designed.
