Rodgersia pinnata Dark Pokers

The Rodgersia pinnata Dark Pokers is a majestic, architectural perennial, with chestnut-like foliage and a cloud-like pink-red panicle flowering that emerges in the cool shade during summer. It forms a large and bushy clump, and develops a superb palmate foliage deeply veined, with purple edges on a bronze-green background. The long dark stems are adorned with panicles composed of tiny dark pink flowers. A very beautiful plant, suited for humid and shaded locations.

The Rodgersia pinnata is a Chinese species belonging to the Saxifragaceae family. The 'Dark Pokers' variety is a horticultural hybrid derived from this plant. From its fleshy rhizome emerges a clump of large pinnate leaves, reaching over 1m (3ft) in height and 60cm (24in) in width. The clumps slowly spread to form stumps of over 1m² over time. The foliage of this perennial is distinguished by its resemblance to chestnut leaves. The leaves can reach 90cm (35in) in length, and are divided into 4 to 8 lanceolate, wrinkled, deeply veined leaflets, arranged in opposite pairs, with a terminal leaflet. What distinguishes the 'Dark Pokers' cultivar is its half-shaded foliage, a bronze-green colour with veining and purple edges. It chooses the beginning of summer to bloom, sending out its large panicles on robust reddish stems, ranging from 30 to 70cm (12 to 28in), adorned with star-shaped flowers that start off pink and then turn red.

The Rodgersia pinnata 'Dark Pokers' is a shade and cool-loving plant, ideal near water features, in the company of ferns, grasses, and astilbes, or along the edge of moist woodland with tiarella and heuchera. It can tolerate drier conditions, as long as it is planted in the shade. Plant it in groups to cover the ground along a shaded pathway, or as a stand-alone specimen, highlighted by a carpet of golden sedge and the blue flowers of liverworts.