A Dentist and Horticulturist’s Dream

In 2019, we were trillium botanizing in Lumpkin County, Georgia, when we stopped at a site along the Chestatee River. Growing together at the site, were Trillium catesbiae, Trillium freemanii cf., and Trillium decumbens. Despite the trilliums, the most exciting plant that caught my eye was a unique, small-leafed toothwort that somewhat resembled a minature form of Dentaria diphylla (Cardamine diphylla).

Returning home, our toothwort cuttings were rooted and planted out in a shady spot, where they thrived. Watching the plant over the next few years, it became obvious that our find was not the straight species, but instead a natural hybrid between Dentaria diphylla and Dentaria dissecta (Cardamine dissecta), both, which grew together at the site. Our new toothwort turned into quite an extraordinary plant, and if had been patentable, which it is not, because it came from the wild, it probably would be mass produced in wholesale nurseries around the country.

2026 is the first time we’ve shared the plant we named Dentaria ‘Little Lumpkin’. Our original plant has produced a 1″ tall x 3′ wide, dense patch, making it a superb, native green mulch plant for the woodland garden. The dark green leaves, which emerge in fall and grow through the winter and spring, are cut into 3-5 frilly segments. We hope you enjoy this in your garden as much as we have enjoyed it in ours.