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Plant Portrait Kirengeshoma palmata By
Chris Helleiner The flowering
season of most perennials reaches its peak in July, so a showy plant that
flowers in September is very welcome in our gardens. That’s Kirengeshoma
palmata, known as Yellow Waxy Bells. It is a member of the hydrangea
family, a herbaceous perennial, dying down completely in the winter, but
when it is in full growth it looks quite a lot like a woody shrub. The stems
reach about 4 feet (1.5 meters) in height, and the leaves look quite similar
to a Norway maple (Acer platanoides), hence the palmata of its
name. Kirengeshoma is
said to be the Japanese name of an unrelated but similar-looking plant. The
flowers are nodding, bright yellow bells, about 1½ inches (3 cm) long, the
petals only slightly separated. There are said to be forms with apricot
coloured flowers, but I have not seen these. K. palmata is
native to southern Japan and Korea. Some authorities consider the Korean
form to be a separate species, K. coreana. We have both of them,
they do look a bit different, and so far K. coreana has been a weaker
grower. As far as I can remember our K. palmata came from a nursery
in British Columbia, but it is now available from time to time at local
garden centres. We planted it about six years ago in our garden in Pictou
County, where it thrived, and moved it to our Halifax garden three years
later. It has been equally happy in both places, though the soils are quite
different. Both locations have morning sun for about half the day. The only
care we give it is a dose of general fertilizer in the spring and regular
watering in dry weather. We give it a peony ring support as the stems
lengthen, because they do tend to flop. The plant is now about 3 feet (1
meter) in diameter and still growing. So far it has not suffered any winter
damage; the lowest temperature it has experienced is -23°C. Kirengeshoma palmata has proved to be a very worthwhile addition to our plant collection, and I can recommend it to others. |