kerria japonica

Several sources say that kerria japonica will grow and flower in shade conditions.
What is your experience, please.

Yes, and it is quite a colonizer too.

Don't plant it where you don't want it to make a bigger mass of itself.

There are quite a few selections to choose from as well. Many are yellow/golden yellow, and a few white ones. There is a double flowered golden one as well.

Very green stems make this plant easy to identify. For me, it grows about four feet tall. It has spread/massed in some pretty lousy clay loam soil with no assistance from me, in the shade of Common Hackberry, White Ash, and Black Walnut. In better soils, it will likely colonize more ground quickly.

When it starts looking a little ratty, I just mow it off. It grows right back - again, with no particular assistance.

Here's Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora' at the Valley, mid-April last year.

Get a single-flowered plant (5 petals). The ones with double flowers look awful.

Resin

I have a kerria in an open woodland setting - bright shade.
It grows rambunctiously in an ever-spreading thicket of suckering stems.
My original plant is probably now a 4ft-wide tangle of stems.
In the picture, the original plant is to the right, suckering stems emerging on left.

I also like the single flowered ones better (especially the cultivar 'Golden Guinea', which has large bright orange single flowers), but contrary to Resin, I also like the double. It's extremely floriferous and makes a nice colorful splash in the landscape.

This message was edited Jun 29, 2011 3:58 AM

I have double-flowered kerria also. It isn't my favorite but I wouldn't say it's awful. I like the bright green stems and leaves even when it isn't in flower. And it grows where other plants won't.

Now here's an example of why Iike Dave's Garden. I never heard of this plant before and now have 3 variegated, single bloom ones on the way to me after reading all this. Should I give the varig. more light? How about deer damage? I'm in 4b and have 3 sites in mind so far: 1st gets 2/3 day of direct sun and is inside of a fence = no deer, 2nd gets 1/4 day direct sun, 3rd no direct sun at all but not a deep shade either. Last 2 are not where deer frequent - but one just never knows. What sounds best?

This message was edited Jun 29, 2011 11:56 AM

This message was edited Jun 29, 2011 11:57 AM

Got my beautiful plants. Chose a location for all three - south side, base of a large (about 3 foot in dia.) Sugar Maple tree in the backyard. Mostly shade but a llittle sun peeks through at times.

This message was edited Jul 6, 2011 11:58 AM

Should I cover them for the first winter?

My experience is that they are as tough as nails, so my first thought is to go without.
But you're gardening north of the arctic circle, so maybe they'd appreciate an igloo the first winter.

Now, don't get carreid away. I only get pix of the Northern Lights 3-4 times a year.here. Guess I'll leave them alone = a learning experience. Winter covers sometimes scare me as they can become nice mouse houses.

OK, Resin. I'm convinced! I'm going to start planting tropicals.

But Resin, what's the coldest it ever gets there? UK's weather is not what the latitude might indicate.

Yep, Britain is kept warm in winter by being surrounded by the sea. In general, the closer to the coast, the warmer winters are. The average annual minimum where I am (12 km inland) is around -6°, but in severe winters, it can get down to -11° (e.g. last winter) to -13° (absolute minimum, in the 1981-82 winter).

Right now, it's a record-breaking heatwave for the time of year, today's forecast of 25° will be the hottest October temperature ever. And also the hottest day this year (it's otherwise been a cool summer).

Resin

And I know you meant C temps.

Of course! ;-)

Resin

When I was a kid I lived in Watford, Hertfordshire for 3 years. Long before I was interested in plants. I do remember visitng Kew Gardens though. I got the impression that every explorer brought back plants from their trips around the world. And, if memory severs me correctly, I even saw some Palm trees growing on the west coast of Scotland? Northern England? It also seems like many of the seriuos collectors of Haworthia and such live in the U.K. and have a greenhouse. Part of me is very jealous. Especially when I think of European Beech trees, probably my favorite tree. They are very iffy where I live. I only have 5 kinds.

This message was edited Oct 1, 2011 7:04 AM

This message was edited Oct 1, 2011 7:34 AM