Disporopsis pernyii
Evergreen Solomon's seal does the same job as the deciduous kind and keeps its leaves through winter. Disporopsis pernyii produces upright arching stems, spotted purple at the base, lined with glossy dark green leathery leaves. Small creamy white bells hang beneath the stems from November, lightly scented, followed by blue-purple berries in autumn. It is a quiet plant that repays being looked at closely.
Shade planting is where it belongs. Use it as low cover beneath trees and larger shrubs, along a shaded path, in a woodland or fern garden, or in a courtyard pot that never gets full sun. It combines well with hostas, hellebores and ferns, and its glossy leaves hold up when hostas have collapsed for the winter.
Plant in part to full shade in humus-rich soil that stays moist and drains freely, digging in compost first. The clump widens gently from short rhizomes rather than running, so it stays where it is put. Mulch each spring with leaf mould or compost. It is slow to get going and worth planting three or five together rather than one.
Forms a clump around 0.3 to 0.45 m tall and much the same across.
Trimming: Very little needed. Cut out individual stems that brown off or get wind-damaged, at any time of year. Tidy the clump in late winter before new shoots push through.
Deadheading: Leave the flowers to set berries, which are part of the plant's appeal in autumn. Remove any that shrivel without colouring.
Fertilising: An annual mulch of compost or leaf mould in spring is usually all it asks. Add a light slow-release fertiliser on poor or root-filled soil under established trees.
Watering: Keep the soil moist through spring and summer. Dry shade under a large tree is the hardest place to grow it, and there it needs regular watering and a thick mulch to succeed.
Pest Control: Slugs and snails are the main threat, particularly to new shoots in spring, and damage shows badly on glossy evergreen leaves. Bait or trap early in the season.
Disease Management: Generally trouble free. Leaf spot can appear in still, humid conditions where plants are crowded, and clearing fallen leaves and thinning the clump is enough to manage it.
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