We have Barry Yinger, a horticulturalist specializing in Asian plants, to thank for this stunning golden leafed perennial. Morning-only or all-day dappled sun will bring out the golden tones of Golden Japanese Spikenard, but even in deeper shade, this aralia still provides a pop of lime green color from spring up until freeze. White flower spikes appear in late summer, topping a mounded shrub that grows quickly to three feet tall and wide. The foliage will die down to the ground, only to reappear in the spring.