Out with the old; in with the old

I planted this Actaea pachypoda rubrocarpa in 2006 because I fell in love with its magnetic pink seeds and it did not spread like my native Actea pachypoda.

Last year I thought this plant had made a breakthrough: It was more substantial with more berry stalks than ever before when I took this picture on July 30. Usually I only get two or three berry stems. But still, the color was not as good as the plant produced in in 2011 (above) and it's always caged because the bunnies like to eat it when it first appears. 

Over the years this plant seems to have gone downhill. It's never increased much in size and rarely has been as substantial as last year. its foliage starts to look ratty by mid-August. Not long after I took the picture below on August 12th, I dug this Actea out. I had located it at the edge of a main garden path and it was no longer worth such prime real estate. 

I decided to repeat part of the planting I'd done earlier in the season along the same fence; namely I put in a pair of Cimicifugas with those lovely purple-toned leaves. The Cimicifugas look beautiful from the moment they appear in the spring.

They are just now moving from bud to bloom.

In front of them I planted two teeny tiny seedlings of Paeonia obvata var. alba. They look inconsequential but I am hoping they will perform like their sibling across the path. Those equally small seedlings have turned into a substantial shrub that flowered beautifully in only three years. Here's what I expect to see in the near future. 

I love the idea of a pair of species Peonies blooming on either side of this path in early spring. Stay tuned to see if it happens!

Comments

[Lisa at Greenbow]

They will look beautiful! That Actea did take a nose dive. Maybe you should have left it for the rabbits. ;)

[Nell]

Nomenclature changes have left me pretty confused. I thought Actaea and Cimicifuga were two names for the same genus, though I couldn't have said which one was current. Are the Asian and North American versions now assigned to different genera?

If rainfall were reliably going to be as lush as this past year, I'd be tempted to try these handsome plants again (my first efforts were 20 years ago). But the shady spots here are mostly not "rich woods" conditions, and reliable rainfall isn't the way to bet.

The dark foliage and stems setting off the handsome peonies: what a great that's going to be!

[Nell]

'great' --> 'treat'

[Kris P]

Although none of these are plants I can grow, your thoughtful edits make sense to me. I often find editing my garden difficult to face but, currently surrounded by a lot of collateral damage from our remodel, I hope I'll be braver when the heat abates and the dust clears.

[ceci]

Lovely, its fun to see these things that don't grow here, and I would love to see some rain in MY garden (our last rain was the beginning of the month, and the days in the 90s are taking a big toll on both plants and my enthusiasm!).

ceci

[Linda Brazill]

I have to admit that I have given up trying to keep up with name changes in the plant world. It took me long enough to learn the names of my plants the first time around! I was just looking at Dan Hinkley's book, The Explorer's Garden, and he lists Actea and Cimicifuga as separate groups but refers to Cimicifuga as the "once and fading genus." That book is 20 years old and it's only gotten more confusing since then.

[Linda Brazill]

suddenly it's cool here and rainy — just when i was going to have to start watering.