Chelone spp.
The relatively unknown turtlehead flower, Chelone spp., occupies swamps, wetlands, and damp ditches across eastern North America.
Only recently embraced by the horticultural trade, this beautiful little perennial is an excellent foil for a boring, flowerless wet spot.
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Turtlehead is remarkably pest resistant, reliably beautiful, and attracts a plethora of pollinators!
If you have a boring pond edge, or a border that backs up to a downspout and always seems to be flooded, give turtlehead a try.
Read on to find out more about growing this North American wildflower. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Previously classified in the figwort family, the Chelone genus is a member of the varied and unusual plantain family, Plantaginaceae.
Turtlehead, also sometimes called shellflower, shares the family’s characteristic dry seed capsule and, outwardly, not much else.
The tightly shut, two-lipped flowers are somewhat similar in appearance to the related snapdragons and foxgloves.
Quick Look
Common name(s): Turtlehead, shellflower
Plant type: Herbaceous flowering perennial
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 3-9 (depending on species)
Native to: North America
Bloom time / season: Late summer/early fall
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Soil type: Organically-rich, loose, moist, well draining
Soil pH: 6.0-67.0, slightly acidic to neutral
Time to maturity: 2 years
Mature size: 1-2 ft wide x 3-4 ft high (depending on species)
Best uses: Cottage garden, native plantings, rain garden, wildlife garden
Taxonomy
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Chelone
Species: Glabra, lyonii, obliqua
There are three species commonly known as turtlehead.
Chelone glabra has white flowers at the end of a terminal flowering spike, while C. lyonii sports pink blooms.
C. obliqua, a species threatened with extinction throughout most of its range, produces pink to red flowers each with a white or yellow beard of hairs just inside its bottom petal.
Growing up to three feet high, turtlehead flowers appear at the ends of each stem and are subtended by dark, glossy, serrated leaves up to six inches in length.
Turtleheads open an upright spike of several tubular flowers beginning in August and continuing through early fall.
The one-inch-long blooms, which are said to look like a turtle’s head, attract a frenzy of pollinators and hummingbirds.
How to Grow
All three turtlehead species thrive in brightly lit locations, consistently moist, nutrient rich soils.
C. glabra and C. lyonii are hardy in USDA Zones 3 to 8, while C. obliqua likes it just a little warmer, preferring Zones 5 to 9.
Turtlehead mixes well with other native superstars that also like wet feet like blue lobelia, or green-headed coneflower.
When you meet its cultural requirements this perennial will require no maintenance and will bring appreciative pollinators to your garden in droves.
Soil
All three species of Chelone perform best in nutrient-rich, damp soils, with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.
Relatively tolerant of a variety of substrates, turtlehead flowers can be grown in clay, or sandy loams, so long as they receive enough water and nutrients.
In these situations, it often pays to regularly top dress your plants with three inches of compost in the spring, summer, and fall.
Light
Turtlehead does best in full sun locations, though you can grow the plants in partly shady conditions but flowering may be somewhat reduced.
Chelone plants growing in the shade will benefit from pinching or pruning to prevent the stems from becoming leggy and flopping.
This can be accomplished by snipping off the top several inches of growth, down to the second set of leaves.
This will help your plants become bushier, less leggy, and less liable to flop and need staking.
Water
Since turtlehead is primarily a wetland plant, if you experience any serious dry spells, make sure to water deeply.
The soil should always be at least a little bit moist.
When you water, apply it at soil level, not the leaves. Wet foliage can encourage the spread of fungal spores.
Winter Care
When fall comes and your turtlehead plants senesce and go dormant, leave the stems in place to provide habitat for overwintering insects.
Where to Buy
Turtlehead seeds are relatively easy to find, if you want to purchase plugs or large transplants, you’ll likely need to find a nursery specializing in native plants.
Pink Turtlehead
Pink turtlehead (C. lyonii) seeds are available in a variety of packet sizes from Earthbeat Seeds.
‘Hot Lips’ is a C. lyonii cultivar that produces leaves in a darker green than the species as well as deeper pink flowers.
‘Hot Lips’
You can find ‘Hot Lips’ in #1 and #2 containers available at Nature Hills Nursery.
If you prefer white flowers, white turtlehead (C. glabra) is the one to choose.
White Turtlehead
You can find plants available in #1 containers from Nature Hills Nursery.
