Cardamine douglassii – Purple Cress

Purple Cress or Cardamine douglassii, is a short single stem flower with several flowers on top. In Ohio I have only seen it in light and dark pink, although supposedly it also grows in white but is more rare. It blooms in March and doesn’t bloom for very long, maybe a week, before starting to set seed.

Purple Cress grows from tuberous roots with a single unbranched stem with a few 1-2″ lobed opposite leaves and topped with an umbrel of flowers. Supposedly it can grow a foot tall, but in the Ohio zone, I have only seen around 9 inches max. It prefers rich woodland soil and can tolerate moist conditions.

Mid-March, depending on the weather and zone. Each plant will bloom a few flowers in succession for about a week before starting to form seeds. I have seen plants with a nice bouquet of flowers all in bloom.