About
Cardamine hirsuta is a common hardy annual known for its ability to self-seed prolifically in garden settings, frequently emerging in response to soil disturbance or in pots used for propagation. This plant can generate multiple generations within a single growing season. In spring, summer, autumn, and during mild winters, it produces small white flowers on slender stems that rise above a basal rosette of deeply lobed pinnate leaves. After flowering, it develops explosive seed pods that release a large number of seeds into the environment. Additionally, it can be cultivated as a salad green.
About the genus
Cardamine consists of herbaceous perennials characterized by their straightforward, palmately or pinnately divided foliage. In spring or summer, they produce short racemes bearing flowers with four petals, which can be white, yellow, pink, or purplish in hue.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam, Clay, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Well-drained, Poorly-drained, Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- East-facing, North-facing, South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H7
Plant details
- Plant type
- Annual Biennial
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Foliage
- Semi evergreen
- Height
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Spread
- 0-0.1 metre
- Time to full height
- 1 year
- Suggested uses
- Wildlife gardens, Cottage and informal garden
Care notes
- Cultivation
- A native wildflower that frequently appears in open ground, including gardens, and can be grown as an edible addition to salads. Eradicate unwanted plants by hand weeding or hoeing. See bittercress for further information
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed. Can spread rapidly if allowed to self-seed so remove unwanted plants before they flower
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to flea beetles and aphids
- Disease resistance
- Generally disease-free