European wild ginger

Sun

Partial to full shade; avoid hot afternoon sun.

Water

Keep evenly moist but not waterlogged. Water during dry spells, especially beneath trees and while plants are establishing.

Soil

Humus-rich, well-drained soil; tolerates acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions.

Height

0.3-0.5 ft (0.1-0.15 m)

Spread

1-1.5 ft (0.3-0.45 m), gradually spreading farther through rhizomes

Flowers

Small, brownish-purple, bell-shaped flowers in spring, usually hidden beneath the leaves.

Foliage

Glossy, dark green, kidney-shaped to rounded leaves with leathery surfaces; usually evergreen but may die back in severe cold.

Growth

Slow

Care needed

Low

• Deer resistant
• Cold hardy
• Wildlife
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.1 ft (0.03 m)

2. After 1 year

   0.2 ft (0.05 m)

3. After 2 years

   0.3 ft (0.08 m)

4. After 3 years

   0.3 ft (0.1 m)

5. After 5 years

   0.4 ft (0.13 m)

   full size

About 4 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Growth rate

Slow

• Plant in cool shade, spacing plants about 1 ft (0.3 m) apart for eventual groundcover.
• Water when the soil begins to dry; do not let newly planted clumps dry out.
• Apply a thin layer of leaf mould or well-rotted compost in spring, keeping it off the crowns.
• Avoid routine high-nitrogen feeding; an annual organic mulch is usually enough.
• Divide established clumps in spring if you want more plants or need to limit their spread.

Pruning. In late winter or early spring, snip off dead, frost-damaged or badly marked leaves at their bases. Leave healthy foliage in place rather than cutting the whole patch down.

Late winter

Remove damaged foliage before fresh leaves expand.

Spring

Plant or divide clumps, then water thoroughly.

Late spring

Add a thin mulch of leaf mould or compost and check young growth for slug damage.

Summer

Water during dry spells, checking especially carefully beneath trees and near walls.

Autumn

Remove thick mats of fallen leaves that smother the foliage; leave a light scattering between plants.

Winter

Check that water is draining away and avoid walking over frozen or saturated patches.

• Use as a low carpet beneath deciduous shrubs where the soil stays moist.
• Edge shaded paths with its rounded, glossy leaves, keeping it away from regular foot traffic.
• Plant beside ferns and hostas for contrasting leaf shapes and textures.
• Fill small shaded courtyard beds where restrained growth is more useful than rapid coverage.

Garden styles it suits: Woodland, Green on green, Japanese, Secret garden, Traditional and Small-space.

Plant it with: Hostas, Hellebores, Epimediums, Solomon's seal, Snowdrops and Hardy ferns.

Wildlife: The inconspicuous flowers attract small ground-level insects, and ants can disperse the seeds. Its flowers offer little value to bees compared with more accessible woodland blooms.

• Slugs and snails can chew leaves, especially new growth; hand-pick them and use an approved iron-phosphate bait if necessary.
• Dry soil and hot sun cause scorched leaves and poor establishment; provide shade, mulch and water during drought.
• Waterlogged soil can cause crown or rhizome rot; improve drainage or move plants to a better-drained site.
• Severe frost can blacken foliage; leave the crowns undisturbed and remove damaged leaves when spring growth begins.

All parts should be treated as poisonous to people, cats, dogs and horses if eaten. The plant contains aristolochic acids, associated with serious kidney damage and cancer risk; repeated ingestion is especially dangerous. Do not use the leaves or rhizomes as food, tea or medicine, and seek medical or veterinary advice after ingestion.

• Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense)

  Its leaves are larger, softly hairy and less glossy, and they die back in winter rather than normally remaining evergreen.

• Ivy-leaved cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium)

  Its leaves are often angular and silver-patterned, and it produces conspicuous pink or white flowers with swept-back petals in late summer and autumn.

The name europaeum means European, while wild ginger refers to the ginger-like smell of the rhizomes, not a relationship to edible ginger.

Propagation. Divide rooted sections of established clumps in spring and replant promptly. Fresh seed can be sown outdoors in a sheltered, shaded spot, but germination may be slow and irregular.

Accepted botanical name

Asarum europaeum

Native range

Albania, Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Rus, Czechoslovakia, East European Russia, Finland and France.

Measured

Soil pH 7 to 7.5. Average height 8 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0) and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.