Twinflower, Longtube twinflower
Linnaea borealis
Family: Caprifoliaceae
What it is like
Bloom Color: Pink. Main Bloom Time: Early summer, Late summer, Mid summer. Form: Prostrate, Spreading or horizontal.
Linnaea borealis is an evergreen Shrub growing to 0.2 m (0ft 8in) by 1 m (3ft 3in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 2. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to August. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid soils and can grow in very acid soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland). It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 0.2
Where it is found
Woods, especially pine, and in the shade of rocks to elevations of 725 metres in N. Britain.
Northern Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to Germany, the Alps and N. Asia.
Conservation Status:
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 1
A food plant. No more details are given.
Medicine
Rating: 1
The plant has been used as a tonic in pregnancy and also in the treatment of painful or difficult menstruation. The mashed plant is used as a poultice on inflamed limbs and is also applied to the head to ease the pain of headaches.
Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.
Women's complaints: A very vague title, it deals with a miscellany of problems peculiar to the female sex.
Other
Rating: 2
The plant forms an extensive twiggy mat and is useful as a ground cover on peat beds and in rock gardens. Plants form a dense carpet when growing in god conditions, rooting as they spread, but otherwise the cover is sparse. Plants should be spaced about 60cm apart each way.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
Ground cover: Ground Cover
Scented Plants: Plants noted for their scent
How it is grown
Landscape Uses:Ground cover, Rock garden, Woodland garden. Prefers a rather shaded position in a rock garden in a moist peaty soil. It grows well in pine woods. Requires an acid soil. Plants can be rather difficult to establish. The sub-species L. borealis americana grows more freely than the European form. The plant is polymorphic. The flowers have an evening fragrance like that of the honeysuckle. Special Features:North American native, Fragrant flowers. The plant is heat tolerant in zones 9 through 6. (Plant Hardiness Zones show how well plants withstand cold winter temperatures. Plant Heat Zones show when plants would start suffering from the heat. The Plant Heat Zone map is based on the number of "heat days" experienced in a given area where the temperature climbs to over 86 degrees F (30°C). At this temperature, many plants begin to suffer physiological damage. Heat Zones range from 1 (no heat days) to 12 (210 or more heat days). For example Heat Zone. 11-1 indicates that the plant is heat tolerant in zones 11 through 1.) For polyculture design as well as the above-ground architecture (form - tree, shrub etc. and size shown above) information on the habit and root pattern is also useful and given here if available. An evergreen. A clumping mat former. Forming a dense prostrate carpet spreading indefinitely. The root pattern is fibrous dividing into a large number of fine roots. The root pattern is suckering with new plants from underground runners away from the plant.
Propagating it: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Sow stored seed as soon as possible, it is likely to require a period of cold stratification. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division of rooted runners in the spring. Layering. Cuttings of half-ripe wood in the summer. They are rather slow to root.
Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; not Deep Shade; Ground Cover;
Habit: Shrub
Hardiness: 2-6
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: Full shade, semi-shade
Moisture: Moist