Stunning is the best word to describe this
group of shade-loving of woodland plants. Asarum is an attractive, yet little known
perennial groundcover native to forest floors of Europe and North America. It thrives in
partial shade as well as deep shade making it very useful in the landscape. The name
'Wild Ginger' comes from the fact that the rhizomes from its eastern North American cousin
were once harvested as a ginger substitute. The beautiful glossy green heart shaped
leaves are evergreen allowing the plants to stay attractive throughout the year.
Plants are very low growing, and slow creeping. Asarum reaches only five to
six inches in height with a spread of around 12 - 14 inches. Asarums are tolerant of dry
conditions once they establish themselves and work well under shade trees. Combine with other shade loving perennials for a natural looking
woodland landscape. Tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions but will spread much
faster in a rich, humusy soil.
>>Asarum is considered by most landscape designers to be the
ideal groundcover for shaded areas.
Asarum
Zones: 4-9
Propagation: spring division
Problems: Slugs can be a problem with freshly planted plants but are no
problem in established plantings.
Notes: Do no allow new plants to dry out or suffer through summer
dry spells - water regularly until the plant has established itself. Once
established Asarums are very drought tolerant.
(uh-sah'
rum)
