notes and musings from a perennial gardener
Old-fashioned Avens, or Geum as it’s often called now, is a lovely spring and early summer perennial that’s airy and well-behaved. For consistency I’ll call it Geum.
This flower is uncommon in the States but better known in Europe. It favors cooler summer conditions than is typical in much of the US. Fortunately in recent years Geums are becoming more available on this side of the pond.
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.
These beauties never fail to lift your spirits because they bloom in late winter and earliest spring, when everything else is blah and gray. While heavy snows can knock them flat, most still manage to rouse themselves and thrust their fat buds determinedly into the frigid air. As soon as things begin to thaw, the flowers open, sometimes with snow still on the ground.