Pleated leaves in the spring and erect terminal panicles of greenish white flowers during mid-late summer.
Nursery Notes
Propagate by seed or division. Seed takes bloody ages and is a real fanny on, division is good but limited by what can reasonably be removed. A good plant that is either hard or slow to bulk up hence its rarity in garden centres and nurseries and its price. Well worth it though.
Opinion
A great plant for the border, the large pleated leaves are both interesting and handsome....I know the feeling well....It needs to be pointed out to people that view the leaves that this is not a f***ing hosta! Why the common name for Veratrum is 'False Hellebore' and not 'False Hosta' is beyond my intellectual capacity.
The flowers are a bit like a sweetcorn flower and I am not particularly keen on them, plus they stink of something unpleasant (shite actually) for a couple of nights, this is to encourage pollination by flies who appreciate that sort of thing.
A must really. I would however throw a bit of fleece over the newly emerging leaves to avoid windburn, this on occasions can spoil tender foliage...other than that it is as hardy as a butchers mongrel.
This plant was added to the database on 4th January, 2010.
