Dirca palustris – Leatherwood – 1-Quart

This refined small shrub is truly a rare find! For years we had wanted to find Leatherwood growing locally so that we could propagate it from seed. Various rumors didn’t pan out until one day, walking along the road I grew up on, but further than I typically ventured, I stumbled across a number of nice-sized plants growing near a stream – I’d ridden past the patch on a school bus throughout my childhood! Leatherwood is the earliest native shrub to bloom in Spring, and while the pale yellow flowers aren’t overly showy, they have a certain dangly-earring charm to them.  A denizen of streamsides, but it won’t tolerate flooding – if you have a spot that Spicebush or Witch-hazel likes, you’ll be able to grow Leatherwood. It’s a slow grower but deer and rabbits seem to leave it alone so it won’t get set back by browsing.

We propagate leatherwood from locally collected seeds. The species is quite slow growing and we rarely have any plants larger than a 1-gallon container.