Actaea

These herbaceous perennials provide spring and late summer interest, as now Cimicifuga, are for the moment included in this genus. Actaea to provide spring flowers and fleshy fruits, some with excellent foliage. Both prefer a shadier setting, but will take more sunshine on a soils which retains more moisture. However the later flowering species, especially Actaea simplex, can have their leaves scorched in full sun, so at least part shade will allow you to appreciate the foliage, some of which is a deep, dusky purple and spikes of scented flowers, at their best.

Much visited by pollinator insects, including solitary bees, honeybees, hoverflies and beetles, the spring-flowering ones are especially valuable at a time when generally fewer blooms are available. The spring-flowerers also have fleshy fruits: although toxic to us, birds eat them (and disperse the seeds) with impunity.