Kerria Japonica - Japanese Yellow Rose or Jew's Mantle or also known as the Easter Rose because it seems to be in bloom every year at Easter time, from mid to late spring, wearing yellow flowers that resemble buttercups. In early spring, before the leaves emerge, the numerous yellow flowers create a colorful show, but flowers may also appear sporadically through the summer months. Each flower may last for two to three weeks.
Kerria is grown for its foliage and flowers and is suitable for a shrub border or an open position in a woodland garden. Its branches bend in every directions, so the shrub rarely exceeds 2 meters high. To keep it in good shape, prune it after flowering, preferably by cutting older branches back to the base of the shrub.
Kerria is a fully hardy deciduous shrub, that loose its foliage over the winter but the leafless branches remain green, adding winter interest to the garden. It likes fertile, well-drained soil and a position in full sun or partial shade. Full sun will produces more bloom coverage, but partial shade enables the blooms to last longer. Water during times of drought.
You can propagate kerria by taking greenwood cuttings in summer or by dividing the shrub in autumn as it develops under-ground suckers.
Kerria Japonica is native to temperate areas of China and Japan and was first brought to Europe and used as a garden shrub in the 18th century. Kerria Japonica Pleniflora is the most widely cultivated variety as it is hardier and more robust than the original plant, but its pompon-like, double flowers seems to not have the same charm of the buttercup-like flowers of Kerria Japonica.
