Description
Chinese lantern is a perennial up to a metre tall with a creeping rhizome. In the wild in Poland it is found in the Tatra Mountains. Its white flowers are inconspicuous and have no decorative value in themselves, but after flowering they are replaced by red berries completely enclosed in a red-orange husk – the "lantern". This fruit is the plant's main ornamental feature.
Thanks to its decorative orange-red fruits, the plant is excellent for dried bouquets. If you want to dry Chinese lanterns, cut them as soon as the fruits turn red.
Requirements
Chinese lantern has no special requirements and grows in any conditions and any soil. It easily spreads over a large area thanks to the runners it produces in abundance. Do not let it spread too much, or it can become hard to get rid of.
Propagation
The simplest methods are dividing an adult plant or sowing seeds. Chinese lantern flowers in May and June, but the characteristic fruits appear in September. It is frost-hardy.