A Colorful and Cohesive Tan for the Winter Garden

for knees, referring to the many swollen joints along the stem.

Polygonum affine was initially described in 1825 by the Scottish Botanist, David Don (1799-1841). Although he never traveled to the Himalayas, he studied plants collected by the Scottish physician and botanist Francis Buchanan Hamilton (1762-1829) and from the Danish physician and botanist Nathaniel Wolff Wallich (1786-1854). The epithet of Affine is from the Latin meaning ‘related’ or ‘similar to’, describing how this low growing species appears similar to the traditional Polygonum Linnaeus described.

This name remained unchanged until the latter part of the 20th century when it became apparent the genus had not one but several different ‘family trees’ under the umbrella of the one genus. In 1988 some of these family trees were teased apart by the Belgian botanist Louis Ronse de Craene (1962- ) and Himalayan Bistort was renamed Persicaria affinis. The name comes from the Latin noun Persicum for peach, referencing how plants in this genus have leaves resembling that of a peach tree. Persicaria affinis is a garden workhorse. It has trailing stems allowing it to creep along the ground, with the basal foliage reaching heights of 4-6”. It spreads at a moderate rate, expanding from 6” to 18” in diameter over the course of several years. As expected, the 3-4” long foliage is shaped much like a peach with the elliptical leaves coming to a point at either end. Come the heavy frosts of autumn, the foliage develops a showy spectrum of orange, green and red colors. The central midrib of many of the leaves, even those that are still green, turns red as well, making for an awesome autumn display. Come late fall, all the leaves transition to a reddish tan and remain firmly attached to the stems, covering the ground throughout winter. Come spring, the fresh green foliage emerges from the jointed stems, concealing the previous year’s tan foliage. This benefits the gardener since nothing needs to be cut back, none of the previous year’s foliage needs removal and the older foliage serves as mulch!

Come June through September, plants develop 10-12” tall floral spikes with the top 2-3” bearing dense displays of flowers arranged radially around the stem. As the flowers age, they transition to a deep attractive red,