ACTAEA MATSUMURAE ‘ELSTEAD VARIETY'
Beth's friend and mentor, the great plantsman Graham Stuart Thomas, called this Japanese bugbane a real treasure and I agree. Arching spikes of white bottlebrush flowers are held on slender, purplish stems above a mound of green leaves, adding an elegant presence to the border late in the season, sometimes until early November. Flowers are followed by attractive lime-green seedheads. We grow it in dappled shade with hostas, Solomon's seal and ferns. AGM*.
Height and spread 1.2m × 60cm.
Origin Garden (species Japan, Mongolia and eastern Russia).
Conditions Soil that‘s not too dry; best in partial or dappled shade.
Hardiness RHS H7, USDA 4a-9b†.
Season of interest September – November.
is head gardener at Beth Chatto's Plants and Gardens in
