From what I've read, these take a while to bloom. Dividing them may have set them back a little, so these plants, I'm guessing, takes patience. :) If the foliage is healthy, you're doing something right. The blooms, when they come, will be a nice bonus.

i have wondered the same thing for years, but not got around to asking why. thanks much for question, and answer.
best,
mindy

Anita - In the area that gets some sun, the leaves now look brown on the edges and it appears they are done. They received enough water and not too much sun. Since they've been in this location for a couple of years, I'm wondering if they need complete shade?

Mine that bloomed this year (an 'Atropurpurea',) "is in a partly shaded area under an old oak. I haven't given it any supplemental water this season, other than once. The leaves do get a little crispy, but it's in the back of the bed, so I don't notice it. It's surrounded by ferns, too, so those cover it's base a little.

My 'Brunette', on the other hand, hasn't bloomed. It gets more sun, but it's a year younger. I had two species that were planted in '03 that got hit by voles, I think. They just dried up one day and I pulled them out of the ground easily...no roots. That made me think these are too high maintenance for me, but I decided to give them another chance with different cultivars. So far, so good. On the voles anyways.

All my dark colored ones bloom in mid-late September. The green ones (White Pearl I think...) bloom in early November! Mine are all in fairly shady spots although some do get some sun. I particularly like the very late blooming ones - it's nice to have something with fresh flowers when you're raking leaves!
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I have Brunette and Rubifolia. My Brunette flowered the first year and has done so ever since. Planted three years ago, I divided a small piece from the plant I bought and it even flowered. The plant was bought early in the season in a 5.5" pot. This year they are towering beside Eupatorium Maculatum at a height of 10 feet. The flower stems on them are over a foot long. The soil is rich having been fed nothing more than being mulched with my compost at the start of the season. They get full sun until 11:30ish, and then bright light for the rest of the day. They are next to the house.

Another Brunette planted in somewhat full/dappled shade is barely growing, but it was really small when I spotted it for $1.00 in the fall of last year. Roots were suffering, but it's doing OK.

The Rubifolias are in gardens which get am sun, then shade the rest of the day. Both were bought this past July. One is actually flowering right now and another is sending out spikes of buds. We'll see how they do on their own in the gardens next year.

Your leaves shouldn't be turning crispy at this time of year. Not sure what the issue could be.

In terms of watering, I don't take the hose out very often. The area where the Cimicigugas are growing 10 feet have never been watered this year and our rainfall was well below average.

I think mine must be Brunette: the foliage is very dark red: anyhow, it is in bud as we speak.

The genus name is now Actaea . Don't you just hate when they change the name after you got all used to the old one!!

They do need enough sun to bloom so if you have them in "too much" shade, that could be the issue. I have one that gets about 5 hours of morning sun (and then full shade) and it sent up a lot of blooms this year:

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Anita, Woodyoak and Tiffy - Usually my green ones bloom around now - just like in your great pictures, Woody and Esh ga. But my dark ones - think this variety really is called Snakeroot - just aren't blooming...but, maybe they will bloom in October.

Tiffy - the leaves did the same thing last year as well. The Toad lilies bloomed happily away as the Cimifugas seemed to dry up (?)

Shapiro - mine isn't exactly red - rather a dark maroon color.

I have a Brunette that I planted last year, in light shade. It has formed flower buds both years, but the frost got them last year before they opened :( Waiting to see if I'm luckier this time.
It seems to need tons of water - at least a bucket a day, or it'll get brown. (too good drainage?)

Not about blooms, but about foliage color...

I planted 3 HIllside Black Beauty last year. Two of them were around the back of a birch tree, one of them was more towards the front and gets a bit more sun. Not a lot, just a couple of hours of 3-5 afternoon sun. Well, I was noticing recently that the one in front had great dark color and the two in the back looked washed out with odd shades of mottled green.

I suspect the bloom difference will follow suit. I moved one of the back ones towards the front.

I also have another dark foliaged one that took several years to bloom. Unfortunately the blooms are brown-purple. weird looking.

