One I didn’t know
Over the Christmas holiday I took a walk through Shoreline park in Port Moody, BC. There I discovered an active planting site with native plants set out in pots but not yet planted. Since most of the plants had tags on them this gave me a chance to test my plant identification skills.
And I aced the test, except for one plant. I guessed correctly that it was wild ginger but I had no idea that it was Asarum caudatum (Western Wild Ginger). So I took one plant tag home and did some digging online.
Why plant it?
I had only one question: why would the City of Port Moody plant Western Wild Ginger in the park close to a trail? It was obviously a groundcover plant so it was planted closest to the trail. But what about the rest of it? Well, let’s see.
Asarum caudatum is a herbaceous perennial which means it works the soil nicely. It’s a shade plant which makes sense; it’s planted in the woods because it’s an understory plant. It grows from rhizomes and spreads slowly. I believe it’s the rhizome that smells like ginger. The plant isn’t invasive.
The leaves are round and heart-shaped; and the plant blooms in spring. I don’t recall seeing flowers on wild gingers so I will go back in spring to see them. Allegedly the flowers are small and hidden in the foliage. We’ll see about that.
Asarum caudatum is slug and deer resistant which is another good reason to plant it in a woodland park. It’s also more drought tolerant than other species. That might be another huge reason why the city would plant it, now that our summers are getting hotter.
A great choice
My original plan at Christmas time was to have a nice walk to clear my head and think about the new year ahead. I didn’t expect to learn a new plant: Asarum caudatum or Western Wild Ginger. It’s a great choice for the trail side at Shoreline park.
