Actaea Simplex Brunette Baneberry Brunette

Actaea Simplex Brunette is an RHS AGM winning deciduous perennial with dramatic brown- purple foliage and white flower spikes in autumn. It’s an unusual colour choice that boosts mixed borders when the flowering summer plants begin to fade.

Actaea Simplex Brunette is better known as the Baneberry Brunette or Bugbane and it’s synonymous with Circimifuga. Native to northern Japan, north-eastern China, Korea and Russia the Banebury Brunette has acclimatised to most parts of the world.

It has brown-purple stems and foliage hence the name brunette, although new foliage is usually green. Its flowers appear on tall spikes in autumn in a flourish of purple buds that open and grow into simple white spears. This is a deeply toned plant that takes you from summer into autumn when the garden is beginning to fade.

Height And Spread Of Actaea Simplex Brunette
Banebury Brunette reaches a maximum height and spread of a metre so its a useful as a low-growing shrub. 

How Hardy Is Actaea Simplex Brunette
Banebury Brunette is very hardy across Europe and more than capable of withstanding UK winters if its roots are well-drained. It’s rarely bothered by pests.

How To Use Actaea Simplex Brunette
Bugbane spreads via its rhizomes and it’s best left to creep through a low maintenance informal border. Its flowers are attractive to pollinators and it holds the RHS Perfect for Pollinators badge as a result.

Actaea Simplex Brunette is a hard-working perennial that comes back bigger and better each year with very little care required. It’s a must for bee-friendly spaces and a great way to extend the growing year into autumn. 

If you want foliage with interesting colours to balance out all the green. Banebury Brunette’s foliage is unusual enough to stand out but rich enough to blend in.

How To Care For Actaea Simplex Brunette
Plant Banebury Brunette in moist but well-drained soil in a sheltered, partially shaded cool spot. It tolerates the majority of soils but doesn’t like to dry out.
Pruning isn’t required, but you can cut the flower spikes off when its flowers are spent and tidy up dead foliage as winter approaches.
Water well until established and during very hot spells because it prefers moist soil. A thick layer of mulch in early spring will help trap moisture and provide plenty of nutrients for the growing season.