Aralia elata Silver Umbrella

Aralia elata Silver Umbrella is undoubtedly one of the largest and most beautiful varieties of variegated Japanese Angelica tree. This rare bush, also known as Variegated Japanese Aralia, has a generous silhouette and perfect design that lends the garden a highly exotic and very Japanese charm. It forms a large umbrella with multiple trunks, whose branches bear large, deeply cut leaves with white-silver margins on a grey-green background. This absolute wonder is also covered in late summer with large, creamy-white, fluffy and fragrant umbels, followed by shiny blue-black fruits. With time, and with elegance, it asserts its presence, earning a celebrated place in the garden, in ordinary soil, in shade or sun.

Japanese angelica belongs to the Araliaceae family. It is native to Japan and northeastern Asia. It is a bushy plant that can reach 4 to 5 m (13 to 16 ft) in height, and its spread will exceed 5 m (16 ft ) once mature. The 'Silver Umbrella' variety is mainly distinguished by slightly less developed foliage, but beautifully edged with silver-white. Often grafted onto more hardy green varieties, young plants grow on a single trunk, with leaves only at the top, but as they age, more and more lateral branches appear. The bark is gray, in small prickly plates. These sharp spines can also be found on the branches. The leaves are deciduous. They can sometimes reach 50 cm (20 in) in length, and they are divided into numerous narrow and pointed leaflets that have small spines on the petiole. The flowers appear in late summer and last for several weeks. They are formed of tiny cream-white specks grouped together in a light cloud that evokes a fragrant mist of bees buzzing above the foliage. They are actually grouped in a flexible panicle 20 to 40 cm (8 to 16 in) long. Small blackish fruits then appear, highly sought after by birds. Aralia elata has a tendency to multiply by suckering and forms clumps, which is why it is called the walking tree.

It is a very beautiful bush that is not afraid of the cold or the shade and will adapt to most light and moist soils. Its highly ornamental foliage deserves to be protected from strong winds to preserve all its beauty. Once established, it is stunning when planted alone on a lawn or grouped together in a cluster. It is also interesting combined with trees and shrubs that, like itself, appreciate moist to wet soils - such as alder buckthorn, rosemary-leaved willow, and guelder rose. In a more exotic setting, choose to associate it with other beautiful Asian plants such as the caramel tree, Japanese maple, fatsia, or Arisaema, for example. It creates a stunning spectacle in September; its sparkling mass of snow-white and silver, perhaps reflected on the surface of a pond, can excite the emotions or invite meditation, depending on your mood. The only precaution to take, considering its sharp spines, is with young children, who should not approach it.

Aralia elata is also a medicinal plant. Its berries and bark contain a stimulating principle used in medicine. The bark is used in herbal medicine.