Hardy ginger

* Common name: Hardy ginger

* Botanical name: Asarum canadense

* What it is: Also known as wild ginger or Canada ginger, this plant is a spreading, low-growing, cold-hardy, leafy perennial that makes a dense groundcover in shady to partly shaded settings. It gets small purplish flowers in spring that are mostly hidden by the leaves. The leaves are heart-shaped and medium green in color before dying back for the season in fall.

   Hardy ginger is unrelated to the tropical plant whose roots are used in cooking, although its roots have a ginger scent.

* Size: Grows eight to 10 inches tall and spreads by creeping rhizomes. Plant 18 inches apart to create a new groundcover planting.

* Where to use: Offers a good solution for damp, shady areas where you want to head off weeds and cover the ground with very little long-term care. Examples include wooded stream banks, damp shade gardens, and the front of north-facing house-foundation or fence beds.

* Care: Rake off dead foliage and accumulated, fallen tree leaves at winter’s end to clear the way for new spring growth.

   Water if plants are wilting during a hot, dry spell in summer. No fertilizer needed.

   Use a shovel to dig and transplant (or give away) any creepers that are extending beyond where you want any time during the growing season.

* Great partner: Use underneath damp-preferring shrubs, such as winterberry holly, inkberry holly, smooth hydrangea, summersweet, or willows. Or plant as a mass under a colony of trees.