Solomon's seal

The shady bed where astilbes went to die is now filled with resilient hostas, a variety of sturdy ferns and rhizomatous Solomon’s seal.

Of equally impressive stature, at up to 7 feet tall, is giant Solomon’s seal, which has arching stems that hold little white, bell-like flowers in the spring and blue fruit in the fall.

It’s no surprise that Solomon’s seal is in the asparagus family, as its shoots taste somewhat similar to that spring standard.

Then he thought again, offering another suggestion: Try planting it with ostrich fern and giant Solomon’s seal, which hail from the same kind of spots.

The latter course is especially effective in spring-themed beds, where bulbs pop up between such things as hellebores, epimediums, creeping phlox, foam flowers, Virginia bluebells, Solomon’s seal and ferns.