A shade-loving, woodland garden perennial with branched, upright stems bearing pale green, heart-shaped leaves sometimes mottled and glossy, that resemble the foliage of cyclamen. Saruma (an anagram of Asarum – the true ‘wild ginger’) is softly-hairy, giving it a silvery appearance, especially in spring. The foliage emerges a rather curious purple-tinged olive green but makes the perfect foil for the fragrant, yellow, three-petalled flowers. These are produced at the branch tips intermittently from spring to summer and are distantly related to magnolias. If you don’t have a woodland, why not try underplanting shrubs and roses with Saruma henryi as part of a cottage or informal garden?

A shade-loving, woodland garden perennial with branched, upright stems bearing pale green, heart-shaped leaves sometimes mottled and glossy, that resemble the foliage of cyclamen. Saruma (an anagram of Asarum – the true ‘wild ginger’) is softly-hairy, giving it a silvery appearance, especially in spring. The foliage emerges a rather curious purple-tinged olive green but makes the perfect foil for the fragrant, yellow, three-petalled flowers. These are produced at the branch tips intermittently from spring to summer and are distantly related to magnolias. If you don’t have a woodland, why not try underplanting shrubs and roses with Saruma henryi as part of a cottage or informal garden?