Be The First On Your Block to Grow American Spikenard!
Here’s something new for your shady garden: American Spikenard (Aralia racemosa).
This is a big woodland perennial native to a large swath of Eastern and Central North America, from Quebec to Manitoba and from Georgia to Texas.
American Spikenard has been growing in my garden for two summers and so far I am pleased with it. It is a big plant growing up to 5′ tall, though mine is under 3′ this year. It has dark stems and bold, heart-shaped leaflets.
In mid-summer it has interesting-looking racemes of tiny greenish white flowers. While the individual flowers may not look like much to most people, they do attract a variety of native bees, including some really tiny ones.
Later in the summer there are berries that I think are extremely ornamental as they turn from green to purple. The berries are attractive to birds.
A virtue of American Spikenard is that it can take over after ephemeral spring flowers have faded away. Also, it is supposed to be quite adaptable as to soil. It likes moist, fertile woodlands best, but a variety of sources say it will grow (less imposingly) in dryer and leaner locations.
I grow pots and pots of Marigolds (Tagetes patula) and Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana), so I am not a plant snob. However, this plant is really underused, and there is an innocent pleasure in growing an unfamiliar plant that will excite questions from your gardening friends and neighbors – as happened with American Spikenard when my garden was on the Wild Ones tour.
This provides one last reason, if you need one, to give this woodland wildling a try.
gardeninacity 
That is a fine-looking plant! Did you order it from a nursery or start it from seed?
Ordered it. I’m a spendthrift that way.
Just gorgeous, I had never heard of it till now.
I learned of it myself only a couple of years ago.
Oh wow! I saw a ton of this while hiking in the mountains of western NC yesterday. I didn’t know what it was. Thanks for the plant education! ~Julie
A mass of this would look great in the woodland.
I wish there was a way to quantify dry shade so that each plant could be given a rating of how dry they like it. What’s dry to one plant is moist to another. I love this big guy but don’t think I have enough moisture to keep him truly happy.
Only one way to find out: plant one and see what happens. Then you can get more if it does well.
I grow Aralia californica, it’s west coast relative, and I love it! It also does well in dry shade, under my Douglas firs. I’ve had it for 5 years, and it gets about 5-6 feet tall every summer. The berries are so dark purple, they’re nearly black.
Good to know it can handle dry shade.
I think I’ve seen this at the Arboretum. I like the berries, and it sounds like the flowers attract some interesting native pollinators. I will give it some consideration. Thanks!
It does take up a big chunk of space in the garden.
One of the things I love about native plants — there are SO MANY of them, and so many that are underused as well. I guess gardeners are just attracted to exotics, not always the best choice as most of us have already discovered. I have not grown this one in my home garden but it does grow on property I own in Wisconsin. I usually see it at the base of a road cut or ravine where it might pick up additional moisture. It is a delight to see for sure!
Interesting that you and others have seen this growing in the wild. I didn’t notice it until I saw it in a catalog.
How unusual! It’s good to get anything growing in shade, so a pretty plant with nectar then berries is a real plus, for you and the pollinators!xxx
I’m thinking I do need some more of these.
I am excited to read that it grows here in Georgia. I do believe I need to find one to put in our shade forest. The berries are spectacular!
Good luck. I’ll bet you can order it from Shooting Star Nursery in Kentucky.
I don’t know why I never find this plant in our woods. I know it grows in Walpole which has lime rich soil, so I’m thinking it must be a lime lover.
We certainly have lime soil around here. Supposedly it is pretty adaptable as to soil, though.
Thanks for the introduction. I think I have heard of this, but I have never seen it. I love it, and I appreciate the need to use more of our lovely natives. I think it would be perfect for my Alabama woodland!
Sounds like it could be a good fit for your garden.
The Sputnik-like flowers remind me of Fatsia japonica, which I am hot to introduce for just that reason.
Fatsia japonica sounds like a sumo wrestler.
This sounds like a keeper. I don’t recall seeing this around anyplace. Do you have to water this or has it adapted to your garden soil?
I have never watered it, though I’ve read it likes moisture.
I love the foliage – it’s one I’ve never seen before, but it looks quite well behaved 🙂
It can get big and sprawling, but it hasn’t really spread on me yet.
I don’t think it demands a limestone soil. I grew spikenard in my Toronto garden, on the near-neutral Toronto clay,where the plants seemed to be fine, but I collected the seeds from an area around a friend’s cottage, where spikenard grew very abundantly. The cottage was north of Parry Sound on very acidic soil: blueberries, blue bead lilies, and pink lady slipper orchids were also abundant there. The spikenards were certainly well behaved. The seedlings are slow to get going and the plants seem to be tap-rooted and stay put. I never saw any volunteers in my Toronto garden. I am starting some more spikenard seedlings for my much larger country garden in western Quebec. It is a fine plant and we want to grow lots more berries for birds.
I’m thinking of planting some more as well.
Now that is a NEAT plant + it attracts pollinators of a different size-LOVE IT! Will be looking this one up-thank you for sharing:-)
Yes, really tiny ones, makes the flowers interesting to watch while they are in blooms.
Cool plant, but where did it get that name from!?
I couldn’t find out much about that. Spikenard is a plant which was used to make fragrant oils in biblical times. That Spikenard comes from the Himalayas, is in a different genus and bears little resemblence to American Spikenard. However, American Spikenard roots are supposed to be fragrant and have been used to make a kind of root beer – so maybe that is the connection.
The history behind names is always fascinating, thanks Jason
I just discovered American Spikenard in a recent visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and knew immediately that I had to have it! When I visited my favorite shade nursery last week, I inquired about it. He didn’t have any in stock but will have it again in the spring, when I plan to add it to my serenity garden, where it will replace some Actea that have never been happy there.
Good introduction, I like the look of it and love those berries. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome!
I like the berries on this plant. While at the Bartram’s Garden In PA, they had some very mature Aralia racemosa. It is a nice plant, but a very vigorous grower. Watch for the suckers or it will spread to form a thicket.
How big were American Spikenards at the Bartram’s Garden?
Very large. Mostly very wide and almost 6 feet high.
I have heard of this plant but not seen it…it goes on my list and I have just the spot for it. Love the berries.
Let me know how it does!
Thanks for all the great pictures, I’ll add this one to my list! (I wanted to ‘like’ this post but I can’t see anywhere on your blog where I can click ‘Like’ or click on ‘Rate’ this post with 5 stars.. am I missing something obvious?) Thanks!
I think because you are commenting for the first time I have to approve your comment before you can “like”.
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