Japanese kerria
Kerria japonica · Rosaceae
Arching, bright green stems that stay green all winter, covered in golden-yellow flowers, single or pompon, in spring. It flowers well in shade.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 6½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Part sun to shade
- Flowers
- Mid April to mid May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around Japanese kerria
The planner designed this bed around Japanese kerria when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why Japanese kerria stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Japanese kerria × 1, yellow
- 2 Leadwort × 19, blue
- 3 Dalmatian bellflower × 17, purple
- 4 Japanese meadowsweet × 4, pink
- 5 Hairy alumroot 'Autumn Bride' × 3, white
- 6 Siberian bugloss 'Jack Frost' × 8, blue
- 7 Yellow trout lily × 7, yellow
- 8 Winter cyclamen × 10, pink
- 9 Snowdrop × 8, white
Why this plant
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- The only fine leaves here. The rest are medium and bold. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only open bowls. The others are dense clusters, bells, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Japanese meadowsweet (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From mid April to mid May.
- Part of the bed's peak. With Siberian bugloss 'Jack Frost' and yellow trout lily in late April: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 9 of the 10 groups (90%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (blue, purple and pink) and uses yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 47% of the visual weight and the right half 53%.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Japanese kerria goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
One of the few shrubs that flowers freely in full shade. The green winter stems are a quiet bonus. It suckers, so thin it and remove stray shoots each year.
- Spring flowers in shade
- Green stems for winter
- Informal shrub borders
What to plant with Japanese kerria
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Daffodil: in flower together for four weeks, from mid April; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
- Lenten rose: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about Japanese kerria
Does Japanese kerria need sun or shade?
Japanese kerria grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun), part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does Japanese kerria grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Japanese kerria flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid April to mid May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Late April to late May |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid April to mid May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 7 | Early April to early May |
| Zone 8 | Late March to late April |
| Zone 9 | Late March to mid April |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Japanese kerria be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6½ ft (200 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Japanese kerria plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is Japanese kerria poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like Japanese kerria?
Japanese kerria comes from Central & Southern China to Southern Korea and Japan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Oregon grape: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 20 in narrower, bold leaves, not fine.
- Pinxterbloom azalea: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 12 in taller, 8 in narrower.
- Drooping leucothoe: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 12 in shorter, white, not yellow.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat Japanese kerria?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will Japanese kerria spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Suckers strongly and forms thickets. Give it room, or remove the suckers every year.
What flowers after Japanese kerria?
Japanese kerria is over by mid May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Blue false indigo: from late May to mid June, 4 ft tall.
- Foxglove: from early June to mid July, 4 ft tall.
- Lupine: from late May to early July, 3½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does Japanese kerria look like in winter?
Japanese kerria drops its leaves and stands as bare branches: it is grown for green stems for winter. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is Japanese kerria good for bees and butterflies?
Japanese kerria is visited by butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Kerria
- Double Japanese kerria Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora'
In these guides
- Plants for dry shade
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 6½ ft (200 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid April to mid May; open bowls; yellow
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Arching, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Part sun, part shade, shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Comes from
- Central & Southern China to Southern Korea and Japan
- Attracts
- Butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.