Description
Spikenard, Aralia racemosa
QUART POT
Light: Full Sun, Partial Shade
Moisture: Wet, Medium-Wet, Medium
Soil: Loam preferred, but tolerates a wide range of soils including rocky and clay.
Height: 4 feet
Bloom Season: July, August
Bloom Color: Green
Fruit: Maroon
NOTES: Spikenard is a showy perennial that has green flowers and attractive maroon berries. The berries are inedible to humans, but loved by birds. It is a large plant for a shaded area, so broad that it could be confused for a woodland shrub, but it dies back each fall and emerges from the ground each Spring. Spikenard blooms from July to August when many woodland plants have finished flowering. Best planted in areas sheltered from strong winds to help protect the large compound leaves. Spikenard can be difficult to move once the plant is established. Since it is a taller, wider plant, be careful if planting next to smaller plants; it may soon overwhelm them. Also known as American Spikenard, it is a close relative of Wild Sarsaparilla.