I must have 60 plants that bloomed this year and they seed tehmselves all over the place

I have the regular green leaved which flowers in July. My hillside black beauty (dark foliage) has just started blooming now, almost 6 weeks later, even though they are planted next to each other. Mine are both in med dark shade. If your leaves are crispy, perhaps they get too much sun.
{{gwi:269179}}From 2008 Misc

I planted one (Black Negligee) earlier this year and it never grew at all, not one new leaf. I recently dug it up and potted it and there appears to be a new bit of growth right at the base, but I've decided this plant is not for me. Anyone want it?

Janet

I'll take it!

I'm fairly new to these plants, having bought a Brunette last year and two White Pearl this year. No blooms yet, which is what I expected.

However, I've come to the conclusion that these are the slowest growing plants in the universe. The Brunette seems virtually unchanged since last year. Let me change that - it seems worse this year. I have it in a container planting that gets regular water, and about half-day sun. It looks awful this year (as does the sambucus in the container). Here is last year:

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Now it's one or two stems of crispy brown leaves.

The two in the ground look okay, (healthy, etc.) but haven't changed in three months. And I think although they are supposed to be both White Pearl, one is different - one has green leaves, the other has darker leaves with different cut and veining.

I will probably move the Brunette out of the pot, which is too bad since it looked very nice last year. I'm beginning to wonder if these plants are worth it. I'll give them another year or two and then see.

:)
Dee

Mine I find need alot of watering or they do get crispy..Might be you need to water more often..

Mine (Brunette) are growing and blooming well in bright shade most of the day with some early morning and late afternoon sun. I think much of the issue in Actea/Cimifuga being healthy is even moisture. Mine are growing in a garden that is made of a long ridge of well-composted horse manure that is well mulched. (They are in an area that I can't water and the native soil is a fine sand, so not much good for planting a garden in its original state.) The manure is rich in organics, but manages to be drained enough to grow rhodies, so I guess fits that elusive "moist, well-drained" description that the garden books refer to.

Definitely they need patience. and moisture. I bought my so-called 'James Compton' in July 2002. I was warned it was a slow grower. It just started looking decent a couple of years ago, putting a respectable # of blooms. Instead of sleep-creep-leap, it is more like sleep-sleep-creep-creep-leap-leap.

Just got back from a few days of vacation and noticed the ones I initially wrote about at the beginning of this thread are crispy. I do have another one that gets more shade and it seems to have small spikes with buds on them. Here's hoping they bloom.

Thanks for all the great comments. Regarding water, though, I have been keeping them watered and I noticed that all the Toad Lilies that surround them are in bloom. And, I know that they need a good amount of water. Maybe the Brunette Cimifugas need a certain type of soil?

Waplummer - my Cimifugas have never reproduced. This is pretty strange

Actaea racemosa, aka Cimifuga racemosa, is a woodland perennial. It's natural habitat in North America is a kind of rocky woodland. That means it needs (1) shade (2) moist soil (3) good drainage (2 and 3 seems incompatible, but what it means is that it likes an organic rich soil.) It seems to not like the heat of really hot summers. Our Brunette gets 2 hours of sun, from 8-9 a.m., then briefly from 3-4 p.m.. The rest of the time, it is in complete shade. It seems to thrive and flowers well. We did have to wait till it's third year to see much in the way of flowering, hence it also needs (4) patience.

I wonder if some failures may be due to the misunderstanding that because it needs lots of moisture, it gets overwatered, without attention to the soil drainage. It cannot withstand bog-like wetness - the roots and rhizomes rot under those types of conditions.

I have several plants, different varieties. Some on the north side of the house - almost no direct sun. Some with mid day sun. Some drier and some wetter - none in bog conditions. Non very dry, and non in full sun.

All are blooming after 2 or 3 years.

Cactus Joe - The area where my Brunette is crispy gets some morning sun and afternoon as well. Maybe even that is too much sun. The ones on the shadier side of the garden don't get as much water, but everything seems to do well there.
I did notice another Cimifuga growing amidst some Zebra grasses that got blocked in a bit...and, that one is crispy as well. Maybe they need more air space overall.

