Axminster Gold (Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold') - pink flowers, illustrated plant card

Axminster Gold

Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold'

Also called russian comfrey

Axminster Gold blooms from June through July.

Bloom calendar
Bloom time
Jun–Jul
Hardiness
Zones 4–7
Sun
Full sun
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
3 ft × 2.6 ft
Type
Perennial
Verification

Every fact this page states, and what the plant is called, was checked against named botanical sources, with the sources recorded beside each value and the unsettled points written down.

Growing Axminster Gold

Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–7. Expect it to reach about 3 ft tall and 2.6 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 2 years.

When to plant Axminster Gold

Plant Axminster Gold in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. For the middle of its hardy zones 4 to 7 range, spring means April to June and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms from June to July.

Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar: for the middle of its range, start with zone 5 in April.

Good to know about Axminster Gold

Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note.

Safety

Leaves and roots carry pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Swallowed, they can cause sinusoidal obstruction syndrome and severe liver injury, and the harm accumulates rather than showing at once. The FDA asked US suppliers to withdraw comfrey products meant to be taken by mouth in 2001. Horses and cattle are at real risk too, and dried comfrey in hay stays toxic while becoming more palatable. Growing it, cutting it, composting it and using it as a mulch or liquid feed are all ordinary and fine; eating it, brewing it as tea, or letting a horse reach it are not. per NIH LiverTox and FDA and Oregon State

The Comfrey group

One of 6 in the Comfrey group. Same genus, similar care.

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