Aralia spreads by underground roots and if very hard to remove once it takes hold. Perhaps the gold one is less vigorous.

Aralia cordata is very manageable. While it gets quite big in my climate (6'x6'), it does not spread aggressively. And if it should, both the white tubers and the young foliage are highly edible :-) This is cultivated as a food crop in Japan.

I use 'Sun King' a lot in my design work and find it a wonderful big splash of easy to almost no care color. While it can grow happily in full sun, I prefer it in part shade. Too much shade and it will lose that golden yellow color and become more of a limey, chartreuse green

I’m hard pressed to come up with a con for this striking plant but it does die back well before frost, while mums, dahlias and rudbeckia are still going strong. If I’m not mistaken, it is also late to leaf out. But don’t let either deter you!

Thanks for the comments

callirhoe123 have any images to share relating to the aggressive spreading?

We moved away, so I no longer have it. Happily.

Extremely easy to control any suckering - just severe through the root connection to the mother plant and remove. IME, it suckers far less than many other plants with this attribute, like Tiger Eye sumac or Sorbaria sorbifolia. But every garden is different and so is every gardener's tolerance for these issues :-)

When the plant is in the middle of a perennial border "just sever the through the root connection" is easier said then done. If it was our in the open somewhere it would be a different story.

Here are a couple of threads from the perennial forum Houzz/Gardenweb:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5751053/show-us-your-ask-aralia-sun-king#n=23

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3079688/rouge21-hows-that-aralia-sun-king-looking#n=64

Both threads have photos of their potential size in New England as compared to people, one just over the height of Thyme2dig’s 6’ tall hubby.

Sun King is Aralia cordata, native to Japan and thus of little to no ecological benefit here. There is an American aralia. Does anyone know if it would make a good substitute - if available?