Madtripper - just don't know what's going on.

Question - If I move these Cimifugas to another spot, will that delay flowering for a couple of years?

For those who have no luck with Cimicifuga I'd suggest to read one more time what Cactus_Joe just wrote above especially paying attention to 2) and 3).
Also, as a practical advice, if you grow hydrangea macrophilla and it's happy all day, actaea will be happy in exactly the same location- it will bloom and foliage stay nice and clean. If your hydrangea wilts sometimes during the day, but recoup overnight (which is not a problem for hydrangea)- that position is NOT good for actaea-its foliage much thinner than those of hydrangea and it will burn. Once burned it will never recoup (the same as with astilbes).

you are soooooo smart with your hydrang comparison.now i KNOW mine don't get enough moisture and i will work on changing that.
thank you
mindy

Thanks Cactus Joe.
I was on the verge of shovel pruning my cimicifuga simplex. But now I'll give it another chance. It always sets buds, but freezes before it can bloom. I also have cimicifuga brunette that does better, but still no flowers. I'll try watering them more next year before I decide what to do. To be fair to the plants, we've had a couple of really late cold springs, so the plants hardly got off to a good start.

i first got a cimicifuga racemosa, and it blooms in late august. then i got a white pearl, which is simplex, and it blooms much later, so that here in montreal, you can't be sure the flowers will open before the frost gets them. last year i had loads of flowers open. and though they are next to each other, the simplex has become a much larger more floriferous plant. actually, both are behind (sun-wise) a nikko blue that got really big this year.

then i got - last year - another racemosa, and it gets more sun than the other. and it bloomed late july early august, and is already bigger than the other one, who has only two racemes which on are on the verge of flowering. i'm moving the original beside the newer one imminently. the bunn thing is i remember the original racemosa smelling lovely, but the newer one doesn't. these are lovely plants!

I have simplex and White Pearl that bloom mid summer, than Brunette atropurpurea and now pink one/ whatever that name is getting ready to bloom. Never had one tiny bit of problem out of them Planted on north side of house, viburnum, hosta and hydrangea nearby, organic soil with lots of worms, supplemental watering to 1 in. a week during dry periods.

"The genus name is now Actaea"Â

I know it has a new name, but since the old one took me so long to learn to pronounce, I will keep using it. I really like to trot out that name when people visit my garden, rolling it trippingly off my tongue: makes me look knowledgeable. I think harder names for harder-to-grow plants are appropriate.

Here's my alleged 'James Compton' in bloom. weirdest thing I've ever seen.

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Wendy, your James Compton is in bud, not in bloom, yet, which is why it looks weird. It really is a beautiful plant--heavenly fragrance.

Mine has darker leaves than yours and is much more compact.

Kate

Kate, sorry not so. I've had it for 6 years. Thats as far as it goes! And the season is long enough. first frost is still 2-3 weeks away (I hope!) and that pic was a couple of weeks ago.

Observing my own garden and some photos here, I think cimigifuga looks at it best in lush border. It is very bold, but I appreciate that characteristic when it contrasts in color, form, and texture. Unless you are referring just to it's tight flower form, do you think it might look less "weird" with more company...something more than the hard-edged trellis and horizontal boards behind?

I have Cimicifuga simplex Hillside Black Beauty, and it is a beauty! Contrary to all I've read, I have mine in full sun here in zone 4 Central New York State, and it looks great and blooms its head off. I have found that many plants that are typically "shade plants" do well in partial to full sun here...cool nights in summer, plenty of rain, short northern season. The soil is sandy topsoil mixed with compost and goat poop. The plant is about 5 yrs old, dark lacy foliage, light pink bottlebrush flowers that smell like grapes, about 7 feet tall including flower spikes. It's in a flower border backed by a dry stone wall and looks great with Anemone japonica Robutissima and Aster novae-angliae Alma Potschke, all blooming right now. I think moisture throughout the season is more important than shade in this plant, at least in this zone.

