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Japanese Rose: Pretty, Tough

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Lane Greer

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Kerria Pleniflora Shrub
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
Japanese rose is covered from head to toe with beautiful springtime blooms!
Need a shrub that’s drought-tolerant, grows fast in shade, stands up to abuse and gives you scads of springtime flowers, as well as winter interest? Look no further! Japanese rose (Kerria japonica) is all that and a bag of chips!

All these features – and more – make this plant perfect for many gardens. Also called Japanese kerria, this shrub grows 3-6 feet tall and twice as wide. Plant it in shade (too much sun causes the flowers to bleach out) and in just about any soil. For the best show, though, aim for well-draining loam that’s a bit on the lean side (too much fertilizer and the plants get weedy).

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Kerria Pleniflora Bloom
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
The double flowers of ‘Pleniflora’ look like yellow asterisks on a green stick.
The branches start to arch as the plant ages. So to keep your shrub looking good, prune older stems to the ground every year (new wood has improved flowers and great stem color). Or if you’d rather, prune the entire plant down to about 6 inches tall just after it finishes flowering. This keeps the shrub from forming small thickets. Japanese rose grows quickly and can easily reach 6 feet in a year’s time! As the plant regrows, you can look forward to watching the noticeably toothed foliage change to a pretty yellow as the season turns.

While its fall leaves are pretty, Japanese rose is really all about its yellow spring flowers! There are lots of different cultivars, and each offers gardeners something a little different. The most common selection is ‘Pleniflora’. It’s got double flowers that are so yellow, they almost look orange. This beauty is best used in masses or borders since it has a tendency toward legginess.

Facts
  • Japanese rose is hardy in USDA hardiness zones 5-9 or Sunset zones 2-23.
  • While its common name implies that Japanese rose is native to Japan, it’s also found in parts of China.
Tips
  • Plant Japanese rose alongside other interesting-stemmed plants, like green-stemmed Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa), red-stemmed redtwig dogwood (Cornus sericea) and orange-stemmed bloodtwig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea). You’ll have a fiesta of colors all winter!
  • Can’t get enough of your Japanese rose? The plant is easy to root from cuttings. For the best success, take cuttings in summer or fall and stick them in a good potting mix. Water as needed. Voilà – a new plant!
 
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