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Japanese kerria

Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0

Japanese kerria

Kerria japonica

A cheerful, easy deciduous shrub of the rose family grown for two seasons of interest: bright golden-yellow flowers in mid-spring and slender, arching kelly-green stems that stay green through winter for a real cold-season feature. The single five-petaled species is pretty, but the double, pompom-flowered form "Pleniflora" is by far the most widely grown. Notably shade-tolerant - it actually flowers best in part shade, since full sun bleaches the blooms. The honest catch is its spread: it suckers and runs underground into a widening thicket, so site it where it has room to colonise or be ready to dig out the suckers. Despite the common name, POWO (Kew) places its native range in China, not Japan; it has simply been cultivated in Japan for a very long time. Grown purely for ornament - it is not a food plant.

Climate fit: moderate (47/100)

Border

Filler

Structure

Light

Part shade / Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Mature size

3-6 ft tall · 4 ft apart

Hardy in zones

4a-9b

very cold to frosty winters

Native in Illinois

No

Related products

Cold hardiness

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

Plotwright

USDA Zone 6b

-5°F to 0°F

Well-suited

2050

2100

Zone 7a

Plotwright

0°F to 5°F

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 42 ecoregions - 38 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today · 3 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Part shade / Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

4 ft

Habit

Suckering, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with slender, arching bright kelly-green stems and a loose, fountaining-to-thicket-forming form

Care tips

•

Prune right AFTER flowering, never in winter - kerria flowers on old wood, so a late-winter cutback removes the coming bloom. Thin old or weak stems to the base then to keep the form open and the green canes fresh.

•

Plant it in part shade for the best flower colour; full sun bleaches the golden blooms.

•

Decide up front whether to let it colonise: it suckers and runs underground into a widening thicket, so site it with room to spread or dig out the suckers each year to contain it.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant in spring or fall in part shade to full sun in moist, well-drained soil of moderate fertility; part shade gives the best flower colour, since full sun bleaches the golden blooms. RHS rates the species fully hardy (H6), so it needs no winter protection across its range. Give it room - it spreads by underground runners.

Transplanting

Move young, container-grown plants while dormant. Because it travels by runners, divisions and rooted suckers transplant readily; lift and replant the outer suckers to relocate or contain the clump.

Early growth

Water through the first season to establish. It is an easy, vigorous, shade-tolerant shrub that needs little fuss, but watch the edges: the underground runners begin pushing up suckers early, so plan from the start whether to let it colonise or to dig the suckers out each year.

Maturity

Matures into a 3-6 ft arching shrub spreading 4 to 7 feet (and wider over time as it suckers). It flowers on OLD WOOD, so prune right AFTER flowering - never in late winter or you remove the coming season's bloom. After flowering, thin out old, weak, or wayward stems to the base to keep the fountaining form open and renew the bright green canes; cut out reverted or dead growth at the same time.

Propagation

Easiest from the abundant rooted suckers or by division of the spreading clump; also grows readily from softwood or semi-ripe stem cuttings. Verify any cultivar's propagation/patent status before increasing named selections.

Similar plants

Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.

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A large, vigorous, fountain-shaped deciduous shrub that earns its common name in late spring, when its arching stems are smothered in masses of pale-pink, yellow-throated, bell-shaped flowers. Native to China, it is one of the great old-fashioned spring shrubs - spectacular in full bloom, much loved by bees, and offering peeling brown bark for quiet winter interest. It is also genuinely big: expect 6 to 10 feet tall and wide at maturity, so give it room rather than fighting its size with the shears. The form to seek out is the Award-winning "Pink Cloud", which carries a clearer, richer pink than the variable seed-grown species.

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Educator packet

Plant packet

Japanese kerria educator packet

A cheerful, easy deciduous shrub of the rose family grown for two seasons of interest: bright golden-yellow flowers in mid-spring and slender, arching kelly-green stems that stay green through winter for a real cold-season feature. The single five-petaled species is pretty, but the double, pompom-flowered form "Pleniflora" is by far the most widely grown. Notably shade-tolerant - it actually flowers best in part shade, since full sun bleaches the blooms. The honest catch is its spread: it suckers and runs underground into a widening thicket, so site it where it has room to colonise or be ready to dig out the suckers. Despite the common name, POWO (Kew) places its native range in China, not Japan; it has simply been cultivated in Japan for a very long time. Grown purely for ornament - it is not a food plant.

Scientific name

Kerria japonica

Plant type

shrub

Hardiness

4a-9b

Light

part-shade, full-sun

Moisture

moderate

Spacing

48 inches