Aconitum carmichaelii - Chinese aconite

Aconitum carmichaelii, also known as Carmichael's monkshood, is a stately perennial plant with a fleshy rootstock. Among the most sought after, this tall species chooses the end of summer and the beginning of autumn to display its tall spikes adorned with unreal blue-violet flowers in the shape of a helmet. It bears thick glossy leaves on fairly woody stems. This privileged inhabitant of damp and rich soils is a reliable and floriferous plant, perfect for filling the back of perennial borders. It should be grown in partial shade.

Native to northern and western China, and northern Russia, Carmichael's monkshood is an herbaceous perennial of the buttercup family, like its cousin, the delphinium. This plant develops from a fleshy tuberous rootstock, from which emerges in spring an erect tuft formed by sparsely hairy stems, adorned with tough, palmately lobed leaves divided into 3 to 5 lobes. They have deep veins, which are a very dark green colour, and a glossy surface. In late summer and autumn, helmet-shaped flower spikes bloom at the tips of the stems, with blue-violet color and veins of ultramarine that filter light beautifully. The flowering plant reaches at least 1.20m (4ft) in height, with a width of 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in).

Monkshoods suffer from a bad reputation in gardens due to their legendary toxicity, which is quite regrettable because they have a place in every garden. They are robust, very hardy, and their foliage is among the most beautiful among perennial plants. Their flowering is an incomparable blue similar to that of gentians or delphiniums. They are perfect in the back of borders, in the company of asters and chrysanthemums for enchanting autumn scenes. They can be planted among bushes, sheltered from the wind that sometimes bends their stems, in the company of Japanese anemones. They also look beautiful in front of the autumn foliage of Persian ironwood or sweetgums. They are good perennials, like foxgloves, for light and cool woodlands. Finally, their flowers are magnificent in bouquets.