A Showy Phytolacca.

Almost every visitor to the Leaning Oaks garden asks about the identity of this plant. Phytolacca polyandra (also known as Phytolacca clavigera). This is a robust herbaceous perennial from a woody rootstalk. The new growth emerges in the spring a rich wine red and the plant quickly becomes shrublike with terminal racemes of bubble-gum pink flowers.

There are about 35 species of Phytolacca, several are quite coarse looking plants, this is the best species that I have tried. A few years ago I grew some Phytolacca bogotensis from seed, the plants looked similar to P. polyandra, but the racemes were smaller. P. bogotensis proved to be not hardy in our garden, succumbing to the first winter frost.

P. polyandra has proven to be perfectly hardy for our garden and each plant lives for about 4 or 5 years. A few seedlings pop up every year however, and I always have a couple of plants in reserve to continue the show. Some Phytolaccas have proven to be very invasive, so this one warrants careful scrutiny before widespread planting. So far in our dry Saanich Peninsula garden it has proven to be a polite seeder, but folks living in a damper clime should watch this and make sure that it continues to behave itself before totally embracing it.


In the late summer all the stalks deepen in colour to a deep pink and the each branchlet tipped with a shiny, faceted, jet black berry - a startling combination of colour and texture. The berries stay on the plants for several weeks, and then, as if there is some signal, American Robins, Varied and Hermit Thrushes set upon the plants to clean off the berries. Some years the foliage turns bright yellow while the fruit is still on the plant, a very showy combination indeed.

Chinese Chokeberry can be difficult to find, it only occasionally shows up in nurseries. Seed is often for sale at the UBC botanic garden and it germinates readily after a winter outdoors. Fraser's Thimble Farms sometimes has plants for sale. The nursery where I bought our original plant is no longer in business.

Deer have not been an issue with this plant, which is not surprizing given its toxicity. Gardeners with small children should be aware that all parts of the plant are poisonous including the glossy berries. Slugs damage the odd leaf or two, but not enough to be an issue with this plant.

Buying Unusual Plants in Ordinary Places

Last week Fritillaria pudica popped up in the lawn, the result of some bulbs we had planted there two years ago. I had assumed that we had lost the bulbs due to winter wet, as this is a species of the dry southern interior and they didn't show themselves at all last spring. To be honest, I had completely forgotten that they had even been planted. I should have known better, I have had this experience with another species of Frittilaria before, where the bulb apparently did not come out of dormancy the first spring after I planted it. As I photographed it I thought about how I had found the package of Fritillaria pudica bulbsin an unexpected place....a department store. The addition of what to appears to be a yellow snowdrop in the lawn was a nice surprise. Wish I had planted more....

There are a few native plants that are so well established in gardens that you expect to find them in any nursery, Ribes sanguineum, Mahonia aquifolium,and Achillea millefolium among others. I did not however, expect to find this little native bulb at such a retailer, maybe its become more mainstream than I thought.

I have a couple of other plants I prize highly in the garden that came from large stores not usually noted for unusual plants. My plant of Sanguisorba menziesii was purchased, in bloom, as a one gallon pot in a grocery store. This red flowering species of burnet is on the Blue List for British Columbia, but also grows in Asia.

Our orignial plant of Phytolacca clavigera came from a tiny roadside nursery that has since gone out of business...it was in a half gallon, stunted and cholorotic, but somehow you could see that it might be something good..so far it is the best Phytolacca that I have seen and one of my favourite plants in the garden Despite stopping many times at the same nursery I never did see another unusual plant offered.

Deer: Fritillarias are usually not touched by deer, although I haven't had this species in the garden long enough to have personal experience with it. Phytolacca clavigera has never been eaten by deer and falls into the "deer proof" category. Sanguisorba menziesii does get eaten from time to time, but never enough to seriously damage the plant (as of yet anyway).

Sources: Fritillaria pudica bulbs were purchased from Sears. Phytolacca clavigera was purchased from a nursery that is no longer operating, however seeds can be obtained from the gift shop at the UBC Botanic Garden and Thimble Farms on Salt Spring Island offers plants. Sanguisorba menziesii was purchased at a Safeway in Victoria.