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Friday 2 May 2008

White Pearl and a Brunette ?

Catchy title eh ? .. well it sort of tweaks interest doesn't it ? .. I am a fan of "bugbane" simple garden name .. I think they were actually reclassified in tough Latin category. I love their dramatic grandeur in size and those amazing white spikes of their flowers. Some of the options are plants with very dark foliage that show up well. Brunette (Actaea simplex 'Brunette') is almost there with purple brown foliage and those bottle brush fragrant white flowers. White Pearl (Actaea matsumurae 'White Pearl') is a little less dramatic but still a beautiful plant .. and apparently it springs forth early than Brunette by this photo .. I'm getting a little nervous about Brunette now .. hope 'she" pops her head out soon !

6 comments:

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Hey Joy, cool plant great name. I think that is another one our Texas heat kills.

Anonymous said...

I like the foliage of Actaea and the height, since there aren't as many of the taller plants for shade. My 'White Pearl' bloomed too late to survive the frost last year. Do you find your plant blooms for long before it is taken by the frost?

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Northern Shade I have 3 types of bugbane spaced out by the back fence to our garden. They all progress in different time frames .. and I have to say they do bloom for some time before we have a hard frost .. our Autumns have been irratic with that timing. I use Meadow Rue as another tall beauty .. love those tiny gorgeous lavender flowers ! Do you have them too ?

Hey Debbie .. I think you are right .. your heat would be too hard on these as well.. another one on the hit list ? LOL

WiseAcre said...

Ok now I'm confused but that's no great feat.

Actaea - that rang a bell since I like the wildflower 'Doll's Eyes' - Actaea pachypoda (white) and Actaea ruba (red). But they are called by the common name Baneberry. ( 2 feet)

The 'Bugbane' I know is another wildflower - Cimicifuga racemosa. Another common name for it is Black Cohosh (3 -8 feet)

So what is it? Bugberry, Banebug, bangbang or what?

Best thing for me to do is go out and identify something I'm sure about. Yep that's a rock. Now lets see if I can out smart it.

WiseAcre said...

DOH!

I checked after leaving and see that there was a:

Reclassification of Actaea to include Cimicifuga.

Time to get an updated wildflower field guide. But right now I have to pry my foot out of my mouth so I can drive to pick up that rock.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Wiseacre .. you don't know how close you came to being called "wisea--" !! hahaha ..
I noticed the reclassification last year .. how it came about is anyone's guess .. the hard core horties have some method to their madness ?
Hope the foot recovers .. or would that be the mouth ? LOL