Habitat: part shade; sheltered
Soil: with plenty of humus
Height: 10 m
Flowering: late summer
Width: 5.0 m
Impressive architectural plants, trees or small shrubs, some with spiny stems and most with glossy, black fruit.
Aralia elata is known as the devil's walking stick. Why? It makes tall, slender, almost unbranched stems, perhaps 3 metres tall, more when it is older, with a scattering of thorns along their length. At the top, late in spring, huge pinnate leaves open, but its fully glory comes in autumn, when the leaves turn pinkish red, just a huge sprays of creamy white flowers open. The display lasts for ages. Wonderful!
2 litre pot £9.00
| Aralia cordata is an elegant upright herbaceous perennial, ideal for a shady spot. Large divided leaves form a bold backdrop for beautiful umbels of small white flowers, followed by purple berries in autumn. The Japanese spikenard is native to East Asia and popular in Japanese cooking - the young stems are said to have a unique lemon-like flavour. |