Solomon's Seal

With mid-green foliage that emerges in spring like playful green wands waving in the breeze, the architectural ribbed foliage of Solomon's seal is as elegant as the suspended white flowers with emerald green tips that follow. Solomon's seal is the quintessential shade loving plant for beneath tree canopies, shaded front of border spots or in woodland planting schemes. It is said that the plant is named for the scars left on the plant after leaf drop resembling the sixth seal of King Solomon. It performs best with morning or dappled sunlight, but is adaptable to many situations, including dry shade and root competition. Generously spreading through rhizomes, allow space for this charming herbaceous perennial to naturalise in the garden where it will form an excellent groundcover, adding yellow hues in Autumn as foliage retreats. Enjoy the beautiful bell shaped, lightly fragrant flowers of Solomon's seal in the garden and vase, followed by bluish-black berries loved by wildlife. Also popular as a medicinal herb throughout Asia, Europe and North America to treat lung disorders, swelling (inflammation) and skin conditions such as bruises, boils, and hemorrhoids. Solomon's seal root can also be macerated as an extract, blended into herbal formulations, or brewed as tea, with the starchy rhizomes historically consumed by indigenous cultures of North America as a potato-like food to make breads and soups.