Add height and airiness to your shade garden with this easy-care perennial.
Often mistaken for its lookalike astilbe, goatsbeard is a shade plant from an entirely different plant family.
Goatsbeard belongs to the tiny genusAruncus,which comprises only two widely accepted species names.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Their fernlike foliage andwispy white bloomslend airiness to gardens and look especially stunning en masse.
Their flowers attract butterflies and bees.
Goatsbeard is either male or female, with the wispy cream blooms of the male plants being showier.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Goatsbeard male plants produce bigger and prettier flowers and aren’t toxic.
Dig a holeat least twice as wide as the root system and the same depth.
Place the goatsbeard in the hole and backfill with the original soil.
Credit: Blaine Moats
Gently tamp it down and water well.
Plant standard-size goatsbeard 3 to 6 feet apart.
Dwarf varieties can be planted closer, 12 to 16 inches apart.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
They can only tolerate full sun in the northern range of their hardiness.
Soil and Water
Goatsbeard prefers woodland conditions, so thesoil needs to be kept moist.
If the soil is dry, the leaves will burn, becoming dry and crisp on the edges.
Credit: Julie Maris Semarco
This will allow the soil to retain water and keep your goatsbeard happy.
The soil pH should be acidic to neutral, between 6.0 and 7.0.
Fill it with a combination of well-draining potting mix and compost.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Keep in mind that potted plants, unlike plants in the landscape, require more frequent watering and fertilization.
Pests and Problems
Goatsbeard is not bothered by any major pests or diseases and is considered deer-resistant.
But if you do not want to count on that, you candivide themto make more plants.
Credit: Celia Pearson
In the spring, dig out the entire clump.
Replant the sections at the same depth as the original plant.
Plants sometimes self-sow, but not enough to become weedy.
Leave seed heads on plants for winter interest.
Its ivory flowers are perfect for edging a path in a shady border.
Hostas in new sizes and touting new foliage features appear each year.
This tough, shade-loving perennial blooms with white or purplish lavender funnel-shape or flared flowers in summer.
Some are intensely fragrant.
It produces jewel-tone, saucer-shaped flowers and mounds of handsome, lobed foliage.
It needs full sun and is a tough and reliable plant, thriving in a wide assortment of soils.
Many of the best are hybrids.
Perennial geraniums may form large colonies.
They are excellent in damp soils and look especially at home beside ponds and streams.
They may colonize large areas.
Updated by Nadia Hassani
Aruncus dioicus.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Horticulture, Division of Extension.
