Asarums are much more tolerant of dry conditions than their appearance might indicate. When newly transplanted it is better to keep them on the dry side to allow new roots to form. If too wet at this stage they can easily rot off. Although some suppliers will offer you dryish rhizomes, these are a waste of time and money. The moment the stems started to dry out, they died. Bare rhizomes that have been packed in moss will survive if they have not been stored for too long.

The genus has two centres of distribution. The North American species are fairly well known, and there are now large numbers of named selections being introduced. The Asian species are currently coming into cultivation. There are a large number of little known Chinese species appearing in the West, and there are a lot of species and selected forms from Japan, where they have long been cultivated and cherished by fanciers.