Comments on: Tall, Dramatic Actaea

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:32:34 +0000

Val, I’m not sure of their pH requirements. The Cimicifuga are planted in 4 different locations in my garden, one group is under a pine, one under a maple, some at the edge of a willow, and some in a narrower garden between my house and fence. I hope that yours start growing for you, since there are fewer tall perennials for the shade, and these make a nice bridge between the shorter perennials and the taller shrubs and trees.

By: Val Mountain shade

Val Mountain shade — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:10:09 +0000

NS if it isn’t the shade, what about soil ph. I have used lime in a lot of my garden and I think you said they like pine trees so maybe I am giving them the wrong food. Perhaps I should use my rhododendron fertilizer instead. Something is retarding their growth and I have two of these plants in two different locations with neither growing over a foot or producing flowers. Other than that, they look healthy.

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:26:05 +0000

Val, most of my Cimicifuga grow in fairly shady areas, with the shadiest getting maybe an hour of direct light, and they all put up buds. The Cimicifuga simplex grow about 3 to 4 feet tall, and the Cimicifuga racemosa and C. ramosa grow 5 to 6 feet tall. The flower stalks of some of them were over my 6 foot fence. The C. simplex blooms too late here, and the buds always get cut by frost before they can open. The others bloom earlier in September here, but the end of their bloom time gets cut short by frost. With your longer growing season, I would think you would see blooming by October too, and you should be able to see their tall flower stalks forming before that. Do they get some direct light?

By: Val Mountain shade

Val Mountain shade — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:41:31 +0000

I have two Cimicfuga racemosa (Black Cohosh) They are supposed to grow to 4′ and produce white flowers in late summer. So far they have only grown to 1′ and 2′ and havn’t produced any flowers. I have pretty heavy shade and am wondering if that is the problem. I spend the summer in the mountains, but I don’t leave there until mid October so certainly they would have bloomed by that time. Any ideas?

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:40:37 +0000

Ellen, the dark leaves of Hillside Black Beauty really stand out. I debated about getting some for a garden area with purple foliage. Now you have me intrigued with your description of the flower scent. Some of the Actaea bloom too late for my zone, which is why I like the earlier blooming A. racemosa. I might try a plant to see it’s bloom time. The foliage of Actaea is much nicer than Aruncus, which is my other standby for a tall shade perennial.

By: Ellen Sousa

Ellen Sousa — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:35:25 +0000

I love this plant too! I have the cultivar “Hillside Black Beauty” and it wows me right through the season. It blooms here in late August (zone 5) and the flowers smell like grape popsicles. Pollinators go crazy for it. The dark foliage looks good with everything and I love the striking seed heads later in the season too. An all around great garden plant for cold climates. Here I have it in full sun where it is doing fine. I also have the native species Actaea racemosa which blooms quite a bit earlier in the season. Thanks for sharing! I’m enjoying your blog.

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:27:53 +0000

Jan, how lucky to have one volunteer in your garden, and then to be blooming. I could see the leaves hiding out when tiny in an astilbe pot, since there is a bit of a resemblance in the foliage. It is native to the Eastern United States, so perhaps the birds were spreading an appreciated plant for a change. Enjoy your fall garden.

By: Jan (ThanksFor2Day)

Jan (ThanksFor2Day) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:42:08 +0000

Hi NS, I only recently discovered bugbane, when I found one growing in one of my gardens in the back yard, mixed in with some of my astilbe. I didn’t plant it, intentionally…so either it was mislabeled, or was just a tiny sprout in an astilbe plant pot, or, maybe a bird brought it by? Either way, I was quite impressed with it, and am still enjoying it as it continues to open each of its buds. I don’t remember ever seeing or hearing of it prior to this…but suddenly I’ve been seeing it everywhere! I didn’t realize the name had been changed until Monica, the Garden Fairy, informed me. How can people keep up with these changes, unless they are botanists? Anyway, as usual, your post is very informative with great photography!

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:25:32 +0000

Shady Gardener, these are the last perennials to open their flowers in my garden. Perhaps they might bloom a little earlier in some zones that get an earlier start in the year, with a longer growing season, but they are a last hurrah for the gardening season. My A. simplex grows a little towards the light, but the A. racemosa doesn’t. I’ve been pleased that the plants are upright in some very shady conditions (although some of the flower tops have a rakish curve). I have some plants that get an hour of direct light and some 2 hours of sun, and they have bloomed well.

I like the names to remain the same, too. It makes it easier to know exactly what you are getting.

By: Shady Gardener

Shady Gardener — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:43:56 +0000

It’s too confusing to have names change, I think! However I have Actaea racemosa in my backyard for the first time. It’s trying to bloom right now… do they always bloom so late in the season? Mine probably gets more shade than it likes. It’s “leaning forward.” We’ll watch it and see what happens next year. What an interesting and informative post. You have a nice array of these beautiful plants! :-)