Piedmont Foamflower
Tiarella cordifolia
Found in moist forests, cove forests, rock outcrops, well-drained bottomland forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 5–12 inches
- Spread
- 1–1.5 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- April to June
- Fruiting season
- Spring
Recorded in 50 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits

Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 113 animals.
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
- Ruffed GrouseBonasa umbellus
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
Care
- Keep the soil moist; this plant does not tolerate drought.
Who uses this plant?
4BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Tiarella
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Tiarella
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Saxifragaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Flower color
- Pink or white
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Spring
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox · Species profile fruit display season; not a local ripening date
- Fruit ends · “Spring” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox · Species profile fruit display season; not a local ripening date
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “5–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont differs)
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont differ)
- Spread · “1–1.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Foamflower
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Spreads by runners. Spreads by slender runners to form colonies. NC State Extension Plant Toolbox
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

























