American, Japanese spikenards are both striking and winter-hardy
In my shady garden areas, two of my favorite plants are close relatives. One is a native, the other its Asian kin. And I love them for different reasons.
American spikenard ( Aralia racemosa) is the native version. It’s a big, bushy perennial that resembles a small shrub 3 to 5 feet tall.
It isn’t the small greenish-white flowers June through August that grab my attention. It’s the plant’s showy clusters of berrylike capsules that ripen from green to red to purple, often with a blend of colors in a cluster. The dark stems are also very attractive. Sometimes when I show a photo of American spikenard in fruit, a member of the audience will ask if spikenard is another name for elderberry. The answer is no, although the fruit has indeed been described as “resembling that of elderberry.” Unlike elderberries, the fruits of spikenard are considered inedible. But the plant does have a long history of medicinal use.
I’ve never actually seen birds eating the berries, either, but by many accounts they do.
American spikenard will grow in any soil, as long as it is well-drained. Winter-hardy throughout the Midwest, it thrives in either full or partial shade.
The abundant bunnies in my yard have (so far) ignored it. Pests and diseases aren’t a serious threat, either.
Some spikenard volunteers popped up this growing season near my original spikenard plants. I’m delighted. Easy to dig, they are destined for fall transplanting to an area at the edge of the property where some big, shade-loving natives will be most welcome to replace some undesirable weeds. As for the golden Japanese spikenard ( Aralia cordata Sun King), it’s neither the flowers nor the fruit that make it a standout in my shade garden. It is instead the large chartreuse leaves that shine like a beacon, never failing to catch my eye from inside the house on a dark, rainy day.
If I’d planted my Sun King where the plants received half-day sunlight, the leaves would be bright gold. But I’m very content with chartreuse; in fact, it’s my favorite color in a shady border. I love echoing the color throughout the border with similarly colored shade-loving plants such as Leapfrog foamy bells (
Heucherella), Citronelle coralbells ( Heuchera), Blue and Gold spiderwort ( Tradescantia), and, of course, chartreuse hostas like Sum and Substance, August Moon and Inniswood.
Sun King Japanese spikenard is as winter-hardy as its American cousin. It’s as bushy as the American species, too, although it probably won’t grow quite as tall.
Write Jan Riggenbach at 2319 S. 105th Ave., Omaha, NE 68124. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you’d like a personal reply, or visit midwestgardening.com.