Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 41 ecoregions — 39 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today · 1 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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Chilean Matorral

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

10"

Habit

Low perennial rosette with erect ribbed flower spikes

Care tips

•

Site it only where weedy spread is acceptable — it self-seeds prolifically and is hard to remove once the taproot is established (NC State Extension treats it as a weed).

•

Leave a patch in a rough or naturalized corner to feed wind-pollen-foraging bees and to host common buckeye caterpillars.

•

It needs essentially no care: full sun and average soil are enough, and it tolerates drought, mowing, and compaction.

Lifecycle

Planting

Easily grown in average, medium-moisture soil in full sun; thoroughly undemanding and adapted to poor, compacted, and disturbed ground. NC State Extension lists it for USDA hardiness zones 5a-9b. It is an introduced European species, not a North American native, so plant it deliberately only where its weedy spread is acceptable.

Transplanting

Rarely transplanted on purpose; volunteer rosettes can be lifted with their taproot in spring or fall and reset into bare ground, where they establish with little fuss.

Early growth

Seedlings need almost no care once up; the young rosette tolerates mowing, foot traffic, and dry spells. Keep an eye on it near tidy lawns and beds, since it self-seeds prolifically and is hard to remove once the taproot is set.

Maturity

Matures into a flat rosette 6-12 inches across with many slender flower spikes to about 6-18 inches tall, blooming over a long season and shedding wind-borne pollen. Plants are long-lived and regrow vigorously from the crown after cutting or grazing.

Propagation

Propagated almost entirely by seed, which it produces in abundance and self-sows freely; the stout taproot also lets established plants resprout after the top is removed.

Pollination

Wind-pollinated

Plantago lanceolata is wind-pollinated: each dense spike opens as a protogynous ring of small flowers that pushes out long, light stamens shedding copious wind-borne pollen, with the styles maturing ahead of the anthers to favor cross-pollination. Although wind does the work, the abundant pollen also makes the spikes a heavy pollen source that foraging bees actively work.

Plants don't grow alone

Larval host

Butterfly

Common buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Plantago lanceolata is a well-documented larval host for the common buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia); its leaves are among the primary plantain hosts on which buckeye caterpillars feed, so even this weedy introduced plantain supports the next generation of a native butterfly.

For people

Edible

The young, tender leaves are edible — eaten raw in salads when small or cooked like greens as they toughen with age, with a slightly bitter, mushroom-like note. The leaves also have a long history of traditional medicinal use (notably as a poultice on minor wounds and insect bites). Harvest only young foliage from areas you know are free of herbicides and roadside contamination.

Climate notes

•

NC State Extension lists Plantago lanceolata for USDA hardiness zones 5a-9b; it is native to Europe and naturalized as a weedy species across North America, not a North American native.

•

Very drought- and mowing-tolerant: it thrives in compacted, disturbed, and regularly cut ground (lawns, roadsides, fields) and rides out dry spells on a stout taproot. It is most at home in cool- to mild-summer climates and is more marginal in the hottest, driest zones at the upper end of its range.

•

Has no serious pest or disease problems and needs no supplemental care; its main 'management' issue is the opposite — controlling its prolific self-seeding where it is not wanted.

•

Because it is introduced and weedy, site it only where spread is acceptable; it readily colonizes lawns, paths, and bare or compacted soil and is difficult to eradicate once the taproot is established.

In the designer

Growth over time

6-18" tall · 6-12" spread

Long-lived mature clump from a stout taproot; self-seeds freely and persists indefinitely, regrowing from the crown after mowing or grazing.

Design roles: Pollinator · Filler

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Ribwort plantain

At a glance

Related products

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations