Bugbane (Cimicifuga)

Actaea matsumurae White Pearl

• Position: partial shade
• Soil: moist, fertile, humus-rich soil
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: September and October
• Flower colour: creamy-white
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  A dramatic, stately perennial, this is particularly useful plant because it comes into its own late in the season, when many flowers have finished, and because it thrives in damp shade. The slender, bottlebrush-like flowers emerge in autumn from green buds and open creamy white. Try it at the back of a border, between evergreens, or to light up a shady part of the garden. Avoid removing the faded flowerheads, since they develop into pretty, lime-green seedheads.
  

  In a recent article in the The Daily Telegraph, Dr James Compton - the man responsible for their classification - thought this plant needed atmospheric moisture to thrive. Think of trillium country, he said. On the acid side of neutral, light and leaf-mouldy but able to retain moisture.
  

• Garden care: Add lots of well-rotted leaf mould or composted pine needles when planting. Support using ring stakes well before the flowers appear. Lift and divide congested colonies in late autumn or early spring.