Yellow waxbells
Kirengeshoma palmata ·
Large, maple-shaped leaves on dark, arching stems, hung with waxy, pale yellow, shuttlecock flowers in early autumn. A plant of quiet distinction for moist shade.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Late August to late September
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around yellow waxbells
The planner designed this bed around yellow waxbells when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why yellow waxbells stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Yellow waxbells × 1, yellow
- 2 Lingonberry × 7, pink
- 3 English primrose × 8, yellow
- 4 Tall astilbe 'Superba' × 3, purple
- 5 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 6 Western maidenhair fern × 5, green leaves
- 7 Double snowdrop × 12, white
- 8 Hardy cyclamen × 7, pink
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are fine and medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3½ ft it is among the tallest plants 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 Gray's sedge (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late August to late September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With tall astilbe 'Superba' and Gray's sedge in late August: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Something is in flower for 35 weeks, from early February to mid October. Cool colours (pink and purple) with yellow as the warm note, and green and white to calm things between them.
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 yellow waxbells goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
Handsome for six months as a foliage plant, then it flowers when little else in shade does. Give it shelter from wind and steady moisture, and plant it once: it resents disturbance.
- A shrub-sized feature for moist shade
- Bold foliage all season
- Late flowers in a woodland garden
What to plant with yellow waxbells
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; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Japanese anemone: in flower together for six weeks, from late August; medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Toad lily: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for three weeks; medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about yellow waxbells
Does yellow waxbells need sun or shade?
Yellow waxbells grows in 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 soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does yellow waxbells grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does yellow waxbells flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late August to late September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Late August to late September |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late August to late September |
| Zone 7 | Mid August to late September |
| Zone 8 | Mid August to late September |
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 yellow waxbells be planted?
2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3½ ft (100 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many yellow waxbells plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 5 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 6 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is there a native plant like yellow waxbells?
Yellow waxbells is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Umbrella plant: the same job in a bed; belongs in the middle, not at the back, 6 in wider.
- Interrupted fern: the same job in a bed and the same size; grown for its leaves, not its flowers, medium leaves, not bold.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What does yellow waxbells look like in winter?
Yellow waxbells dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (75 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late August to late September; hanging bells; yellow
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. 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.