I have several of the dark variety; this is its second year. Last year it did not bloom at all and it was a struggle keeping it moist - most of the leaves ended up 'crisping'. This year I watered it a lot more and it is blooming now. Worth waiting for! Beautiful white bottle brushes against the dark foliate is a nice contrast. I have it in morning sun and shade the rest of the day. Good luck with yours!

brown (unopened) wands are not standard for this variety (or any variety of cimicifuga I have ever encountered). I am expecting (wanting) white flower spikes. Never happens. never. dud. despite its surroundings. dud. dud. dud.

Otoh, late last year I got 3 HBB and one of them bloomed first year. Awesome! And it must have been in bud a very short time, because I never even noticed it in bud. Unlike above dud cimicifuga picture.

Wendy, send it to me, I'll teach it to behave:-)
But seriously, it doesn't look like 'James Compton' I see around.
Not dark enough and too tall for JC.

I just realized that I misidenified my cimi as Hillside Black Beauty, when what I really have is Cimicifuga racemosa "Pink Spike". I just found out as I was weeding around it and pulled up the nametag. Anyway, it's a great plant!

I searched for Cimifuga and found this thread.

Oh, Wendy, that is just wrong! Six years and you get one little bloom before frost.

Seems this plant, like some others, want a very particular place as similar to their natural growing situation as possible to perform well.

It's not as easy as it might seem to replicate a good woodland setting above and below ground...and we can't change the atmospheric conditions where we live/garden.

I'm going to have to accept that I can't have so many of the plants I'd like because I just can't give them the situation they need. I'm not there yet as I still search and drool over these gorgeous plants.

I was investigating this plant again because I had a couple native plant nurseries tell me it wouldn't mind pretty deep shade with only flickers of filtered light all day except early Spring and late Fall. If it didn't bloom it wouldn't be worth it to me. The conditions I have aren't even near optimal and don't want to knowingly invite more plant unhappiness...theirs and mine.

Hope you got a few more blooms to enjoy, Wendy.

I would not give up on them, in fact, I would grow these beautiful plants even if they didn't bloom! The flowers for me are a plus, and they do bloom for me, however it is the excellent foliage that I grow these plants for first and foremost. They do take awhile to settle in, established plants don't like to be moved or divided, and moving them probably sets them back a little. Enrich the soils they grow in with organic matter, compost or leaf mulch, and they will thrive. Even moisture, with free draining but moisture retentive soils, like Cactus Joe says, are what they favor. They should bloom for you even in mostly shady conditions. The foliage will crisp up with too much sun and insufficient moisture.

I would not give up on them, in fact, I would grow these beautiful plants even if they didn't bloom! The flowers for me are a plus, and they do bloom for me, however it is the excellent foliage that I grow these plants for first and foremost. They do take awhile to settle in, established plants don't like to be moved or divided, and moving them probably sets them back a little. Enrich the soils they grow in with organic matter, compost or leaf mulch, and they will thrive. Even moisture, with free draining but moisture retentive soils, like Cactus Joe says, are what they favor. They should bloom for you even in mostly shady conditions. The foliage will crisp up with too much sun and insufficient moisture.

I have a black beauty and it has never gotten more than maybe 8-10 inches tall and has never flowered. I've had it planted for about 3-4 years now. It's under a Silver Maple along with Sun King, Coneflower, Bee Balm, Coral Bells, Ferns, Lung Wort, Brunerra....all which are doing quite well. Not sure I will keep it because the plant itself is not really growing either.

clauerj , this is a 10 year old thread. You could start a new thread to get fresh information. But, I think the requirements mentioned above are correct. I have 4. And though I think the conditions they are in are all the same, apparently they are not. The only one that blooms is the one that was already big when I bought it. The others are alive but never grow.

I notice you have Coneflower, Bee Balm. Those are sun plants. What they like, Actaea will not like.

I had the black beauty and I was able to give all 3 plants the right conditions (compost enriched moist soil, 2 hours of sun) for blooming but even there, in Montreal the frost killed the plants before any of the blooms (like 3-5 per plant) could open so it is very frustrating. I eventually got rid of them.