Cast Iron Plant
Aspidistra elatior
Lives up to its name: dark, glossy, upright leaves that thrive in the deepest shade, dry soil, poor soil and neglect, and deer leave it alone. An evergreen stand-in for hosta; just keep it out of direct sun, which burns the leaves.
- Mature size
- 2 × 2 ft
- 0.6 × 0.6 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–11b
- USDA
- Sun
- Part shade to full shade
- Water
- Dry to medium
Cast Iron Plant at its mature size
A mature Cast Iron Plant grows 1 to 3 feet tall and just as wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, UF/IFAS Extension.
Through the year
What Cast Iron Plant looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Year-round
Glossy dark green upright lance-shaped leaves.
Growing Cast Iron Plant
- Grows well in
- The Southeast and the Plains and Mountain West.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Groundcover, shade garden, and drought tolerant
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Japan
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Cast Iron Plant, that’s about 2 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Cast Iron Plant in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.