WiseAcre Gardens

north of the adirondacks – wildflowers & perennials that survive winters colder than my wife's feet

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Turtlehead Wildflower

Posted by WiseAcre on Jan 4th, 2009

2009

Jan 4

Chelone glabra

Close your eyes and look real close and you should be able to see the resemblance to a turtle’s head.

The flowers are set in a tight cluster at the top of the stem. Each tubular flower consists of two swollen lips. The upper lip arches over the hairy lower lip and giving the flower it’s turtle head look. The white flowers are often tinged with pink.

Turtlehead Wildflower - Chelone glabra
September 6, 2008 – Canton, NY

Turtleheads bloom from July to September and can be found along stream banks, wet thickets and other low wet areas. If you’re lucky you might also find Blue Gentians in the same area.

I have found Turtleheads in full sun but they seem to prefer part shade since the majority I’ve found have been in shady spots.

Nurseries offer Chelone glabra for sale and they make a nice addition to a wet garden.

6 Responses

mimmylynn Says:
January 4th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I am learning so much from you.

mimmylynn,
I’m happy you haven’t learned enough to stay away yet
Ratty Says:
January 5th, 2009 at 1:21 am
I looked at the photo before I read anything, and I thought they looked like mouths, some with little tongues sticking out. The name fits them very well. I like these. They remind me of my favorite flowers, snapdragons.

Ratty,
Turtleheads are members of the Snapdragon family. Rude little flowers, their mother never taught them it’s not polite to stick out their tongues at people.
Rainfield Says:
January 5th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Luckily they are not in dark colour, or else they resemble snakes with splitting tongues sticking out.

Rainfield,
Well now you have me thinking of looking for snakes. Getting a good closeup photo of one sticking it’s tongue out at me would be great.
Grammy Says:
January 6th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
How amazing. They are beautiful. Do they multiply by seed or division ?

Grammy,
I have to say seed. They don’t seem to clump and I haven’t seen dense groupings in the wild. I’ve never tried to transplant any but my guess is they wouldn’t be that difficult.
jodi Says:
January 11th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I have the all-pink variety as well as the white ones, John. I especially like the seedheads. And here in NS, they flower late summer/early autumn (well, in my garden, they’re earlier in the ditches and meadows, I find) so they bring an added burst of colour to the garden.

jodi,
I guess it’s the later blooming that keeps them out of my garden. By that time of year I’m a bit burned out with gardening and neglect to bring any home. But they would make a great addition to my pond garden.
tot Says:
November 14th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
How much does it cost