rouge that's beautiful! Your post made me purchase one. I transplanted a week ago and it seems to be settling in well. I hope mine grows into a pretty speciman as yours!

Wow, rouge, that’s big and gorgeous, can’t wait till mine grow up!

I purchased two small ones earlier this year after being a dummy and passing them up last year. They’re already growing quickly and doing so much to brighten one of my shady areas.

@lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan can you tell me if the picture you posted just above was done very recently? I ask as the colouring for mine definitely darkens as the summer progresses whereas yours (still?) has that spectacular chartreusese...very nice.

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a), yes, that photo was taken yesterday right before I posted it. That little Sun King gets a couple of hours of sun during the day….the other one I planted gets less sun and is a bit more greenish. Perhaps the more yellowish coloring is because my plants are young?

It adds so much drama to my shade garden.

@annd001 that turn of phrase perfectly describes an ASK's contribution to a shade garden.

Here is ours yesterday....what a contrast to the 'darkness' around it:

Love these! Here is mine on the north side of my house...its very happy!

I moved one last year and eveidently left some...so now I have 3 :)

We all know what an ASK looks like but we still love seeing pics of its gorgeous foliage!

So very pretty @GardenHo_MI_Z5 :).

Thank you Rouge. I put the ‘new division‘ in alot more sun, but right by the hose. So far it is doing well despite the hot week we had...it’s taking off nicely.

So far it is doing well despite the hot week we had

It has been my experience that ASK isnt as "water hungry" as I had read in reviews.

Rouge, do you think they might be like hostas in that they can live with some dry periods but won’t grow as large?

Deanna here are mine to compare...keeo in mind these have been moved around.

moved this one last year...to out of site=neglected. Shaded and much greener.

Tiny division moved about a week ago into sun (actually for the second time) and kept watered well.

The 2nd watered one has done so much better...really taking off and the color is nicer too in the sun.

That's an interesting thought @deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b. But I think that hostas would be more tolerant of less water than would be these Aralias.

GardenHo that's spectacular. I hadn't noticed the dark stems before seeing your photo.

I actually went back and bought the ASK once I determined that’s what it was. I put it in a big pot to start with then moved it in fall. I didn’t think it was alive this year,but sure enough it is only quite small right now.

debra

Last year I accidentally discovered a baby King that germinated from seed (I had initially thought it was a weed). Last week I dug it out and decided to divide it because, well, the more the merrier! I sprinkled rooting hormone on the cut wound and planted them in 2 different spots. A week later now, both Tiny Kings are looking pretty good and settling in. I am attaching a photo of baby King before division, it is just slightly larger than my hand but the roots are quite fibrous already. I now have 5 adult ASK and 2 tiny Kings, total 7 in my garden :) This beautiful no fuss plant adds so much drama and light to any garden!

@maggiemwng - That picture is so interesting - quite the root mass! I also have 5 "adult" (but still new) ASK and really love how they brighten up areas of the garden!

pic from 6/6/23..mine was planted in the fall of 2021..so 2023 is my second summer..it died back completely not long after planting..I wondered if I would ever see it again but yay it’s doing well..

this is my first ASK..

I love it..I have a wooded lot..it’s growing in the shade..

I came across this ASK that is butted right up to the foundation of our house (the chimney in fact). (This plant is either a division from another ASK or I moved it here from who knows where...I forget.) I don't see it regularly as not much else is in that area. I know that this spot is all clay, very little amending is done there and its water has to come from the heavens...and yet it is as healthy as a horse.

(Dont worry I have the goutweed under control :))

I was wary of planting a "Sun King" in approximately 2/3 day sun this spring, but it has been thriving and the leaf color is on the golden side of chartreuse. Looking good.

Excellent 'rusty'. (It is my experience that it can take more sun than one might have thought.)

I saw this very large ASK for sale at the nursery today,

(Our established ASK is now 4 feet high and 6 feet wide!)

Wow that is big! I’ve never seen this big at nursery. Did you buy it? How much was it? And what store? I think you are in Toronto? My established ASK are also 4’ tall by 6’ wide, very happy in the shade garden.

Did not buy it. (We have two...thats enough). THe one pictured is $41 (CDN).

(How about a picture @maggiemwng)

Here’s mine after a slow start. Still only the size of my Squash Casserole hosta.

debra

Hello Rouge21, here are pictures of my ASK. All living in the shade garden happily. In the second picture with 2 large ASK, there is actually a 3rd behind them, and a 4th that is really tiny (split from a baby king earlier this summer, fortunately only one half survived, the second half did not make it… oh well, I tried).

Very nice @maggiemwng. I especially like the composition in that last picture.

Thank you Rouge21. my intention was to have a symetrical design, but as always, my plants disagree with me and they just do whatever they want 🤣

mine is young and growing in dappled shade..not big but I love it..I’m injured and unable to weed but I still take pictures!..

maggiemwng..your ASK are beautiful..I love your boulders..

