Chocoholic Bugbane

Light Needs

Full Shade to Partial Shade

(0 - 4 Hours Of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

48-50 Inches

Mature Spread

30-34 Inches

Growing Zones

4 to 8

Chocoholic Bugbane will be one of your favorite plants if you're a chocoholic and a plant addict. Also called Cimicifuga 'Chocoholic', this pretty perennial produces chocolate-like, bronze-purple leaves. In late summer and early fall, fragrant bottlebrush flowers rise above the foliage, adding some light pink/mauve to the deep color mix. The flowers provide a lacy contrast to the deep greenish-brown leaves below. Reaching about 4 feet high, it's a perfect foundation plant or border plant along a sidewalk or garden bed.

The mauve flowers of Chocoholic Bugbane attract bees and butterflies. Deer and rabbits tend to ignore this fragrant native to North America. Because it is native to wooded areas, Chocoholic Bugbane grows well in partial shade, making it a great choice for areas of a yard shaded by trees or structures part of the day. The Cimicifuga can survive the cold of zone 4 and summer heat up to zone 8.

Chocoholic Bugbane Care

Plant your Chocoholic Bugbane where it gets mostly or dappled shade and where the soil can hold some of its moisture. It needs just enough sunlight to develop its full chocolate-purple color. Adding some organic matter to the soil when planting will help with water retention. Water the plant regularly and consistently through spring, summer and fall. Cimicifuga grows slowly but will reach its full height in a few years. Do not disturb the mature plant; it will not transplant well.

Chocoholic Bugbane Spacing

For a border, be sure to space your bugbanes 30 to 40 inches apart from one another's centers. Chocoholic Bugbane commonly is called bugbane or black snakeroot.