Frequently Asked Questions (f.a.q.)

First and foremost, the Bitterroot plant is on the endangered species list and you should not dig them up
in the wild.

However, if you know that Bitterroot plants are growing in an area that is to be developed, see if the property owners would let you dig them up before the plants are destroyed when the property is graded. It does not take a lot of time to dig up and transplant Bitterroot plants and it will make a big difference if we all do what we can to protect our Montana State Flower from disappearing.

• My plants have not returned. Have I killed them? (regeneration phase)
• Where is the best location to plant Bitterroot plants/seeds?
• I accidentally cut the plant roots, will the plant still grow?
• How do you identify the Bitterroot when it is not in bloom?
• When transplanting, how do I keep my plants from going into shock?
• Will Bitterroots grow where I live?
• How much water do Bitterroot plants need?
• What is the best soil for Bitterroot plants?
• How much space do Bitterroot plants need?
• How do I find the seeds on my Bitteroot plants?

Q. I planted the Bitterroot plants I received from you according to the directions provided. The plants came up and bloomed, but then died. Did I do something wrong and kill them? Will they bloom again?

A. Not necessarily. The answer to your question is yes.

Whenever you suspect the plant has died, dig up the plant. If the root looks dried up and paper thin, it has died. If the root is reddish orange and robust (the majority of the time), your plant is still alive.

When you find the red healthy roots, your plant is just in a dormant stage that usually lasts from the middle of June until the end of September. Once the plants have produced seeds, the plants retract beneath the ground. This is the time when most people believe their Bitterroots have died. It is actually the time when Bitterroot plants are regenerating fresh new roots. New leaves come above ground in the fall.

If there is no snow during the winter it is easy to find your Bitterroot plants. My suggestion is to look for them before it snows or after the snow has melted. Sometimes there are exceptions to this and plants will not come up until the ground thaws in the spring. But I have found this to be rare.

The plants begin to grow when the frost is gone and the weather starts to warm up. My first plants, both in garden beds and in the wild on our property, begin to bloom the last week of May. The majority of my Bitterroot plants bloom the first and second weeks of June. I have a lot of plants, so I usually have blossoms on them until the middle of July. Then the plants disappear and go into a dormancy state to rejuvenate their roots.

Q. Where is the best location to plant my Bitterroot plants/seeds?

A. First of all choose a spot where they will get a lot of sun -- especially early morning sun. Bitterroot plants thrive in sunny areas. The blossoms open mid-morning and will close after the hottest part of the day.

My best advice to people who are just starting to grow the plants is to put them in a planter. This way you can watch them and learn to recognize each stage of their growth. It is important to recognize each stage of growth so you don't accidentally think they have died and throw them away. I have had many people tell me that their plants died and put other plants in the Bitterroot beds. (The answer to the previous question about the Bitterroot regeneration phase explains why this happens.) Many Bitterroots have been tossed in the refuge because the grower did not recognize the different stages.

Another good reason to start Bitterroots in planters is due to seeding. When Bitterroot plants go to seed, the pods will drop to the ground and blow away with the first breeze. If the pods drop in the planter, there is a good chance that some of the seeds will stay in the planter. These seeds will become sprouts by spring after they have been frozen.

The sprout tips are tiny little leaves. The entire sprout is very fragile and can easily be uprooted with a frost upheaval. If the Bitterroot plants are in a pot, it is easier to see the sprouts. You will be be able to pack some dirt around the sprouts and press them back in the ground so they can continue their growth pattern.

These tiny sprouts will go dormant faster than a grown plant so you need to be careful when digging in these areas.

Also, if you want to collect the seeds -- which I recommend doing -- it is easier to spot seed pods if the plant is in a container.

Q. I was transplanting a plant and accidentally cut the roots. Will the plant still grow?

A. When I first started digging up Bitterroots, I was always very careful to make sure I did not break any of the roots. One day I was digging in an area that was clay -- and hard as cement. I tried so carefully to get the plant out, but I pulled a little too hard and broke five roots off. I felt horrible.

Even though I was sure I had ruined the plant, I decided to transplant it anyway. I marked the spot with a stick so I could watch that plant. I also made a circle of rocks around the area where I broke the roots off so I could check this area the following spring. I was curious if the broken roots might be able to start a new plant.

The transplanted Bitterroot plant took hold right away and produced many flowers. The following year, I checked the clay area where I originally broke the five roots off. I was amazed to find five new plants up and thriving.

Now when digging roots to transplant, I intentionally break some of the roots because each broken root starts a new plant. If I plant seeds, it takes three years before I will get a bloom. With broken roots, a mature plant is up and blooming the following year, so this is a very good way to start more plants.

Q. I know it makes sense to dig plants when not in bloom. How do you identify the Bitterroot when it is not in bloom?

A. I have made a plant recognition sheet that shows the Bitterroot in each stage of growth. However once the plant has gone back underground and into dormancy there is no part of it above ground. So, unless you know exactly where your plants are you might want to wait until late fall or early spring to do any digging because at those times the leaves are above ground and it is very easy to recognize as a Bitterroot plant.

Q. I want to transplant my plants in the spring, but I know that’s the growing season. How do I keep my plants from going into shock?

A. I try to dig my plants late in the fall or early in the spring while they are in the growing stage because they are very healthy but do not have buds yet. When I dig them in early spring or fall I take them down to the bare root and plant them in garden beds.

