Plant Library

Other Names:  Goat's Beard

Description:

An upright, shrub-like selection that features creamy white blooms that rise above green, ferny foliage in the late spring; prefers partly sunny areas; perfect for borders, containers or garden beds; performs well in hot, humid conditions

Ornamental Features

Horatio Goatsbeard features showy panicles of creamy white flowers held atop the stems from late spring to early summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive serrated ferny compound leaves are forest green in color. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous red in the fall. The brown fruits are carried on showy plumes displayed in abundance from mid summer to mid fall. The gold stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Horatio Goatsbeard is a dense herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Horatio Goatsbeard is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Bog Gardens

Planting & Growing

Horatio Goatsbeard will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 inches. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 15 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.