i am z7a but after the tops die down i put 2 or 3 inches of mulch on and they come through fine-do like a protected position in part shade-heavier mulching would probably bring the aralia through for you

'ruth', you might have seen my (too) many posts extolling the virtues of this shade plant. I love it.

I have 3 plants at different locations on our property and all 3 easily made it through this past brutal winter. I am confident it could be hardy to a USA zone 3.

(Here is one of them from late last August)

Beautiful! Thanks for the follow up.

Yeah, this really is a great plant and reliably hardy. I don't winter protect.

Rouge, is that 'Bobo' next to it? I think you had posted pics of that hydrangea and I picked one up last year. Still in a holding bed, but if that's what you have next to the aralia, I think I might now know where to put it!

Yes that's "Bobo".

(But just to let you know ASK in this picture is in a much shadier somewhat drier location than B as it is directly under the roof eave which you cannot see).

UPDATE:

Ruth, while I was out this morning I snapped a picture of one of our ASK. It is now 4 feet by 4 feet and thriving under the roof eave. (I kind of hope that it doesn't grow any larger until more things mature in this newer garden it now overly dominates.)

This post was edited by rouge21 on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 10:33

Hmmmm......I really like that astrantia with it. What happened to 'Bobo'?

Good to notice this change 'thyme'.

I moved these 2 "bobo" in the fall and supplemented them with 3 more to form a border in this same garden. I will show you the results in a couple of weeks as these hydrangeas are now opening up.

I put in the astrantia knowing they would be in flower much sooner than those 2 "bobo" but they are still kind of small. Hopefully next season they will come into their own.

Beautiful!! Thanks for posting the update.

UPDATE:

'ruth', with the cooler and wetter spring and summer, this particular ASK has grown too large in its present location. As of today it is 6 feet across and about 3.5 feet tall. Next year I will regularly trim it regularly to keep it a more manageable.size.

This post was edited by rouge21 on Mon, Aug 25, 14 at 12:03

I bet it's gorgeous! Thanks for the update. I didn't end up getting one this year, but maybe next.

Rouge, mine is also enormous this year. I trimmed quite a bit back just a couple weeks ago and kept the shape.

I bought one about a month ago and planted on the North side of the house. It doubled in size in just one month... Oh boy - this would be a battle to keep it in check.

Any chance you could post a picture of yours thyme2dig?

Here are some of the "flowers" showing on mine right now.

well rouge, it looks like my style of planting is what you might want for your aralia to stay small, because mine has survived but def NOT become big. I have it in open shade (no direct sun) and growing up through a ground cover of yellow and green euonymus. yours is robust for sure. i alrdy grow quite a few yellow leaved woodies, but we will be picking up many more this month from Broken Arrow. The aralia sun king reminds me a little of the yellow leaved philadelphus, though the mock orange has smaller leaves.