Joi Ito · CC BY 2.0
Fuki butterbur
Plant·Petasites japonicus
Part shade
Sun
High
Water
Moist soil
Drainage
Zones 4–9
Hardiness
Fuki butterbur (Petasites japonicus) is a plant. It grows best in part shade and has high water needs.
Through the year
DormantLeafing outFloweringFruitingDying back
Works well with
from wiki dataNo companions recorded.
WHAT IT NEEDS
Tolerates part shade
Needs a lot of water
Tolerates moist soil, as long as it drains well
Prefers soil pH 5.5–7
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Prefers loam, clay soil
Tolerates some soil compaction
Draws up potassium, calcium from deep in the soil
Adds a lot of organic matter to the soil
WHAT IT GIVES
Gives mulch biomass (medium to high)
Gives shade (dense ground cover)
Provides potassium
Provides calcium
HOW IT GROWS
SIZE & SPACING
Herbaceous
Height30–100 cm
Spacing90 cm (min 60 cm)
Root depthShallow
Width60–150 cm
Width figures are rough estimates, the most variable measurement in our data.
AI estimate · accuracy improves as growers contribute corrections.
HOW TO PROPAGATE
Propagate by seed, division, rhizome cuttings
Difficulty
Establishes in about 1 yr
Self-seeds readily on its own
Where this comes from
Parsed11 Sept 2026
ConfidenceNot recorded
Photograph Joi Ito · CC BY 2.0