If you’re looking for something a little different for a shady border or to keep your azaleas company, have you considered black cohosh, also known as bugbane, baneberry, black snakeroot, or my favorite, fairy candles? For consistency I’ll call it cohosh here.
Perhaps you recognize the name ‘black cohosh’ from traditional folk medicine. One of 18 species worldwide, our native North American cohosh was once used to treat everything from snake bite to lung ailments to chirldbirth and menopause. It is still available today as an herbal supplement.
No matter what you call it, all varieties make good garden plants, especially the darker-leaved cultivars. The variety I grow, Pink Spike, is terrific. There are several others just as nice. If you’ve got a bit of moist loam in dappled or part shade, you might like to try growing this unusual beauty with its fascinating history.