However, at times when we were doing work on the property and I needed to move plants I have dug them up when they had buds on. They went into shock at first, but recovered very fast. If I think it is rather late to transplant, but I need to do it to save the plants, I will dig them up and keep the original dirt around them. I then put the plant into the new hole and pack them tightly with more dirt. This method can have its problems because when you keep the plant in the original dirt, you are also keeping the weed seeds with the plant. It means pulling weeds for a while, but the plant does not go into shock.

Q. I know Bitterroots grow naturally in southwestern Montana, Idaho and Oregon, but I don’t live in these areas. Will they grow where I live?

A. There is a growing map on this site that shows where Bitterroots are supposed to grow. However, I know there are sections of these states where Bitterroots will not grow because these areas do not freeze during the winter or have excessive summer temperatures.

Bitterroot plants have to freeze during the winter when they are dormant and need lots of sun in the spring. If you live in this kind of environment, chances are Bitterroots will grow if you are willing to give them a chance.

If you live in a very rainy environment, you will need to make sure that your plants are protected from getting over watered. The solution may be to move your planter inside or put some kind of protective cover over them when it is raining. If you are willing to do this, you should have good luck growing them.

Q. How much water do Bitterroot plants need?

A. I was told that I should never water Bitterroots. By the time I was told that, I had already been sprinkling them for several years and saw no reason to stop since my plants were so strong and healthy.

If we have a rainy spring, I do not give my plants extra water. But, if we have a dry spring, I “sprinkle” my plants practically every morning. The plants growing in the wild on our land do not get sprinkled and they do just fine. The difference between plants in beds and those in the wild is just in the size of the plant, the size of the blossoms when they open and the amount of seeds in the pods.

I have found that plants in beds that do get extra sprinkling will grow to a diameter of six inches and above, whereas a plant in the wild is usually four inches and below. The blossoms on bedded plants are quite a bit larger and can produce over a hundred seeds per blossom than those in the wild. Wild Bitterroots usually have 40 or fewer seeds per blossom.

A word of caution though about water (one thing I know): too much water will kill Bitterroot plants so it is better to underwater them than to overwater.

Q. What is the best soil for planting Bitterroots?

A. This seems to be the sixty four-dollar question and I don’t have an answer. Our land is very heavy clay and it amazes me to see sprouts about the size of a piece of thread come through. The clay is so hard, but Bitterroots do it all the time.

In my beds, we have mixed topsoil and sand with the clay. At times we have added fertilizer. The plants and flowers are bigger in the garden beds, I can’t really see too much of a difference from the flowers in the wild. I just believe that the sprinkling of water on a daily basis helps the garden plants grow larger. The plants in the wild also grow larger when we have a rainier spring.

Sometimes I add potting soil to the top of the beds in the fall. I do that because I know seeds have dropped on the soil and I want them to be covered, plus I think the potting soil may enrich the beds some. I have put plants in sand only and they grew. I put a plant in lava rock and it grew. I also put a plant in just potting soil -- it came up the first year, but did not return, so I don’t recommend potting soil alone.

The Bitterroots are very hardy, so I am not afraid to experiment with them in different soils. I only experiment with one plant at a time though in different soils. If I see the plant wilting back or not looking healthy, I dig it up and return it to the garden beds.

Q. I only have a small area where I can plant flowers. Do Bitterroots have to be far apart or can they be planted close together?

A. Sometimes I have run out of space before we can get new flower beds built and have planted two or three Bitterroot plants in one hole. The plants do just fine. After several years, I dig the Bitterroots up and they have usually grown into one plant. The beauty of this is that you can cut the roots apart and make more plants at any time.

I have also put a single Bitterroot plant in a one-foot diameter area. These plants grow much larger. The leaves are thicker. The flowers are bigger and they produce many more seeds. So, I would recommend that they are planted further apart when you have the space, but being close together does not hinder the plant.

Q. I have some Bitterroots in my yard. I have heard they get seeds, but I have never been able to find any seeds on my plants. Can you tell me how to find the seeds?

A. After the Bitterroot blossoms close, they look just like the buds do before they open -- except the bud tips begin to turn pale and look almost transparent. I have not pinpointed the number of days it takes until the bud reopens, full of seeds, but it is approximately two weeks.

Please check out my web page on the growth stages of the Bitterroot. There are two photos that show exactly what the dying/dead bud looks like when it contains seeds. One photo shows how the plant looks when the Calyptra (parasol-shaped group of twisted petals and stamen in the center of the bloom) is covering the seeds. The other photo displays how the plant looks when the Calyptra has dropped off, exposing the seeds for harvesting.

I am very proficient in collecting seeds because I plant thousands of seeds every year. I check my garden beds daily in the morning, at noon and in the evening when seeds are developing. I have found that a completely closed seedpod in the morning may have dropped the Calyptra by noon. These seedpods are extremely light and the slightest breeze will send them flying, dropping seeds along the way. If you want to gather and plant your seeds -- and I hope you do -- you will need to check them often.

If we all sow more seeds and grow more plants, I believe our Montana State Flower will be flourishing once again throughout our state -- and other states as well. My goal is to get the Bitterroot off the endangered plant species list. By working together, we should be able to accomplish this goal.