I'm a real sucker for 'finding' a wildlife-friendly plant that I haven't encountered before. And this week's 'discovery' was courtesy of that most magnificent of gardens - the RHS's Wisley, in Surrey.

The plant was just a single clump in the little walled garden, and the Honeybees were overcome with excitement.

Here it is for those that like the game of identifying the plant before I give its name away.

As you can see, it forms quite a dense clump of rather large, maple-like leaves, with a candelabra of strong, upright flower stems, topped with whit bottlebrush heads of fluffy stamens.

This is the herbaceous perennial Actaea japonica, the Japanese Bugbane. You may be familiar with its relative, Actaea simplex, which is more widely available and is a whizz for autumn butterflies.

All the Bugbanes need a rich and preferably moist soil, and a rather shady position. My soil is too dry for Actaea simplex, which also gets nibbled by the snails and slugs when the leaves are young, so I'm guessing I'd struggle with this one too. All are also poisonous.

But if you have rather damp conditions in a 'woodland garden' or area that is shaded for some of the day, and want to see your Honeybees in a frenzy, then why not seek this out?

 

  • I grow Actaea simplex although it does struggle in my garden because of the dryness. I shall look out for Actaea japonica, as my trees and shrubs grow I am finding I have a lot more shady areas to plant.

    I’m pleased to say my bird population has reached the point where they are keeping the slugs under control. I can grow most plants now without them being reduced to stalks, I still get a few nibbled leaves but not enough to be a problem. I can live with the slugs and a few leaves with holes in them, if I was after perfection I wouldn’t be gardening for wildlife and my garden wouldn’t be so interesting.