Kirengeshoma palmata



Get Landscape and Gardening Info on mps-landscaping-gardening.com. Kirengeshoma palmata topic will increase your understanding on Landscape and Gardening Info. We at mps-landscaping-gardening.com only provide news, articles, information in Landscape and Gardening Info. Landscape and Gardening Info at mps-landscaping-gardening.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kirengeshoma palmata

Sometimes known as yellow waxbells, Kirengeshoma palmata is a late-flowering rhizomatous perennial up to 1.2m high with arching stems and is native to the woods and mountain lowlands of Korea and the Japanese islands of Shikoku and Kyushu.

The unusual name? No, it doesn't come from an obscure Danish botanist called Kirengeshom. It's really just a Latinised version of the original Japanese name. Palmata, a common specific epithet, means shaped like a hand and refers to the foliage.

Formerly classified in its own family, it is now a member of the hydrangea family, although its flowers, which are around 3cm long, are more reminiscent of those of a single-flowered Japanese anemone. The flowers of most of the plants seen in gardens are a fairly deep yellow, though the colour of wild specimens ranges from white to apricot. While beautiful and graceful, the fleshy-petalled flowers, which are borne in sprays on wiry stems that bend under their own weight, never really open fully. The buds start to burst in early autumn.

While the flowers can be something of a disappointment, it isn't too great a disadvantage that they don't open fully as this is a plant grown as much for its foliage as its flowers. The leaves are up to 20cm long and wide with pointed lobes that are deeper on the basal leaves and very shallow on the reduced leaves found on the flower stems.

The generally accepted opinion is that it the only species in its genus, but some botanists prefer to classify the Korean plants separately as Kirengeshoma koreana. As far as gardeners are concerned any differences between the plants are very minor, though there is some suggestion that the Korean plants may eventually be larger than their Japanese cousins and that their flowers open more fully.

As you would expect, considering its origins, Kirengeshoma palmata prefers a moist, leafy, humus-rich soil in partial shade. In other words, typical woodland conditions. In late autumn it dies back to its rootstock, which is extremely hardy and quite capable of withstanding -15°C. It is propagated either by division in winter or early spring, or by raising from seed. The seed prefers cool temperatures, around 12 to 15°C and the germination time is variable, anywhere from 30to 300 days. I've found that sowing fresh seed in the autumn and leaving the seed tray in a shady place for germination in the following spring satisfies any stratification requirements and gives good results.

Kirengeshoma palmata is an ideal companion for any Japanese or Chinese woodland plants and looks magnificent under maples, the leaf shape of which it complements perfectly. Because it needs ample summer moisture it thrives at the edges of a bog garden with candelabra primroses, Rodgersia and irises. Its late flowering habit is invaluable in providing interest at a time of year when other woodland plants may be becoming rather dull.

So why isn't it far more common? I have absolutely no idea.


Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33


More Articles:


1. Dream Yard By Ryan Rhode
Do you ever dream about what your yard could look like some day? As you look through garden catalogs filled with beautiful trees, shrubs, flowers and pictures of beautifully landscaped yards--complete with ponds and garden sculptures--the choices seem endless. Before ordering hundreds of plants or giving up because you cannot decide what you really want, here are a few things to consider.A common issue in landscaping is creating a peaceful, private environment. While fencing can provide immedi…

2. Adirondack Chairs - The Proper Way to Care for Them By Jennifer Akre
The Adirondack chair is unlike any other chair every made. First designed by Thomas Lee in the early 1900s, this chair is amazingly comfortable, very affordable, and a chair that could easily be used for indoor furniture or outdoors by the pool or perhaps on the deck or patio. The overall design of this chair is so unique and interesting. Although there are many great aspects of the Adirondack chair, the favorites include the deep seat, curved back that wraps around the body, and the wide a…

3. Read This Article if You Want to Stop Droughts By Lance Winslow
As our population in the United States grows we have a greater and greater need for fresh water supplies. But only 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh, the rest is in the oceans and cannot be used for drinking water without a desalination process taking place first. Most of the fresh water on Earth is underground in aquifers and the rest is in rivers, lakes and streams and floating or swirling around in the sky in the form of clouds.Some believe that Hurricanes are terrible disasters to our econo…

4. How to Grow Blueberries By Linda Jenkinson
Along with lip-smacking sweetness, flower and foliage are also worthy reasons to grow blueberries. White, bell-shaped blossoms make a lovely addition to a spring garden and fiery scarlet foliage adds drama to a fading autumn landscape. In addition to taste and appearance, blueberries are ripe with medical advantages; they help lower cholesterol and studies suggest that blueberries also reduce the risk of some cancers.Types of Blueberries1. Highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are those …