Zone: 3 to 8
Soil: Sand to loam
Light: part sun to shade
Bloom colour: White
Bloom period: A. racemosa blooms in mid-summer. Baneberries bloom in late spring.
Height: 4 to 6 feet
Moisture: medium
Attracts: Bees, butterflies and birds
Notes: Formerly known as Cimicifuga racemosa, Black cohosh is a great specimen plant for the shade garden and one of the most majestic. It is native to Ontario, New England, the mid-Atlantic states and the mid-west, but it has become quite rare in parts of its northern range. In southern Ontario, it would grow in rich soils in Carolinian forests. Due to habitat destruction, there are less than 20 recorded wild populations remaining. It blooms for about four weeks in the middle of summer, which is unusual for a shade plant. The height quoted is a bit misleading because the foliage is only about 3 feet high and of similar width. The flower stalks, including the white wands of flowers, double the height of the plant. The racemes are about a foot long. It takes several years for this plant to flower, but the foliage on its own is quite elegant. This plant could easily be placed in a wild or a manicured garden.
The plant needs a well-drained soil and prefers a rich soil that can retain moisture and nutrients. It can be grown in a sandy loam soil as long as extra water is provided during a drought. In its natural setting, this plant grows happily under the light shade of a tree.
The plant is a host for caterpillars of the Spring Azure and the flowers provide nectar and pollen for bumblebees and hoverflies.
If you have good soil and a shady garden, then this plant would be wonderful addition. It is a stand-out plant with its architectural foliage and its tall flowers. It is rather rare to find this plant in a garden because it is expensive to buy. In any case, avoid buying Actaea from regular nurseries as they usually sell A. simplex, which comes from Asia. A native plant nursery will sell the native species. The specimens are smaller and younger, but also much cheaper if you have the patience to wait a few years.
The plant grows well on the north side of a fence or under trees, but, designing a bed with these plants involves a little thought. Is this a plant that is 6 ft high or 3 ft high? In this case, put these plants in their own bed or combine them with smaller plants so that the foliage is still visible. Woodland geraniums would work well for this.
This plant, sometimes called bugbane, is related to the baneberries, but there are some differences. Baneberries have less stature. They are spring flowering plants and instead of seeds, they produce distinctive berries that are really toxic.
The most widespread species is red baneberry, Actaea rubra. It is also my personal favourite. It grows to about 3 feet high with similar foliage to Black Cohosh.It is typically found in mesophytic forest where the soil is rich and moist, but well drained. It is fairly forgiving of garden conditions. Dappled light and regular watering are best for this plant. It has a long season of interest starting with fairly dense foliage. Short bulbous flowerheads appear in late spring and then develop into berry clusters that are twice the size during the summer. The flowers of both red and white baneberry do not produce nectar and attract a low number of pollinators. In most plants, we tend to focus our interest on the flowers; however it is really the bright red berries which make this plant stand out from the crowd. The berries are toxic to mammals but edible to birds. It takes two winter seasons for the seed to germinate. If you leave the remaining berries to fall off at the end of the season, they will eventually rot and produce daughter plants. The foliage of the plant is also toxic so it is not going to get eaten by rabbits.
Another related species is Actaea pachypoda which is called doll's eyes. It is quite similar to red baneberry except that it produces white berries with a distinctive black dot. It is less common in the wild and in the garden, it prefers shade and moisture in order to look its best. If you are starting with your first baneberry, then choose red. If that works for you, then move onto white, and if you want to go all out Canadian, you can do a red-white-red thing. |
