Just about the time I was shopping for plants for my front garden, the local garden shop offered the yellow, double-flowered Kerria in pots small enough to interest me. I had seen a large, invasive clump of it growing, rather clumsily, in the front yard of a resident in a nearby city, and wondered if it would behave if I placed it in a more challenging situation.

I decided to take a chance on it, built the soil up a bit near the base of a large maple to one side of the garden, and installed the Kerria there, to deal with scant soil, medium shade, and sharp drainage during the peak of summer.

It has done well, restricting its height to three or four feet, and only gradually spreading.

A few years later, I found myself wanting something "bamboo-like," but not as invasive or difficult to remove, to compete with a wild bramble that had taken hold near my little metal gazebo at the back of our property. This time, I found the single Kerria available, and planted it. It took several years, but that one is now about six feet tall and spreading--exactly as wanted in that position. Last fall I pruned unsatisfactory branches back to the base, and numerouse new, well-shaped ones have filled in already this year. It provides the atmosphere and privacy I sought for the gazebo, and has also helped to fight off the brambles. Significantly, it is planted next to the base of a limbed-up walnut tree, and does not appear at all deterred by juglone from the tree's roots.

Although Kerria does have the potential to become a thug, if its location and function are carefully chosen, I feel that it can be an excellent, versatile, and fairly low-maintenance shrub. If it is allowed to grow to its full height, it can be particularly effective in a spot where a more "Japanese" effect is desired, but bamboo is not able to be contained.