@maggiemwng I think you are an Ontarians? Those pics look like you might be in cottage country? 🤔

Yes an ontarian. i m a total mosquito magnet, they will eat me alive, so cottage country is not my thing 🦟🐍🕸️ 🐜🐛

Looks like your lovely location would be home to lots of 'squitoes ;).

Thanks nicholsworth. give your ASK anout 2-3 years, they will become nice and big. Mine were like minions the first year. The second year they probably quadrupled. Third year they got real big. They are always the last to emerge in spring, then they go nuts and explode in summer.

So I was cleaning up weeds underneath my boxwood hedge and I saw a gleam of chartreuse yellow and I immediately got excited. Is it a baby King I am seeing? Or is this weed? I found 2 baby kings underneath this same boxwood hedge before. I am going to leave it alone and let it grow a little bit. Time will tell!

I have these polka dots on my ASK leaves surface, the underside is fine, no bugs no insects. Does anyone else have the same appear on theirs? My ASK are a few years old, this is the first time i am seeing dots on them.

I have no insight on the yellow spots. What kind of weather have you had this summer?

We’ve had tons of rain, and my ASK is so happy. These are my biggest two, and they are thriving. I would say the lack of sun has affected their color only slightly. After last year’s drought, I’m sure they’re happy to be overrun with moisture.

Deanna your ASK is beautiful. This summer has been kind of weird, it was hot/cold/hot/cold with humidity, many of my plants got some kind of moldy fungus including my coleus and autumn joy sedum. Anyway, I am thinking of transplanting a mature one to another spot of my shade garden this weekend, has anyone tried transplanting in September? Will there be enough time for the roots to settle before frost hit? I prefer to do it now because temp is cool so easier on my body, doing it in spring is cold and wet :)

I remember FrozeBudd has done dividing a mature ASK before but I can’t remember if it was spring or summer or fall…how much root did you have per division, like 1 - 1.5 feet long? I remember you mentioned the roots were woody and difficult to cut, how are your 2 ASK doing now?

My 'Sun King' had really put down roots and didn't want to do a hack job so I dug deep and wide. Then, the dividing part, like get out the chain saw, that crown thick and tougher than I ever could have imagined! I only had cut it into the two pieces and these hadn't skipped a beat, though one is in more sun and of better coloring. Next spring, I'll check see if a few smaller pieces can be eased off to add about the garden.

Deanna, your plant is amazing and Maggie, that's interesting about the spots, might be some form of virus, though whatever the cause I find it an attractive look.

I am sometimes surprised by the 'choice' certain insects make regarding the flowers they "hang around" ;). Case in point, the flower for ASK. To a human's eye they are quite meh. But wasps seem to love them.

(Its hard to see but take my word, there are 4 wasps on this sprig of ASK flowers)

I love this plant. The one I have had in for many years is at least 7 x 7 so they can get quite big. I actually limb it up and back a bit. Agree about the flowers, the insects love them! Really enjoyed all the pictures and so happy this plant is getting lots of great attention!

This thread is 12 years old! And the picture I included in the first post is this ASK 12 years on....

I have extolled the virtues of this plant for years. But having said that, for the past several years it gets too big for that location, blocking the gate entrance and blocking our view to what's beyond. And so I will attempt to relocate it. There is no way I will be able to get out the whole root ball for as you can see this specimen is huge (even if I could it would mean me having to dig too large a whole to accommodate the root ball).

So this 12 year old Aralia was impossible for me to remove as any thing resembling a root ball....what a beast. (I might have spent more time doing a better job if it was my only specimen but I do have another established ASK).

So I ended up with these stems:

I did plant several of them....we shall see next spring.

Sorry, I should have said that you'd require a backhoe rather than a shovel! The one I dug a few years ago hadn't been in ground for all that many seasons, though the large roots penetrated deeply and the crown was thick and dense like wood, I was exhausted and miserable afterwards!

Come one ASK owners, lets see some pictures taken in 2026.

Here is one of ours taken today:

Your turn..

The one in the front has more competition from maple roots, that's my guess as to why it's puny in comparison to the other one there in the back against the house:

Same story here -- one looks great, the other not so much:

rouge, you're the reason for many of my purchases after seeing your pics. This is what I call my Bobo bed.

I am glad I could "help" @Gawdinfever Z6 ;)

@porkchop_z5b_MI, as you know maple roots are often problematic for many other perennials so your surmise makes sense.

"...as you know maple roots are often problematic for many other perennials so your surmise makes sense."

Look at the other shrubs and perennials under the maples in the first pic -- they seem to be doing just fine. I mean, the hydrangea and culver's root right next to the ASK are flourishing and they have just as much root competition and are known water hogs. It makes me wonder whether ASK's water needs are actually very high or in actuality there's something else going on. The one in the first pic used to be large and lush but isn't any more.

Yup. I don't know.