Pickerelweed
Pontederia cordata
Emergent aquatic that lines pond margins with glossy heart-shaped leaves and spikes of violet-blue flowers all summer. A magnet for bees and dragonflies. Seeds (raw, cooked like rice, or ground into flour) and young leafstalks are traditional foods with a nutty flavor.
- Family
- Pontederiaceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–4 ft
- Spacing
- 1.5–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- June, July, August, September
- Bloom colors
- white, blue, purple
- Wildlife value
- songbirds
- Landscape uses
- border, rain garden, erosion control, naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI