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Categories: Shrub

Zone: 5-6-7-8-9

Height: 18"

Light: Shade
 

"A unique and beautiful woodland plant
 Believe me, every single garden visitor who spies this plant -- in flower or not -- is going to ask about it, so be prepared to brag!"

Description

 Paris polyphylla is a Trillium relative with green-and-black flowers (highlighted by long, wild yellow anthers!) that is certain to create a sensation in your garden!

Blooms 6 inches across, measuring from the lower petals, which are the 5 symmetrical green things that look like leaves. The central stigma is a red so deep it might as well be black, surrounded by a short golden ray and long, slender, whisker-like yellow anthers.

In spring you'll first see a solitary stem (eventually reaching 18 inches tall) topped by a good cluster of spidery green whorls. Even if this plant never bloomed, the foliage alone would be eye-catching,  nothing else in the garden even remotely resembles it. But the blooms follow in early summer, and the 5 green outer petals (actually sepals) remain long after the inner flower parts have passed. Then there are showy (poisonous) red berries.

It thrives happily in partial shade, with  well-drained soil but blooming best when there's good organic matter present as well.