Gardening Information about Bugbane and Corydalis
• Bugbane (Cimicifuga spp.): Bugbane works best as a shade plant with good height and a late blooming season. It produces mostly spiked white flowers in the summer and early fall. Only issue with bugbane is the unpleasant scent the blooms give off. “Brunette’ and ‘Hillside Black Beauty’ are two of the newer varieties that have white or purple blooms on them. They grow about 2 to 4 feet in height and offer a great contrast in color and beauty to a shade garden.
Growing Bugbane: Most bugbanes that available are hardy in Zones 4-8 and their highest height can vary from species to species. Some can reach heights of 3 feet or even higher at times, to about 7 feet. If you plant bugbane around the edges of your shade garden you can create a more intimate setting within your garden and some privacy as well.
• Corydalis (Corydalis lutea-C. elata): Adding Corydalis to your shade garden you will be adding a ferny foliage plant with clusters of yellow flowers from spring to even late fall. It has the ability to self seed back into the garden, but can become a pest plant at times. The Corydalis ochroleuca is a white-flowering plant and can self seed as well and may even run out other plants and flowers from your shade garden.
Growing Corydalis: This plant and flowering variety grows well in pavers and stepping stones. It can even be grown in the cracks within stone walls and other stone structures. If you grow a variety of different ones you can see which variety of Corydalis works best within your own garden. These flowering plants need well-drained soil and can tolerate, to some degree of dry conditions.
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