Boehmeria ‘Glow Light’

Boehmeria nipononivea Glow Light3

One of the most difficult parts of our job is to try and predict which plants will sell well.  We’d like to think that our favorites would also be your favorites, and in some cases that’s true.  In others, like Boehmeria ‘Glow Light’, it wasn’t true.  We just took this photo of one of our favorite woodland perennials that’s unrivaled for brightening a shade garden all summer long.  It’s easy to grow and hardy from zones 6a-9b.  So, help us out…why didn’t enough folks buy this amazing plant to keep it in production?

29 thoughts on “Boehmeria ‘Glow Light’”

  1. Karen Nothacker

    It is quite attractive, but I live in Zone 5 so I would consider hostas before I would “take a chance” on this. If it flowered blue, I would frankly be all over it, trying various spots until I found a compatible spot for it.

  2. Because there were no blooms. I have always found non-blooming plants much harder to sell that those with blooms.

  3. Could the reason be as superficial as the name is confusing to pronounce?
    Is Boehmeria tasty to that scourge of my shade gardens, deer?

  4. I’d sure as heck grow it! I’m all about using foliage since it goes the distance compared with fleeting flowers. And to those that say it looks like a coleus, I’m all for not having to buy and plant another coleus each year. I have B. plantanifolia which is a good leaf shape to play off others. So when can it be purchased?

      1. I just bought it from Andy at Sam Browns to liven up a dark uninteresting area which is viewed from a bridge entering the property. I was looking for an unfussy plant as it is a natural area..I’m thrilled..and will probably buy 2 more..will send a picture.

  5. I love Boehmeria. I have three that I’ve bought from PDN before, one of which has proved to be quite large and good at seeding itself in, which has not endeared it to me. But I would be very interested in trying ‘Glow Light’ for a shady spot, if the deer will leave it alone. For the most part, they have not eaten my other Boerhmeria so I would be hopeful the same would be true with this one.

  6. Carolyn Neiman

    The foliage is not interesting to me — and resembles a weed that grows freely here. I do like the color however and if it grows not only in shade, but in DRY shade, I would reconsider my opinion.

  7. I’ve seen this Boehmeria at your display gardens (JLBG), and it is lovely. This photo doesn’t do it justice how it plays nicely with others. It is a large bold leaf compared to so many of the fine textured ferns and such that you usually find in shade. It does light up a shady spot.

    And for those who compared it to coleus, I would add 1) it’s perennial, and 2) neither rabbits nor deer have ever touched any of my Boehmeria, even those straight from the nursery all juicy and delicious with lots of fertilizers and tender new growth, while they devour any coleus that are not fenced or caged. I have extremely heavy deer and rabbit pressure. While my deer may have different tastes than yours, if you have deer problems, it’s worth a try.

    Tony, maybe you need to come up with a catchy name for Boehmeria? Get it planted in the public gardens beyond yours, so people get familiar with it? Duke Gardens uses a different Boehmeria, but I haven’t seen Glow Light there. Does this have any fall color, even if just a simple pale yellow? That could be another selling point vs coleus.

  8. You have two other Boehmerias that are more interesting. Like somebody said, there is a weed that looks just like this only smaller, so at the same time I think it’s soothing to look at, I have an instinct to yank it out of the ground. If the weed it looks like didn’t take over the planet, it wouldn’t be a weed because it is pretty, but once you learn to pull plants that look like this, it’s just not a desirable plant. The other two you have are on my list.

  9. It looks lovely, and another reason for zone envy for those of us in zone 4. Has anyone tried it north of zone 6?

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