Of course, if you’re feeling ambitious, you don’t have to buy any plant material at all!
Seed collected from wild plants and sown the following spring has a good germination rate and is a fun way to get started.
Propagation
Propagation of these wetland plants is relatively straightforward and can be accomplished by planting transplants, divisions, or starting from seed.
From Seed
Whether you purchase seeds online or collect them from wild plants, they will need a period of cold stratification prior to germination.
Generally, purchased seed has already undergone this process and is ready to be sown. Wild collected seed must be exposed to about three months of cold, moist conditions, at around 35℉.
You can do this by putting your seeds in a ziplock bag with moistened vermiculite in the refrigerator or you can let nature do the work and place your sown seeds outdoors for the winter.
To let nature take care of the stratifying for you, prepare a flat of moist potting soil and scatter the seeds across the surface.
Pat the dirt down with the palm of your hand to ensure good seed to soil contact. Do not cover the seeds as they require light to germinate.
Place your flat outside in a sheltered location. Make sure the tray receives plenty of sunlight but is protected from any temperature extremes or high winds. Keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet.
The seeds will germinate when the temperatures warm up in spring.
If you opt to put your seed in the refrigerator for three months, follow the same process but sow seeds after all danger of frost has passed.
After your new plants have reached three to four inches in height, gently pinch out and pot up the strongest seedlings into individual four-inch pots filled with moistened potting soil.
When they reach six inches tall, they are ready for transplant into the garden.
Division
Turtlehead flowers will slowly spread via rhizomes if planted in optimal conditions.
To divide, you can split large clumps in spring, when stems are an inch or two high. A flat edged shovel works best for this task, but any spade will do.
Gently dig around the edge of the clump and through the middle to cut it in half, prying the roots up out of the ground.
Backfill the hole you created next to your original plant with soil. Transplant your division immediately.
Transplants
To successfully establish transplants in your garden, choose a location with organically-rich, moisture-retentive soil, preferably in full sun.
Dig a hole as deep as the container the plants are currently growing in, and just a little wider. In the case of divisions, make the hole a bit larger than the root mass.
Set the root ball into the hole and tamp soil firmly around it before watering in well. If your soil is on the leaner side, add a three inch top dressing of compost for good measure.
Make sure to water your new plants deeply in the absence of rain or if the soil looks like it’s drying out.
Managing Pests and Disease
As a general rule, native species are more robust and pest resistant than their non-native counterparts. Turtlehead is no exception.
Although it is commonly affected by some of the fungal issues that beset wetland plants, very few pests bother these plants.
If grown in crowded, cramped, or otherwise stressful situations, you may come across aphids, but this is rare.
Disease
The humid, moist conditions present in the wet soils turtlehead flower prefers unfortunately create a great set up for a host of fungal issues.
Luckily, none of these conditions pose a serious problem for this tenacious little wildflower. Read on to discover a few issues that you might notice with your own patch of turtlehead.
Powdery Mildew
A variety of different fungal pathogens cause this common, late summer disease.
Typically occurring in dry weather, when plants are stressed or overcrowded, powdery mildew first appears as a few fuzzy white blotches on the surface of leaves.
Over time, the infection progresses to become a powdery coating that may cover foliage altogether.
The good news is that powdery mildew doesn’t really hurt turtlehead, though it may reduce flower and seed set.
If you happen to catch this fungus in its early stages, pull off any diseased leaves and dispose of them in the garbage.
Learn more about how to manage powdery mildew here.
Leaf Spot
Leaf spot disease is a catch-all description for a condition caused by many different kinds of fungi.
Causing brown to black blotches on foliage, leaf spot is luckily only an aesthetic problem.
Plants affected by leaf spot are often stressed by too little water, overcrowding, or lack of sunlight.
If you do notice any signs of leaf spot, pinch off any affected leaves.
A Winner for Wet Areas
An excellent, easy to grow choice for the native plant garden, Chelone will rapidly transform dreary wet spots in no time.
Beloved by bees, beetles, birds, and butterflies, this native wildflower will make your pond, stream, or challenging boggy spot the most interesting place in the whole garden!
Are you planning to give turtlehead a try in your garden this year? Where do you intend to plant it? Let us know in the comments section below!
And for more information about growing native flowers, check out these guides next:
