Cimicifuga Racemosa Atropurpurea
Cimicifuga Racemosa Atropurpurea new name Actaea
Always keen to share with you, plants that perform particularly well in our garden in North East Scotland.
This one is a true gem, (Cimicifuga Racemosa Atropurpurea,) Now 
known as (Actaea) Here in Aberdeen, Cimisifuga is a late summer/ autumn flowering Perennial.
Stunning deep red/black foliage, with white flower spikes towering six to eight feet tall. The butterflies just love this fully hardy plant which is also scented.
In our garden it grows in excess of seven feet, In spite of its height,don’t think that you have to place this beauty at the back of the border. The beautiful foliage only grows to about seventy centimetres tall with the airy flower spikes towering above, allowing you to see through the stems.
Our Cimicifuga had a good spot right at the front of the main border, where it looked outstanding, the major re jigging of the back garden ended up with the Cimisifuga being relocated to the round garden, where it is now looking very pleased with itself.
Hardiness – Fully hardy
Common name – Bugbane
Height – 6/7ft
Position – Partial shade
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Most gardeners enjoy reading books on the subject, I can understand why. Remembering back when I first got interested on what was to become a lifetime hobby and passion, I couldn’t get enough information on the topic. Nowadays I am more than content with keeping up to date with what’s going on with my fellow garden bloggers.
I still read a lot of books, no high falutin stuff, just novels which I totally lose myself in. Well when I say books, I actually read them on the kindle now. My eyesight isn’t quite so good these days and the ability to change the font size on the kindle is a godsend, thanks for the gift, Audra, Martin and my grandson Curtis. What do I like, well, plenty Dean Koontz, James Herbert and Stephen King, I know! very other worldly stuff, but hey I have never had pretences of being an intelectual. My latest 
author which I cant get enough of at the moment is Peter James, absolutely spellbinding. For the past six or seven years he has been writing a series of books revolving around the detective work of Roy Grace, a fictitious character of course. His first novel in this series (Dead Simple) was published in 2005. review So far there has been seven books published in this series, with another two ready in the pipeline for publishing this year. The books actually hold their own as stand alone reads, however a better understanding of the characters is much more satisfying if you work your way through them in order from book one. Detective superintendent Roy Grace based in Brighton is a likeable character who was left all but destroyed when his wife disappeared eight years ago, is she still alive, is she all that she seemed? Look out for this fantastic novels being turned into a television series. For the running sequence and much more, check this link
© 2012 – 2015, Alistair. All rights reserved.
Hi Alistair, yes that Cimicifuga is so beautiful, towering high and mighty. And that butterfly on it is so huge! I noticed also a fern at the lower left section, it looks like our native one here in the tropics. I can’t imagine it thrives favorably in temperate climates also.
Andrea, we have many Ferns but not so good with the names of them, I doubt very much if it is the same as your native one,its brrrrr here today.
Hi Alastair, I also love those authors you mentioned. very impressive plant, i think tall plants can look great in the front or middle, but of course it depends on the whole picture. what a huge and spectacular butterfly.
Catmint I don’t know why the red admiral looks so big on my picture, it is a beauty though.
Alistair you have one of my favorite plants…my butterflies love it as much as the beauty in your first picture…I also love mysteries and Steven King and others for suspense. I have heard of this author and will check out this series…I would love another BBC mystery series that I can watch here…we have so few good ones from BBC available here anymore…
Donna, Cimicifuga is a great plant and it doesn’t seem to mind being moved around pillar to post. We get plenty of the American tv series. One which I particularly liked was (Dexter) ITV showed series one and two and then much to my annoyance didn’t follow through, I think it is at series five now.
Dexter is on a pay channel I don’t get but it is good..hoping we can see it on regular cable TV
Yes Donna, they decided to move it over to one of the pay channels over here.
I am now really wondering about two of my favorite bloggers. Isn’t Dexter about a serial killer? I just crossed Aberdeen off my travel plans, and I am reconsidering my sadness that a certain Donna won’t be coming the the fling :-). I really thought I knew you two.
Carolyn, naw, forget all about the killing stuff, deep down Dexter has a heart of gold. Don’t be sad, I am sure that in time you will forgive Donna for such minor failings. B-a-g says he is looking for more revelations from me. I decided to take the opportunity to pry a little more telling him? that I am surrounded with women bloggers, suggesting a bit of male company would be fine, and was he indeed of the male gender. Naw, didn’t give anything away. I do hope he doesn’t fall out with me I would be totally gutted.
Someone suggested this plant for my garden, and now that I see your pictures, I am sold! I don’t have a lot of partial shade in my garden, but this plant is stunning, and I can imagine how it would brighten up a shady area. Thanks for all the info.
Glad you like it Holley.
Never seen it down south. Maybe they renamed it Actaea because they got fed up with calling it C..R..A.. Whatever it’s called, it looks magical in the second photo.
So you’re a bit of a sleuth, Alistair – looking forward to more revelations next week …
Ah, my friend b-a-g, more revelations! I think I am an open book, have a job keeping my trap shut at times. Let me tell you how my life has been surrounded by women, (but your a guy, aren’t you?) forgetting my teens when they couldn’t keep their hands off me. From the age of six I was brought up by my mum, and had a younger sister, (but your a guy aren’t you?). I got married at the age of twenty one and of course had two lovely daughters, even the cats a she, (but your a guy aren’t you?). I am well outnumbered by lovely women in the blogosphere and as much as I enjoy it, it can be a little intimidating, (but, your a guy, arent you?) I do of course have two amazing grandsons and an older brother.
