Plus garden to do's for April & May
By L.A. Jackson"Graceful" is the word that best describes Solomon's seal, a pendulous, deer-resistant perennial that can add three-season interest to a shady garden. In the spring, its rows of bell-shaped, light green to white flowers delightfully dangle in pairs underneath the arching limbs, which, even when not in flower, bring elegance to the summer garden. In the summer, blue, fleshy berries hang below the curved branches, and then, the foliage salutes the coming autumn by turning a pleasing butter yellow.
This pretty plant gets its name from the round scars on the rhizomes at a point just above ground where the stems originate. The scars are swirls of lines, which with some imagination, do resemble the wax seals ancient nobility such as King Solomon would have used to authenticate documents.
"Solomon's seal" is a collective name for over 60 species growing in North America, Asia and Europe. One of the more common, the native Polygonatum biflorum inhabits the woodlands of North Carolina as well as other parts of the eastern United States, and makes a flowing statement in cultivated gardens with pendulous branches reaching up to 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
If a shady nook is in need of some "Yipes! Stripes!" the widely available variegated Solomon's seal (P. odoratum 'Variegatum') is the answer. Of similar stature and form as our native Solomon's seal, this Eurasian import has cream-colored streaks along the lengths of each leaf, which help to break up the sea of green common in southern shade gardens.
In ideal growing conditions, a store-bought Solomon's seal will slowly colonize to form masses of arching, eye-catching plants. Such conditions include an acidic, rich medium with a strong organic base to help retain an even supply of moisture and a site located in part to full shade.
{ampz:Custom share for module}