Aruncus Guinea Fowl

The Aruncus 'Guinea Fowl' is a hybrid Goat's Beard that stands out for its compact habit and is well suited to small spaces and border ornamentation. Its summer flowering is delicate and poetic, with graceful creamy-white plumes from coppery-brown stems. This cultivar combines the qualities of its two parents: it is of modest size, very hardy, and has superb finely-cut fern-like foliage. It is an excellent perennial for cool understory areas, ideal for shaded areas of gardens, and particularly well-suited to water features.

The Goat's Beard 'Guinea Fowl' is a horticultural hybrid created by German breeder Ernst Pagels. It is a deciduous rhizomatous perennial: its growth emerges in spring and disappears in late autumn. The goat's beard belongs to the rose family. The Guinea Fowl cultivar is the result of cross-breeding between Aruncus aethusifolius, native to Korea, a compact and small-sized plant, and A. dioicus (sylvestris), a majestic plant common in temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The plant develops into a spreading bushy clump, reaching 60 cm (24in) in flower (35-40 cm (14-16in) for foliage) and approximately 50 cm (20in) wide. Its growth is relatively fast, and it is a long-lived plant. The flowering occurs from June to August in slender, feathery panicles, 15 cm (6in) long, standing upright and carried by reddish-brown floral stems. The panicles are composed of tiny creamy-white flowers, both soft and bright. Its foliage is as delicate as that of a fern. The arching leaves, 20 cm (8in) long, are compound, finely divided into toothed leaflets of light and vivid green.

The Aruncus is a plant of freshness; it only tolerates the sun if the soil remains moist, especially in summer. It adapts well to clay soils, provided they are healthy and well-amended. The Goat's Beard 'Guinea Fowl' is particularly suitable for cottage gardens, natural gardens, woodland gardens, and water features. It can easily be grown in containers or troughs alongside Astilbes, with which it shares a resemblance. Pairing it with the dark foliage of certain bugbanes and the coppery ribbons of Bronze New Zealand Hair Sedge is superb. It creates lovely scenes with Aconite, Foxgloves, ferns, and other shade-loving perennials and near streams. It is also a beautiful flower for summer bouquets.