Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Japanese Solomon's Seal

Brand:  Walters Gardens

Description:

A great shade perennial featuring bright red, upright and arching stems of green leaves with silvery undersides; dangling white flowers are borne under the leaves, followed by bluish-black inedible fruit; great for shady rock gardens and woodlands

Ornamental Features

Ruby Slippers Solomon's Seal features dainty lightly-scented nodding white bell-shaped flowers along the stems in mid spring. Its attractive pointy leaves remain green in colour with curious silver undersides throughout the season. The red stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Ruby Slippers Solomon's Seal is a dense herbaceous perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Spreading

Ruby Slippers Solomon's Seal is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Ruby Slippers Solomon's Seal will grow to be about 21 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 21 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 21 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Ruby Slippers Solomon's Seal is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.