PlantFiles: Bloody Dock, Red-veined Dock, Bloodwort
Rumex sanguineus

We love our Bloody Dock. I bought ours 3 years ago.. and have not seen it since.. Looked everywhere.. this year we have started to weed the garden and to our suprise one had seeded Last year and we have a few new seedling coming up. dug some and potted them, raked the rest under. Can't wait to transplant them in the rest of the garden. have never tried to eat them. Just love the color in the perennial garden. The first year the heat was hard on them but they have held up well and the hard winters have not bothered them at all. Very happy with the Plant.. Glad to have more. They are in full sun!

I love this plant...so much that I am willing to work to manage its bad habits.

The good: beautifully veined leaves postively glow in sunlight. A really nice accent foliage in the garden.

The bad: it can be aggressive; mine does not spread via runners or anything of that nature, but sends up shoots with leaves on them, that seem to go straight to seed (no noticeable flowers). The first year, I didn't know any better and now have them in many places.

If you dig them when they are young, they are easy and don't resent it as much. I have dug fully mature plants too. They will be wilty at first, but have all recovered within a week or so. In my humble opinion, the "trick" to these is to cut off all of the shoots as soon as you notice them. cut them close to the base. This encourages more basal growth and makes for an attractive plant. Once they get tall, I don't like the look of them. Plus, those are the tender, small leaves that are best for eating (I don't like them myself, they taste bitter).

I dug it up from a friends house it was in a semi shady spot I put it in semi sunny spot and it is a clump 1 foot squared not shure how old it is a few years it hasn't spread maybe depends on which cultivar it is

Survives a zone 4 winter - but doesn't always come back each year. Seem to do better in a large container in the pond.

I planted it last year and it stayed evergreen thru the 2010 blizzard,,,,
Seems to do well next to my pond in a very wet boggy soil...
So far it has not spread,,,,,

I am in zone 5 and started this plant from seed. It has gotten quite a bit bigger over the years. When I moved the plant to a full sun location, it didn't look good for a while but made a full recovery. This is a carefree plant and is absolutely beautiful in my zone with striking burgundy veins.

This is a beautiful plant. The foilage alone is what helped with the decision to purchase it. I haven't ever heard of it but, plan on following the advice from fellow owners on this site. Wish me luck!!

I have been growing this plant now for 3yrs and it has not grown much for me or invade. It does like moist soil so my dry clay soil was not aiding growth. Love the look of this plant.

Interesting to see the variations of form/color between all the pictures uploaded of this Dock/Sorrel. Is it because they are subspecies (ssp).

I'm into creating a perennial vegetable garden and this Dock fills the bill. Mine is in it's second year and it has not spread at all; on the contrary, it has stayed in one place. I'll report back if it starts creeping this year.

A beautiful plant to add to borders while providing a wee bit oxalic acid/lemony greens to the occasional salad.

So invasive it will make you cry.

I have HUGE holes all over my back garden from trying to dig this stuff out. We'll see if all the digging did any good next year.

HELP! I love this plant, or did at first, then by the second year it totally invaded my entire landscape. I dug up the original plants but it was too late, it already "tunneled" into other parts of my landscape. I want to get rid of it, but don't know how without killing the rest of my plants. Does anyone know how to kill the original roots without disturbing my other foilage and flowering plants (perineals)????

Like some others, I have to chuckle when I see the suggestion to avoid overwatering. I too bought this plant as one for my pond and it is really thriving as a marginal. It took a week or so to get going, but once it did it really took off.

As for edible, well I don't like the idea of eating from our goldfish pond, but you never know what I might try if food prices keep going up!

In partial shade, Rumex looks outstanding all year in my Southeastern garden. Very easy to grow from winter sowed seed, Rumex makes a lovely edger.

This is such an interesting foliage plant. I bought a gallon one and divided it in two. One I put in the flower bed, and one in the pond. They both filled in quickly. I have a deicer in my pond, so left the Bloody Dock in the water. It is doing well and keeps putting out new growth. Even what is in the ground doesn't die back completely here in zone 5a. It will also self-seed. Prone to powdery mildew. Blooms in July in my garden, but blooms are insignificant.

My information says it is hardy in zones 5-8 and will grow in full to partial sun. Another name is Bloodwort.

I just bought this plant today at a nursery specializing in herbs. It was being sold as an edible. I thought the leaf would look nice added to a salad. The tag on the plant says

Bloody Dock "Rumex Sanguineus" (Bloodwort)
Young leaves used like spinach, fresh or blanched. Roots used medicinally to treat cancer and as a blood tonic.



Marlene

I have lost this plant over the winter on occasion, but continue to grow it. I am on the border between zones 4 and 5. Snow cover seems more important than cold in success over the winter. My plants are in full sun and are a good deal redder than those in the pix here.

Really like this plant but I had to relocate it due to excessive wilting in full sun. So now it resides where it only gets morning sun.

I love the look of the bloody dock and it's easy to grow. However, I had to relocate it when it began to take over the other plants in it's area. It did not transplant well at all. It's leaves became very wilty and it's slumpped over now. I'm afraid I may have killed it.

We are firmly into zone 4 and our bloody dock came back after a severely cold winter. Even bigger than last year.

It is Sept 1st and this rumex has been cut back twice since April, getting ready to flower again.

I bought this as a "Depth 2" water garden plant (=water level from plant crown up to 6" deep) and have been growing it for a month now in full sun in a water container and it is thriving.

We have now over-wintered this plant for 2 years.
In a pond in a container no problem.
One is now going to seed so we see how well the seeds do.

Perennial from Europe and North Africa. Has large, broad, lance shaped, mid green leaves with deep red veining up to 6 inches long. Bears panicles of tiny, star shaped flowers starting out green then turning to reddish brown with age, borne on reddish stems.

Flowers between April - August.

Sometimes grown in bog gardens but really prefers well drained, slightly moist and moderately fertile soil in full sun. Has a very deep tap root and therefore may be difficult to get rid of.