IT DOESN'T SMELL LIKE A GOAT

GOAT'S BEARD

Wednesday,  5:30 PM.  The internet was down all day, so this post is late!  No telephone or TV, either.  Local businesses were badly impaired.  I don' t know what the problem was.  I can report it has been a cool, partly cloudy, rather pleasant day, during which I started making progress taking back shrubbery and gardens from weeds that have not been addressed for more than a month.  Tomorrow we will continue the war.

   Goat's beard, Aruncus dioica, in the Rose Family, is a very large, hardy herbaceous perennial that is circumpolar in distribution and native to moist woodlands at high altitudes. It is quite a beautiful plant with very large, two and three times feather-compound leaves, and flowers reminiscent of astilbe or spirea.  It is not rare in gardens but is not seen that often either.  It can be purchased at larger specialty nurseries and garden centers. 

   Even though it is native over a wide area in the northern hemisphere,  I do not remember ever seeing it in the wild.  It is a very strong grower once established, so I am assuming it should be used with caution in the small garden, but it is an interesting and quite beautiful plant.   The genus name is derived from the Greek, meaning "goat's beard," and the species name indicates that the male and female flowers are borne on separate plants.

   The plant pictured in is in a neighboring yard, the former owner having been something of a plant collector. Despite its name, it doesn't smell like a goat.