Kerria is a flower from my childhood–I remember a neighbor had the double form of this shrub and it fascinated me growing up. We ended up with one in our yard, as well, and that led to one of my first propagation successes–I pulled out some of the stems with just a few roots and planted them somewhere else–and voila, they grew!

The truth is that in my older years, I find the double form tough to deal with. It is an odd color and the plant has an odd growth habit that makes it a non-starter for me in my garden. However, Kerria’s robust habit was appealing to me when I was looking for plants to put under the Douglas fir tree. I saw an inexpensive start of the single version of the plant and the flower color is calmer and the growth more graceful, so I ordered one from Hirt’s garden about five years ago.

I wouldn’t say the plant is thriving yet, but it is growing and blooming every year.

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I checked on this plant yesterday and it has more flower buds than ever coming along. The show is very short-lived, but it is doing its best to find room in that difficult flower bed.

In 2020 I will add a fertilizer spike near this plant and trim it a bit after flowering to help it attain its best shape.