Japanese Sun King Aralia In Bloom - Flower Clusters on Tips In Late Summer - September 2025

One of the shade-tolerant foliage shrubs (is it a shrub?) that continues to be a standout in our backyard is Japanese Golden Spikenard - also called Sun King Aralia.  I have a drift of them in the far back 'nook' behind the small Weeping Nootka Cypress tree.  And this year, I planted three more on the other side of the garden - in hopes of bringing some of that sweet 'garden repetition' to the backyard.  

I called them 'foliage' plants because that's what they're grown for:  bright green, almost-tropical-looking foliage that thrives in low-light conditions. 

But, for the first time...I now have discovered that they also FLOWER.  

See below for the little cluster of flowers that has appeared out the top of the canopy: 

That's new (to me).  But, wait...there's more (than flowers).  Via the Missouri Botanical Garden listing:

Sun King’ is a golden-leaved cultivar that features a large rounded clump of golden yellow compound leaves which is topped in summer by 2’ tall spikes of tiny white flowers. Deep reddish-purple to purplish-black inedible berries ripen in fall. Birds love the berries. Foliage retains good yellow color throughout summer unless grown in too much shade. This cultivar was introduced into the U.S. by Barry Yinger who reportedly found it in a department store nursery in Japan.

(Emphasis, mine.). 

Berries?!?  Well...that's a nice touch.