Alistair – I’m just a fellow gardener !
b-a-g, you little devil, I will catch you out.
This is one of my favorite late blooming plants. I have it planted with some fall blooming Japanese anemones and they look so well together. It grows well in one of my shady garden beds. It does self seed very easily and I had new plants coming up last summer. This may be a plant I will have to watch that it does not become invasive. LOL!
Lona, I think the Cimicifuga would indeed look good along with the Anemones.
Hi Alistair… I have been concerned with a huge cimicifuga that I’ve had in the the same spot for over 25 years. After some tree removal, it will be in pretty much full sun along with a very large old patch of variegated solomon’s seal. I really hate to mess around with either one so will probably leave them in order to see how they handle all the sun. I suppose extra water could help as well. Thanks for you comment on my post… Larry
Yes Larry. many plants recommended for shady spots do well enough in full sun given how cool our Summers can be. I am not so sure, with the intense heat which you can get.
One of my favourite plants, Alistair and it’s right at the front of the border. We get a better view of the butterflies that way. In fact I think it would look good repeated throughtthe garden.
Your right Janet, even if we don’t have room for great swathes of plants, repeating is the next best option.
WOW!!! Gotta get my mitts on one of those beauties!!!!
Hi Alistair – it is particularly annoying the way this plant has changed its name. I went to Wisley and found it, sketched it, thought I had learnt it and am now unsure – rather like getting a person’s name wrong and mis-remembering it every time.
Catharine, renaming of the plants also gets up my goat, Datura that’s another one, I think it is no Brugmansia.
Thanks for these photos — they always remind me of when I visited Scotland. I remember being amazed by the lushness and rain forest feel of the landscape.
Kevin, my sister married a guy from Austin and he like you was amazed at the lushness of the landscape.
This looks like one for my wish list! What a beauty!
It is a beautiful and unusual plant, I love the flower spikes and I wish I could smell them too! Funnily, I have not taken to my kindle. The best thing about it is no books lying all over the house waiting to be dusted. But my first iteration of it is not particularly bright, and reflects light too. Maybe I need something more expensive 🙂
Masha I think my main pleasure with the kindle is the ability to increase the font size.
Great plant portrait Alistair, and confirms that this really is a plant I would love to grow in my own garden. There is something so uplifting about plants with tall spires of flowers. I too am a huge Kindle fan now, I love being able to cart a huge number of books about in such a small device.
It is a great plant Janet, maybe save it for your new garden.
I just saw Carolyn’s reply…I love serial killer shows…the dark side of Donna…mysteries are my fave with a special love of the serial killers…Alistair I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the versatile blogger award…you deserve it for your wonderful blog and just for putting up with all the women bloggers you are surrounded by…
http://gardenseyeview.com/2012/01/30/true-blue-loyal-blooms/
Yes Donna, I fear Carolyn will abandon us for the more conventional gardener. Thank you, it is very kind of you to nominate me.
Are you kidding me? With all the added fun we have on this site, I could never leave. How would I have found out Donald Trump’s Scottish adventures and that you and Donna have a serial killer fetish and that B-a-g is a master of evasion? Life isn’t just about plants after all.
Carolyn, now were talking, what can I get up to next.
It’s a lovely looking plant Alistair, but the second shot is dreamy! Dreaming of summer already!
M & G thanks, I was fond of that shot myself.
Alistair what a great..HARDY plant, love the conical like blooms! I’m adding this one to my list, thanks for all the great info. Also, as a way to show my appreciation for your wonderful blog I would like to nominate it for the – Versatile blogger award, this is my first and I am happy to pass on the award to some of my fave blogs. If you are interested please pop by my latest post for more details.. Cheers Julia. PS, Oh how I love Dexter!!
Thanks Julia, appreciate the offer but I am not feeling up to all that goes with it.
Alistair I feel your pain…..errrr……loneliness…….something like that. I guess the men are outnumbered on gardening blogs, but that just makes us serial gardeners more famous lol.
Yes Greggo, makes us stand out like a sore thumb, good fun though and I love them all.
Just stumbled across your blog. Having a really enjoyable read. I’ve been wondering about buying a Cimicifuga for quite a while now, as it keeps appearing in one of the gardening catalogues. After reading your post I’ve decided to buy one, and I’ll be planting it near the front of the border as you suggest. Looking forward to dropping by more often (even though I don’t like ‘Dexter’)
Glad you paid a visit Crystal, you don’t like Dexter?
No, I’m a ‘Monk’ fan. Now that’s even weirder.
Hi Crystal, Monk! now I will have to do some research.
Love tall spikes, utterly useless here of course, but then agin behind a wall or a fortress, that plant would shine. Scented?
If you’re feeling overrun with female bloggers, perhaps we need a ‘wear a false moystache when you blog day’ just to balance things out?
I’m still reeling that kininvie is male.
Enjoy the award, you deserve it.
Hi quine, did a nae say that they are scented, aye a strong smell jist like honey.