Description
Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)
Updated 25 September 2023
$7.00
As you can surmise from the name, this species has a more southerly distribution, primarily from Virginia to Indiana south to Alabama and Georgia. The most northern occurrence is in west-central Pennsylvania, so not too far away from us, and we’ve been growing the plant successfully in our gardens for many, many year. Because it has lax stems that weave their way through surrounding vegetation for support we mostly forget about it until it bursts into bloom in September right about the same time as white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata) – the showy purplish-blue flowers combine beautifully with those of the aster. Once it stops flowering we also tend to forget about the plant and so often forget to collect seed. And, indeed, we haven’t collected seeds the last few years. Writing this in September 2023, I’m determined to remember this year – perhaps we’ll have young seedlings available for sale Summer of ’24.
The more northern species of monkshood in eastern North America is New York Monkshood (A. noveboracense). The only places the species occurs in New York are sites in the Catskill Mountains, however it is listed as a federally endangered species and we are not allowed to propagate it and sell it. Even if we were allowed to sell the species, it is restricted to cool, shady sites and is difficult to grow in the garden. “Noveboracense” is latin for “New York” – perhaps a better common name for the species is Northern Blue Monkshood because the species does also occur at a few locations in Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Out of stock
Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)
Updated 25 September 2023