Product Description
Unusual groundcovering perennial with crimson red-green leaves from summer further on.
Mounds grow to 0.75-1' of height and 1-2' of width. Bold foliage, partially glossy and as summer progresses, the leaves turn their tips red and later in early fall into screaming crimson red and before they decline, the whole leaf is red.
Moderate growing plant, surprisingly tough and longer-lived.
April/May flowers are small white bells in clusters and are not the main reason to grow this plant. Flowers appear while the leaves are still developing and emerging. The leaves, reminding of Acer - maple (other name for this plant is Aceriphyllum rosii) - are partially glossy and in summer turn their tips red and later in early fall into screaming crimson red.
Half shade, partial sun, dappled sun or dappled shade (in colder climate also full sun), average soil enriched with some organic matter (compost, composted leaves or mulch).
Plants will tolerate full shade, but loose the rich red color, so some amount of sun is beneficial
Medium moist to moist soils, somewhat drained (in it's origin country - China, Korea grows on rocky slopes and ravines). Prefers cooler spot in garden and in hot climates places prefers some afternoon shade.
Hardy in zones 4-8. Deer and rabbit resistant, should be black walnut tolerant too (not much info is available yet).
'Karasuba' can be translated as "crimson fans", which is also a name under which this plant is sometimes sold.
Best in woodland gardens, shade or half-shade gardens or borders, under canopy of big trees, in rock gardens, Japanese or Asian inspired gardens, used as accent or as groundcover for smaller or medium-sized areas.
Looks great with rocks.
For it's unique beauty, it's probably the best t combine it with plants that optically don't compete much and support it - for example with sedges - Carex (especially thin-leaved ones), Hakonechloa macra or Iris cristata. But otherwise good companions can be perennials like Astilbe, Brunnera, Epimedium, Gillenia, Heuchera, Hosta, Polemonium, Polygonatum and ferns.
Pot size : square 3.5" x 5" deep pot
Picture copyright : K M, Flickr